Kansas City Area Archivists
Constitution and Bylaws

Constitution

I.          Name

The name of the organization shall be the Kansas City Area Archivists (KCAA).

II.        Purpose

The Kansas City Area Archivists is established:

a.   to provide a means for those employed in archives and manuscript repositories to work together to promote the appreciation and preservation of their mutual resources;

b.   to improve standards of professional competence for the archival repositories;

c.   to pursue productive cooperation with professionals in related disciplines such as historians, librarians, records managers and museum curators;

d.   to coordinate and encourage consultations among members in the acquisition of materials and in the exchange of information regarding collecting scopes;

e.   to encourage members to belong to professional organizations and to adhere to professional standards.

III.       Membership

Membership in the organization shall be open to individuals and institutions supporting the work and purposes of the organization.

IV.       Officers

The officers of the organization shall be two co-chairpersons and a secretary and a treasurer.  The secretary and treasurer shall be the ultimate authority in all procedural and fiscal matters of the organization.

The officers and committee chairs shall together constitute the Board of Directors for the organization.

V.        Meetings

The organization shall hold two regular meetings annually, and any special meetings as desirable.

The business of the organization shall be conducted from January 1 to December 31.

The meeting falling nearest the beginning of the calendar year will be considered the annual membership meeting.

A quorum will be defined as those members in good standing present at a meeting.

VI.       Records

The records of the organization shall be transferred for permanent preservation at appropriate yet regular intervals to the State Historical Society of Missouri (Kansas City) Manuscript Collection.

VII.     By-laws

The organization is authorized to adopt by-laws as necessary to facilitate the administrative functions of the Kansas City Area Archivists.  Every member can access a copy of the by-laws on the organization’s website.

VIII.    Dissolution

Upon the dissolution of the organization, the membership shall, after paying or making provisions for the payment of all the liabilities of the organization, dispose of all its assets.  These assets shall be turned over to the Midwest Archives Conference, or to one or more exempt not-for-profit local, regional or national organizations dedicated to the purposes stated in the Constitution of the Kansas City Area Archivists.

IX.       Amendments

Amendments to the Constitution shall be proposed in writing to the Board by any member, distributed to all members in a timely fashion by the Secretary in advance of a regular meeting, and voted upon at that regular meeting. The amendments will be passed by majority vote.

(As amended on March 3, 1989 and March 7, 2019)

BY-LAWS

I.       Officers

For the purposes of definition, the senior co-chairperson shall be designated as the president and the junior co-chairperson shall be designated as the vice-president of the organization.

A junior co-chairperson shall be elected for a two-year term for each position held, serving as vice-president for two years and president for two years consecutively. The incumbent vice-president will assume the role of president following expiration of the incumbent president’s term.

The secretary and treasurer shall be elected for two-year terms.

No officer can serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office, with senior and junior co-chairperson being considered the same office.

Any vacancy, for any reason, in an office except for the presidency shall be filled by an appointment of the president of a member of the organization in good standing. A vacancy of the office of the president will be filled by the incumbent vice-president. If unforeseen circumstances make such succession impossible, a special election shall be held to fill the vacancies.

II.        Duties of the Officers

The co-chairpersons shall plan, direct and coordinate the affairs of the organization, with guidance from the membership, and shall preside at all business meetings of the organization. The co-chairpersons are responsible for notifying members of meetings.

The secretary is responsible for keeping minutes of all meetings of the organization and making them available to the membership.  The secretary shall oversee the maintenance of the records of the organization until such time as they are turned over to the State Historical Society of Missouri (Kansas City) Manuscript Collection.

The treasurer shall have custody of all monies of the organization and pay it out only upon the authority of the co-chairpersons.  The treasurer shall collect the dues and keep an accurate account of finances and report them to membership at each regular meeting.  The annual fiscal report shall be presented to the membership at the first regular meeting of each calendar year.

III.      Elections

Officers must be individual members or institutional representatives in good standing. They shall be elected by a majority of those voting at the annual membership meeting or a concurrent election held by other means that ensures that all voting members have an equal chance to vote.

Officers shall assume the duties of office at the start of calendar year following the election.

Written notice of the slate developed by the Nominating Committee will be sent to all members at least 30 days prior to the election and members will be allowed 15 days from the date the written notice of the slate that was sent to make additional nominations. The slate of candidates shall be presented at the annual membership meeting at which point nominations from the floor may be made. If additional nominations are accepted by the Nominating Committee, they will be included on the final slate without an additional notification to the membership.

IV.      Committees

Co-chairpersons shall create committees and appoint their memberships as needed.

Committee chairs shall be elected for two-year terms.

No committee chair can serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office.

A Nominating Committee composed of three members in good standing, at least one of which is not a current officer, shall be appointed by the co-chairpersons at least 60 days prior to an election to prepare a slate of officers in line with the terms required by each office.

IV.       Dues

Annual dues shall be payable by January 1.  Individual member dues shall be $15.00 per year.  The base level for organizational member annual dues shall be $30.00.  Optional levels for organizational annual dues shall be:  $50.00 for a Sustaining Institution and $100.00 for a Supporting Institution.  Affiliates of Supporting Institutions may join as an individual member at $10.00.  Student member dues shall be $10.00.

V.        Amendments

Amendments to the by-laws shall be proposed in writing to the Board by any member, distributed to all members in a timely fashion by the Secretary in advance of a regular meeting, and voted upon at that regular meeting. The amendments will be passed by majority vote.