Section 2: Explosives engineering is defined as that area of engineering practice
where judgement and experience are utilized in the safe application of.
SOCIETY OF EXPLOSIVES ENGINEERS POTOMAC CHAPTER CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS Article I: Name and Definition Section 1:
The name of this organization is the Society of Explosives Engineers, Potomac Chapter
Section 2:
Explosives engineering is defined as that area of engineering practice where judgement and experience are utilized in the safe application of scientific principles and technique as it pertains to construction, vibration control, drilling and blasting, and the use and handling of explosives in general.
Article II: Objectives Section 1:
To advance the science, art, and safety of explosives engineering.
Section 2:
To provide forums and media through which experiences with the principles and techniques of explosive engineering may be reported, discussed, and published in the furtherance of the general benefit.
Section 3:
To serve the states included in our Chapter as a body of specialists composed of all segments of the explosive industry readily available to give services in the matters which affect the manufacture, transportation, storage, and use of explosives and related equipment.
Section 4:
Section 5:
Section 6:
To promote standardization of terminology in explosive engineering, and so far as it is practical, develop standard methods. To cooperate with other local chapters of national organizations and local, county, and state government agencies having common or related objectives in furthering the knowledge of safe transportation, storage, and use of explosives. To promote the National Organization of the Society of Explosives Engineering.
Article III: Membership Section 1:
The membership shall consist of Members, Corporate Members, Associate Members, Student Members, Emeritus Members, and Life Members.
Section 2:
Admission to membership shall be upon approval of application duly made and in accordance with procedures established by the Board of Directors (Board) and embodied in the By-Laws.
Section 3:
An eligible member shall be any individual who is presently engaged in or has been engaged in explosives engineering as defined in Article 1, Section 2. Any member in good standing has the privilege of holding elective office, voting for Officers and Directors, and voting on changes to the Constitution and By-Laws.
Section 4:
An Associate Member shall be any individual who is interested in explosives engineering, but who is not otherwise qualified to be a member. An Associate Member has all the privileges and prerogatives of a member except that he cannot hold elective office or vote on changes to the Constitution and By-Laws.
Section 5:
A Student Member shall be a science or engineering student regularly enrolled in a college or university. A Student Member has no voting privileges and cannot hold elective office.
Section 6:
Emeritus Membership may be granted after review by the Membership Committee and subject to approval by the Board of Directors, to members who have reached 65 years of age and have retired from active business or have become incapacitated and have made a significant contribution to the profession and the Potomac Chapter of the S. E. E. Active membership shall be defined for the purpose of this section to mean any member in good standing in the Society. Emeritus Members shall not be subject to dues or assessments and shall enjoy all the privileges of active members.
Section 7:
Life Membership may be granted by the Board. Life Members shall not be subject to dues or assessments and shall enjoy all the privileges of active members including voting and holding elective office.
Section 8:
All applications for membership shall be accompanied by remittance of the annual dues to the Treasurer of this Chapter.
Section 9:
Members who fail to pay their dues within sixty (60) days after statements are rendered are automatically transferred to inactive status and lose all rights and privileges of membership.
Section 10: A Student Member may retain that status until the end of the calendar year in which he ceased to be a regularly enrolled student. However, if he receives a degree in science or engineering he may, at his request, be transferred to membership without the payment of additional dues for that year. If a request for transfer is not made by the end of the calendar year in which the degree is granted, application must be made as provided in Section 1. Section 11: Any Member of any grade, who after adequate opportunity of a hearing before both this Chapter and the Society may be adjudged to have violated the Canons of Ethics for Engineer's Council for Professional Development or violated the Constitution and By-Laws of this Chapter, or been guilty of conduct prejudicial to the best interests of the Society or this Chapter, may be expelled from this Chapter by a two-thirds vote of the entire Board of Directors of this Chapter.
Expulsion from the Society results in automatic expulsion from this Chapter. Section 12: Corporate members are those employed by a Corporation which is a member of the Potomac Chapter S. E. E. Each Corporation will send the Chapter's Secretary the names of his/her employees who will participate in the Chapter activities. The Corporation will also state whether or not they are a member of the National Society. If not, they will include the National Society number of any employee who is a member. Section 1: Section 6: Section 7: Section 12:
Revised 3-5-91 Revised 5-24-05 Revised 3-5-91 Added 3-5-91
Section 12: In the event that a vote results in a tie when 3 or more positions on the Board are available, an additional vote will be taken to make the decision between the 2 tied. This balloting should be closed to all those nominated for these positions. Section 1: Section 3: Section 4: Section 5: Section 11:
Article V: Duties of Officers Section 1:
The President is the Chief Executive Officer of this Chapter. He shall preside at all business meetings of this Chapter and shall be responsible for administrating the affairs of this Chapter according to the policies and regulations established by the Board.
Section 2:
The Vice-President shall act for the President when ever the President is unable to perform his duties. He shall perform such duties as may be required of him by the President or by vote of the Board.
Section 3:
The Secretary shall keep the minutes of the meetings of this Chapter and proceedings of the Board. He/ She shall keep a roll of members and shall be responsible for all official correspondence of this Chapter. The Secretary will keep the minutes of the meetings of this Chapter open to the inspection of any Board Member at all reasonable times.
Article IV: Officers and Board of Directors Section 1:
The Officers of the Potomac Chapter shall be a President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. The office of Secretary and Treasurer is the only one that may be held by one individual. These officers and immediate Past President shall constitute the "Executive Committee."
Section 2:
The governing body of the Chapter shall be a Board of Directors; hereinafter called the "Board," in which the government and management of the Chapter is vested.
Section 3:
The Board shall consist of the Executive Committee and twelve (12) Directors elected at large from the Chapter.
Section 4:
The term of office for Board Members shall be for six years. Three members will be elected for five years in 1989. Three members will be elected for six years in 1990. Every two years after 1990, three members will be elected to fill the expiring terms.
Section 5:
The term of office shall be one year for the President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
Section 6:
Board and Executive Committee Members may serve more than one term.
Section 7:
All Officers and Directors shall take office at the end of the annual business meeting following their election.
Section 8:
If the office of President becomes vacant, the VicePresident shall become President to fill out the term.
Section 9:
Vacancies occurring in the offices of Vice-President, Secretary, or Treasurer, or among the Directors, shall be filled by vote of the Board to fill the unexpired portion of the term.
Section 10: Nomination of Officers and Directors shall be made by a nominating Committee appointed by the Board. Section 11: Election of Officers and Directors shall be by closed ballot at the June quarterly meeting among all members present. Election of officers shall be by closed ballot among the Board at the annual Board meeting in May.
Revised 3-5-91 Revised 5-24-05 Revised 6-14-88 Revised 5-19-03 Revised 6-09-09
Every new member who is added to the Chapter's roster will be sent a "Thank You" letter from the President, a copy of the Chapter By-Laws, the latest roster, subscription form for the "Journal of Explosives Engineers" if he/she is not a member of the national society and any other forms or letters that are applicable at the time, such as, the latest copy of the Newsletter, and advertisement for the next seminar, etc., and a Chapter Membership Card. He/She will send to the Chairman of the Membership Committee a copy of each membership application to assist the Membership Committee in publishing the annual roster. The Secretary will keep the following lists for mailing labels: 1. Chapter members. 2. Corporate members and their employees. 3. National officers and other Chapter members who should receive Chapter information and the Newsletter. 4. Other persons or organizations that should receive the Newsletter to promote membership in our Chapter. 5. People, government agencies, companies, schools, non-profit organizations and others that should receive information about our seminars. These mailing labels should be available to the Chairmen of the different committees as needed. The Secretary may employ secretarial help to aid him/her in keeping the Chapter records and mailing lists. Invoices for her/his time should be approved by him/her and then sent to the Treasurer for payment.
The Secretary will keep the Chapter By-Laws. He/ She will amend these as requested by the Board after approval by the members (Article X, Section 1). After the By-Laws have been amended he/she will send the change or new By-Laws to all members. Section 4:
The Treasurer shall have charge of the funds of this Chapter and shall disburse the same upon the authority of the Board. The Treasurer shall keep the financial records open to the inspection of any Board Member at all reasonable times. He shall report annually to the membership or more often if directed by the President or Board as to the financial condition of the Chapter. Section 3:
Section 2:
The Board of Directors shall exercise all the powers of this Chapter except as otherwise required by law or by these By-Laws. The Board shall have access to the books, vouchers, and funds of the Treasurer.
Section 3:
The Board shall fill all vacancies that may occur during the year on any committee.
Section 4:
At the first meeting of the Board following each election, the Board shall elect one member to serve as "Chairman" of the Board. He will conduct all Board meetings. In his absence, the President will assume his duty. If both of them are absent, the Vice-President may conduct the meeting.
Section 5:
Section 6:
Section 7:
Section 8:
Section 9:
Section 11: The Board will appoint one member of the Board to serve on the National Regional Chapter Council. This member will attend the National Annual Meeting. This section complies with National By-Laws, Article VII, Section 3. Section 7: Section 10:
Regular meetings of the Board may be held at such places and at such times as the Board may determine. Special meetings of the Board may be held at any time and at any place when called by the Chairman of the Board or the President. Notice of thespecial meeting should be given to each Director by the Secretary, by the Officer, or Directors calling the meeting. Notice of the meeting may be by mail, special hand delivery, or by phone. At any meeting of the Board, a quorum shall consist of a majority of Board then in office. When a quorum is present at any meeting, the votes of a majority of the Board present and voting shall decide any question brought before the meeting. The Board shall meet at least once a year. It shall be the duty of the Board to present business for the action of the Chapter. It shall have no power to make the Chapter liable for the debts amounting to more than half the amount in the Treasurer's hand, in cash, and not subject to prior liabilities. Each Director shall have jurisdiction over one or more Committees of the Chapter as delegated by the Chairman, and shall be known as the Sponsoring Director of the Committee or Committees.
Section 10: Any Board Member failing to attend any two (2) consecutive meetings, regular quarterly and Board Meetings, without sufficient cause, shall be deemed
Revised 6-09-09 Revised 6-14-88
Article VII: Meetings Section 1:
Meetings of the Chapter shall be called by the Chairman of the Board or President or majority of the Board.
Section 2:
Notices of the time and place of each meeting and general information shall be sent to all members. Such notices shall be mailed not less than fourteen (14) days before the meeting.
Section 3:
At any meeting any procedural question requiring parliamentary ruling not provided for in the By-Laws shall be decided in accordance with Roberts' Rules of Order, Revised.
Revised 3-5-91
Article VI: Duties of the Board of Directors Section 1:
inactive as a member of the Board, and his office shall be filled by a vote of the Board for the unexpired portion of his term.
Article VIII: Fiscal Year Section 1:
The fiscal year of this Chapter shall begin on January 1 and terminate on December 31.
Article IX: Dues Section 1:
The amount of dues may be established and changed from time to time by the Board.
Section 2:
Any member expelled for non-payment of dues may be reinstated upon payment of delinquent amount.
Article X: Amendments Section 1:
These By-Laws may be altered, amended, or repealed at any legal business meeting of the Chapter. A two-thirds majority is required to amend these By-Laws.
Section 2:
The proposal to alter, amend, or repeal any part of these By-Laws may be offered by any Member.
Article XI: Committees Section 1:
The President may appoint temporary committees. He/She shall be an ex-officio member of all temporary committees.
Section 2:
Standing and permanent committees are appointed by the Board. Refer to Article VI, Section 9.
Section 3:
The standing committees of the Chapter will be: 1. Membership 2. Nominating 3. Seminar 4. Newsletter 5. Regulations 6. Programs 7. Scholarship
Section 4:
Section 5:
Section 6:
Each committee will be headed by a Director who shall be shown as the "Sponsoring Director" (Article VI, Section 9). His/her committee will consist of as many Chapter members as he/she needs to perform the duties of his/her committee. An exception is made for the Nominating Committee whose members will be members of the Board. The duty of the Membership committee is to promote membership in the Chapter. They should greet and welcome guests at each meeting and give them application for membership. They will pass an attendance sheet to be signed by everyone present at each meeting or attendance may be recorded by the use of name tags or other method. After the last meeting of the year, the annual attendance record will be submitted to the Secretary and the nominating Committee Chairman to aid the committee in recognizing the active members who may be considered for nomination to the Executive Committee or Board of Directors. They will send out invoices for the annual dues. They will publish a roster or "Membership Directory" annually and send each Chapter member a copy. Advertisements should be solicited to help defray the cost. They should revise the application for membership as needed to obtain necessary information for the roster of "Membership Directory." The duty of the Nominating Committee is to nominate to the Chapter those members who will perpetuate the Chapter's goals. At an election meeting, the Chairman should place the names in nomination and ask for nominations from the floor. He/She should supervise the voting by hand, voice, or written ballot. The election part of any program should be run by the Nominating Committee Chairman. The new officers will assume their duties at the adjournment of the meeting of their election.
Section 7:
The duty of the Seminar Committee is to plan and conduct an annual Blasters Seminar for the purpose of the Chapter's continuing education program. The format of the seminar, location, publicity, speakers and all other aspects of the seminar will be decided by this committee. One member of the committee will be the Seminar Treasurer. He/She will keep the financial records and at the end of each seminar he will send all excess money to the Chapter Treasurer.
Section 8:
The duty of the News letter committee is to collect pertinent news items and contributions to columns and print a newsletter. They will distribute it to members, potential members and other chapters. Copies of Chapter activities will be sent to the Journal of Explosives Engineers for publication in their column "Chapter News." They should solicit advertisements and set the advertisement rates to help the printing and mailing costs.
Section 9:
The duty of the Regulation Committee is to collect a copy of all Federal regulations that effect our industry. The Chairman should be on the mailing list of all regulatory commissions so that the Chair man would receive all notices of any changes or hearings. He/She should have members of his/her committee at the state, county, and local levels who would collect all pertinent regulations and advise
the Chairman of any changes. Whether or not these regulations could be collected in Federal, State, County and Local books will be left up to the Chairman. The committee Chairman should notify the Chapter's Board Chairman of any notice or change in regulations. The Board Chairman should appoint an Ad Hoc committee to help the regulators making the change to be sure the explosive users may abide by the proposal change. Section 10: The duty of the Program Committee is to choose the site for the quarterly meetings and to choose the menu if food is served. They will send out the meeting notices, take reservations, and make all the dinner arrangements. At each meeting they will collect the designated fee and any other dues or other payments members wish to make. They will conduct a 50/50 raffle at each meeting. The total proceeds will be turned over to the Treasurer who will settle the accounts. They will work with the President and VicePresident on long range program planning and papers and speakers to be presented at the quarterly meetings. They will see that speakers are presented an appreciation gift from the Chapter. They will plan and advertise an annual field trip for the Chapter. They will send an article to the Newsletter Committee as to the future plans, programs and speakers for publication in the Chapter's Newsletter. They will also send a story of the field trip and pictures, if possible, to the Newsletter. Section 11: The duty of the Scholarship Committee is to award two annual scholarships. They are responsible for updating, as necessary, and distributing applications to the membership. They will collect all completed applications and choose recipients before the June general meeting. They will organize, implement, and supervise an annual fund raising activity (raffle) with proceeds benefiting the scholarship annuity fund until such time that the fund is self-sufficient. This fund-raising activity should culminate at the Fall seminar in order to maximize the financial benefit. They will coordinate with the Treasurer regarding all funds for the scholarships. The committee will present checks to the recipients or their designees at the June meeting. Sections 1 and 2: Sections 3 through 10: Section 11:
Revised 3-5-91 Added 3-5-91 Revised 5-18-04
