Elections

Nominations and Elections

The nomination and election process as directed in TSPRA’s Bylaws and Standing Rules

Requirements for Nominees

Duties of Officers

Nomination and Election Rules

According to TSPRA’s Bylaws and Standing Rules…

  • [Bylaws Article V]

The officers of TSPRA shall be a President, a President-Elect, Immediate Past President, nine area vice Presidents, and three at-large vice presidents. A parliamentarian shall be appointed by the President with the approval of the Executive Committee.

  • [Bylaws Article VII]

The governing body of TSPRA shall be the Executive Committee. It shall consist of the officers listed in Article V. The Executive Director and a parliamentarian shall serve as ex officio members of the Executive Committee without the right to vote.

  • [Standing Rules Article II.5]

Nominating Committee – shall select a slate of candidates for President-Elect, nine area vice presidents, and three at-large vice Presidents.

(i)     Membership: The Nominating Committee shall consist of the current President-Elect plus one representative from each of the nine vice presidential areas, as well as one representative appointed by each of the at-large vice presidents. The Executive Director shall serve as an ex officio member without the right to vote.

(ii)    Selection: Each area vice president shall oversee selection of a regional representative and an alternate to serve on the Nominating Committee. At-large vice presidents will also oversee selection of a representative and alternate to serve on the committee. The alternate shall serve in the event that the representative is prevented from serving.

(iii)   Eligibility: Members of the Nominating Committee must be professional members of TSPRA in good standing.

(iv)   Duties: Prior to September 1, the Executive Committee will direct the President-Elect to disseminate inquiry forms to all members, soliciting their willingness to serve as officers and/or express his/her interest in serving on the association’s committees. Members will also be requested to suggest names of other members who might serve capably in association offices and/or on committees. By the first week of September, the President-Elect will notify the Nominating Committee of its charge and provide the committee with instructions and information.

The Nominating Committee shall meet in conjunction with the fall TSPRA Executive Committee Meeting. The President-Elect shall serve as chairperson of the committee. In the event the President-Elect is unable to chair the committee meeting, the committee shall elect a chairperson. The committee should slate one or more candidates for each officer position. A slate of officer candidates will be named by the committee. Space for write-in candidates will be provided on the ballot.

  • [Standing Rules Article IV]

Officers shall be elected by either electronic or mail ballot annually. The offices appearing on the ballot will include:

    • President-Elect – the term of the President-Elect shall be for three years to include President-Elect, President, and Immediate Past-President.
    • Vice President – the term is for two years and is to be served as a staggered term so half the vice presidents are elected annually.

The names of the newly elected officers shall be reported to the National School Public Relations Association by TSPRA’s Executive Director.

No elected officer shall serve in the same capacity for more than two consecutive terms. The term of office for all officers shall begin at the conclusion of the annual state conference.

1.   Eligibility – candidates for TSPRA offices must be a professional member in good standing in the Texas School Public Relations Association and are encouraged to hold professional membership in the National School Public Relations Association; the President, President-Elect, Immediate Past President and the Executive Director are required to be members of the National School Public Relations Association. Candidates for President and President-Elect shall have served as chairperson on one or more of the standing committees and/or as one of the twelve vice presidents prior to candidacy. They must, in the opinion of the Nominating Committee, have exhibited leadership characteristics in their performance as such.

2.   Duties of Officers

(i)   President – shall preside at TSPRA Executive Committee and General Membership meetings; shall appoint the chairpersons of all standing committees, except the Nominating Committee and Executive Director’s Evaluation Committee and shall approve the selection of committee members made by the chairpersons. The President shall oversee the development of the budget for the fiscal year in which he/she serves as President.

(ii)  President-Elect – shall preside at meetings in the absence of the President; shall assist in the preparation of a budget prior to the first Executive Committee meeting of the fiscal year he/she becomes President; and shall serve as chairperson of the Strategic Planning Committee, Executive Director’s Evaluation Committee and the Nominating Committee.

(iii) Twelve Vice Presidents – Nine area vice presidents and, three at-large vice presidents shall be elected by the membership. Each area shall have no more than two vice presidents. Area vice presidents shall reside in the area represented. One each of the area vice presidents shall represent the Gulf Coast Area, Houston/Beaumont Area, East Texas Area, North Central Area, Austin Area, San Antonio Area, West Central Area, Northwest Texas Area and Far West Area. They shall coordinate membership drives in their representative areas, provide assistance to members and prospective members in their representative areas and shall preside at area/regional meetings. The area vice presidents shall provide written reports of area activities to the Executive Director and President prior to each Executive Committee meeting and shall communicate formally by print, electronic, audio or video media on at least a quarterly basis with their regional membership. An area vice president’s service area is composed of one or more Educational Service Center (ESC) Regions. These areas are composed as follows: Gulf Coast Area – ESC Regions 1, 2 and 3; Houston/Beaumont Area ¬ESC Regions 4 and 5; East Texas Area -ESC Regions 6, 7 and 8; North Central Area – ESC Regions 9, 10 and 11; Central Area – ESC  Region 13;  San Antonio Area – ESC  Region 20;  West Central Area – ESC Regions 12, 14 and 15; Northwest Texas Area – ESC Regions 16 and 17;  Far West Area – ESC Regions 18 and 19.

The three at-large vice presidents shall represent all members and shall serve staggered terms. At-large vice presidents represent specific areas of expertise within the organization as designated by the strategic plan and shall coordinate membership drives among their representative areas of expertise, provide assistance to members and prospective members in their representative areas of expertise and provide written reports of activities to the Executive Director and President prior to each Executive Committee meeting and shall communicate formally by print, electronic, audio or video media on at least a quarterly basis with their respective membership. All vice presidents shall also be responsible for other duties as assigned by the President, President-Elect or the Immediate Past President.

(iv)  Immediate Past President – shall serve as a member of the Executive Committee, if they remain employed full-time in public school public relations, and serve on the Strategic Planning Committee, Executive Director’s Evaluation Committee, Conference Planning Committee and assist with the development of the budget for the year following their term of office as President.

(v)   Parliamentarian – shall be selected by the President and approved by the Executive Committee. The parliamentarian shall determine that all meetings are conducted according to the established rules of procedure, take minutes at all general membership and Executive Committee meetings and shall serve as an ex officio member of the Executive Committee. Production, distribution and housing of all TSPRA records are the responsibilities of the Executive Director.

(vi)  Zone coordinators – may be appointed by area vice presidents, with the approval of the Executive Committee, to provide direct assistance to a subsection of a vice presidential area. A zone coordinator would perform membership service functions as assigned by an area vice president. A zone coordinator shall be directly responsible to his/her vice president for all assignments. A zone coordinator shall serve for one year and may be reappointed for an additional year.

3. Vacancies – in the event of a vacancy in any office other than those of President or President-Elect, the Executive Committee shall fill the office for the unexpired term. In the event of a vacancy of the office of President, the President-Elect shall succeed at once to the office of President. The Executive Director shall immediately canvass the membership for nominations for President-Elect and conduct an election to fill the unexpired term and to succeed to the presidency as prescribed by the Bylaws and Standing Rules of the association. Should the President-Elect resign prior to assuming the office of President, the Executive Director shall follow the same procedures for filling the position of President-Elect.

Should the office of President become vacant at the same time that the office of President-elect is vacant, the Executive Director shall immediately canvass the vice presidents for nominations for President and President-Elect and conduct an election to fill the unexpired terms and one full term.

4. Removal from Office – The Executive Committee, by majority vote, may remove any officer from office for failure to perform assigned duties or corruption. Additionally, failure to attend two meetings each year, failure to meet eligibility requirements or any act which brings dishonor on the chapter may result in removal from office. The removal shall take place only after due process procedures have been carried out.

  • [Standing Rules Article VIII]  Election of Officers

The election of officers shall be conducted annually by ballot prepared by the Executive Director upon receipt of the Nominating Committee report and mailed, either electronically or first class, no later than November 10, to professional members.

Marked ballots shall be returned to the Executive Director prior to December 15, shall be read by tellers who are members and who are appointed by the President, subject to the approval of the Executive Committee.

A plurality of ballots cast shall determine the duly elected officer. In case of a tie, the Executive Committee shall determine the elected officer.

The general membership shall be notified of the election results in the TSPRA newsletter, and the new officers shall be installed in office at the TSPRA conference.