VIRGINIA
ASSOCIATION FOR DRIVER EDUCATION
AND
TRAFFIC SAFETY
Section 1:
The organization shall be called the Virginia Association for Driver
Education and Traffic Safety.
Section 1:
The purposes of the Association are as follows:
a)
To awaken and promote a wide and intelligent interest
in driver education and traffic safety.
b)
To acquire and disseminate
accurate professional information.
c) To aid in the
development and promotion of excellent programs in
driver education and traffic safety.
d)
To promote excellence in the professional preparation
certification standards for driver education and traffic safety.
e)
To coordinate the professional interests and efforts in transportation
and highway safety.
Section 1: The Association shall include
professional groups organized within the state and divisions and sections as
hereinafter provided.
Section 2: The districts of the
Association shall be those in current use by the Division of Motor Vehicles.
Section 1: The Association shall consist of members as hereinafter provided.
Section 1: The
officers of the Association shall be President, Past President, President-elect,
Recording-Secretary-Treasurer, appointed representatives, the newsletter editor,
plus a non-voting member Executive Director.
Section 2:
A person must be a member of VADETS to hold an office in
the Association,
Section 1: The business of the
Association shall be conducted by the Executive Committee and as hereinafter
provided, by officers and committees, each constituted with voting privileges as
hereinafter provided.
Section 1: The
Association shall conduct meetings as hereinafter provided, by officers and
committees, each constituted with voting privileges as hereinafter provided.
Section 1:
Honor awards may be given for meritorious service as provided
in
the By-laws.
Section 1:
The official publication of the Association shall be the VADETS
Newsletter.
Section
1:
An active member of the Association may propose Amendments to the
Constitution at any time. All
proposed amendments must be presented in writing to the Executive Director.
The Executive Director first submits the proposed amendments to the
Constitution Committee for their deliberation and recommendations. The Executive Director then submits the proposed amendments
with the Constitution Committees’ recommendations to the Executive Committee a
month in advance of the time of the meeting of the Executive Committee at which
a vote is taken. The Executive
Committee must approve all proposed amendments by an affirmative vote equal to
three-fourths of the votes cast at an official meeting or three-fourths of the
members replying by mail vote.
Proposed
amendments which have been approved by the Executive Committee shall be referred
to the general membership. A
two-thirds vote of the qualified members present at the Annual Business Meeting
of the Association shall be necessary for final adoption of amendments.
Amendments must be published in the VADETS Newsletter.
Section 1: Membership in the Association
shall be designated as Active, Associate, Honorary, Life, Emeritus, Corporate,
and Student.
a)
Active Membership shall consist of persons professionally
prepared in the field of driver education and/or traffic safety
or professionally engaged in some aspects of the program.
b)
Associate Membership may be extended to persons not
professionally prepared in
the field of driver education and/or traffic safety education, but who
are interested in
the support of the aspects of the program cited above.
c)
Honorary Membership may be extended to persons outside VADETS deemed
worthy of this distinction upon
recommendation of the Executive Committee.
d)
Life Membership, with full privileges, shall be available to qualified
persons by payment of dues specified in the
By laws, Article VII.
e)
Emeritus Membership with voting privileges shall be
available to retired active members.
f)
Corporate Membership for a corporation or company may be granted upon
payment of corporate dues specified in the
By-laws, Article VII. The Corporate
member will be entitled to free
advertisement in the VADETS Newsletter.
g) Student
Membership shall consist of those undergraduate students becoming
certified in Driver Education who have paid annual dues specified in
Article VII.
Section 1: The President shall act as
chairman of the Executive Committee and preside at all general meetings of the
Association. The President shall
have the authority of official action, with Executive Committee approval, to
conduct necessary Association business arising between regularly scheduled
meetings of VADETS. The President
shall be responsible for the appointment of all standing and special committees.
The President, upon taking office, shall select a member of the
Association to serve as Recording Secretary-Treasurer.
The President shall be responsible for Association representation at
regional, state, and national driver education and related safety association
meetings. The President will have
the responsibility for the planning and coordination of staff development at the
annual VADETS conference.
a)
Board of Directors selection shall consist of eight (8)
appointees by the President.
b) Committee selection shall include the following area and any other
deemed necessary by the President and Board of Directors. These Chairpersons shall report back to the President and
VADETS Board of Directors as needed during selected meeting of said Board.
1)
Membership Chairperson
2)
Constitution Chairperson
3)
Ways and Means Chairperson
4)
Fund Raising (Door Prizes) Chairperson
5)
Site Selection – Executive Director, President, Board
of Directors
6)
Registration – Recording-Secretary Treasurer and
President-elect
7)
Program – President and Past President
8)
Planning and Development- Executive Director
9)
Exhibits – President-elect
10)
Awards:
(a)
Teacher of the Year Award – past three award winner
Chairpersons
(b)
Spark Plug Award – President selected
(c)
Poster and Bumper Sticker Contest Chairperson
(d)
Scholarship Chairperson
11)
Recreation and Entertainment Chairperson
12)
Historian – Chairperson and Newsletter Editor
13)
Safe Driving Contest Chairperson
14)
Parliamentarian Chairperson
Section 2: The President-elect shall
preside at all meetings if the President is absent.
The President-elect shall serve as advisor and coordinator to
associations and assist the chairpersons in developing the district program.
The President-elect shall be responsible to the President with
information about programs and the annual VADETS conference program.
The President-elect shall automatically succeed to the respective office
of President at the conclusion of the annual fall meeting.
The President-elect shall succeed the President for the unexpired term if
the President is unable, for any reason, to fulfill the obligation.
The President-elect is responsible for registration and exhibits at the
annual VADETS meeting.
Section 3: The Past-President shall
serve as membership director and assist in whatever manner possible with the
business of the Association. The
Past-President will assist the President in planning the program for the annual
state VADETS conference.
Section 4: The Recording
Secretary-Treasurer shall keep a record of all minutes and transactions of the
Executive Committee and meetings of the Association.
The Recording Secretary-Treasurer shall assist the Executive Director in
maintaining a record of all monies received and expended for the Association and
assist in the annual budget preparation. In the absence of the Executive
Director, the Recording Secretary-Treasurer shall assume the financial
operations of the association and submit an official financial report at the
Annual Business Meeting of the Association.
The Recording Secretary-Treasurer shall act as Registration Chairperson
at the association’s annual Conference.
Section 5: The appointed board members,
chairpersons, Department of Education representative, DMV representative,
corporate representative, commercial representative, college representative and
newsletter editor shall serve and assist in whatever manner possible with
business of the Association.
Section 6: The Executive Committee will
appoint the Executive Director annually. The
Executive Director shall serve as treasurer of the association. The Executive Director shall perform all duties pertaining to
and required of that office, including the maintenance of a detailed account of
all receipts and disbursements. Annual
budget and disbursements of association funds shall be made by the Executive
Director under the authority of the Executive Committee.
The Executive Director shall give a written financial report to the
members present at the annual association business meeting.
The Executive Director shall serve as an ad hoc member of all standing
and appointed committees. The
Executive Director shall serve as a non-voting member of the Executive
Committee. The Executive Director
will be responsible for daily association business transactions with approval
from the President. It shall be the
duty of the Executive Director to recommend to the Executive Board the place and
date of the Association’s annual conference.
Section 1: There shall be an Association
Nominating Committee of five (5) members appointed by the President.
The committee appointments shall be made not later than May 31, and their
names published.
Section 2: The Nominating Committee
shall give due consideration to all persons suggested for nominations.
They shall prepare slates of two nominees for each office.
Additional candidates, with their approval, may be nominated from the
floor.
Section 3: Voting for all officers
except the Recording-Secretary-Treasurer, chairpersons and newsletter editor
shall be by ballot. The
recording-secretary-treasurer, chairpersons and newsletter editor shall be
appointed by the President and approved by the elected officers.
Section 4: The term of office for
elected officers shall be for one year. Board
members will be appointed by the President and serve a two year term.
Each year, four board members will be appointed and four board member
terms will expire on a rotating basis.
Section 5:
The
President with the approval of the elected officers shall appoint the
recording-secretary-treasurer, chairpersons and newsletter editor for a one-year
term. The aforementioned appointees
may be re-appointed by the President-elect when he or she takes office with the
approval of the elected officers.
Section 1: The Executive Committee shall
consist of the elected officers, Board of Directors (8), Recording-Secretary
Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, State Supervisor of Driver Education
Representative, Division of Motor Vehicles Representative, Commercial
Representative, Corporate Representative, College Representative and the
Executive Director and Parliamentarian; the Executive Director and
Parliamentarian are non-voting members.
Section 2: It shall be the duty of the
Executive Committee to review recommended amendments of the Constitution and
By-laws prior to the annual business meeting and present the same with
recommendations.
Section 3: It shall be the duty of the
Executive Committee to conduct business of the Association between meetings.
Section 4: It shall be the duty of the
Executive Director to decide upon the place and date of the Association's
conference as hereinafter provided.
Section 5: A majority of the members present shall constitute a quorum
for transacting business.
Section 6: It shall be the duty of the Executive Committee to appoint
the
Executive Director annually.
Section 7: In an emergency, the
President, President-elect, Past President, Recording-Secretary Treasurer, and
Executive Director, as a non-voting member, can conduct the Association
business.
Section 1: The term "Section"
refers to specific professional areas of interest.
The Association shall include six (6) sections as follows: Driver
Education, Classroom Instruction, In-Car Instruction, Multiple-Car Range,
Simulation, and Highway and Traffic Safety.
Section 2: New sections may be formed
upon recommendations of the Executive Committee and a majority vote of the
qualified members at an official meeting. Individuals
and groups wishing to form new sections or to change existing sections must make
written applications to the Executive Committee.
Section 1: There may be Standing
Committees, President's Committees and Continuing Committees.
Section 2: The Standing Committees may
consist of Constitution, Publicity, Resolutions, Honor Awards, Necrology,
Finance, Research, Nominating, Membership, Audit, and Historical Records.
Section 3: President's Committees and
continuing Committees are indefinite in number
and are appointed for relatively specific duties.
Section 4: The President of the
Association shall appoint all committees.
The Executive Committee shall approve members of standing
committees and continuing committees.
Section 5: Membership
in standing committees shall be rotating
three-year consecutive terms.
Section 1: The Executive Board may amend
the dues structure based on the needs of the association.
The Executive Board has the right to set categories for corresponding
dues for membership. The Fiscal Year shall coincide with the school year,
July 1 to June 30.
Section 2: The annual dues for active and associate memberships shall
be
$20.00.
Section 3:
The annual dues for student memberships shall be $5.00.
Section 4:
Life membership may be granted to qualified persons upon the payment of
$150.00.
Section 5:
There shall be no annual dues for emeritus memberships.
Section 6:
The dues for corporate membership shall be $150.00
Section 1:
The Executive Board shall hold four
(4) meetings each year.
a)
The annual business meeting shall be held in conjunction with the state
conference for driver
education teachers in October. The
election of officers and other business of the Association
will be conducted at this time.
b)
A
meeting shall be held at the annual VADETS safe driving contest in
May.
c)
Another meeting shall be held between January – March.
d)
Another meeting shall be held between July – September.
Section 1: The Association may also
honor individuals for meritorious service in driver education, highway safety
and transportation. The Teacher of
the Year Award and the Spark Plug Award shall be presented during the meeting
held in conjunction with the annual state conference for driver education
teachers.
Section 1: The Association shall publish
a newsletter in September and February and at other times when it is determined
necessary by the Executive Committee. Issues
of the newsletter shall be sent to members of the Association and to newsletter
editors of other state associations.
Section 1: Questions of procedure not
covered by this Constitution and By-laws shall be decided according to Robert's
Rules of Order.
Section 1: An active member of the
Association may propose Amendments to the By-laws at any time. All proposed amendments must be approved by a majority vote
of the Executive Committee.
Amended
October 1995
Amended
October 1996
Amended
October 2001