By-Laws
Of the
North American Society of Adlerian Psychology 

1.    Membership

1.1.  There are three types of membership in the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology (NASAP): General, Affiliate (for organizations), and Associate.

1.2.  General members of NASAP (General Members) are individuals who pay dues directly to NASAP.  Dues may vary for different categories as determined by the Council of Representatives.  Only General Members may:

1.2.1.  Hold office

1.2.2.  Nominate or vote for Board Members

1.2.3.  Vote for Members At Large to the Council of Representatives

1.2.4.  Vote on constitutional change

1.3.  Affiliate Members are organizational units governed by their own principles of operation independent of NASAP with at least two General Members of NASAP and subject to the qualifying conditions below:

1.3.1.  The constitution, by-laws and/or statement of purpose of the Affiliate shall be consistent with the NASAP Constitution

1.3.2.  Organizations must make formal application to NASAP and submit a copy of their constitution, by-laws, or statement of purpose

1.3.3.  Interim status as an Affiliate Organization may be granted by NASAP upon payment of dues and completion of the application.  Final approval of the organization will come from the Board of Directors

1.4.  Associate Members are individuals who are interested in Individual Psychology or the work of NASAP.

1.5.  Dues for the membership are established by the Council of Representatives and are collected as determined by the Board of Directors.  Dues shall include subscriptions to such publications as may be determined by the Board of Directors.

1.6.  All General and Associate Members may also join sections.  Dues for section membership are determined by each section.  Dues established and required by each section shall be collected by NASAP.  The dues minus an administration fee to cover expenses incurred by NASAP in service of the section, will then be forwarded to the section.

2.    Board of Directors

2.1.  The Board of Directors (Board) consists of the officers and up to three appointed members.

2.2.  The Board is responsible for hiring and supervising NASAP staff and consultants.

2.3.  The Board shall meet at least two times per year. One of the meetings shall be held as part of the Annual Meeting of NASAP (Annual Meeting) which will also include a meeting of the COR, a General Assembly of the membership, and an educational program.

2.4.  The President shall call a special meeting of the Board upon petition of a simple majority of the Board.

2.5.  Written notice of any meeting of the Board shall be sent to each Board Member not less than 45 days before the date of such a meeting.  In cases of special meetings, the purpose for which the meeting is called shall be stated in the notice and every effort shall be made to accommodate the schedules of Board Members. 

2.6.  A quorum shall consist of two thirds of the Board present in person or by simultaneous telecommunication that enables full participation in the meeting.

2.7.  Action by the Board may be taken by mail, electronic mail, or other forms of written communication.

2.8.  The Board is the final judge of all elections to the Board and the seating of all Board Members. 

2.9.  The Board shall consider a Board Member’s position to be vacant upon receipt of a letter of resignation, upon notice of discontinuance of membership of NASAP, or upon absence from two meetings within twelve months. 

2.10. In the event that the President is unable to perform his or her responsibilities, the line of succession shall be Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, President-Elect.

2.11. In the event the Vice President, Secretary or Treasurer is unable to perform his or her duties, the Board shall appoint a General Member to complete the term.

2.12.In the event the President-Elect is unable to perform his or her responsibilities, a special election will be held.

2.13. The Board has the authority to interpret the constitutional residency requirement for Board members.

3.    Election and Appointment of the Board of Directors

3.1.  The officers are elected by General Members from a slate of candidates prepared by a nominating committee.

3.1.1. The Nominating Committee shall be composed of the Past President, who shall serve as the Chair, and three other General Members. 

3.1.1.1.Each Representative on the COR may recommend up to three names.

3.1.1.2.The Past President then selects three names from the list, in rank order according to the recommendations received, to serve on the Nominating Committee.

3.1.2.  A Nominating Committee shall serve for two years.  No one on the Nominating Committee is eligible to run for an office on the Board; however, they are eligible for one of the three appointed positions. 

3.1.3.  The Nominating Committee shall select a minimum of two candidates to run for each of the elected Board positions.  The slate of candidates shall be presented to the COR for approval.  Other candidates may be nominated by any member through the submission of nomination forms with the supporting signatures of at least 10 General Members of NASAP.  Nomination forms must be received by the central office by the date indicated on the notice of nominees.

3.1.4.  The Nominating Committee shall oversee the preparation of an information package which contains biographical information and position statement from each candidate to be mailed to the General Membership along with a ballot.

3.1.5.  The central office shall receive and tally the ballots and forward them to the Chair of the Nominating Committee for confirmation of the results before sending the results to the members of the Nominating Committee and the Membership.

3.1.6.  Board Members, including the President-Elect, take office immediately following the close of the Annual Meeting.
 

4.    Board Committees

4.1.  The Board shall have standing committees including Finances and Grant Administration, Conventions and Meetings, Public Relations, Education and Professional Development, Publications and Theory Development, Membership, and Long Range Planning.  These committees make recommendations to the Board for approval.

4.1.1. The Board Committee on Finance and Grant Administration shall be responsible for setting the budget, applying for various grants and other funds as seem appropriate and administering all finances, grants and special funds of NASAP.  Any recommendations by other committees which have a bearing on finances must be submitted to this committee for review.  This committee shall also be responsible for developing and recommending personnel policies for central office staff.

4.1.2. The Board Committee on Conventions and Meetings is responsible for recommending policy regarding the Annual Meeting/Convention and Workshops and other training venues.

4.1.3. The Board Committee on Public Relations is responsible for making recommendations regarding promotion, expansion, growth and development.

4.1.4. The Board Committee on Education and Professional Development is responsible for maintaining accreditation, certification and professional standards in educational  activities.  They shall also be responsible for development and evaluation of educational activities.

4.1.5. The Board Committee on Publications and Theory Development is responsible for recommendations regarding scientific development of theory and practice in Adlerian (Individual) Psychology, the Journal, the Newsletter, and other publications that NASAP may choose to establish from time to time.  This Committee shall be responsible for maintaining scholarly standards in the printed magazines and publications of NASAP and recommendations of editors to the Board.

4.1.6. The Board Committee on Membership is responsible for making recommendations regarding dues, membership benefits and membership development with special attention to social equality issues. 

4.1.7. The Long Range Planning Committee of the Board shall make reports and recommendations to the Board for action regarding development of NASAP directions and policies, strategies and goals which enhance the mission of NASAP.

4.2.  The President, with the approval of the Board, shall appoint committee chairs for all committees of the Board.

4.2.1.  When practical, the Chair of each Board Committee shall be a member of the Board.

4.2.2.  Each Committee Chair shall serve a term consistent with the term of the President who appointed them, and may be reappointed for additional terms by the President, with the approval of the Board.

4.3.  The President shall also appoint members to the committees in consultation with the Chair of each committee.

4.3.1.  Other members of the committees may be members of the Board, Representatives on the COR, General or Associate Members.

4.3.2.  Every effort will be made to have at least one COR member on each Board Committee.

4.3.3.  Members of the Board Committees shall serve a term consistent with the term of the President who appointed them, and may be reappointed for additional terms by the President, with the approval of the Board.

4.4.  Each Board Committee shall have a minimum of one meeting per year, to take place during the Annual Meeting, at which those present shall constitute a quorum.

4.5.  Every Committee of the Board shall report to the COR at its Annual Meeting.  The report shall include a summary of the committee’s actions and policy recommendations that have been developed over the past year.

5.    Council of Representatives

5.1.  The Council of Representatives is composed of Representatives from Sections and Affiliates plus two Members at Large elected by the General Membership.

5.2.  All Representatives elected to the COR must be General Members.

5.3.  The Members at Large on the COR are elected through a nomination and vote of the General Membership conducted through the NASAP office.  Candidates may be nominated by any General Member by submitting nomination forms to NASAP with the supporting signatures of at least ten General Members by the deadline established by the Board.

5.4.  Each Section shall elect two Representatives according to their by-laws. 

5.4.1.     An individual may run for only one election to the COR at a time and may represent either a Section, Affiliate or At Large selection.

5.5.  Affiliate Representatives:

5.5.1.     An Affiliate may send a Representative to serve on the COR when their membership includes 5 General Members of NASAP.  An Affiliate that has 15 or more General Members of NASAP among their members may send two Representatives to the COR.

5.5.2.     Representatives to the COR must be General Members of NASAP.

5.5.3.     Representatives are seated on the COR upon receipt by the NASAP office of official written notice from the affiliate

5.5.4.     The responsibility of the expenses of COR Representatives of Affiliate Organizations remains with the Affiliate or with the individual Representative.

5.6.  The COR is the final judge of all elections to the COR and the seating of Representatives.

5.7.  The President shall consider a Representative’s position to be vacant upon receipt of a letter of resignation, upon discontinuance of General Membership in NASAP, upon notice from the leadership of an Affiliate or Section that the member is otherwise disqualified by their by laws or rules of conduct or other forms of noncompliance, or upon violation of the expectations of the COR.

5.8.  Every effort shall be made to fill vacancies on the COR within 90 days.

5.8.1.     When the vacancy is created by a Sectional Representative, the President shall instruct the Section leadership to nominate a member of the Section for the President to fill the vacancy.  When possible, the membership of the section shall be polled for nominees by the section leadership.  A Section Representative elected or appointed to fill the vacancy of another Section Representative shall serve as a Representative for the duration of the term of the former Representative.

5.8.2.     When a vacancy is created by a Representative of an Affiliate, the President shall request that the Affiliate identify a replacement according to their Constitution or Principles of Operation.

5.8.3.     When a vacancy is created by a Member at Large, nominations for the position shall be solicited from the General Members of NASAP and an election shall be held within 90 days.  If such a vacancy occurs less than 150 days before the next meeting of the COR, the President of NASAP, in consultation with the Board, shall appoint a General Member to serve until such a meeting of the COR and then an election shall occur as outlined above. 

5.9.  The Officers of the Board shall serve as the officers of the COR. In no case shall an officer serve in any other role on the COR (i.e., Affiliate Representative, Section Representative, or Member-at-Large).

5.10.The Board shall establish committees of the COR to conduct the work of the COR, one of which shall be the Constitution and By Laws Committee.

5.11. Each committee of the COR shall elect a Chair for the Committee who will serve for a period of two years.

5.12. Whenever possible, every COR committee shall have a member of the Board of Directors on the committee or shall report deliberations of the Committee to the Board.

6.    Meetings of the Council of Representatives

6.1.  The Council of Representatives shall meet at least once per year at the Annual Meeting, and may hold a meeting approximately six months later in conjunction with the Board meeting. 

6.2.  A special meeting of the COR may be called by the President.  The President shall call a meeting upon the petition of not less than 10% of the total General Members or upon petition of not less than 20% of the COR.

6.3.  Written notice of any meeting of the COR shall be sent to each Representative not less than 45 days before the date of such a meeting.  In the case of a special meeting, the purpose for which the meeting is called shall be stated in the notice.

6.4.  A quorum of the COR shall consist of a majority of the seated Representatives.  In order to conduct business, a quorum must be physically present.

7.    Fiscal Year

7.1.  The fiscal year of NASAP shall be October 1 to September 30.

8.    Amendments to these By Laws

8.1.  These By Laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the COR.  Amendments may not be acted upon until the calendar day following the day upon which the proposal is made or in no less than 12 hours.

Adopted: October 28, 1977 

Revised: November, 1983; May, 1987; November, 1987; May, 1988; May, 1990; May, 1991; November, 1991; November, 1992; June, 1993; November, 1993; May, 1994; November, 1995; May, 1998; May, 2000, June 2004, October 2005.