SIPA CONSTITUTION

Southern Interscholastic Press Association (SIPA - A Scholastic Media Organization)
Constitution

ARTICLE I - NAME
The name of this organization shall be the Southern Interscholastic Press Association and shall be referred to in this Constitution and By-Laws as SIPA.

ARTICLE II - PURPOSE
SIPA is a non-profit organization of public schools — including middle schools, junior high schools, and independent schools — whose purpose is to encourage a high degree of professionalism in scholastic journalism-mass communications endeavors. The Association is sponsored by and maintained at the School of Journalism and Mass Communications of the University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. Membership in the SIPA shall be open to schools with such journalistic activities as newspapers, yearbooks, newsmagazines, literary magazines and radio-television activities from any public school or independent school accredited by its State Department of Education.

Section 2. Membership shall be open and all shall be registered in the name of the individual medium (newspaper, yearbook, literary-folk-art magazine or broadcast unit).

Section 3. Membership shall be maintained by payment of the annual membership dues.

Section 4. A lifetime membership, dues from which go into the SIPA Endowment Fund, is available to advisers. Lifetime memberships are made in the name of advisers and may be transferred, should an adviser move from one institution to another.

Section 5. Student membership

ARTICLE IV - OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES
Section 1. Student Officers
Student Officers of the SIPA shall be a President, a Vice President and a Member-at-Large who shall be rising seniors. The student President and Vice President shall be referred to in this Constitution and By-Laws as President and Vice President.

Section 2. Adult Officers
a. The Director shall be the Director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications or his or her appointed representative.
b. The Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary shall be adult officers.
c. The Treasurer shall be the Director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications or his or her appointed representative.

Section 3. Committees
a. The Advisory Council shall be made up of no more than three advisers from any one state.
b. The Executive Committee shall be made up of the elected officers of the Advisory Council, and the immediate past Chairman, the President, the Vice President, the Member-at-Large and the Director of the SIPA. The Director may appoint members at large to the Executive Committee.

Section 4. The Nominating Committee shall be appointed by the SIPA director to present a slate of nominees to the Advisory Council for action.

Section 5. The Executive Committee shall be made up of the elected officers of the Advisory Council; the immediate past chairman; the student president, vice president and member-at-large and their advisers; and the SIPA director. The director may appoint members at large to the Executive Committee.

Section 6: The Executive Committee is empowered to conduct business as is necessary between annual meetings.

Section 7. The SIPA director, chairperson or president may appoint other committees with the approval of the Executive Committee.

ARTICLE V - VOTING
Section 1. Election of Student Officers
The President and Vice President and Member-at-Large must be from separate schools and shall be selected to one-year terms at the annual convention by a plurality of votes cast by the student representatives of those media in attendance. The student officers may appoint student committees from time to time.

Section 2. Adult Officers
The Chairman and Vice President and Secretary shall be elected by the Advisory Council. The Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary shall be elected to serve one-year terms and may succeed themselves one time.

Section 3. Director and Treasurer
The Director and Treasurer shall be the Director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications or appointed by same.

Section 4. The Advisory Council
The Advisory Council shall be elected in a meeting of the advisers at the annual convention by a plurality of votes of the advisers in attendance at the annual convention. Council members shall be elected from a slate of nominees presented to the advisers at the convention by a nominating committee to be appointed by the Executive Director of SIPA. Members may succeed themselves one time only before being off the council for at least one year. The President, Vice President and Member-at-large shall serve as members of the Advisory Council. The Executive Committee is empowered to conduct such business as is necessary between annual meetings. All other committees shall be appointed by the Director, Chairman or President with the approval of the Executive Committee.

ARTICLE V - VOTING, OFFICE TERMS
Section 1. The Advisory Council shall elect the chairperson, vice-chairperson and secretary. These officers shall be elected to serve one two-year term and may succeed themselves one time.

Section 2. The Advisory Council shall be elected by a plurality of votes in a meeting of the advisers present at the annual convention. Council members shall be elected from a slate of nominees presented to the advisers by a nominating committee. Members shall be elected to serve a two-year term. Members may succeed themselves only one time before rotating off the Council for at least one year.

ARTICLE VI - MEETINGS
Section 1. The SIPA shall hold an annual convention at the University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications or other suitable location. The convention dates and location shall be set by the Director of SIPA with the approval of the Executive Committee.

Section 2. The Executive Committee shall meet at the annual convention. The Chairman and/or Executive Director may call for additional meetings of the Executive Committee. The date and place of such meetings shall be at the discretion of the Executive Director.

Section 3. Advisers shall meet during the annual convention.

Section 4. The Advisory Council shall meet under the annual convention.

ARTICLE VII - RULES
The rules contained in Robert's Rules of Order, Revised, shall govern the association in all cases to which they are applicable, and in which they are not inconsistent with the Constitution and By-Laws of the Association.

ARTICLE VIII - AMENDMENTS
The Constitution and By-Laws may be amended or revised in the annual convention upon two-months’ previous notice of the proposed changes to the Executive Committee. A proposed constitutional change must receive a two-thirds’ vote of the designated representatives present to become effective. The By-Laws may be amended by a simple majority of the designated representatives present.

ARTICLE IX - RATIFICATION
This SIPA Constitution and By-Laws, ratified at the 1974 annual convention, may be amended as cited in Article VIII.
Adopted, February 28. 1974
Amended, April 8, 1976
Amended, March 7, 1986
Revised, September 6, 1997

Southern Interscholastic Press Association By-Laws

NUMBER I - FISCAL
Section 1. The fiscal year of the SIPA shall be from July 1 through June 30.

Section 2. Annual membership dues shall be determined by the Executive Director of the SIPA and the Executive Committee.

Section 3. All convention registration fees and expenses shall be borne by the delegates and advisers.

Section 4. The expenditure of funds shall be made at the discretion of the Director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina or his appointed representative, on consultation with the Executive Committee.

NUMBER II - OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES
Section 1. Student Officers
The duties of the President shall be to preside at sessions of the annual convention, to serve as a member of the Executive Committee and to provide liaison between the students and the Advisory Council. The President, in collaboration with the Vice President and the Executive Committee, shall appoint a student Editor for the SIPA Convention newspaper. The Vice President. The Vice President shall preside in the absence of the President and shall provide liaison between the students and the Advisory Council. The Member-at-Large shall attend meetings of the Executive Committee and shall provide liaison between the students and the Advisory Council.

Section 2. Adult Officers
a. The duties of the Executive Director of SIPA shall be to coordinate all activities of the organization. The Director shall report to and confer with the Executive Committee in matters requiring their approval and seek advice and counsel from them.
b. The duties of the Chairman shall be to plan with the Advisory Council and Executive Committee and to assist and consult the Director on all matters pertaining to the total program of SIPA. The Chairman shall preside at meetings of both the Executive Committee and Advisory Council.
c. The duties of the Vice Chairman shall be to serve in the capacity of the Council Chairman, should the Chairman be unable to fulfill his/her duties, and otherwise assist in promoting the activities of the association.
d. The duties of the Secretary shall be to carry out assignments from the Chairman and Director, to attend and take minutes at the Executive Committee, Advisory Council and advisers meetings and to dispatch such correspondence as necessary.
e. The duties of the Treasurer shall be to handle the fiscal activities of the SIPA.

Section 3. Committees
a. The Advisory Committee shall discuss activities and problems of the Association and annual convention to offer suggestions/assistance to the Executive Committee. The Council shall elect the chairperson, vice chairperson and secretary.
b. The Executive Committee shall plan the annual conventions, set guidelines for judging of activities, and act upon matters brought to the attention of the committee by the Council.

ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION
Adopted February 5, 1990
a. The purposes for which the SIPA is organized are exclusively charitable, scientific, literary and educational within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or the corresponding provision of any future United States law.
b. Notwithstanding any other provision of these articles, this organization shall not carry on any activities not permitted to be carried on by an organization exempt from Federal income tax under section 501(c)((3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue law.
c. In the event of dissolution, the residual assets of the organization will be turned over to one or more organizations, which themselves are exempt as organizations described in sections 501(c)(3) and 170(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or corresponding sections of any prior or future Internal Revenue Code, or to the Federal, state or local government for exclusive public purpose.