Bylaws

fern

Article I. Name and Purpose

Section 1. The name of the organization is The Plant Center.
The mission of the Plant Center is to enhance the tradition of outstanding research in plant science at the University of Georgia.  It achieves its purpose by fostering and supporting interactions among those members of the UGA research community who share common interests in:

  • The organization, evolution and function of plant genomes,
  • The growth, development and biotic/abiotic interactions of plants, and
  • The improvement of plants for agricultural or industrial uses.

Article II. Membership

Section 1. Voting Members:
The voting members shall be composed of any person at The University of Georgia who has been appointed to a Graduate Faculty position or of any adjunct Graduate Faculty member from the United States Department of Agriculture who works at a facility affiliated with The University of Georgia, and who declares an active interest in the purposes and functions of The Plant Center as described in Article I.  Emeritus faculty are also eligible for membership.  To maintain a voting member status, a voting member must attend an annual meeting of voting members or Plant Center sponsored retreat at least one (1) time during a three (3) year period.

Section 2. Non-voting Members:
Any University of Georgia personnel not included in Article II. Section 1. and any persons outside of The University of Georgia may become non-voting members if they declare an active interest in the purposes and functions of The Plant Center as described in Article I. To maintain a non-voting member status, a non-voting member must attend a Plant Center sponsored retreat at least one (1) time during a three (3) year period.

Article III. Officers

Section 1. Director:
The Director shall coordinate all activities of The Plant Center and shall preside at any meeting of the Advisory Group and at all meetings of the voting members. The Nomination Committee (Article V. Section 3.) is responsible for proposing a slate of candidates for Director to be considered by the voting members every third year.  At such time, any voting member may also nominate other candidates for consideration.  A vote on the slate of nominees for Director will be held electronically by the voting members, and the results of the vote will be submitted to the Vice President for Research by the Chair of the Nomination Committee. The Director is then appointed to a three year term by the Vice-President for Research and Associate Provost from this slate of nominees.

Section 2. Advisory Group:
A five (5) member Advisory Group shall assist the Director in coordinating the activities of The Plant Center, including fund raising and budgetary activities, selection of committee members, and coordination of the annual retreat.  Advisory Group members will be appointed by the Director, and must represent key departments and disciplines for the Plant Center.  Only two members may rotate off this Advisory Group each year.  Otherwise, Advisory Group members shall serve for a three (3) year term concurrent with that of the Director.  The Director may appoint additional Advisory Group members to represent graduate students, postdoctoral associates or other constituents, with a shorter, one (1) to two (2) year term.

Article IV. Meetings

Section 1. Frequency:
The voting members shall meet at least once each year. Special meetings of the voting members may be called as the need arises by the Director, by at least three members of the Advisory Group, or by request of at least 30% of the voting members. The Advisory Group shall meet or otherwise coordinate Center activities at least once each semester and at other times as deemed necessary by the Director or by at least three members of the Advisory Group.

Section 2. Notice of Meetings:
Written notice, to include an agenda, shall be mailed electronically to all members at least two weeks prior to the Annual Meeting. Items may be placed on the agenda by the Director, the Advisory Group, or by petition of any five of the voting members.

Section 3. Conduct of Meetings:
The Director, or the Director’s designee, shall preside at all meetings.  Conduct of business shall follow the current edition of Roberts Rules of Order, except as modified by vote of the voting members.

Section 4. Quorum:
Thirty percent of the voting members representing at least five (5) separate academic units shall constitute a quorum. If a quorum is not obtained at a duly called meeting, another meeting shall be called and members shall be notified of the new date. At the rescheduled meeting, the business shall be transacted by members present at that time, regardless of their number.

Section 5. Voting:
Voting at meetings shall be by secret ballot when requested by any member of the Center.  Votes on other topics deemed necessary by the Director in consultation with the Advisory Group may be conducted electronically.  The quorum remains as defined in Article IV, section 4.

Article V. Committees

Section 1. Standing Committees:
Standing committees are established to carry out the functions and operations of The Plant Center, as needed.  Additional standing committees may be established by action of the voting members upon recommendation of the Director and the Advisory Group.

Section 2.  Ad-hoc committees:
Ad-hoc committees can be established as necessary by the Director and the Advisory Group, and may be needed, within budgetary limits, to organize symposia, a seminar series, or any other task necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of the Plant Center.

Section 3. Nomination Committee:
This committee shall be responsible for proposing a slate of nominees for Director (Article III. Section 1.) for an election to be held at the annual meeting or electronically. The slate of nominees considered by the Nomination Committee should represent balanced disciplinary and departmental candidates. The slate of nominees shall be distributed to the voting membership at least two weeks prior to the voting. The Chair of the nomination committee is responsible for conducting the elections, including taking additional nominations from the voting members, and then to report to the Vice President for Research the results of the votes for all the nominees for Director.

Section 4: Committee governance and membership
Membership: 1) Number: The membership of each standing committee shall be set by the Advisory Group and the Director, but will have no fewer than three and no more than five members. 2) Qualifications: All voting members are eligible to serve on each standing committee subject to the restrictions specified for certain committees. Non-voting members may also serve on standing committees if deemed appropriate by the Director and the Advisory Group.  The Director and the Advisory group will strive to achieve a balanced disciplinary and departmental representation on all committees.

  • Officers: Each committee shall elect from its own membership a Chair. The Chair will handle the day-to-day routine responsibilities of the committee.
  • Meetings: Each committee shall meet or otherwise coordinate with each other as often as necessary to perform its functions.
  • Appointment of Committee Members: Members of each committee shall be appointed by the Director after consultation with the Advisory Group. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner. This appointment process shall take place by the end of the spring semester of each year.
  • Tenure and Rotation: Standing Committee members shall be appointed for a period of three years with one-third of the membership appointed each year. The year shall begin July 1 and continue through the following June 30.  Ad-hoc committee members may be appointed on an annual basis depending on need.  Individual members shall not be re-appointed to the same committee more than twice.
  • Quorum: A quorum for committee meetings shall consist of three (3) members.
  • Report: A report will be submitted to the Director at least once a year by the committee chair.

Article VI. Amendments

The foregoing Bylaws may be added to, amended, or repealed at any regular or special meeting of the voting members by a two-thirds vote of all voting members present, provided that written notice of the proposal shall have been sent to each voting member at least one month prior to the meeting at which the amendment is to be moved.

Article VII. Effective Date

These Bylaws were originally adopted on May 10, 1999, and became effective on July 1, 1999.  Bylaws were amended on November 20, 2009 and October 28, 2016 .

In case of conflict with current University policies and procedures, the University policies and procedures will take precedence over Plant Center bylaws.