[ Home ] [ Bylaws ] [ Members ] [ ME Banquet ] [ IMEEN ] [ Banquet Voting ] [ Join F99 MESAB ]

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

STUDENT ADVISORY BOARD

BYLAWS

(April 1997)

I. Mission

The mission of the Mechanical Engineering Student Advisory Board (MESAB) is to benefit the Department by facilitating communication between students and faculty. This benefit will be made through efforts by MESAB to pro-actively represent the best interests of the students to the department administration and to disseminate information from the department administration to the students. The Board will work to inform the students and faculty of each others' view points and interests and to maintain an atmosphere in which the anonymous, free flowing exchange of ideas to and from both groups may occur.

II. Objectives

The Mission of MESAB will be pursued through the attainment of objectives. These objectives will be kept by the

Board in t list included at the end of these bylaws.

III. Membership

MESAB shall have a maximum of ~2 members and shall seek to represent all undergraduate and graduate mechanical engineering students within the Department. The Board will make efforts to include students of different age, race, and sex. The Board will strive to maintain continuity in its membership so that the institutional knowledge of the Board will be maintained.

 

Student Organization Representatives (4)

The mechanical engineering student organizations within the Department (SAE, ASME, ASHRAE, and Pi Tau Sigma) will be asked to appoint one member each of their executive council to serve on the Board. These members will be named at the end of each fall semester to serve during the following spring and fall semesters. If a student organization chooses not to seat someone on the Board that organization's Board position will remain unfilled.

Graduate Students (2)

The Director of the Department's graduate program will appoint two graduate students to serve on the Board. One student will be appointed at the end of the spring semester to serve during the following fall and spring semesters. The other will be appointed at the end of the fall semester to serve during the following spring and fall semesters.

DEO Appointees (2)

The Mechanical Engineering Department Executive Officer (DEO) will appoint two undergraduate students to serve on the Board. One student will be appointed at the end of the spring semester to serve during the following fall and spring semesters. The other will be appointed at the end of the fall semester to serve during the following spring and fall semesters.

At-Large Members (4)

Four members of the Board will be At-Large members. Undergraduate students will be considered for these positions by completing an application. The application will consist of, at minimum, the question "Why do you want to serve on MESAB?" In order to best represent the undergraduate students in the Department, applications will be obtained from the following sources: a) applications will be sent to ~ random students in each of the following classifications: second year, third year, fourth + year; b) the Board will actively seek out and send applications to students nominated by Department faculty; and c) applications will be made available to all undergraduate students via the departmental office. At-Large members will be selected from all completed applications through a random selection process. This process will be carried out by the Board by the end of the spring semester. All At-Large members will serve during the following fall and spring semesters.

If any Board member position becomes vacant, it shall be filled at the earliest possible convenience by the same process in which the original member was selected. The replacement member will carry out the remainder of the original member's term. A vacancy shall be defined as three consecutive, unexcused absences from scheduled hoard meetings.

The DEO shall serve as an ex-officio member of the Board.

 

IV. Officers & Organization

The officers of the Board shall consist of a Chair, Vice Chair and a Secretary. They shall be elected from the membership of the Board. Officers are chosen without regard for their normal period of service on the Board. Officer elections will be held when a vacancy occurs.

The Chair shall preside over meetings of the Board and provide leadership in achieving the Board's objectives. The Vice Chair shall preside over Board meetings in the absence of the Chair. If neither can attend, the Chair may designate another Board member to serve in this capacity. The Secretary will be responsible for keeping accurate minutes of all meetings and distributing them to all Board members prior to the next scheduled meeting.

The office of the DEO shall serve as the secretariat for the Board. The secretariat shall provide nominal funding and services for the Board's activities.

V. Meetings

The Board shall meet at least once a month. Special meetings of the Board may be convened by either the Chair or the DEO. The members of the Board shall meet at least once per semester with the Department faculty and at least once per semester with the Mechanical Engineering Advisory Council.

The Chair, in consultation with the DEO, shall set meeting dates for the Board, with considerations made to the schedules of the Board members. The Chair shall set the agenda. make arrangements for the meeting, and inform the Board members about the meeting.

The presence at a meeting of a majority of the members shall constitute a quorum.

 

VI. Bylaw Revision

Revision to the bylaws can be proposed by any Board member and by the DEO. Proposed revisions must be distributed in writing to all members of the Board at least two days prior to the meeting at which action will be taken. A two-thirds majority of all members present is required for approval.

approved:	01/30/97	MESAB Task Force
	01/30/97	ME DEO
	02/06/97	ME Dept. Faculty
	04/13/97	MESAB
revision:	04/13/97	MESAB