AFA-NIET District V Constitution

(conditional to approval by district-wide vote)

Article I: Nature and Purpose

The AFA-NIET District V consists of forensics programs sponsored by colleges and universities in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio (along with any petitioned exceptions made by the AFA-NIET Committee). Its principal purposes are to certify the qualification of students from member schools for the AFA-NIET, to provide for a District qualifying tournament to promote the health, growth, and quality of forensics in the district, and to conduct any other activities conducive to these purposes.

Article II: Membership

All two and four-year colleges and universities located within the district are eligible to become members upon payment of AFA-NIET dues, as determined by the AFA-NIET Committee. Members are eligible to send students to the district qualifying tournament and to participate in any other method for qualifying students for the AFA-NIET as determined by the AFA-NIET Committee.

Article III: Governance

A. Composition and Eligibility

The governing body of the district is the District Committee. The Committee will consist of three members and the chairperson. Any person who is a faculty member or graduate student of a subscribing school during the term of office is eligible for election to the Committee. No more than one person from any school may serve on the Committee at a given time. Committee members will serve a term of one year, from the end of the district qualifying tournament until the end of the next district qualifying tournament. The Committee chair will serve a two-year term, beginning and ending with elections at the district qualifying tournament.

B. Nomination and Election

1. Nomination:

Nomination to the District Committee will occur at an open meeting of district members held during the district qualifying tournament. Written nominations may be previously submitted to the chairperson for presentation at that meeting.

2. Election:

Once nominees are determined at an open meeting of district members held during the district qualifying tournament, each subscribing school will return one vote on a hand ballot. Results for District Committee seats will be determined by the chairperson on the basis of total number of votes. Results for chairperson will be determined by the other members of the District Committee on the basis of total number of votes. In the event of a tie, nominees involved will be asked to speak for a maximum of one minute on the subject of their interest and/or qualifications, and the vote will occur again. In the event of another tie, the subscribing members present may vote to have both nominees on the District Committee.

C. Responsibilities

1. District Committee Members:

Each member will have one vote, will assist in preparation and administration of the district qualifying tournament, and will perform other such tasks as established by the Committee and the subscribing members of the District.

2. District Chairperson:

The district chairperson will be the AFA-NIET representative and must therefore be a member of the American Forensics Association. In addition, the chairperson should convene at least two meetings of the District annually, including a Committee meeting and an open meeting at the district qualifying tournament. A quorum will be constituted of five members. The chairperson will also direct the district qualifying tournament, certify member schools and qualified AFA-NIET competitors to the AFA-NIET Committee, the National Chair, the NIET Tournament Director, and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, attend AFA-NIET Committee meetings and present District V concerns at these meetings, and perform any other such responsibilities as dictated by the AFA, the AFA-NIET Committee, or District V.