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Alumni Association Constitution and Bylaws

Shenandoah Valley Academy Alumni Association

Constitution and Bylaws

(Revised April 20, 2018)

 

CONSTITUTION

 

Preamble:


We, the alumni of Shenandoah Valley Academy, have organized our Alumni Association in order to foster a spirit of loyalty to our alma mater, to foster Christian fellowship among its graduates and former students, and to promote the growth and development of Shenandoah Valley Academy. We hereby pledge ourselves to abide by the following constitution as a working basis in all our activities.
 

ARTICLE I – Organization

Section I – Name:
The name of this organization shall be the Alumni Association of Shenandoah Valley Academy.
 
Section II – Membership:
All graduates of Shenandoah Valley Academy shall be members of the Association. All faculty members, past and present, shall be honorary members of the Association. All former students who have attended Shenandoah Valley Academy at any time are encouraged to apply to the Association for membership. Husbands and wives of former students or graduates are cordially invited to attend any of the functions of the Association – including the annual business meeting.
 
Section III – Privilege of Membership:
All members are entitled to the privilege of attendance to and participation in all the activities of the Association and attendance shall constitute the power to vote in the Association’s business meetings. Only members may serve as elected officers of the Association.
 

ARTICLE II – Officers

Section I:
The officers of this organization shall be president, vice-president, secretary-treasurer, past-president, and alumni director.  The principal shall appoint the alumni director, who must be a full-time faculty member.
 
Section II – Term of Office:
The president shall be elected for a term of two years. The vice-president and secretary-treasurer shall be elected each year for a term of one year.  The terms shall begin the first Monday following the annual business meeting.  The president shall serve as past-president until a new president assumes office.  In the case where an outgoing president is unable to serve as past president, the past-president may remain in office until a new president assumes office.  The Alumni Director shall serve in perpetuity until his or her duties are re-assigned by the Principal.  The president in office at the time of adoption of this revision may be nominated to serve an additional year.
 
Section III – Duties of Officers:
A. President
a. The president shall preside over all business meetings.
 
b. The president shall be directly responsible for the planning and directing of the annual Alumni Homecoming activities held at Shenandoah Valley Academy, and is empowered to appoint committees and persons to assist in this and other functions.
 
c. The president shall serve on the Shenandoah Valley Academy Board of Trustees.
 
B. Vice-President
a. The vice-president shall carry on all functions of the office of president in the absence of the president, he or she shall assume the responsibility of any other office vacated between elections, and shall assist the president in the planning and directing of the various functions of the Association.
 
C. Secretary-Treasurer
a.The secretary-treasurer shall keep accurate minutes of all business meetings, shall maintain a record of all members attending any functions of the Association and their participation in the functions, and shall prepare at least five copies of these records, one copy to be sent to each officer of the Association, and one to be kept on permanent record in the office of the alumni director at the school.
 
b. The secretary-treasurer shall act as guardian of the Association’s funds, and shall be authorized to spend the funds of the Association when so directed by the officers, or by action of the Association in business session. All disbursements must be made through the Alumni Director at the school, and all funds must be kept at the school. The secretary-treasurer shall present a treasurer’s report to the Association at its annual business meeting during the homecoming.
 
c. The secretary-treasurer shall be responsible for the collection of alumni dues, which shall be payable at the alumni business meeting. These funds shall be deposited with the Alumni Director at the school.
 
D. Past-President
a. The past-president shall assist and advise the alumni association officers and board in their assigned duties.
 
E. Alumni Director
a. The alumni association director shall be responsible for the registration material and procedures, roll call and other oral or written reports, with the exception of financial reports, to be presented to the assembled alumni at homecoming meetings.
 
b. The alumni director shall be responsible for the mailing of all promotional materials for distribution to the alumni.
 
c. The alumni director shall publish notice of all alumni activities, past and future.
 
d. The alumni director shall mail to all alumni, whose addresses have been secured, a notice of the date of the annual alumni homecoming.  Notification of the homecoming date should be published in as many SDA union papers as possible 60 days prior to the homecoming date.
 
e. The alumni director will work closely with all alumni officers and shall be responsible for all alumni funds, which are kept at the school. The Alumni Director shall be authorized to disburse funds of the association when so directed by the officers or by action of the association in business session.
 

​​f. The alumni director shall appoint an alumni golf tournament chair to assist with the organization and promotion of, and fundraising for the golf tournament scheduled annually on the Friday of alumni homecoming weekend.

 

 

ARTICLE III – Board

 
The voting board of the alumni association shall consist of the executive officers of the alumni association and decade representatives.
 

Article IV – Decade Representatives

 
Section I:
One representative shall be chosen from classes from the four decades starting with the decade fifty years from the present.  Two representatives (young alumni representatives) will serve from the two most recent decades and two representatives (senior alumni representatives) from decades prior to fifty years from the present. By example, in 2013 this would mean two representatives from the classes of 2000-2012, two representatives from classes prior to 1959, and one representative for each decade of the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties.
 
Section II—Terms of Office:
Decade representatives shall serve renewable two-year terms. Terms from representatives from odd decades shall begin on odd years and even decades on even years.  Young alumni representatives will be elected odd years and senior alumni representatives on even years. Term shall begin on the Monday following the annual business meeting where representative was elected.
 
Section III—Duties:
A. Decade representatives shall serve as conduit for information to the alumni association board from classes in their decade, including recommendations for association officers, individual class representatives, and information on honor classes for use on alumni weekend.
 
B. Decade representatives shall manage and communicate with individual class representatives, recommend class representatives to the alumni association, and shall ensure that class representatives are communicating class information in a timely manner to the alumni association for publication in an annual alumni publication.
 
Section IV:
Following approval of this article, the alumni association officers shall appoint decade representatives to serve initial terms.

 

ARTICLE V – Meetings

 
Section I – Annual business meetings:
The Association shall hold its annual business meetings on the campus of Shenandoah Valley Academy during the annual homecoming weekend.
 
Section II:
Election of officers shall be conducted during the annual business meeting.
 
Section III:  Quorum:
The Association may meet in official business session to conduct the business of the Association when the president, vice-president, or alumni director is there to preside and twenty-five members are present.
 
Section IV:  Pro Tempore Chairman:
In the event that no officer of the alumni association or the alumni director shall be present to preside over the business meeting at the homecoming, the principal of the academy shall be authorized to preside.
 

ARTICLE VI – Elections

 
Section I:
The alumni association board shall nominate officers to fill vacancies. The alumni association officers shall nominate decade representatives to fill vacancies.
 
Section II:
The Association shall determine the method of voting at each annual business meeting.
 

ARTICLE VII

 
This constitution may be revised by a two-thirds vote at the annual business meeting. Instead of amending this constitution, change will be made by rewriting the affected part.

 

-- Original Constitution: Adopted in business session by the alumni gathered at the alumni breakfast October 28, 1956, at the Shenvalee Lodge, New Market, Virginia.

--Amendments previous adopted incorporated into constitution by alumni association interim committee, April 4, 2013

-- Amended in business session by the alumni association during the Friday evening reception during alumni weekend on April 19, 2013, at the W. H. Jones Cafeteria, SVA campus, New Market, Virginia.

-- Amended in business session by the alumni association during the Friday evening reception during alumni weekend on April 18, 2014, at the W. H. Jones Cafeteria, SVA campus, New Market, Virginia.

-- Amended in business session by the alumni association during the Friday evening reception during alumni weekend on April 20, 2018, at the W. H. Jones Cafeteria, SVA campus, New Market, Virginia.


Development & Alumni Office
 
Dale E. Twomley Hall
 
234 W Lee Hwy New Market VA 22844