SIRSI Academic Special Interest Group (SASIG)

CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS

Revised 5/19/97
Revised 6/2/2000

Article I

The name of this organization shall be the SIRSI Academic Special Interest Group (SASIG), hereinafter referred to as the Group.

Article II

The Objectives of this organization as a Special Interest Group (SIG) shall be the following:

To provide communication and interaction among the academic users, and between the Academic Users and the SIRSI Corporation.
To serve as a support group for informally solving problems pertinent to academic and research libraries.
To actively lobby as a group for new system developments and enhancements appropriate to the needs of academic and research libraries.
To encourage and facilitate the interaction between academic library users and SIRSI development and customer services working through the International SIRSI Users Group (ISUG) Unicorn User Group International (UUGI) for the purpose of achieving understanding of the unique needs and interests of academic research libraries.

Article III

Membership shall consist of all academic libraries which have installed, are in the processing of installing, or have signed contracts to install SIRSI Unicorn. For the purposes of this document, academic libraries will include any library forming an integral part of a college, university, consortium or other institution for postsecondary education and/or research.

SIRSI Corporation may, for their purposes, designate some libraries as special libraries when only one library at an institution has a contract with them. Such a library, if it conforms to the definition above, retains eligibility for membership in this group.

Termination of membership may be initiated by the institution at any time.

Article IV

Officers of the Group shall be Chairperson, Chairperson-elect, and Secretary. They shall serve to the end of the next annual meeting.

A slate of nominees for election will be announced by email or newsletter by March 15 of each year. The slate may be drawn from volunteers and/or from nominees solicited from the membership at large. Nominees must consent to serve.

Election will be held at the Academic SIG meeting during ISUG. Institutions not attending ISUG may send a ballot to the current Chairperson at least 15 days prior to the ISUG meeting. The new officers will be installed and take office at the end of the ISUG meeting.

The duties of the officers will be the following:

The Chairperson:

Presides at meetings
Represents the Group at related meetings
Gives direction to the organization
Calls meetings
Acts as a spokesperson for the Group
Calls for nominations for officers for the next year.
Performs other duties as assigned by the Group.

The Chairperson-elect:

Presides in the absence of the Chairperson
Succeeds to that Office in the following year
Performs other duties as assigned by the Chairperson or the Group

The Secretary:

Maintains membership records
Creates and maintains minutes of meetings
Disseminates minutes, other relevant information, and reminders of meetings

Article V

The Group shall form committees or task forces as needed to foster the work of the Group.

Each committee and task force shall be given a formal charge and membership to complete its work. Before being disbanded each committee should report to the Group, through the person of the Chairperson, on the results of its efforts.

Article VI

The official meeting will be held annually at the International SIRSI Users Group UUGI. In the absence of elected officers, acting officers may be appointed by the Chairperson for the duration of that meeting. Other meetings will be called as needed.

Article VII

Issues of substance before the membership shall be settled by ballot. Each licensed member has one vote and decisions (with the exception of amendments to the Bylaws) shall be made by the majority vote of members present at meetings or represented by proxy. [See Article VIII]

Article VIII

These Bylaws may be amended at any time. Proposed amendments may be submitted by an institution to the Chairperson. Each proposed amendment must be seconded by another institution. The officers must schedule a ballot in a reasonable time after an amendment proposal has been received. Notice of a proposed amendment and a schedule for a ballot must be given in writing to each institution at least three weeks preceding the vote. Final decision will be based upon a simple majority of the ballots received.

[Changed from: These Bylaws may be amended at any time. Notice of a proposed amendment and proxy ballot must be given in writing to each institution at least three weeks preceding the vote. Ballots must be received before the vote date; the final decision will be based upon a simple majority of those ballots received.]

Article IX

The latest edition of Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern decorum and debate.

Article X

There shall be no monetary dues. Each institution shall bear its own membership expenses.

Article XI

Records are kept and reports are made to the Group by the Secretary and any committee or task force chairpersons in a timely manner.

The records of the SIRSI Academic Special Interest Group constitute its archives. The archives are maintained by the Secretary through that person’s active term of office. At the end of that active term of office, the archives are passed forward to the incoming Secretary of the SIRSI Academic Special Interest Group.