Constitution

Preamble

The journalism departments of two-year colleges hereby establish the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) to exchange ideas and opinions, to develop and maintain effective curricula, to provide enriching educational experiences for members, to render mutual aid, and to develop and maintain a free student press.

It is the philosophy of the Association to encourage equal student and faculty participation.

In 2006, JACC incorporated as a nonprofit corporation.

Article I: Name and Membership

Section 1: The name of this organization will be the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC). Any accredited community college may become a member of JACC, and any person or organization interested in community college journalism may become an associate member. All members must pay annual dues and agree to abide by the JACC Constitution, the Canons of Community College Journalism and the Annual Convention Guidelines.

Section 2: College dues will be established for the ensuing academic year at the Annual Convention. Upon payment of dues by a college, all student publications produced as part of the journalism program and all journalism students and faculty of the college are JACC members.

Section 3: The association will include a student section and a faculty section, and members will convene in a General Assembly at the Annual Convention.

Article II: Geographic Sections

Section 1. JACC will consist of two or more geographical regions. Assignment or The Association will consist of a Northern Region and a Southern Region. Assignment or reassignment of a member college to a given region will be at the discretion of the college upon approval of the Board of Directors.

Section 2. Regions may conduct their own activities and have their own treasuries, which will be administered by the JACC Treasurer. Regional faculty directors are authorized cosignees on regional checking accounts.

Article III: Officers

Section 1: The elected student directors will be a student president and one student director from each geographical region, who will serve as vice presidents. The region electing the state student president will alternate annually. At the time of election and throughout the director's term of office, the student will be in a journalism program of a JACC-member college and adhere to the JACC Canons of Journalism..

Section 2: The elected faculty directors will be the JACC president and one faculty director from each geographical region, who will serve as vice presidents. At the time of election and throughout the director's term of office, the faculty member will be a teacher in a journalism program of a JACC-member college and adhere to the JACC Canons of Journalism.

Section 3: The Board of Directors may accept proxies from directors who cannot attend board meetings if directors request them. Only faculty members may serve as voting proxies for faculty directors and only students may serve as voting proxies for student directors.

Section 4: The Secretary, the Treasurer and the Communications Director will be appointed nonvoting directors.

Section 5: Appointed associate directors will be the Conference Coordinator and the immediate past faculty and student presidents.

Article IV: Election of Student Officers

Section 1: Election of the three student directors will be by college student regional delegations at the Annual Convention. Candidates for election will be nominated from the floor. Only one student from each school will be eligible to take office as a student director.

Section 2: Each college delegation will have one vote per office. The candidates from each region receiving a plurality of votes will be elected.

Article V: Election of Faculty Officers

Section 1: Election of the faculty president will be by faculty members at the Annual Convention. The president in office will appoint a statewide Nominating Committee no later than the Winter Faculty Conference to nominate one or more candidates for the next presidency. The Nominating Committee will consist of an equal number of faculty members from each region. Nominations may also be made from the floor at the Annual Convention faculty meeting, where the election will take place.

Section 2: The president will rotate among the regions each term. Each faculty delegate will have one vote, and the election of the president will be by a majority of delegates voting.

Section 3: The two regional directors will be elected at the fall regional conferences by a majority of faculty delegates voting and will take office at the conclusion of the ensuing Annual Convention. The regions each may elect from their faculty members a regional vice president and a regional secretary to conduct region-specific business and to help operate the fall regional conference which each region's finances.

Article VI: Appointed Officers

Section 1: The Secretary, the Treasurer and the Communications Director will be appointed by the incoming Executive Board at each third Annual Conference.

Section 2: The Annual Convention coordinator will be appointed by the Board of Directors.

Section 3: An Annual Convention student chairperson may be nominated by the coordinator for that conference and appointed by the student directors. If the student chairperson is not from the same school as the Conference coordinator, it is strongly recommended that the student chairperson be from a member school of close proximity. Under Article III, Sections 1 and 2, add the following to the end of each paragraph: and adhere to the JACC Canons of Journalism. Under Section VII, add the following to the end of the paragraph: Directors may also be removed for not upholding the JACC Canons of Journalism.

Article VII: Term of Office, Removal, Vacant Positions