IEEE ATLANTA SECTION BYLAWS
In all instances, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Bylaws, Constitution, IEEE Policy and Procedures, and Regional Activities Board (RAB) Operations Manual shall prevail when there is a conflict between these documents and Section Bylaws.

ARTICLE I – Name and Territory
Section 1
This organization shall be known as the IEEE Atlanta Section.
Section 2
The territory of the Atlanta Section shall include the entire northern Georgia area surrounding the Metropolitan-Atlanta region, which includes those locations contained in the following 3-digit zip codes: 300, 301, 302, 303, 305, 306, 307, and 311, excluding Wilkes and Taliaferro counties, which are contained in the Central Savannah River Section.

ARTICLE II – Membership
Section 1
Section members are those individuals, of Associate or higher grade membership, residing within the boundaries of the Section, or who live or work in a neighboring Section and have requested Contiguous Section Membership status from the Regional Activities Department.
Section 2
Section members with the grade Associate or higher may vote in Section elections. Student members are not eligible to vote in Section elections. IEEE Society Affiliates are not members of the Section, but they will be notified of Section events and are welcome to participate.
Section 3
Section members of Member or higher grade may hold elected office, or chair a Section Committee. Students and Associate members may not hold office nor chair a committee.

ARTICLE III – Management
Section 1
The management of the Atlanta Section shall be performed by a Section Executive Committee (ExCom), comprised of the following designated section members:
1. Elected Executive Officers of the Section (as defined in ARTICLE IV)2. Elected Subunit Chairs (as defined in ARTICLE V)
Section 2
Any 3 Elected Executive Officers of the Section, plus 1 additional voting member of the ExCom shall constitute a quorum. A quorum shall be necessary for the Section ExCom to conduct the
business of the Section
Section 3
Meetings of the Section ExCom ordinarily shall be held quarterly and shall be called by the Section Chair or by a request of any three members of the Section ExCom.
Section 4
The fiscal year of the Section shall be 1 January – 31 December. The ExCom constituted for each fiscal year shall hold a meeting on or before January 31 of that year to approve an operating budget for the year, compliant with the policies stated in ARTICLE VIII. The previous-year ExCom may approve a transitional budget, extending to January 31 of the following year, to provide for continual operation of the Section’s business.
Section 5
The Section ExCom shall form Program Committees, as described in ARTICLE VI, to coordinate the routine operation of the Section’s initiatives. The Section ExCom shall retain full oversight of all committee activities.

ARTICLE IV – Executive Officers
Section 1
The Executive Officers of the Section, as defined in the RAB Operations Manual, shall be:
1. Chair
2. Vice Chair
3. Secretary
4. Treasurer
The duties of the Section Executive Officers are defined in the RAB Operations Manual. If available to serve, the immediate Past Chair of the Section shall be a considered an Executive
Officer of the Section with full voting privileges.
Section 2
The Executive Officers of the Section shall be elected by the Section membership, as prescribed in ARTICLE VII. The terms of office of the elected officers shall be 1 year.
Section 3
Terms of office shall begin on 1 January. Outgoing officers shall continue until their successors are duly elected and take office. However, no officer may serve in the same position for more than two consecutive years, without the approval of the Region 3 Director.
Section 4
Any vacancy occurring during the year shall be filled by a majority vote of the ExCom.

ARTICLE V – Subunits
Section 1
The Section shall encourage the formation of subunits, including Society Chapters and IEEE-sponsored Affinity Groups. The Section shall support the efforts of subunits to serve the members.
Section 2
Management of the subunits will be directed by the Section ExCom, and governed as detailed in these bylaws. The Section ExCom will supervise all operations of the subunits, including
financial activity and officer selection (or, where appropriate, officer election).
Section 3
Subunits shall be encouraged to exercise separate control of their operations, provided such control is compliant with rules and procedures of the IEEE, RAB, and the Atlanta Section ExCom. Subunits shall be permitted to directly manage their financial operations in separate financial accounts, provided all such management is compliant with the financial activity requirements of the IEEE.
Section 4
Subunits shall be encouraged to elect a chair, and other officers as appropriate, according to the procedure prescribed in ARTICLE VII. Each subunit chair, duly elected according to the procedure detailed in ARTICLE VII, shall serve as a full voting member of the Section ExCom, as
described in ARTICLE III.

ARTICLE VI – Program Committees
Section 1
The Section ExCom shall form Program Committees to coordinate the routine operation of the Section’s program activities. Each Committee shall have a Chair, appointed by the Section Chair, with the approval of the Section ExCom. Each Committee Chair shall appoint his/her Committee members, with the approval of the Section ExCom.
Section 2
Once appointed, Program Committees shall normally continue to operate, without change in mission or composition, unless/until the Section ExCom dissolves the committee or approves successor appointments. Committee Chair and member terms shall not normally expire, but the Section ExCom may create, re-charter, or eliminate a Program Committee, or change the committee composition and Chair, at any time deemed appropriate by the ExCom.
Section 3
At a minimum, each annual ExCom is expected to maintain the following ‘Standing Committees’ to manage programs related to particular initiatives defined in the RAB Operations Manual:
1. Professional Activities
2. Student Activities
3. Awards and Recognition
4. Membership Development
5. Communications
Each Program Committee formed by the Section ExCom, when pursuing a program initiative consistent with one or more RAB Standing Committees shall use the operating principles of the relevant committee(s) as the basis for Section’s Committee’s operations.

ARTICLE VII – Nomination and Election of Officers
Section 1
A Nominating Committee consisting of 3 members, not then officers of the Section, nor intending to stand as candidates for office, shall be appointed by the Section Chair with the approval of the Section ExCom. If available to serve, the Nominating Committee shall include the immediate Past Chair of the Section, who will serve as Chair of the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee shall be responsible for selecting one or more candidates for each of the elected offices listed in ARTICLE IV.
Section 2
The Nominating Committee shall be announced to the Section membership and a call for nominations shall be held open for a minimum of 28 days. Any member eligible to vote in Section elections may nominate an individual for office. The nominating committee shall certify that each individual nominated for office is eligible and willing to serve in the office listed. Section 3
If only one nomination is made for each office, the election shall be declared by acclamation at a meeting of the Section general membership, or the Section ExCom. If additional nominations are made, election shall be made by ballot, mailed or made available on the Internet, to the membership with the vote counted by a Tellers Committee appointed by the Section Chair.
Section 4
The timetable for this procedure is as follows:
Appointment of Nominating Committee: no later than 14 September
Announcement of Nominating Committee/Call for nominations: no later than 15 September
Close nominations: no later than 15 October
If required, a ballot shall be mailed/posted on the web prior to: 30 October
Section 5
A plurality of the votes cast shall be necessary for election.

ARTICLE VIII – Finances
Section 1
Without prior authorization of the IEEE Executive Committee, Section funds can be used only for normal operations of the Section. Particular activities that fall outside of normal operations include donations, establishment of scholarship funds, and investment of funds outside of the IEEE Investment Program. Additional information is available from IEEE Financial Services Staff.
Section 2
A Section budget must be approved by a majority vote of the Section ExCom prior to January 31 of the fiscal year. The budget may be amended during the year by majority vote of the Section ExCom as necessary.
Section 3
All expenditures of Section funds shall be for designated areas approved for expenditure by the Section budget. The Chair, Vice Chair, or Treasurer may approve individual expenditures consistent with the Section budget.
Section 4
The Section Chair, Vice Chair, or Treasurer, shall be authorized to draw funds from Section accounts as approved by the Section ExCom.
Section 5
If permitted by government and banking regulations, all unit bank accounts will provide for the signature authority of the IEEE Staff Director, Financial Services.

ARTICLE IX – Amendments
Section 1
Proposals for amendments to these Bylaws may originate in the Section ExCom or by a petition signed by 25 or more voting members. Amendments may be approved by a two-thirds vote of the full Section ExCom only after every Section ExCom member has had a minimum 30-days to consider the amendment.
Section 2
Amendments to or revocation of these Bylaws shall be in accordance with the IEEE Bylaws, RAB Bylaws and RAB Operations Manual. Such amendments must be reviewed by IEEE Staff, and approved by the Region 3 Director and RAB.