The SWE Bylaws Committee is responsible for maintaining the Society’s governing documents. The committee also reviews Section Agreements for established and newly chartered sections and MAL Bylaws. The Bylaws Committee acts as a resource to sections by guiding the creation of their own section procedures.
The committee was formed in the 1950s and currently has about one dozen members. It provides governance guidance to SWE Leadership, including section officers and members.
What do we do?
- Assist with the interpretation of bylaws as needed.
- Review proposed Society bylaws updates for senate approval.
- Prepare standard templates for sections for the Board of Directors’ approval.
Bylaws
Why do SWE sections need a Section Agreement?
- To ensure that all sections have compliant governing documents, an amendment was passed in FY20 to remove Section Bylaws and replace them with a Section Agreement. This eliminated the need for sections to modify their bylaws as Society Bylaws amendments were passed repeatedly.
- The agreement is signed annually and will ensure that the current leadership of the section is knowledgeable of the contents of the Society Bylaws, the Section Agreement, and their fiduciary responsibility.
- The agreement allows sections more autonomy by empowering sections to maintain their own procedures for leadership and operations.
What are the section procedures?
- Section procedures are created and maintained by the SWE Section. They may detail information around the operations of the section, which may have previously been contained in the Section Bylaws.
- Sections will need to maintain procedures to declare a successor to the president, assuming it is not the secretary as called out in the Section Agreement.
- Guidance around the need for section procedures and what should be included can be found in the Section Management Manual.
Email HQ@swe.org for the latest version of the standard Section Agreement.
The current Society Bylaws are located in the SWE Bylaws and Codes section of the About page. Contact the Society Secretary at secretary@swe.org with questions or comments.
Have questions? Does your section need assistance with section procedures? Please email bylaws-chair@swe.org.
