By-Laws of the University Counselor Advisor Network at the University of North Texas

Article I. Name and Acronym

The name of this organization shall be the University Counselor Advisor Network. The official acronym of this organization shall be UCAN.

Article II. Mission

The University Counselor Advisor Network (UCAN) was created as a forum for sharing ideas and exchanging information related to advising services at the University of North Texas. A primary goal is to provide its members with opportunities for professional development, recognition, and peer support, ultimately building a network of resources to enhance student success in college. Equally important is the representation and promotion of the interests of academic advising within the larger university community.

Article III. Membership

Section 1.

There shall be no discrimination for reasons of religion, age, race or ethnicity, color, gender, marital status, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation.

Section 2. Types of Membership include active and associate membership.

1.      Active memberships shall be open to staff at the University of North Texas whose primary function is advising or supervising of advisors. Individuals shall become active members as reported by College representative from the new member’s office of employment and verification of eligibility by the UCAN Secretary.

a.       Attendance:  UCAN benefits from the attendance of all members; therefore, regular attendance is strongly recommended.

b.      Rights of active membership:  Active members are eligible to vote in elections and during membership meetings, hold office, chair or serve on standing or ad-hoc committees.  Active members are entitled to all the services and benefits provided by the organization.

2.      Associate members are faculty advisors or individuals who have interests in academic counseling and advising (including staff in Student Affairs, Academic Departments who have frequent contact with advisors, etc). Associate members are invited to attend meetings and functions of UCAN.

a.       Rights of associate membership:  Associate members can serve on standing or ad-hoc committees.  As committee members, associate members are eligible to vote on issues before their respective committee.

b.       Restrictions of associate membership:  Associate members are not eligible to hold office.

Section 3. Dues

Currently, UCAN is a non-dues paying organization.

Article IV. Officers

Section 1. 

The offices for UCAN shall be comprised of the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Historian, and Parliamentarian.

Section 2.  Duties

• President-runs the general UCAN meetings.
  • Provides the agenda for and facilitates/chairs Executive Committee meetings to plan and discuss upcoming business, projects and events.
  • Involves members in UCAN committees and serves as an ex-officio member on all UCAN committees as needed. 
  • Works with Executive Committee and membership to establish goals and objectives.
  • Evaluates goals and objectives and assesses and files year-end report.  
  • Provides representation of UCAN at appropriate University functions and meetings (including Senior Advising Group meetings, when requested).
  • Provides orientation and turns over all materials to successor.

• Vice President-in absence of the President or at the request of the President performs the President's duties.  
  • Serves as chair of the Executive Committee meeting in the absence of the President.  
  • Chairs or appoints chairperson for the Program Committee and serves on the Program Committee.  
  • Provides orientation and turns over all materials to successor.

• Secretary-records and distributes minutes of all UCAN meetings; corresponds with membership as prescribed by President.  
  • Chairs or appoints chairperson for the Hospitality Committee and serves on the Hospitality Committee.  
  • Maintains UCAN e-mail distribution list; Updates, distributes, and processes membership forms.  
  • Keeps UCAN roster updated for distribution.
    • Will do a mass membership update of the roster every September through the College Representatives and other academic offices.
    • Anyone hired after September will be added to the roster after notification from the College Representative 
    • This roster will be used to report official UCAN membership numbers when requested
    • All other academic offices (Study Abroad, Housing, Admissions) are responsible for updating their representative at their discretion.
  • Provides orientation and turns over all materials to successor.

• Treasurer- collects monies related to UCAN, keeps UCAN accounts current including records of income and expenditures.  
  • Provides budget updates to appropriate offices when requested, including Student Academic Success in Provost Office
  • Chairs or appoints chairperson for the Conference Retreat Committee.
  • Serves on the Retreat Committee.
  • Provides orientation and turns over all materials to successor.

• Historian-documents and keeps record of UCAN history.  
  • Chairs or appoints chairperson for the Public Relations Committee and serves on the Public Relations Committee.  
  • Serves on Advisor Recognition Committee or appoints alternative.
  • Supervises social media accounts.
  • Provides orientation and turns over all materials to successor. 

• Parliamentarian-oversees the conducting of business at Executive Committee meetings and regularly scheduled UCAN meetings.  This shall include, but not be limited to the following:  
  • Ensuring that meetings are run in an orderly fashion, allowing for all members’ voices to be heard.
  • Ensuring that motions are offered and voted on properly all within the context of Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised.
  • Educating the membership regarding Robert’s Rules of Order. 
  • Chairs or appoints chairperson of the Bylaws/Elections Committee and serves on said committee. 
  • Provides orientation and turns over all materials to successor.

Section 3.  Elections

1. Annual elections are held in May or June.
2. Elections will be administered by the Bylaws/Elections Committee.
3. Nominations will be solicited prior to the meeting during which elections will be held.  Nominations will be accepted until the day of elections.  Nominations from the floor will be accepted prior to voting the day of the election.  A member shall not run for more than one office at a given time.  If a position remains unfilled immediately after the election process, then the Bylaws/Election Committee may immediately reopen nominations from the floor for that position only, and all unelected active members are eligible to run for said office.  Should this occur, voting for the unfilled position will occur on the same day as elections.  
4. In the event that a position is vacated during the summer, the incoming President reserves the right to delay or defer filling the vacant position until the start of their term. 
5. Absentee voting by official ballot will begin one week prior to the election date and will end at 5 p.m. one day prior to the election meeting.
6. Officer shall be elected by a majority of the membership present using a voting ballot.
7. The term of office for all officer positions shall be for one (1) UCAN calendar year.  A member may not hold the same office for more than two consecutive terms.
8. If a position becomes vacant during a term of office, then the President may appoint a member to fill the vacant position for the remainder of that term, or the President along with the Bylaws/Elections Committee may hold a special election to fill the vacant position. 

Article V. Meetings

Section 1.  Calendar Year

For leadership and financial purposes, the calendar year for UCAN will be September 1 through August 31. 

 Section 2.  Meetings

The membership shall meet monthly throughout the calendar year.  Summer general meetings will be held as deemed necessary. In lieu of the May meeting, the UCAN retreat or conference is held. The Executive Committee will conduct summer planning sessions to determine calendar meetings, professional development objectives, and transition new officers for the ensuing year. The Executive Committee will present the proposed calendar to the membership body in September for approval for the current calendar year. Special activities and functions of the membership shall be held with the approval of the Executive Committee.

General meetings shall be primarily for the networking and providing of professional development opportunities for its members.  The agenda of general meetings that may include guest speakers, advising related training issues, and professional development objectives are at the discretion of the President and/or Executive Committee.  The President and/or Executive Committee will consult with the body to determine their needs.

Article VI.  UCAN Committees

Section 1.

The Regular Committees shall be the Executive, Bylaws/Elections, Hospitality, Professional Development, <Removed Program committee> Public Relations, and Conference/Retreat Planning. All other committees shall be ad hoc and, as such, be formed by UCAN’s membership as the need arises. Interested volunteers, including associate members, shall make up the membership of all standing committees with the exception of the Executive Committee, which is comprised of officers and committee chairs.

The need for all committees may be determined by each incoming officer group, and may be affected by time constraints, member participation/desires, etc. The President shall be able to combine committees as needed, provided UCAN members are notified of the incoming changes and interested volunteers are still allowed to participate in completing the duties of the committees.

1. The Executive Committee—Chaired by UCAN President or their Appointee
   • Comprised of the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Historian, Parliamentarian, Senior Advising Group Liaison (appointed by SAG in conjunction with new UCAN Executive being elected in May or June), and chairs of the standing committees (committee chairs attend meetings at start of the new year in September).
   • Includes the immediate Past-President as an ex-officio member.
   • Exists as a forum for officers and committee chairs to:
     1. Submit information for consideration prior to presentation to the body
     2. Submit and create the UCAN calendar and meeting dates.
     3. Make informed decisions regarding the UCAN body in the interim of regularly scheduled general meetings.
   • Meets in the summer prior to a new year to plan professional development goals for the year:
     1. Uses recommendations of the UCAN membership provided through the prior end-of-year assessment conducted by the prior year’s Professional Development Committee.
     2. Uses recommendations provided from the Senior Advising Group and their Subcommittee(s).
2. The Bylaws/Elections Committee—Chaired by UCAN Parliamentarian or their Appointee
   • Organizes and conducts the election process by soliciting nominations, counting ballots and reporting results.
   • Reviews Bylaws annually and submits proposed changes for approval.
3. The Hospitality Committee—Chaired by Secretary or their Appointee
   • Reserves general meeting rooms.
   • Coordinates social events to encourage networking amongst the UCAN membership.
   • Organizes refreshments for meetings as needed.
   • Coordinates activities to welcome new members to UCAN.
4. The Professional Development Committee—Chaired by Vice President or their Appointee 
   • Works with the Executive Committee to provide programming for UCAN general meetings.
   • Acts as a link between UCAN and larger advising related organizations such as NACADA, TEXAAN, etc. and encourages UCAN membership to participate in these organizations.
   • Helps to organize UCAN Awards
     1. Works in conjunction with the advisor recognition committee to organize the UCAN Awards to be issued at the end of each year in May and helps forward nominations to NACADA Regional.
   • Conducts a membership interest survey regarding UCAN as a whole as well as a survey to assess UCAN projects, programs, and social events in May/June
     1. Provides results of survey in a written report to the newly elected UCAN Executive to assist them in their summer planning sessions.
5. The Public Relations Committee—Chaired by Historian or their Appointee
   • Archives current and past activities of UCAN.
   • Documents annual projects and programs.
   • Edits and publishes UCAN newsletter/web-page each semester.
   • Provides information regarding UCAN to internal and external sources as needed (after approval from the President).
6. The Conference and Retreat Planning Committee--- Chaired by Treasurer or their Appointee
   • Coordinates, hosts and evaluates the UCAN Conference and Retreat (held on an annually rotating schedule) every year in accordance with the budget allocated by the budget holder, currently the Provost Office.
   • Maintains a single conference/retreat binder with all pertinent information regarding venue, constituents, contracts and contact information, etc.
   • Provides binder to the newly elected Executive Committee each year. 

Article VII.  University Committees and Councils

1. Senior Advising Group – The Senior Advising Group (SAG) is a group of advising administrators whose purpose it is to review academic advising policies/procedures at UNT, determine best practices and encourage collaboration among offices.  
   • A SAG liaison sits on the UCAN Executive Committee (As stipulated in Article VI 1.1)
   • Other advising committees across UNT work in conjunction with UCAN to prevent overlap.
2. The President, when asked by key University personnel, shall serve as the representative for UCAN on all University sponsored committees and councils except where specified. Should the President determine they are not able to serve in this capacity, then he/she may appoint a designee from the active membership roster.

Article VIII. Organizational Associations

UCAN will support and promote state, regional, and national advising organizations such as NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising and the Texas Academic Advising Network (TEXAAN).

Article VIX.  Amendments

Any amendments to the by-laws of UCAN must be ratified by two-thirds (2/3) vote of the membership present and voting at a regularly scheduled meeting.  Any amendments, if passed shall take effect immediately.

Article X.  Governance

UCAN operates within the parameters set by the Provost Office and along with SAG.

Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised (or its most recent edition) will govern procedures of UCAN meetings.