Bylaws

Article I - Name

The name of the committee shall be "The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) Student Steering Committee."

Article II - Purpose

The Student Steering Committee (SSC) has the responsibility, authority and accountability to represent the interests of students and recent graduates of all maritime engineering disciplines, including; but not limited to, Marine Engineering, Naval Architecture, and Ocean Engineering. The SSC will act as the voice of student members in the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers by concentrating the ideas and interests of its constituents and presenting those issues to the relevant SNAME committees or councils for consideration and resolution.

Article III - Vision Statement

The SSC will lead initiatives that focus on increasing student participation, increasing student retention in SNAME, increasing the student's voice in SNAME and providing resources to students for their professional development. The goal of the SSC is to increase student membership and participation while guaranteeing the future of the Society with continuing membership. The SSC intends for student members to graduate and transition into the Young Professionals group of the Society and become active members of SNAME throughout their career.

Article IV - Officers

The committee shall have a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Communications Chair, Electronic Media Chair, a Secretary/Treasurer, and a Committee Advisor.

Article V - Membership

Membership will be constituted of one representative from each student section. Each student section shall have one vote in committee matters. Representatives shall be the Chairpersons of the student sections. Any representative may present issues for committee review. The voting power of each student section will reside with the representative designated by each student section. The immediate past SSC Chairperson will also advise the committee as a non-voting member.

Article VI - Government

Annual training for the incoming student section chairpersons will take place at the Student Chair Elect Seminar (SCES) in the late spring. The training will coincide with SNAME's Chair Elect Seminar. The training shall be lead by the immediate past SSC Chair and the current SSC Chair. If the chair is unable to attend, another officer from that section may attend in their place. In an attempt to provide maximum leadership opportunity to students, attendance to the Chair Elect Seminar should not exceed one year. That is, a different person represents the school each year. If funding is available, present and past SSC officers may attend.

Section 2: Officers and Officer Duties- All officers shall serve 1-year terms. The term will run from SMTC&E to SMTC&E. Popular vote elections will be held yearly at the SMTC&E to elect new officers for every position. The vote will be by ballot system in order to maintain anonymity. All nominees must be SNAME members. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson shall not be from the same student chapter. An officer may serve more than one term. Officers may be elected into office up to one year from graduating. All Chair nominees must have held an officer position in their local student section or be a former SSC officer. Caution should be taken when a current section chair becomes a candidate for the SSC Chair position. The additional work load of the SSC Chair may diminish the effectiveness of one or both positions. All officers are to study and learn from other engineering societies in an effort to help the success of the SSC. All officers are to work closely with ASNE, as all student sections are joint student sections.

Section 2.1: Chairperson - The Chairperson shall represent the Student Steering Committee to the Executive Committee and Council of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. The Chairperson is to be the leader of the SSC. The Chairperson shall be responsible for ensuring the SSC is effective and is to follow up with the officers on current initiatives and projects. The Chairperson is also responsible for organizing meetings and creating agendas with the assistance from the SSC officers. The Chairperson is to appoint an officer to sit on the SNAME Education Committee, T&R Committee and other various committees that may request a student member for the following year. The Chairperson is to delegate projects to SSC officers as needed. The Chairperson is to communicate regularly with the SSC Advisor and former Chair prior to significant events.

The Chairperson, along with the immediate past Chairperson, is responsible for the planning of the SCES program. The Chairperson shall contact local sections and work with SNAME to ensure that each section is represented at the SCES.

The Chairperson and Faculty Advisor are responsible for the ultimate planning of the student activities for the SMTC&E and shall work closely with SNAME to ensure room location, scheduling and a student hotel. To facilitate planning of the SMTC&E, the Chair shall sit on the Annual Meeting Committee. The Chair may distribute the different activities of the student portion of the SMTC&E to other SSC officers, but is responsible for a successful student program at the SMTC&E.

Section 2.2: Vice-Chairperson - The Vice-Chairperson shall represent the Student Steering Committee to the Executive Committee of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers in the event the Chairperson is unable to. Duties include acting as assistant, as needed, to all Student Steering Committee Officers.

The Vice-Chair, along with the Secretary/Treasurer, shall be the keeper of section information and is the responsible for maintaining a list containing contact information for all student chapter representatives and their voting status. The Vice-Chair will work with SNAME to make sure all membership lists are distributed to each section twice a year (October and January) to help ensure that the section membership rosters match those of SNAME. The Vice-Chair will also work to ensure that all SNAME student section officers are members and that the membership is current. In order to complete the mentioned tasks, the Vice-Chair and Secretary/Treasurer is to work closely with the staff at SNAME headquarters in order to maintain the correct membership information.

The Vice-Chairperson will be responsible for coordinating, with the SSC Advisor, the development of the annual design competition through all of the student sections. The Vice-Chairperson's goal is increase student participation within SNAME and the SSC through active measures.

Section 2.3: Communications Chair - The Communications Chair shall be responsible for ensuring disbursal of Student Steering Committee correspondence to all members. He/she shall maintain communications with each student section in order to have current information regarding section activities for the newsletter.

The Communications Chair shall also be responsible for compiling all officer input and creation of the newsletter. The newsletter is to be distributed every other month or as required. The newsletter may be distributed via the SSC web site. The newsletter is to be done in Microsoft Publisher to facilitate passing of the news letter to the new Communications Chair each year. The Communication Chair shall work closely with the Electronic Media Chair to maintain student news and updates on the website.

Section 2.4: Electronic Media Chair - The Electronic Media Chair shall be responsible for maintenance of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers student web site and student forum. This person shall also serve as representative to the Electronic Media Committee. The Electronic Media Chair is to work closely with the Communications Chair in the development of the newsletter and the disbursal of information via the Internet. The Electronic Media Chair is responsible for the maintenance of the Internship/Mentoring database. This person is to have the necessary qualifications and skills to perform the tasks outlined above.

Section 2.5: Secretary/Treasurer - The Secretary/Treasurer shall keep track of all committee monies, as well as a record events of each meeting, and prepare a monthly summary of committee correspondence to be place on the web site for information and reference. The Secretary/Treasurer will also work directly with the Vice Chairperson to facilitate the duties listed above in the Vice Chairperson description.

The Secretary/Treasurer will also be required to assist the student sections with the development of their fundraising and continuing efforts to better the sections. To facilitate this, the Secretary/Treasurer will work with the sections to fill out their annual budget form and request for funding from SNAME. The Secretary/Treasurer will maintain a list of possible speakers/topics of interest for student section meetings in an effort to increase student participation.

Section 2.6: General Duties of All Officers - At the SCES, each officer and former officer will request/be assigned a student section to maintain contact with until the next SCES. This will be set up as a mentor program for the local section officers. The SSC officer shall communicate with their student contacts throughout the year to check on the section, help wherever possible, lend support and help ensure a strong turnout for the SMTC&E Student Program.

Each SSC officer may have a position on a SNAME committee, as requested by SNAME. The officer may choose the committee they participate in, unless previously specified in the officer description. If there is a request for more student representatives than officers, then former SSC members may also represent the students on certain committees.

All SSC officers are expected to support the Chair in planning the annual SMTC&E meeting. The Chair shall coordinate all efforts. The officer may request their responsibility if not previously specified in the officer description.

Section 2.7: Interim Officers - In the event an officer is unwilling or unable to fulfill their term of office, a special election shall be called for by the remaining officers, and a person shall be elected by a majority to fulfill the duties of the vacated office for the remainder of the term.

Section 3: Committee Advisor - The Committee Advisor shall be appointed by The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers Executive Committee. The advisor will aid the Student Steering Committee by giving guidance and direction throughout the year. The Committee Advisor will also aid the Chairperson in properly directing committee concerns to the appropriate committee of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. The Committee Advisor must take and active part in all SSC business and be available to communicate with the SSC Chairperson on a regular basis and especially as planning for the annual meeting is underway. The Committee Advisor will ensure that the Chairperson is leading the SSC in the proper manner.

Section 4.1: Officer Voting Procedure - Elections of officers shall take place by popular vote at the annual meeting. Voting will be carried out by secret ballot, and ballots will be counted by the current and former SSC officers. If one of the current or former SSC officers is nominated for a position, they will not participate in the counting of that vote.

Section 4.2: Other Voting Procedurs - Since secret balloting would be a timely endeavor throughout the course of the year, balloting on any issue needing attention will be through electronic correspondence to the Communications Chair. Voting on each issue shall be open for a two week time period. At the end of this time, no more ballots will be accepted, and the Communications Chair will report a listing of how each student chapter voted to the Chairperson in a timely manner. The Chairperson will then publicly distribute results of voting, including how each student chapter voted, to each student chapter. To pass approval, an issue must obtain a 2/3 majority of all student chapters that voted.

Section 5: Special Panels - Special Panels may be created to study an issue required to deem further investigation. Panels may also be created to aide the Student Steering Committee in make preparations for any event, including the annual meeting. A committee member appointed by the Chairperson will chair panels. The rest of the panel may include other Student Steering Committee members, or any member of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers whose input may be deemed beneficial.

Article VII - Amendments

Amendments to these bylaws may only be made by a ¾ majority vote during the SMTC&E.