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Sigma Gamma Tau
MIT Chapter By-laws
ARTICLE I
AIMS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE CHAPTER
The aim of the chapter is to serve the Aeronautics and Astronautics community at MIT
and provide a way to recognize the students and faculty who have made significant
contributions to the department.
ARTICLE II
CHAPTER GOVERNMENT
The Chapter will be governed by an executive council constituted of a total of five
officers: the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary, the Treasurer and the Graduate
Representative. The Faculty Advisor may also sit on the executive council, as needed.
Section 1: Chapter President
a. The President is to conduct and oversee the general operation of the entire
Chapter, following the Constitution1 and all its provisions.
b. Another duty is to be thoroughly familiar with the duties of the other officers
and the means for carrying these out, as well as the duties of appointed
committees and individuals.
c. The President must see to it that all the requirements and suggestions of the
convention are carried out or discussed and that the chapter in all ways
complies with the standard methods set up to conduct business. In addition,
the President must see that necessary proposals, petitions, etc., be submitted to
the National Secretary-Treasurer in ample time.
d. The President is to consider and present, to the Chapter, projects which may
be carried out by the Chapter, as well as to initiate inter-chapter cooperation in
the matter of suggestions that may prove helpful, programs for special events
sponsored by the Chapters or by the local AIAA chapter, etc. Further, an
attempt should be made to cooperate with AIAA in any way possible since, in
all probability, the members of the Sigma Gamma Tau Chapter will be the
nucleus for the AIAA chapter.
Section 2: Chapter Vice-President
a. Chapter History: the Vice President will write, and keep up to date, the
history of the Chapter including meeting minutes.
b. Chapter Publicity: the Vice President shall actively direct all Chapter
publicity either by writing all news stories, notices, etc., personally, or
supervising and checking the work done by a member of the chapter
appointed by the President to do this.
All mentions of “Constitution”, convention , or general/standard practice refer to those of the National
Sigma Gamma Tau as can be found at the National SGT Website: http://www.aoe.vt.edu/organizations/sgt/.
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c. National Aims: the Vice President shall act as director of the activities of the
Chapter as regards national aims (see minutes of the first convention). The
Chapter should make every effort to work out ways and means by which these
are put into effect at the earliest possible moment. Only through the
establishment of these aims on a national scale can Sigma Gamma Tau hope
to achieve wide recognition and to be considered as a "doer of deeds" and not
merely an organization for passively honoring excellent students. It is the
responsibility of each member, as an outstanding person in his group, to help
foster and nurture these aims.
d. In Absentia: the Vice President will take over the duties of the President in
the event of the President's absence. Further, the Vice President will be
thoroughly familiar with the duties of the Secretary and Treasurer and with the
means for carrying out these duties.
e. Criticism and Suggestions: turn over to the Secretary whatever criticisms of
the methods of operation, etc., or whatever difficulties are observed in
conducting business, and whatever methods may be devised or suggested to
overcome these difficulties.
Section 3: Chapter Secretary
a. Correspondence: the Secretary will initiate or answer all general
correspondence for the chapter. All correspondence will be made out in
duplicate, the copy kept for the chapter files.
b. Filing: the Secretary will be responsible for all of the permanent papers and
records of the chapter. After each meeting the Secretary will collect from the
various officers and committees whatever material is no longer immediately
needed to conduct business and all duplicate copies of special correspondence
written by these officers or committees and place them in the permanent file.
c. Roll Call: the Secretary will keep the active chapter roll up to date and keep
this together with the attendance record in a notebook.
d. Permanent Record Cards: the National Headquarters will supply each
chapter with permanent record cards. These cards are to be filled out in
duplicate by each new initiate at the time of initiation. One copy is retained
for permanent chapter files, the other is to be forwarded to the National
Headquarters.
e. Committees: the Secretary will keep a separate record of all committees
appointed and their members.
f. Criticism and Suggestions: the Secretary will keep a separate place in which
to record whatever difficulties are encountered in operating the chapter and
whatever methods may be devised or suggested to overcome these difficulties.
Section 4: Chapter Treasurer
a. Records: the Treasurer will keep records of all monies received, deposits
made, bills paid, etc., and have books balanced so that a report can be given at
each chapter meeting. Statements as to the condition of the Chapter's account
should be obtained at least every 60 days. All statements, canceled checks,
bills, etc., should be in order before turning books over for inspection by
school authorities and/or faculty advisor. This inspection should take place
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before each newly elected Treasurer takes office. Books should be signed by
auditor verifying accuracy before each new Treasurer takes office.
b. Collection of Money: the Treasurer will collect fees from new initiates upon
or immediately after initiation. Receipts should be issued and a record kept of
all money collected.
c. Ordering Material: the Treasurer will order keys and certificates desired
from National Headquarters for new initiates. Include an accurate list of
names for printing certificates and also the date of initiation. Make out an
order in duplicate and keep a copy for Chapter file. Enclose with order, a
check for the amount (as prescribed by the annual convention) due for each
initiate.
d. Check Writing: the Treasurer is responsible for writing all checks pertaining
to Chapter business. Checks should be made out carefully following the
prescribed form and having proper signatures. It is very important to avoid
any "insufficient funds" checks.
Section 5: Faculty Advisor and Graduate Representative
a. The role of the faculty advisor will be to guide the chapter and help it in achieving
its aims within the department.
b. A graduate student will also be elected to represent the graduate student members
within the executive council of the chapter.
c. The graduate representative will be elected only by the graduate members and its
duty will be to facilitate communication between the executive council and the
graduate students.
d. Chapter members that will be graduate students in the following academic year
are eligible to be the graduate representative.
Section 6: Election of Officers
a. Officers will be elected during end-of-year chapter meetings, which will take
place in May of each year.
b. All members have a right for one vote at each round of a particular election, i.e.
the election of a particular officer.
c. Candidates for a particular position will not be able to vote at the time of that
particular election, but will be able to vote for the other positions for which they
are not running.
d. Candidates will each have a chance to present their platform before the chapter
members before the election.
e. Officers will be elected by plurality in the vote count.
f. All members who will remain undergraduate students in the following academic
year are eligible to be officers.
ARTICLE III
MEETINGS AND ORDER OF BUSINESS
Section 1: Meetings
a. Business meetings will be held twice a scholastic year.
b. Membership election meetings will be held once a year in April and will be
followed by an initiation ceremony.
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c. Other meetings can be called by the executive council, the faculty advisor or other
chapter committees.
Section 2: Order of business
a. The executive council will draft an order of business before each of the business
meetings as well as other meetings called by any of the active officers.
b. Committees calling meetings will need to submit an order of business to the
executive council for approval prior to the meeting date.
c. The executive council will review all orders of business and reserves the right to
require changes, if necessary.
ARTICLE IV
CHAPTER FINANCES
Chapter finances will be handled by the treasurer and revised periodically by the
executive council.
ARTICLE V
COMMITTEES
Committees will be created by the executive council to perform specific activities.
During the time period necessary to complete their tasks, all business concerning the
specific activity will go through a committee, who will organize and coordinate this
activity as well as report progress and possible problems to the executive council.
ARTICLE VI
ELIGIBILITY STANDARD FOR MEMBERSHIP
Section 1: Grades of Membership
There will be a single grade of membership in the Society--that of Member.
Section 2: Eligibility Criteria
a. Students must be degree candidates directly associated with aerospace
engineering who are eligible for membership and elected by the current Members
of the student chapter. Eligibility requirements are discussed in Section 3.
b. Additionally, individuals active in the aeronautics and astronautics profession
may be considered for membership. An individual, to be considered eligible for
membership, must either 1) have made worthy contributions toward the
advancement of the aerospace engineering profession, 2) be a teacher of
aerospace or related subjects, or 3) have made such a significant contribution to
science that s/he or she may be deemed worthy of membership in the Society.
Section 3: Qualifications for Membership
a. Undergraduate Students
1. To be considered for membership, students must have completed at least three
semesters of their college curriculum and have been a resident for a minimum of
two semesters at the time of their candidacy for membership.
2. Juniors must meet a cumulative GPA of 4.7 or better. Seniors must meet a
cumulative GPA of 4.6 or better. This is to be checked annually with the national
requirement that students must be in the upper one-third of their senior or upper
one-fourth of their junior aerospace engineering class. Sophomores are not
eligible for membership. Individuals who have a scholastic standing slightly
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below that specified, but who are exceptionally qualified in other respects, may be
elected by the unanimous vote of the current undergraduate members.
3. Higher scholastic standards than those specified here may be established with
the unanimous consent of current members. The standards can never be lower
than those specified by the National Sigma Gamma Tau organization.
4. Candidates for membership must have shown, in addition to scholarship,
qualities of high moral character, an active interest in aeronautics and
astronautics, and an interest in the Society.
b. Graduate Aerospace Engineering Students: Graduate students must maintain
graduate standing satisfactory to the institution. They must have been residents for
a minimum of one semester or two quarters at the school and have completed at
least two-fifths of the credits required for the graduate degree toward which they
are working at the time of their candidacy for membership. Voting will be as
specified in Article VII, Section 3.
c. Individuals covered by Article VI, Section 2b.
1. Nomination shall be made by a member who is not an undergraduate student.
2. Nomination will be submitted to the Executive Council in writing.
3. The Executive Council will consider and act upon the nomination and notify
the nominator of the action taken.
4. After approval of nomination, membership in the Society will be contingent
upon the nominee accepting the nomination and the standard election procedure
described in Article VII of this document. Individuals so selected will not acquire
membership in any specific chapter.
Section 4: Member Duties
1. All members are expected to attend all formal meetings as part of the rights and
responsibilities associated with membership. Failure to attend a majority of
meetings without the excusal of the executive officers can result in termination of
membership as determined by a unanimous vote of the officers.
2. Participation in any official SGT activities, either of a social or service nature,
is strongly encouraged but not required for membership.
ARTICLE VII
NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF MEMBERS
Section 1: Election of New Members
a. Nominations and elections for new members must take place at least once
annually, but not more than three times during the academic year
b. New members will be initiated in a ceremony following the elections.
c. Quorum for elections is three-quaters of the current undergraduate membership
though all members are expected to attend.
Section 2: Voting on Undergraduate Candidates for Membership
a. The President of the chapter will conduct the elections.
b. All votes will remain secret.
c. Voting on candidates for undergraduate membership will be done only by current
undergraduate members.
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d. A three-fourths vote of the members present is required for the election of senior
students and a four-fifths vote is required for election of junior and sophomore
students.
e. The voting may be conducted in up to three ballots with one ballot being cast for
each candidate before a second ballot on any candidate may be taken. The
purpose of a second ballot is to allow discussion and reconsideration of a
candidate that was not selected in the first ballot. A second ballot will be taken
only on those individuals who fail to initially receive the requisite number of
votes. This process may be repeated once more for a total of three possible ballots
per candidate. The voting on the first two ballots may be yes, no or undecided, but
on the final ballot there will be no undecided votes or abstentions. Discussions
should precede each ballot. If no current member present is willing to defend the
candidacy of the subject of the ballot, no secondary or tertiary ballots will be cast
for that candidate.
Section 3: Voting on Graduate Student Candidates for Membership
The procedure for voting on graduate student candidates is the same as outlined in Article
VII, Section 2, except that both undergraduate and graduate members will participate in
the voting. A three-fourths vote is required.
ARTICLE VIII
AMENDMENTS
Amendments and modifications of these by-laws can be done through a vote during
business meetings, restricted to chapter members. Amendments must be presented to the
Executive Board for review two weeks prior to the next business meeting. If approved,
the Executive Board will then present the amendments to the current members. The
author(s) of the amendments may be asked to revise them prior to presentation to the
members. Acceptance of an amendment and its inclusion in this document will be the
result of a 2/3 vote by all (undergraduate and graduate) members present at the business
meeting. Explanation of the amendment by its authors and debate of the amendment will
precede the vote.