BYLAWS

Prevention: A Section of the Division of Counseling Psychology (17)
of the American Psychological Association

Article I: Name and Purpose

1. The name of this Section shall be Prevention: A Section of the Division of Counseling Psychology (17) of the American Psychological Association (hereinafter referred to as Section, Division, and APA, respectively). This full title shall be used in all public references to the Section. The APA is a not-for-profit, tax exempt corporation, and the Section, as a part of the Division and Association, shall act consistently with the exempt purposes of the Association.

2. The purpose of this Section is to further the theory, research, teaching, and practice of prevention, advocacy, and public interest initiatives among counseling psychologists. The Section incorporates a full array of preventive, developmental, policy, advocacy, and community focused activities. Section members recognize that science is the key to accomplishing this purpose. The Section operates by consensus of its members and is committed to advancing the human rights of all men and women regardless of race, sexual orientation, class, nationality, ethnicity, age, disability, or religious orientation. Specific objectives of this Section include:

1. To bring together counseling psychologists who have an interest in prevention through their teaching, practice, and/or research activities. The networking may occur through newsletters, convention programs, and/or individual communications;
2. To promote the practice and research of prevention within counseling psychology;
3. To facilitate communication between counseling psychology and other groups within APA, including APA's Public Interest Directorate Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest (BAPPI);
4. To give visibility to the teaching, practice, and research initiatives of counseling psychologists in their prevention, advocacy, and public policy activities.

3. The Section shall not knowingly establish policies that are in direct conflict with the policies of the Division or APA. The Section is accountable to the governing board of the Division and shall operate in a manner that is consistent with the APA Bylaws and Rules and the Division Bylaws and Rules, including the Division Rules and Procedures for the Formation, Governance and Operation of Sections.

Article II: Membership

1. The membership of the section shall consist of two categories: Section Member and Section Affiliate.

2. Section Member qualifications: Any Associate Member, Member, or Fellow of the Division who has an interest in the purposes of the Section may apply to be a Section Member. Section Members who are Fellows or Members of the Division may hold Section elected offices. All Section Members shall be entitled to all other rights and privileges of the Section. That is, all Section Members may hold appointed offices, may serve on Section committees and task forces, and are eligible to vote in Section elections.

3. Section Affiliate Qualifications: There are two categories of Section Affiliates: Section Professional Affiliates and Section Student Affiliates.

1. Professional Affiliates of the Division, or Fellows or Members of APA who are not members of the Division but who have an interest in the purposes of the Section, may apply for Professional Affiliate status in the Section. Professional Affiliates may not hold Section elected offices but may hold appointed offices. They may serve on committees and task forces and are eligible to vote in Section elections.
2. Any student belonging to APAGS or Division 17 SAG may apply for Student Affiliate status in the Section. Student Affiliates may not hold elected offices but may hold appointed offices and serve on committees and task forces. They may vote in Section elections.

4. At least 50 of the members of the Section must be voting members (i.e., Fellows or Members) of the Division.

Article III: Officers

1. The officers of the Section shall be a Chair, a Chair-Elect, a Treasurer, a Communications Officer, and a Past Chair. The term of office of the Chair shall be two years. The term of office of the Chair-Elect shall be two years. The term of office of the Treasurer shall be two years. The term of office of the Communications Officer shall be two years. The term of office for the Past Chair shall be two years. All terms of office will run from the end of the annual business meeting of the Division following the election to the end of the annual business meeting of the Division two years later. All officers of the Section shall serve as its Executive Committee. This creates a five person Executive Committee.

2. The Chair shall be the individual who has served as Chair-Elect. The Chair shall perform such duties as are customarily incident to the office of a Division 17 Section Chair. In addition, the Chair's responsibilities shall include but not be limited to the following tasks:

1. Maintaining proper relationships with the Executive Board of Division 17 and others within the Division who have functions relevant to the Section;
2. Planning and chairing the annual business meeting of the Section at the APA convention;
3. Submitting mid-year and year-end reports that include a budget, any membership application forms, roster of officers, membership list, activity reports (including minutes), treasurer's report (including actual income and expenses), any proposed changes in bylaws, copies of all publications and any reports of proposed changes in governance structure, or any other required documents, to the Division's Executive Board;
4. Coordinating the development of formal proposals for programming at the APA annual convention on issues related to prevention in counseling psychology;
5. Ensuring that the Section responds to initiatives as directed by the President of Division 17;
6. Encouraging the Section to initiate and coordinate projects that will address specific needs and interests of counseling psychologists involved in prevention (e.g., conferences on topics of interest to Section membership, development of education and training resources);
7. Appointing task forces or standing committees comprised of Section Members and Affiliates to address issues of concern to the Section;
8. Ensuring that the regular newsletter columns and/or other communication tools keep the membership informed of Divisional, APA, and national events of particular interest or relevance to counseling psychologists interested in prevention;
9. Coordinating activities with chairs of relevant groups or committees to promote the interests of counseling psychology.

3. The Chair-Elect shall perform all duties as assigned by the Chair. In the event that the Chair shall not serve the full term of office, the Chair-Elect shall succeed to the unexpired remainder thereof and continue to serve through the next full term.

4. The Treasurer shall be responsible for maintaining the funds and financial records of the Section and for preparing the reports and performing the duties and responsibilities outlined in Article VIII. The Treasurer shall work with Division Treasurer and the Section Chair to establish and maintain appropriate financial records and procedures. The Treasurer shall, upon request and at reasonable times, make the financial records of the Section available to Section members.

5. The Communications Officer shall keep the records of the Section (including but not limited to minutes of meetings of the Section and the Executive Committee) and keep the membership informed about the activities of the Section. The Communications Officer will prepare an annual column on the Section for the Division newsletter. The Communications Officer also will maintain an updated membership roster of the Section.

6. The Past Chair is the most immediately retired Chair of the Section and shall serve as a member of the Executive Committee for the two years immediately following the term of office as Chair. If for any reason the Past Chair cannot complete the term of office, the office shall remain vacant through the balance of the term in which it occurs and the duties of the Past Chair will be carried out by the Chair. The Past Chair shall be responsible for conducting the Section elections. The Past Chair also shall coordinate and communicate with the Division's Executive Board regarding Section elections. The Past Chair shall be responsible for coordinating Section awards presentations, including student awards. The Past Chair shall perform all other duties as assigned by the Chair.

Article IV: Governing Committee

1. The Executive Committee of the Section shall function as the governing committee for the Section. The Executive Committee shall be comprised of the Chair, Chair-Elect, Treasurer, Communications Officer, and immediate Past-Chair of the Section. Three members of the Executive Committee will be reported during the annual meeting of the Section.

Article V: Committees

1. The Chair shall appoint such committee and task force chairs as may be needed to conduct the affairs of the Section.

2. Chairs will report on the activities of their committee or task force at the annual meeting of the Section.

Article VI: Meetings

1. The Section shall hold an annual meeting at the time and place of the annual convention of the APA and shall there at sponsor or conduct such other scientific and professional events as the Executive Committee deems appropriate. The membership present at this meeting will constitute a quorum. The agenda for the meeting will be set by the Chair with due regard for member input.

2. Business at this meeting will be conducted in a collegial manner, and decisions other than election and bylaw changes (which are detailed elsewhere in these Bylaws) will be accomplished through consensus. If consensus cannot be reached, the Chair may take a vote of members in attendance, and a simple majority will rule. Occasionally, business decisions may be referred by the Chair to a mail ballot of the entire Section membership. In such situations, a simple majority of those responding to the ballot will determine the course to be taken.

3. Business meetings may be convened if necessary outside of the annual business meeting.

Article VII: Nominations and Elections

1. The Chair-Elect, the Treasurer, and the Communications Officer shall be elected by a majority mail ballot vote by all Members in good standing.

2. It shall be the duty of the Executive Committee to conduct and supervise the mail elections of the Section. The Past Chair will oversee the elections process.

3. The Executive Committee shall issue a call for nominations to membership via either a Section postal mailing or LISTSERV or the Division 17 newsletter.

4. The following schedules of terms of office shall govern the call for nominations and election:

1. Chair-Elect: to serve a term of two years, followed by a term as Chair for the two immediately subsequent years, and finally a term of two years as Past Chair subsequent to the term as Chair.
2. Treasurer: to serve a term of two years.
3. Communications Officer: to serve a term of two years.

5. The Executive Committee, under the Past Chair's direction, shall certify a list of names of persons who are nominated for each office, secure permission of the candidates to be placed on the mail ballot, and prepare a ballot for mailing to voting membership. All nominees must be Section Members. No more than three nominees for each office shall stand for election.

6. It shall be the responsibility of the Past Chair to coordinate Section nominations and elections with those of the Division and APA. The election results shall be reported by the Section to the Division 17 Executive Board at least one month prior to the Division's annual business meeting held in conjunction with the annual APA convention.

Article VIII: Finances

1. The Section, with the approval of the majority of its membership and the Division 17 Executive Board, may set and collect dues from its Members and Affiliates. These individual Section dues shall not exceed the sum of one-half (1/2) of the total individual dues and assessments charged by the Division during the preceding year. If such dues are implemented, the Treasurer shall be responsible for the billing and collection of dues, which shall be payable during the first quarter of the Section's current fiscal year.

2. The Treasurer shall keep a full record of all funds received and all funds disbursed and shall work with the Executive Committee to develop and review the Section's budget. The Treasurer shall submit (a) an annual report of Section income and expenditures and (b) a proposed Section budget to the Division Executive Board at its midyear meeting. This information also will be reported to the Section membership at the Section's annual meeting.

3. The Treasurer shall submit semi-annual reports to the Division Treasurer showing income and expenditures in the line-item format used by APA. These reports are due on about June 1and December 1 of each year.

4. The Treasurer is authorized to disburse funds (including signing checks) that have been duly authorized in the approved budget. In the event of the Treasurer (due to unavailability or incapacity) to disburse funds, the Section Chair is authorized to disburse funds (including signing checks) on behalf of the Section under the same provisions. All other financial documents (e.g., expense forms), other than direct payment disbursements as noted above, shall be signed by the Section Chair and the Treasurer.

5. The Section, in keeping with its not-for-profit status, will disburse funds by policies and methods consistent with the relevant statutes and regulations for organizations with not-for-profit status of similar standing.

6. The Section's fiscal year shall be the same as the fiscal year of the Division.

7. If dues are implemented, members who have not paid dues during the current fiscal year may be considered as having tendered their resignation from the Section by non-payment.

8. In the event of the dissolution of the Section, all unencumbered funds in the Section treasury at that time shall be turned over to the Division.

Article IX: Amendments

1. Amendments or changes in the Bylaws may be proposed by the Section Executive Committee or by members of the Section.

2. A copy of the proposed changes shall be submitted to and reviewed by the Division 17 Executive Board before the Section membership votes on the changes.

3. A copy of the proposed amendments or changes and a ballot shall be mailed to all members by the Section Secretary two months prior to the deadline for voting on the proposed amendment, or shall be announced in the Section newsletter.

4. A two-thirds vote by members present at the annual business meeting, or a majority vote of the members on a mail ballot, will be required for the adoption of amendments or changes.

5. Final approval and adoption of any change in the Section Bylaws are contingent upon the approval of the Executive Board of Division 17.

Date: February 21, 2000
Revised: March 6, 2000