UCLA
Emeriti Association

Constitution & Bylaws of the UCLA Emeriti Association

Constitution

Article I - Name

This non-profit organization shall be known as the UCLA Emeriti Association.

Article II - Purposes

The purposes of the organization shall be:

  1. to assist emeriti in making the transition from their regular pre-retirement academic schedule to an active post-retirement program involving, as appropriate, instruction, scholarly research, writing, consultation and other pursuits, with continuing benefit to the University, their discipline and society;
  2. to assist emeriti to retain the rights and privileges granted on retirement;
  3. to inform administrators, the Academic Senate and the Regents of emeriti activities and needs;
  4. to help provide retirement services and useful information for all emeriti and compassionate support for those with individual problems;
  5. to support the continued participation by emeriti in local and state Academic Senate activities:
  6. to coordinate the work of the Association with the work of emeriti associations on other campuses of the University of California;
  7. to coordinate emeriti activities with the programs of the UCLA and University of California statewide retirees' organizations.

Article III – Membership

Section 1: Membership shall be defined in the bylaws.

Section 2: Members in good standing shall be entitled to participate in the activities of the organization and to vote on all ballots and resolutions presented to the membership.

Article IV - Officers

Section 1: The officers of the organization shall be President, Vice-President (President-Elect), Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, and Treasurer. Candidates for the office of Vice-President (President-Elect) must be members of the Academic Senate.

Section 2: The President and Vice-President shall serve one-year terms and the Vice-President shall be designated President-Elect. The two Secretaries and the Treasurer shall serve two-year terms. The Corresponding Secretary and the Recording Secretary shall begin their terms of office in alternate years. The election of the Treasurer shall coincide with that of the Corresponding Secretary. With the concurrence of the Board, any elected officer may serve an additional term of service.

Article V- Executive Board

Section 1: The Executive Board shall consist of the officers, the past President and the members-at-large; the chairs of the standing committees; the liaison representative to the Faculty Center; the representative and alternate representative to the Academic Senate's Committee on Emeriti Affairs; the UCLA representative and alternate representative to the Council of University of California Emeriti Associations (CUCEA); a representative from the UCLA Retirees' Association; a representative from the Faculty Women’s Club; and such other persons as the President may designate for his or her term of office. The Director of the Emeriti/Retiree Relations Center shall serve as an ex-officio member of the Board.

Section 2: Only persons who are members of the Emeriti Association may serve as liaison representatives of the Executive Board.

Section 3: There may be up to four members-at-large of the Executive Board. Members-at-large may be appointed on an ad-hoc basis by the Executive Board, subject to election to a two-year term at the next annual business meeting. If any officer position is vacant, an additional member-at-large may be elected.

Section 4: Vacancies occurring within the elected membership of the Executive Board shall be filled by a majority of the Executive Board and those selected shall serve the remainder of that term of office.

Article VI- Meetings

Section 1: The Association shall meet at times and places designated by the President, the Executive Board, or upon petition of at least twenty-five (25) regular members of the Association.

Section 2: One meeting each year shall be designated as the annual business meeting. Elections shall be conducted at this meeting for which at least two weeks written notice shall be given of the time and place. The annual report of the President shall be presented along with such other reports as the President determines to be appropriate. At the discretion of the Board, an additional business meeting may be convened.

Section 3: A quorum shall consist of 50 or more members present at a regularly called meeting.

Article VII- Nominations and Election Procedures

Section 1: The President shall appoint a Nominating Committee to prepare a list of proposed officers and members-at-large of the Executive Board. Suggestions for these positions shall have been solicited from the membership at large. The nominees shall be chosen insofar as possible to be representative of the fine arts, humanities, sciences, social sciences, and professional schools. Names may be added to the list of nominees from the floor at the regular business meeting.

Section 2: Officers and members-at-large shall be elected by members present at the annual business meeting, Elections shall be by voice vote unless there is more than one nominee for a particular position. Where this occurs, election shall be by secret ballot.

Article VIII -Amendments to the Constitution

Section 1: Any proposed amendments to this Constitution may be presented to the members either by majority vote of the Executive Board or by a petition presented to the Recording Secretary signed by at least twenty-five (25) members of the Association.

Section 2: Copies of such proposed amendments shall be sent to each member not less than two weeks before the annual business meeting.

Section 3: A proposed amendment shall be considered adopted if it receives a majority vote of the members present at the annual business meeting, provided that a quorum is in attendance. If fewer than a quorum attend, the amendment shall be voted on at the next scheduled meeting, social or business, at which there is a quorum.

Bylaws

Article I – Membership

There shall be three classes of members: Regular, Associate, and Honorary.

Section 1: Those eligible for Regular membership shall be persons who, at the time of their retirement from UCLA, are either (1) members of the Academic Senate; (2) members of the Librarians Association of the University of California: (3) those with emeritus status conferred individually by the University, or (4) persons duly nominated and approved in accordance with Section 4 of this Article.

Section 2: Those eligible for Associate membership shall be either (1) spouses of Regular members, (2) widows or widowers of those eligible for Regular membership, (3) widows or widowers of those who died in service while eligible to retire and become Regular members, or (4) divorced Spouses of those eligible for Regular membership who indicate to the Membership Committee their wish to join the Association.

Section 3: Honorary members are those who have been eligible for Regular or Associate membership in the Association and who have attained age 85. Honorary members shall be exempt from dues. When a married member becomes an Honorary member, his or her spouse shall automatically become an Honorary member without regard to the spouse's age. If an Honorary member dies, his or her spouse shall continue as an Honorary member.

Section 4: Any person retired from another campus of the University or from another University who meets UCLA criteria for Regular or Honorary membership is eligible to become a member of the UCLA Emeriti Association, subject to approval by the Membership Committee and the Executive Board.

Section 5 : All categories of membership in the Emeriti Association are eligible to vote.

Article II - Dues and Assessments

Section 1: The yearly dues of the organization shall be set by the Executive Board.

Section 2: The fiscal year shall be from September l through the following August 31. Dues shall be levied in the fall following retirement and yearly thereafter.

Article Ill - Duties of Officers

Section 1: The President:

(1) presides at meetings, exercises general supervision over the affairs of the organization, acts as chair of the Executive Board, and serves as ex-officio member of all standing committees;

(2) appoints the chair and members of standing committees, and such ad hoc committees as may be needed;

(3) appoints to the Executive Board a member of the Emeriti Association who is also a member of the Faculty Center to serve a two-year term as a member of the Governing Board of the Faculty Center and to act as liaison between the two Boards;

(4) appoints one emeritus representative and one alternate emeritus representative of the Association to serve on the Council of University of California Emeriti Associations and to act as liaison to the Executive Board;

(5) serves as a member of the Academic Senate's Committee on Emeriti Affairs along with the Past President, President-Elect and Chair of the Emeriti Welfare Committee, to serve as the Executive Board's representatives in liaison with the committee;

(6) seeks the advice of the Executive Board and the services of a Nominating Committee chaired by the Past President in carrying out these functions;

(7) signs as an alternate on Association bank accounts to be able to act in the place of the Treasurer;

(8) maintains liaison with the Emeriti/Retiree Relations Center to further the objects and goals of the Association; and

(9) upon becoming Past President serves on the Executive Board, the Committee on Emeriti Affairs, and is an alternate signatory on Association bank accounts.

Section 2: The Vice-President shall assume the duties of the President in the absence of the latter, chair the Awards Committee and Nominating Committee, and serve on the Committee on Emeriti Affairs.

Section 3: The Corresponding Secretary shall have responsibility for the Association’s communications recognizing honors and notable achievements of members, expressing the Association's best wishes for recovery in cases of prolonged and serious illnesses, and forwarding the Association's condolences to the next of kin upon the decease of a member. This officer shall report on such communications at each meeting of the Executive Board. Additionally, the Corresponding Secretary shall be responsible for the preparation of the commemoration, at each Spring dinner meeting, of all emeriti and surviving spouses whose deaths have been reported to the Association during the previous year.

Section 4: The Recording Secretary shall prepare the minutes of all meetings of the Association and its Executive Board.

Section 5: The Treasurer shall be the custodian of the Association's funds. This officer shall report on the financial standing of the Association at each meeting of the Executive Board and shall prepare an annual statement of the then-current balance of funds on hand for dissemination to the membership of the Association in the fall Newsletter.

Section 6: The officers of the Association, other than the Treasurer, and the members-at-large shall commence their respective terms of office on July 1 following their election. The one-year terms of the President and Vice-President shall end on June 30 of the following year. The Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary and members-at-large shall terminate their offices on June 30 upon completion of their two-year terms. The Treasurer shall be elected to a two-year term at the same time as the Corresponding Secretary, but the term of office shall commence at the September meeting of the Board following the election and terminate at the September meeting on completion of the two-year term of office.

Article IV - Standing Committees

Section 1: Standing committees include: Archives, Arts and Crafts, Audit, Awards, Emeriti Activity Surveys, Book Exchange, Emeriti Welfare, Hospitality, Membership, Newsletter, Program, University and Public Relations, and Web Site.

Section 2: The term of office of members of standing committees shall commence on July 1 and terminate on June 30 of the following year.

Section 3: Powers and Duties of Standing Committees

  1. Archives. This committee, chaired by the Association's archivist, sets up and maintains in the Emeriti/Retiree Relations Center an organized system of files to make accessible the retrospective documents which represent the history of the Association, actively augmenting such holdings as opportunity offers. The archivist also encourages individual emeriti to deposit materials directly in the University Archives, advising them and acting as may be helpful as liaison, between them and the University Archivist.
  2. Arts and Crafts. This committee makes all necessary arrangements for the annual exhibit.
  3. Audit. This committee shall prepare the annual audit of the financial records of the Association for transmittal to the Executive Board and dissemination to the membership of the Association at the latest in the Winter newsletter of the next fiscal year.
  4. Awards. This committee, composed of former Emeriti of the Year and chaired by the Vice-President, is responsible for (1) annual recommendation to the Executive Board of a candidate for the Emeritus of the Year award: (2) occasional award of a Certificate of Merit in recognition of exceptional services to the Association: (3) occasional recommendation to the Executive Board of a candidate for a Distinguished Lifetime Service award in recognition of distinguished University service throughout an individual's professional career and retirement activities; (4) the annual responsibility to recommend to the Executive Board one emeritus or emerita candidate from the humanities or social sciences from those nominated to represent UCLA in the UC statewide competition for the Constantine Panunzio Distinguished Emeriti Award; and if requested by the appropriate executive officer in charge of this in the UCLA administration, the members of the Awards Committee will serve on the Selection Committee that chooses UCLA recipients of the Dickson Emeriti Professorship awards and the Carole Goldberg Emeriti Service Award from the pool of nominees. These awards honor emeriti who have contributed outstanding research/scholarly work, teaching, and/or service since retirement.
  5. Emeriti Activity Surveys. This committee prepares the form, or adapts the CUCEA form, used triennially to solicit biobibliographic information from UCLA emeriti, oversees its distribution by the Emeriti/Retirees Relations Center and subsequent analysis of responses, and communicates summary results of this analysis to the Association's Executive Board, to appropriate officials in the UCLA administration including the Chancellor, to the Association's membership via the Newsletter, and to the Council of University of California Emeriti Associations. Close liaison is maintained with CUCEA to ensure as much consistency as possible with parallel activity on other campuses of the University in order to facilitate University wide compilation of information on post-retirement contributions of emeriti.
  6. Book Exchange. This committee maintains the small collection of leisure reading made available in the Faculty Center, preparing new donations for circulation, keeping simple records of use, and appropriately disposing of unneeded materials.
  7. Emeriti Welfare. The Chair serves on the Academic Senate Committee on Emeriti Affairs. It is the responsibility of this committee (1) to be knowledgeable regarding, and to report to the Executive Board as appropriate, general health care information of interest to emeriti, the current status of University retirement, health care, and other benefits, as well as local retirement housing options; (2) to consult, support and join with Academic Senate committees and other organizations, as appropriate, on issues of emeriti welfare; (3) to designate two committee members for service on the Advisory Committee of the Raymond H. Fisher Fund; and (4) to collaborate, on behalf of the Executive Board, with the Emeriti Center to address concerns of emeriti and surviving spouses.
  8. Hospitality. This committee makes the necessary arrangements for dinner meetings and for any other special meetings of the Association.
  9. Membership. This committee (1) informs newly retired faculty about membership in the Association; (2) maintains membership records; (3) solicits annual dues from all eligible emeriti and surviving spouses; ( 4) receives and records dues payments and thereafter transmits such payments to the Treasurer for deposit in the Association's account; (5) reports current membership totals on a regular basis to the President and Executive Board; and (6) updates the Association's Emeriti Roster as new information (address changes, etc.) becomes known.
  10. Newsletter. The editor of the Newsletter prepares and circulates on a regular basis a publication that includes announcements of meetings, committee actions, and other news of interest to emeriti.
  11. Program. This committee (1) plans and implements the program for the year, with the special provision that its responsibility for dinner meetings begins with the Winter Quarter and extends through the Fall Quarter of the following academic year; (2) reserves space in the Faculty Center as necessary for events to be arranged by the next year's committee; (3) generates publicity, including postings in the Faculty Center and articles for the Emeriti Newsletter and the newsletter of the Faculty Center; and (4) provides for introduction and any other services required by the speakers.
  12. University and Public Relations. This committee (1) considers and, when appropriate and necessary, pursues University and public matters affecting emeriti interests but not included in the charges to the other committees of the Association; (2)facilitates the selection and provision of speakers from UCLA who are able to communicate to the community facets of their academic specialty or other notable special interests; (3) interacts with the Emeriti/Retiree Relations Center and with other committees of the Emeriti Association in the discharge of their responsibilities and in the implementation of their recommendations to the various components of the University Administration and the Academic Senate; (4) implements, as desirable, emeriti outreach, information, and development programs; and (5) cooperates with other committees of the Emeriti Association in the dissemination of publicity about Association interests.
  13. Website Committee. The Website Committee is responsible for maintaining the website up-to-date and introducing innovations to increase the effectiveness of the site. The chair shall determine the changes that are made, with the advice of the committee Members.

Article V - Parliamentary Authority

Roberts rules of Order, revised, shall be the parliamentary authority for this organization.

Article V1 - Amendments to the Bvlaws

Proposed amendments to the Bylaws must be submitted in writing to the President of the Emeriti Association thirty days prior to the meeting of the Executive Board, at which such proposal is scheduled to be heard. Amendments may be adopted by a simple majority vote of the Executive Board.

Constitution and Bylaws - Revised June 6, 2018; Constitution, Article V Section 3 - Revised May 8, 2019