IJEA Bylaws
Bylaws of the Illinois Journalism Education Association
Most recent revisions approved by IJEA Board of Directors on Sept. 26, 2020
Section 1. Purpose
1.01: The principal office of the corporation (hereinafter designated “association”) shall be located at Springfield, Illinois.
1.02: The purpose of the association shall be to assist scholastic media advisers and teachers in promoting high standards in scholastic media and to elevate the status of scholastic media programs in secondary schools across the state. The association will assist scholastic media advisers and teachers in all phases of advising and teaching. To do so, the association will:
- actively seek to connect with new advisers and teachers;
- communicate with and provide ongoing professional development for experienced advisers and teachers;
- act as a clearinghouse for sharing ideas and maintaining data relevant to media education;
- support opportunities for interaction of student staffs, advisers and teachers;
- cultivate and maintain positive working relations with professional media organizations and employees;
- foster awareness of educational and career opportunities in journalism and mass communications;
- recognize outstanding performance in and outstanding support for the field of scholastic media.
Section 2. Membership
2.01: Membership in IJEA shall consist of regular individual membership, including: 1) student media/publications advisers; 2) instructors in journalism, art, broadcasting and photography at public, private and parochial secondary schools, junior colleges, and schools or departments of journalism in universities or teachers colleges in Illinois; 3) former advisers and instructors in areas listed above unless they are employed by commercial firms providing sales and services to journalism teachers and publications advisers or are engaged in other commercial enterprises that might represent a conflict of interest. Regular members in good standing who are present may vote in any statewide IJEA election for Officers or Directors, on referendums, and on any matters coming to a vote during a Board meeting. Regular members are entitled to all services provided by the association.
2.02: A schedule of dues shall be established by the association and may be revised by the Board of Directors at either a regular or special meeting.
Section 3. Regions and Directors
3.01: The IJEA shall be divided into six regions:
Region 1: Counties of Whiteside, Henry, Rock Island, Mercer, Henderson, Warren, Knox, Hancock, McDonough, Fulton, Mason, Schuyler, Adams, Brown, Cass, Menard, Pike, Morgan, Scott, Sangamon, Greene, Macoupin, Jersey, Calhoun.
Region 2: Counties of Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Carroll, Ogle, Lee, Bureau, LaSalle, Grundy, Kendall, Kane, DeKalb, Winnebago, Boone, McHenry, Lake.
Region 3: Counties of Cook, DuPage.
Region 4: Counties of Will, Kankakee, Iroquois, Livingston, Ford, McLean, Putnam, Marshall, Woodford, Stark, Peoria, Tazewell.
Region 5: Counties of Logan, DeWitt, Macon, Piatt, Champaign, Vermilion, Edgar, Clark, Cumberland, Coles, Douglas, Moultrie, Shelby, Montgomery, Christian.
Region 6: Counties of Madison, Bond, Fayette, Effingham, Jasper, Crawford, Lawrence, Richland, Clay, Marion, Clinton, St. Clair, Monroe, Washington, Randolph, Perry, Jefferson, Wayne, Edwards, Wabash, White, Hamilton, Franklin, Gallatin, Hardin, Saline, Pope, Massac, Pulaski, Alexander, Union, Johnson, Jackson, Williamson.
3.02: The Board of Directors shall consist of a President, a Vice President, two Secretaries and a Treasurer, two Directors elected from each region of the state, the JEA State Director, the Adviser Helpline Coordinator, the Liaison to the IHSA journalism advisory committee, At-Large Directors appointed annually by the President with the consent of the Board, and the Executive Director. Each Regional Director shall be elected for a three-year term as specified in Section 8; terms of office will begin with the summer meeting of the election year. The At-Large Directors will be appointed by the newly-elected President at the summer meeting and serve one-year terms following the summer meeting. A Director must be a regular IJEA member in good standing.
3.03: The JEA State Director shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Board of Directors. If the position of JEA State Director from the Journalism Education Association is not held by a person already on the Board, then the person holding that position will also be a Board member.
3.04: The Executive Director shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Board of Directors. The Executive Director shall have such powers and perform such duties as assigned by the Board of Directors.
3.05: The Adviser Helpline Coordinator and the Liaison to the IHSA journalism advisory committee shall be appointed by the President.
3.06: All elected and appointed Directors shall have one vote in all matters brought before the Board.
3.07: All written records for each Director shall be transferred to succeeding Directors at or before the summer meeting of the election year or as directed by the Board of Directors.
3.08: Any salaries, expense reimbursement or other compensation to Officers and agents of the association shall be fixed by or in the manner prescribed by the Board of Directors, providing that such compensation shall be reasonable and shall in no way adversely affect the association’s qualifications under Section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 or any successor thereto.
3.09: The Board of Directors may, but need not, require any of the Officers or employees of the association to give bond to the association with sufficient surety conditioned upon the faithful performance of duties of their respective offices or employments.
3.10: The Executive Director or any elected official of the Illinois Journalism Education Association may be removed from office for failure to abide by the bylaws and/or failure to perform the duties of the office by a majority vote of the Board of Directors. An appeal may be made by the elected official at a special or regular meeting of the membership following Board action. A vote to override the Board of Directors may be taken and adopted if passed by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of voting members attending the meeting.
3.11: The removal of a member of the Board of Directors from elective office shall constitute removal from the Board of Directors. Written notification of removal shall be given to said member within (30) days.
3.12: A member of the Board of Directors may resign at any time by delivering a written resignation to the President of the association, and such resignation shall take effect immediately upon its receipt by the President.
3.13: Vacancies on the Board of Directors arising from death, resignation or removal shall be filled by appointment by the President of the association for the unexpired term.
3.14: Any regular member of the association shall be eligible for appointment to the Board of Directors except that the appointment should be made from the same region as the vacancy occurred.
3.15: The Board of Directors shall meet at least three times annually.
3.16: A quorum for the Board of Directors shall consist of six (6) Board members.
3.17: The Board of Directors may be polled by electronic ballot at the discretion of the President.
3.18: Special meetings of the Board may be called by the President of the association on fourteen (14) days notice to each director either in person or by mail, email or telephone.
3.19: Duties of the Directors will be determined by the Board itself with the exceptions listed below in 4.03, 4.04, 4.05 and 4.06 as minimal duties of the President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.
Section 4. Officers
4.01: The Board of Directors shall organize itself each year at the summer meeting by electing the following Officers: President, Vice President, two Secretaries and a Treasurer. The JEA State Director will not hold any additional office.
4.02: No person shall be in charge of more than one elective office in the association.
4.03: The President shall have general and active management of the affairs and property of the organization and shall see that all orders and resolutions of the Board of Directors are put into effect. The President shall set the agenda for and preside at all meetings of the Board of Directors as described in Section 3 and shall preside at all membership meetings as described in Section 7. The President shall appoint, with the advice and consent of the Board, At-Large board members as described in 3.02. The President, with the advice and consent of the Board, shall appoint Directors or other members to the following positions: Adviser Helpline Coordinator and Liaison to the IHSA journalism advisory committee. Additional positions can be created at the discretion of the President and the Board.
4.04: The Vice President shall have such powers and perform such duties as may be assigned by the Board of Directors or the President. In the absence or disability of the President, the Vice President shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the President until the President can resume his/her responsibilities or until action is taken by the Board of Directors.
4.05: The Secretaries shall supervise the maintenance of the current files and records of the association and shall perform such additional duties as are incident to the office and any other duties the Board of Directors may assign. In the absence or disability of both the President and Vice President, one of the Secretaries shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the President until the President or the Vice President can resume his/her responsibilities or until action is taken by the Board. The Secretaries shall take and maintain an accurate record of minutes at and from each meeting of the Board and/or Executive Board.
4.06: The Treasurer shall have custody of the corporate funds and securities, and shall keep full and accurate accounts of the receipts and disbursements in association books and shall deposit in accordance with the directions of the Board of Directors. The Treasurer shall disburse the funds of the association in accordance with the directions of the Board of Directors upon receipt of proper forms for such disbursements, and shall render to the President and to the Board of Directors at its regular business meetings, or whenever the Board so requires, an account of all the transactions of the Treasurer related to the discharge of official duties of the office and a report of the financial condition of the association. The Treasurer shall perform such additional duties as are incidental to the office as well as any other duties the Board of Directors may assign.
Section 5. Positions
5.01: The Adviser Helpline Coordinator shall be responsible for fielding all requests for assistance from Illinois advisers regarding legal and/or ethical challenges said advisers may face, helping to facilitate assistance for the adviser and his/her program from the Student Press Law Center and/or Journalism Education Association Student Press Rights Commission as necessary. The email address of the Adviser Helpline Coordinator will be added to the list of recipients of all Adviser Helpline submissions from the IJEA website. Other recipients will include the JEA state director, IJEA executive director and IJEA contest committee chair. The coordinator will report to the President and prepare a report for all regular Board meetings.
5.02: The Liaison to the IHSA journalism advisory committee shall be responsible for attending the annual IHSA journalism advisory committee meeting in May at IHSA headquarters and will report the minutes of that meeting to the IJEA Board at its summer meeting.
Section 6. Committees
6.01: The President shall appoint an Awards Committee Chair at each summer meeting to oversee the nomination of individuals/organizations for IJEA and JEA awards. The Awards Committee Chair may choose additional members of the awards committee who are members of IJEA in good standing at his/her discretion.
6.02: Other special committees may be appointed by the President to perform such duties as may be delegated by the President at his or her discretion. Such committees shall be directly responsible to the President and do not require approval of the Board of Directors. The President shall select the committee chair and may select committee members or delegate the responsibility to the chair.
Section 7. Meetings
7.01: The Board of Directors shall meet at least three times per year; a fall meeting will be held during the IJEA fall conference, a winter meeting will be held in February or March and a summer meeting will be held prior to the IJEA summer luncheon.
7.02: Meetings of a committee may be called when needed by the chairperson of said committee.
7.03: Notice of meetings will be emailed to members and posted to the IJEA website and social media accounts.
7.04: All regular members of the association and any interested persons may attend the Board meetings and be recognized by the chair.
7.05: Meetings of the Board of Directors are to be conducted as provided in Section 3.
7.06: The Executive Board and Executive Director will meet at least twice annually, in summer and winter. Additional Executive Board meetings may be called by the Executive Director and/or any officer, with the approval of a majority of the Executive Board. Meetings may be conducted via telephone or the Internet. Other Board members may be invited to attend Executive Board meetings at the discretion of the President.
Section 8. Elections
8.01: As specified in Section 3, certain Directors shall be elected from specific regions of the state for a three-year term. Members are considered to belong to the region in which their school or employer is located. Regional Directors must work in the region from which they are elected.
8.02: By March 1 of each year, the Vice President will email the membership and will post to the IJEA website/social media accounts a call for nominees to fill Executive Board positions and any directorships that will expire in June of each year. By March 15, the Vice President will report a list of all nominees received to the Executive Director
8.03: The Executive Director will prepare an electronic ballot to be sent out to all members of each region on March 22. Members will have two weeks (until April 5) to cast their ballots. On April 5, the Executive Director will announce the winners via email, the IJEA website and social media. Those elected will begin their terms at the conclusion of the June board meeting.
8.04: By April 15 of each year, the Vice President will email the membership and will post to the IJEA website/social media accounts a call for nominees to run for officer positions that will expire in June. By May 1, the Vice President will report a list of all nominees received to the Executive Director. The Executive Director will post the nominees for each office to the IJEA website/social media accounts.
8.05: At the summer meeting of the Board of Directors, the current President will call the meeting to order, leading the meeting through old business. At the conclusion of all old business, the President will give the Executive Director the chair for the purpose of conducting officer elections. The Executive Director will present the list of Executive Board nominees to the Board. Each Board member present at the summer meeting, plus each IJEA member in good standing present, will have one vote. Board members present at the meeting, plus each IJEA member in good standing present, will cast their votes electronically, using their own smartphone, tablet or laptop computer so as to preserve the anonymity of the ballots cast. A majority of all votes cast shall be necessary to constitute election. In the case of a tie, the winner will be determined by coin toss conducted by the Executive Director.
8.06: Upon the conclusion of the election of Executive Board members, the Executive Director will give the newly elected President the chair for the purpose of conducting any new business at the summer Board meeting.
Section 9. Annual Membership Fee
9.01: The Board of Directors shall review the annual dues payable to the association each year at its summer meeting.
9.02: Advisers who join IJEA so their students may compete in a contest must pay their dues no later than seven calendar days before the contest deadline.
Section 10. Fiscal Year
10.01: The fiscal year of the association shall begin on the first day of July and end on the last day of June each year.
10.02: The membership year of the association shall begin on the first day of July and end on the last day of June each year.
Section 11. IJEA Bank Account and Expenditures
11.01: Signatories to the IJEA bank account will be the Executive Director, President, Treasurer and at least one additional officer.
11.02: If a majority of the officers agree, the Executive Board may authorize the Treasurer to write checks for expenses up to $300.
11.02: Expenditures greater than $300 must be approved by a majority vote of the full Board.
11.03 The President may call for votes on expenditures and Board members may vote on expenditures through e-mail.
Section 12. Rules of Order
12.01: The rules contained in Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern the association in all cases to which they are applicable or in which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws.
Section 13. Bylaw Amendments
13.01: These bylaws may be amended or new bylaws may be adopted by a majority vote of the Board of Directors at any regular or special meeting of the Board, provided that at least ten (10) days written notice is given to the Board of specifically worded changes desired. No action shall be taken that would in any way adversely affect the association’s qualifications under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code of 1954 or any successor thereto.
Section 14. Limitations
14.01: The association shall not engage in any activities that may afford pecuniary gain, incidentally or otherwise, to its members.
Section 15. General Provisions
15.01: In the event of a dissolution for any cause of the Illinois Journalism Education Association, all monies and securities which may at the time be owned or under the absolute control of the Illinois Journalism Education Association shall be donated to the national Journalism Education Association to be used as its Board of Directors sees fit to enhance its stated purposes.