SRCD Latinx Caucus By-Laws

Updated October 18, 2021

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ARTICLE I
Membership and Dues

  1. There shall be three classes of members: Professional, Student/Early Career, and Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) members. Membership in the SRCD Latinx Caucus requires regular professional, student/early career, or LMIC membership in SRCD. Membership is open to any individual who has contributed to, is interested in, or has furthered research in human development, particularly as related to the Latinx population. Students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate study qualify for Student/Early Career membership. Any postgraduate student engaged in at least half-time training in child development, or a related field, with a formal postdoctoral fellowship or traineeship or who is in an intern or resident position in any discipline may become a Student/Early Career Member.
  2. Membership for the Latinx Caucus is anniversary-based and is coordinated with the regular SRCD Membership anniversary. Joining asynchronously with the SRCD membership will result in a prorated Caucus membership to bring into alignment with the anniversary of the SRCD membership.
  3. The Steering Committee may recommend a change in dues, but as noted in the SRCD Caucus Guidelines, changes to the dues structure must be agreed upon by all SRCD Caucuses jointly. Each membership category shall receive such publications and voting privileges as the Steering Committee may designate.
  4. Upon failure to pay annual dues, the privileges of membership in the Latinx Caucus shall be suspended on the last day of SRCD Latinx Caucus membership anniversary.

ARTICLE II
Officers

  1. The Officers of the Latinx Caucus shall consist of a (1) Chair, (2) Chair-Elect, (3) Secretary, (4) Treasurer, (5) Technology and Social Media Officer, (6) three Members-at-Large, and (7) two Student Representatives. Past Chair will serve as ex-officio.
  2. All Officers must be current members of the Latinx Caucus. They shall be elected by the membership of the Latinx Caucus and shall constitute the Steering Committee of the Latinx Caucus. The Steering Committee shall serve as the governing body of the Latinx Caucus and conduct its business at meetings, or by correspondence, and report its actions, or request the membership to take action, at the Biennial Business Meeting. Any Member, by writing to any member of the Steering Committee, may bring to the attention of the Steering Committee any matter the Member wishes the Steering Committee to consider.
  3. The Chair of the Latinx Caucus shall preside at all meetings of the Latinx Caucus and shall chair the Latinx Caucus Steering Committee. The Chair shall be authorized to fill any vacancies that may occur in Officer positions or on committees for the remainder of unexpired terms and shall perform such other duties as are incident to the office or as may be properly required by vote of the membership of the Steering Committee or the Latinx Caucus at any duly constituted meeting.
  4. The Chair-Elect shall chair meetings of the Steering Committee and the Latinx Caucus in the absence of the Chair. Two years after being elected, the Chair-Elect shall succeed to the position of Chair at the close of the subsequent biennial meeting. The Chair-Elect also shall serve as chair, or co-chair of the Membership and Nominations Committee (see below).
  5. The Secretary shall be the recording officer of the Latinx Caucus. The Secretary shall record, report and archive the transactions of the Steering Committee and the activities of the Latinx Caucus, and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned by Steering Committee. Once each biennium the Secretary will make a written report to the full Latinx Caucus membership on the organization and activities of the Steering Committee and the activities of the Latinx Caucus. The Secretary shall be responsible for ensuring the archiving of all such reports and transactions for historical purposes. The Secretary also shall serve as chair, or co-chair of the Publications and Communications Committee (see below).
  6. The Treasurer shall maintain records of membership, receive and have custody of the Latinx Caucus’s funds (in coordination with the SRCD central office staff), discharge its obligations, and maintain its financial accounts. The Treasurer also shall serve as chair, or co-chair of the Finance and Fundraising Committee (see below).
  7. The Technology and Social Media Officer will have an automatic seat on the Publications & Communications sub-committee and will be the Chair of the Social Media subcommittee (see below). The media manager and their committee will be primarily responsible for the sharing of information across multiple sources (e.g., website, Facebook)—even though the content and the messages will be resourced from the broader Publications and Communications committee (and the Steering Committee). This position will also be responsible for monitoring and approving messages to the listserv and developing presence in social media (e.g., twitter).
  8. At the time of their election, each of the Student Representatives must be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program, engaged in at least half-time training in child development, or a related field with a formal postdoctoral fellowship or traineeship, or who is in an intern or resident position in any discipline. However, if either of the Student Representatives graduates and completes his/her training program, he/she shall remain eligible to serve as a Student Representative for the remainder of their elected term. Student Representatives serve as a role-model of professionalism to graduate students and supports programming that promotes success of graduate student members. They serve on at least one subcommittee.  In the case of a tie, it is possible to have three student representatives.
  9. The Past Chair continues to serve on the Steering Committee in an advisory capacity as ex-officio, providing support to the current chair and the steering committee. The Past Chair can also serve on other subcommittees as requested by the Steering Committee.
  10. The Steering Committee shall meet at least once each two years at the time of the biennial meeting of the Latinx Caucus. Additional meetings of the Steering Committee may be called by the Chair of the Latinx Caucus or by a majority of the members of the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee shall appoint the members of the Nominations, Membership, Biennial Program, Finance/Fundraising, Social Media, and Publications and Communications Committees as specified in Article IV. The Steering Committee may create such temporary committees as it deems necessary for achieving the objectives of the Latinx Caucus.

ARTICLE III
Elections and Appointments

  1. The Chair-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, Technology and Social Media Officer, three (3) Members-at-Large, and two (2) Student Representatives of the Steering Committee, shall be elected by mail or electronic ballot by those qualified to vote. They shall take office officially at the end of the biennial meeting of the Latinx Caucus in the year in which they are elected and shall serve for two years.
  2. The Nominations Committee shall invite suggestions for nominations from the Latinx Caucus membership for the elected officers of the Latinx Caucus: Chair-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, Technical Advisor/Social Media Officer, members-at-large and Student Representatives of the Steering Committee to be elected. This invitation shall be issued by email six months prior to the biennial meeting (i.e., Sept 1st) and shall specify the return of suggestions to the Nominations Committee not later than four months prior to the date of the biennial meeting (i.e., Nov 1st). The Election Ballot should be sent to Members by November 1st and Voting should end November 15th.  The Chair Elect shall submit the results of the election to the Chair of the Latinx Caucus at least three months in advance of the date of each biennial meeting (i.e., December 1st). 
    The Nominations Committee shall be responsible for the development of a specific set of written procedures and selection criteria that will be used to select the final slate of candidates that will be included on the final election ballot. The document describing the procedures and selection criteria guiding the nomination and election procedures shall be archived and made publicly available to the membership of the Latinx Caucus.
  3. The Chair of the Nominations Committee shall be responsible for the conduct of the elections. The election ballot shall be prepared and distributed to the membership by November 1st prior to the date of the biennial meeting; the specified date of return shall be no later than three months prior to the date of the biennial meeting. The ballot shall provide space for the Caucus members to write in candidates for the position represented on the ballot. Members of the Caucus may vote for one nominee for each position represented on the ballot.
  4. The Chair of the Nominations Committee shall be responsible for the tabulation of the ballots with the assistance of tellers as approved by the Steering Committee.
  5. The Chair of the Nominations Committee shall report the results of the ballot to the Steering Committee. The Chair of the Nominations Committee also shall submit the ballots and other materials to the Latinx Caucus Archives, where they shall be archived for a period of at least two years.
  6. Other than above-mentioned Officer elections, electronic or mail ballots may be conducted by the Chair of the Latinx Caucus, or his/her designee, in a manner determined by Steering Committee.
  7. The Steering Committee may appoint one individual per 2 year term to be lifetime members of an Honorary Advisory Board. Members represent a highly committed, passionate, and distinguished leader in the field of Latinx child and family developmental science; thus, it is possible that there are no appointees in a given 2 year term.  Members of the Honorary Board will serve as expert advisors to the Steering Committee, but will not have voting rights on the Steering Committee.  To become a member of the honorary board, the member must be awarded the Buriel Distinguished Leadership Award at the time of the Biennial.
  8. Removal. Any officer may be removed by a majority vote of the Steering Committee whenever the best interests of the Latinx Caucus would be served thereby, or when there is a determination nonparticipation, noncompliance or a breach of ethical conduct has occurred, but such removal from the position of officer shall be without prejudice to the Latinx Caucus membership rights, of the person so removed.
  9. Vacancies. A vacancy in any officer or committee position due to death, resignation, removal or otherwise, may be temporarily filled by the Chair of the Latinx Caucus, subject to the approval of a majority of the Steering Committee, for the unexpired portion of the term.

ARTICLE IV
Committees

  1. The Nominations Committee shall be chaired by the Chair-Elect of the Latinx Caucus. The Chair Elect will serve as Chair of this committee, and will create, distribute, and collect the ballots at time of voting. At least one general member of the Latinx Caucus is eligible to be appointed to assist the Chair of the committee (e.g., collect bios for nominees), but will not have access to election survey and results.  The Chair of the Latinx Caucus will serve as Co-Chair of the Committee
  2. The Biennial Program Committee shall be members of the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee shall designate one of the two Steering Committee representatives to co-chair the Biennial Program Committee along with the Chair of the Latinx Caucus, who will serve as the other co-chair of this committee. General members of the Latino Caucus are eligible to be appointed as members of the Program Committee. The Program Committee will be responsible for the development of the proposed content of the invited or submitted sessions or presentations developed on behalf of the Latinx Caucus. The final decision on the content and presenters shall be approved in advance by the Steering Committee.
  3. The Awards Committee shall be responsible for nominating members of the Latinx Caucus for awards within both SRCD and SRA, as appropriate, and for selecting the winners of the Latinx Caucus awards.  The chair of the Awards committee should be a member of the steering committee. General members of the Latinx Caucus are eligible to be appointed as members of the Membership Committee. The charge includes nominating members for SRCD and SRA awards by collecting all necessary materials for the nomination and writing the nomination letter, or designating a letter writer for the nominee, and submitting the nominations by the posted due date on behalf of the caucus. The charge also includes reviewing nominations and selecting the award winners for the Latinx Caucus awards.  Members of the subcommittee who are nominated for an award cannot participate in the review or scoring process of the award for which they were nominated.  Members should be made aware that award prizes will be split in case of a tie.
  4. The Membership Committee shall be responsible for promoting the growth of the Latinx Caucus membership, which includes both recruiting and retention efforts. The Chair of the Membership Committee should be the Chair Elect. General members of the Latinx Caucus are eligible to be appointed as members of the Membership Committee. The committee’s responsibilities includes the dissemination of information regarding the Latinx Caucus to the SRCD membership and to individuals who are not active members of SRCD, but who might be interested in the mission and activities of the Latinx Caucus. The membership committee is responsible for the development of promotional materials including those to be displayed and disseminated at the Biennial Meeting. The committee also maintains membership benefits such as adding new members to listserv.
  5. The Finance and Fundraising Committee shall be responsible for raising funds and overseeing the disbursement of funds for the Latinx Caucus leading to and during the Biennial Meeting. The Treasurer shall serve as the chair or co-chair of the Finance and Fundraising Committee. A Reception Sub-Committee is specifically responsible for the planning and coordination of catering and entertainment for the Biennial Meeting Reception.
  6. The Publications & Communications Committee shall be responsible for creating, reviewing and disseminating existing publications (e.g., newsletters, policy/research briefs, etc.), for evaluating proposals for major modifications to an existing Latinx Caucus publication, and for making appropriate recommendations for the establishment of new publications to the Steering Committee. At least two members of the Publications and Communications Committee shall be selected from the members of the Steering Committee. The Secretary of the Latinx Caucus shall serve as chair or co-chair of the Publications and Communications Committee. General members of the Latinx Caucus are eligible to be appointed as members of the Publications and Communications Committee.
  7. The Social Media Committee supports the Publications and Communications Committee by supporting communication to members and prospective members using social media platforms. They are also responsible for taking pictures at events, getting necessary approval, and posting them on social media outlets. The Technology and Social Media Officer. should be the chair of this committee.  General members of the Latinx Caucus are eligible to be appointed as volunteer members of the Publications and Communications Committee.
  8. The Social Policy Committee shall be responsible for participating in social policy work as related to the Caucus’ mission through the writing of white papers, policy briefs, engaging in research to policy briefings with congressional staffers, and/ or serving as policy experts as called upon by SRCD leadership. The chair of the Social Policy Committee shall be a member of the Steering Committee. General members of the Latinx Caucus are eligible to be appointed as members of the Social Policy Committee. The committee will be responsible for the development of the content of the disseminated work and may select additional members to assist with the writing and disseminating of the policy work.  It is expected that at least one product will be developed annually by the committee. The committee will work together with the Publications and Communications subcommittee to develop all deliverables.
  9. The Mentorship Committee shall be responsible for developing mentoring opportunities for the Latinx Caucus members at all levels of membership (student, early career, professional).  The chair of the mentorship committee shall be a member of the Steering Committee. A student representative on the steering committee must also be appointed to the mentorship committee. General members of the Latinx Caucus are eligible to be appointed as additional members of the Mentorship Committee.

Article V
Amendments

  1. The By-Laws of the Latinx Caucus may be amended by a majority affirmative vote of those voting in a referendum submitted electronically or by mail to the voting members of the Latinx Caucus.
  2. Amendments may be proposed by majority vote of the Steering Committee or by petition of at least ten percent of the membership of the Latinx Caucus that is submitted in writing to the Steering Committee.
  3. All proposed amendments to the By-Laws shall be transmitted to the electorate at least forty-five days prior to the vote on the amendment at the biennial meeting.