Bylaws of the Radio & Audio Media (RAM) Division of the BEA
Presented for ratification by RAM Division members April xx, 2012.
Article I – Name: The name of the division shall be the Radio & Audio Media (RAM) Division.
Article II – Purpose: The mission of the Radio & Audio Media Division is to provide a discussion forum for persons with an interest in all aspects of radio and audio media.
The goals of the division are as follows:
1) To stimulate awareness and discussion of existing issues related to radio and audio media,
2) To encourage dissemination of information about radio and audio media,
3) To foster and promote the teaching of information connected with radio and audio media.
To this end, the Radio & Audio Media Division shall provide the following:
1) A forum for:
- a) the exchange of teaching materials and information,
- b) the presentation of juried and non-juried scholarly research.
2) A means of evaluation through juried competition of scholarly research.
Article III – Officers: The governing body of the Division shall be called the Leadership of the Radio & Audio Media Division and shall consist of: a Chair, a Vice Chair/Paper Competition Chair, a Secretary/Communication Coordinator, Past Chair, Faculty Festival Chair, and the Student Festival Chair. The chair shall be the senior coordinating officer of the Leadership with the vice-chair and all other Leadership positions having an equal but subordinate rank.
Section 1 – Chair. The vice-chair shall succeed the chair on even-numbered years to a two-year term. The duties of the chair shall include:
1) Representing the Radio & Audio Media Division in all BEA convention meetings;
2) Chairing the Business Meeting at the annual BEA convention;
3) Handling Division business in the interim between BEA conventions;
4) Serving as panel coordinator, overseeing Leadership evaluation and ranking panel proposals, and;
5) Authorizing expenditure of Radio & Audio Media Division funds.
Section 2 – Vice-Chair/Paper Competition Chair. The vice-chair/paper competition chair shall be elected on even-numbered years to a two-year term. Duties of the vice-chair include:
1) Representing the Division in all BEA convention meetings in absence of the chair, or as designated by the chair;
2) Assisting the chair during the business meeting at the annual BEA convention;
3) Assisting the chair in handling Division business in the interim between BEA conventions; and
4) Managing, promoting through calls for papers, and actively soliciting participation in the Division’s competitive paper competition; and5) Assuming the chair’s position at the end of the two-year term.
Section 3 – Secretary/Communication Coordinator. The secretary/communication coordinator shall be elected on even-numbered years to a two-year term. The duties of the office shall include:
1) Overseeing and actively maintaining all communication for the division membership using the tools available from the national office and establishing effective communication with the members of the division;
2) Regularly communicating with the division membership between business meetings; and
3) Taking notes at the annual business meeting of the RAM Division and preparing minutes of the annual business meetings for distribution to the membership.
Section 4 – Past Chair. The past chair shall serve a two-year term. The duties of the office shall include:
1) Serve the division as needed by the chair.
Section 5 – Faculty Festival Chair. The faculty festival chair shall be elected on even-numbered years to a two-year term. Duties include:
1) Dissemination of information about festival news competitions among RAM Division members and BEA member schools;
2) Selecting judges for the competition;
3) Coordinating the judging procedures including preparing judging forms, distributing entries to the judges, and tallying judging forms;
4) Notifying winners and losers of the competition and providing judges’ feedback on all submissions;
5) Forward winners’ information that will be included in the program to the convention chair;
6) Serving as the Faculty RAM Division representative on the BEA Festival Committee, and work with the Festival Chair to produce plaques, and performing all other duties and communication/information as required by the Festival rules;
7) Hosting the award ceremony to present faculty sports winners.
Section 6 – Student Festival Chair. The student festival chair shall be elected on even-numbered years to a two-year term. Duties include:
1) Dissemination of information about festival news competitions among RAM Division members and BEA member schools;
2) Selecting judges for the competition;
3) Coordinating the judging procedures including preparing judging forms, distributing entries to the judges, and tallying judging forms;
4) Notifying winners and losers of the competition and providing judges’ feedback on all submissions;
5) Forward winners’ information that will be included in the program to the convention chair;
6) Serving as the Student RAM Division representative on the BEA Festival Committee, and work with the Festival Chair to produce plaques, and performing all other duties and communication/information as required by the Festival rules;
7) Hosting the award ceremony to present student sports winners.
Section 7 – Procedures for the Election of Officers. Nominations will be taken from the floor for each vacant position at the business meeting during the annual BEA convention. Self- nominations are welcomed. Normally, the vice-chair moves into the chair’s position at the end of the two-year term. Therefore, the chair’s position is generally not open for election. After nominations are closed, the candidate getting the most votes of the RAM members who are present and voting will be elected to the office for each vacant position.
Section 8 – Procedures for Filling Vacated Offices. If an officer cannot complete his or her elected term or assume the designated progression assignment, the following rules will apply:
Chair: If the chair cannot complete the two-year term, the vice chair will
become chair and serve the remainder of the departing chair’s two-year term.
At the next annual business meeting, nominations will be accepted for a new
vice chair and the elected nominee will become vice chair. After completion of
the interim term, the chair and vice chair will serve their normal terms.
Vice Chair: If the vice chair cannot assume the duties as chair, the current chair
may be nominated or self-nominated to serve one additional year as interim
chair and oversee an election for a replacement vice chair. If the current chair
declines the opportunity to serve as interim chair, new elections will be held for
both vice chair and chair, according to terms for officers described previously.
All other officers: If any of the other officers indicate at the annual business meeting that they cannot complete their terms, nominations will be accepted during the business meeting to fill the position for the remainder of the vacated term. If an officer position is vacated during the year (between business meetings) the division chair should immediately notify the BEA Executive Director and Interest Division Representative (IDR). Working with the Executive Director and IDR, the division chair may seek a replacement from the division membership to fill the vacant office until the next division business meeting. The chair should email the entire division membership seeking volunteers to fill the position. If more than one replacement is identified, a committee consisting of the division chair, vice chair, past chair, and IDR will select the interim replacement. The interim replacement will serve in the vacated position until the next division business meeting. At the next business meeting, an election will be held to fill the remainder of the vacated term. The interim replacement, as well as anyone nominated or self-nominated, from the floor, will be an eligible candidate in the election.
Article IV – The secretary/communication coordinator has the primary function of ensuring official correspondence and requests from non-division members is distributed to RAM membership via tools available from the national office. It is recommended the secretary/communication coordinator also maintain an e-mail list of the RAM membership or a listserv to enable membership communication. Web Presence: The web presence for the division must remain active and up-to-date. Writing, editing, and promoting the division’s web page and/or blog shall be the responsibility of the secretary/communication coordinator. Any costs associated with this task will be covered by the RAM division funds.
Article V – Paper Competitions: The purpose of the paper competition shall be to provide a juried evaluation of faculty work. The competition shall be open to both members and nonmembers of the BEA. However, all competition winners shall be required to attend the paper convention or forfeit their award and all presenters are required to be members of the BEA. The paper competition shall follow the BEA guidelines and shall consist of both open and debut categories. The debut competition shall have a $200 award for first place and a $100 award for second place. The open competition shall be available to anyone who would like to submit a paper. There shall be first and second place winners but no monetary awards. The responsibility for operating the competition shall fall to the vice-chair, but funding for the awards shall come from the BEA general fund. There shall be at least three (university) judges for the competition with the co-chair making every effort to balance the judges by their interest in radio and other audio media activities. The paper competition shall follow the deadlines established by the BEA.
Article VI – Division Panels: Panel proposals shall be submitted to the chair of the RAM Division. Both members and non-members of the BEA are eligible to submit panel proposals with the understanding that all panel members are planning to attend the BEA annual convention and will become members of the BEA. The chair shall then forward copies of the proposals to the vice-chair and shall coordinate the rank ordering of the proposals. The chair shall then submit the final panels in rank order to the convention coordinator by the deadlines established by the BEA. Upon receipt of the final recommendation of the convention coordinator, the chair shall notify the panel conveners of the decision regarding their proposals.
Note: Bylaws of the Radio & Audio Media Division shall at all times comply with the BEA Interest Division Policies and Guidelines, which shall supersede these bylaws in the event of a conflict.
