Section A: Name. This organization shall be known as the Columbia City High School Alumni Association. It shall hereafter be designated and referred to in the by-laws as CCHSAA.

Section A: The purposes of the Association shall be to

Section A: Eligibility. Any individual who attended (whether graduated or not) CCHS is eligible to become a member of the Association.

Section B: Classes of Membership. There shall be three classes of membership:

1. Regular Members - Any person who has graduated from Columbia City High School. A regular member agrees to comply with the rules of the CCHSAA. Regular members are allowed to vote and hold office.

2. Associate members - Any person who did not graduate from Columbia City High School, but who wishes to promote the ideas of the CCHSAA. Associate members shall be a member in good standing, allowed to vote but may not hold office.

3. Honorary members - The Board of Directors of CCHSAA may nominate individuals to be conferred with an Honorary Membership. Honorary memberships shall be individuals who have significantly contributed to the advancement of the CCHSAA.

Section C: Application

Eligible individuals become members of the Association by submitting an application for membership. The Board of Directors of the Association will select an individual to accept such applications and submit them to the board.

Section D: Termination.

A member may terminate his membership by written or verbal communication to the President of the Association.

Section A: Officers. The officers of the Association shall be the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Immediate Past President.

Section B: Elections. Office elections will be held on the first Saturday in October of even-numbered years, beginning in 2006. The terms of office will be for two years. The term of office shall begin on the day of election and run until the following election two years hence. The officers shall be elected by a majority vote of members in attendance at the October meeting. There are no limits on the number of times an individual may seek election to any office.

Section C: Powers. The officers are vested with the powers appropriate to their elected office to accomplish the tasks necessary for the successful, day-to-day operations of the Association.

The President shall be the chief operating officer of the Association, shall make all decisions concerning Association day-to-day operations and shall direct the activities of the Vice President, the Treasurer, the Secretary and various committee members.

The Vice President shall assist the President, perform the duties of the President if the President is incapacitated or otherwise unavailable and oversee the activities of the Class Coordinators. The Vice President will also coordinate and have primary responsibility for membership activities, including maintaining a database of current members with the help of the Class Coordinators and the webmaster..

The Treasurer shall be responsible for the financial operations of the Association.

The Secretary shall be custodian of the Association's business records including the minutes of meetings, newspaper clippings and articles, committee reports, and documents produced by the Association Officers and the Board of Directors.

Section D: Resignation. Any officer may resign by tendering a letter of resignation to the Chairman of the Board of Directors with a copy to the President and Vice President.

Section E: Removal from Office. Any officer who fails to perform the duties of the office to which the individual has been elected may be removed from the office by a two-thirds vote of the Board of Directors.

Section F: Vacancies. If the President resigns or is removed from office, the Vice President will assume the Presidency for the balance of the existing term. If the Vice President, Treasurer or the Secretary should resign or are removed from office, the President will nominate to the Board of Directors an individual to fill the vacant office for the balance of the existing term. This individual will enter the office upon a majority vote of the Board of Directors.

Section A: Board of Directors. The Board of Directors of the Association shall consist of twelve Directors. The Immediate Past President of the Association automatically becomes a member of the Board of Directors. The remaining directors shall be categorized into rotating positions as indicated in Appendix 1 of this document.

Section B: Elections. The initial Board of Directors will be elected on the first Sunday in March. They will then be assigned Positions indicated in Appendix 1. Nominations for that Position will be taken at the March meeting and a new Director will be elected by those members of the Association in attendance.

Section C: Term of Office. The term of office of each director shall be two years. The term of office shall begin on the day of the March meeting of the Association and run until the March meeting two years hence. There are no limits to the number of terms a person may serve on the Board of Directors.

Section D: Chairman of the Board of Directors. The members of the Board of Directors will elect a Chairman within five days of the March meeting, to serve for a period of two years.

Section E: Powers. The directors are vested with the powers appropriate to oversee and approve the actions of the Officers of the Association. The Board of Directors will develop and approve a charter detailing the various powers of the Board, the Board’s method of operations and describing its decision making process.

Section F: Operations. The Board of Directors will conduct business at the regularly scheduled meetings of the Association. The chairman may conduct business at other times as circumstances require. Because of the geographical dispersion of directors, business will normally be conducted by email, regular mail or by conference call.

Section G: Resignation. Any director may resign by tendering a letter of resignation to the Chairman of the Board of Directors with a copy to the President and Vice President..

Section H: Removal from Office. Any director who fails to perform the duties of the office of director may be removed as a director by a two-thirds vote of the remaining members of the Board of Directors.

Section I: Vacancies. If any director resigns or is removed from office, the President of the Association will nominate an individual to fill the vacant director position to the Board of Directors and this individual will become a director upon a majority vote of the Board of Directors.

Section J: Quorum: Six members of the Board of Directors shall be considered a quorum for purposes of voting. Either the President or Vice-President must be present for the quorum to be met. All votes shall be decided by a majority of those voting. Members of the Board may abstain from voting, and shall be considered to have abstained if they do not register a vote prior to any deadline designated by the President. In case of a tie, the President of the Association may vote to break the tie.

Section A: Standing Committees. The Association will have the following permanent standing committees: History/Memorabilia, Reunion, Nominating and Scholarship.

Section B: Ad Hoc Committees. The President of the Association may establish Ad Hoc Committees as deemed necessary

Section C: Committee Control. Each committee shall elect a Chairman from its membership. The President, as the Association's chief operating officer, will work with the chairs of each committee to direct and control the activities of Standing and Ad Hoc Committees.

Article 7: Class Coordinators

Section A: Status. Members interested in serving as Class Coordinators of their class will notify the Vice President. Each graduating class of Columbia City High School shall be eligible to name one Class Coordinator to the Class Coordinator Board.

Section B: Role. The role of the Class Coordinators Board shall be to promote communications between the various directors, officers and committee members and the members of their respective classes. Class Coordinators shall correspond directly with all found members of their class at least once a year.

Section C: Oversight. The Vice President shall oversee the Class Coordinators and be their principle point of contact for Association activities. The Vice President shall be active in searching for Class Coordinators for classes which have no active help; be liaison between all Class Coordinators and the Board of Directors; contact each Class Coordinator at least twice a year to encourage proactivity regarding search for "lost" alumni. However, Class Coordinators should have frequent contact directly with the webmaster, and individuals arranging reunions or other Association activities.

Article 8: Association Operations

Section A: Database: The Association will, through cooperation with the Webmaster, maintain a database of all alumni of the high school. This database will include, as a minimum, alumni name, e-mail address, mailing address, telephone number and membership status, which shall be the option of the alumnus and/or Board of Directors.

Section B: Newsletter. The Association will publish a newsletter at least once a year with information provided directly by members, Class Coordinators, Officers, by Directors or Committee Members. The newsletter will be emailed to all Association members and a copy of the latest newsletter shall be posted on the CCHSAA website. Upon request, a copy of the CCHSAA Newletter may be mailed to member without an email address. Operating procedures for the Newsletter will be developed by the President and approved by the Board of Directors

Section C: History. The Board of Directors shall appoint an historian to maintain archives of Association memorabilia to include but not limited to yearbooks. Duties of the Historian include: keeper of Association archives, including all memorabilia, and proactive searching for said memorabilia; point of contact for research questions from students currently at the school or any other interested individuals.

Section D: Reunions. The Association will host an annual reunion and homecoming to which all class years will be invited. The Officers, with the approval of the Board of Directors, will set the date of this reunion.

Section E: Scholarships. The Association will solicit special contributions to fund and/or add to scholarship(s) for deserving graduating students of Columbia City High School. The Association will work with Columbia City High School administration to determine the method for actually awarding money to old or new scholarship(s) with the approval of the CCHSAA Board of Directors.

Section F: Online Operations:

a. Official Web Site: The President, with the approval of the Board of Directors will designate the official website of the Columbia City High School Alumni Association.

b. Webmaster: The Webmaster is responsible for supporting the Association's website and managing the site's evolution and well-being, as well as the more traditional HTML and other technical work; working with the elected Officers and Board of Directors to ensure website consistency and timeliness; and finding tools to help in website development and maintenance. The Webmaster is also responsible for an e-mail listserv to which individuals may subscribe to receive Association updates. This position is appointed by the President.

Section G: Rules of Order

Meetings of this organization shall be governed by the current Robert’s Rules of Order, Revised, except when in conflict with these By-laws.

Article 9: Fiscal Policy

Section A: Fiscal year. The fiscal year of the Association shall be from January 1 to December 31 of the following year.

Section B: Allocation. All contributions will be deposited in a general fund account and may be used to pay any or all expenses incurred by the Association. Contributions received by the Association that are designated as for scholarships only may be deposited in the general fund account but shall be appropriated and used only to fund scholarship(s) as directed by the Board of Directors or the wishes of the contributor.

Section C: Compensation. Officers, directors, Committee Members and Class Coordinators shall receive no compensation for their services. Compensation for expenses will be made to officers of the Association after approval by the Board of Directors.

Section D: Control. All checks, drafts, loans or other orders for payment of money, notes, and other evidence of indebtedness issued in the name of the Association shall be signed by the Treasurer. If the Treasurer is unavailable, the President may sign in the Treasurer’s place. If at any time the amount of any of the above instruments is greater than $500.00, both the President and Treasurer shall sign the instrument.

Section E: Audit. After the various financial records have been closed at the end of the fiscal year, the Board of Directors may, if they choose, require an audit of these records. Upon completion of the audit, these records along with the record of the audit, will be transmitted to the Chairman of the Board of Directors. After the Board of Directors has reviewed and approved the Financial Review report, it will be provided to the Association members either in the Newsletter or by other appropriate means.

Article 10: General Provision

Section A: Contracts. The President shall propose and the Board of Directors shall approve a policy detailing which Officer(s), or agent(s) shall be authorized to enter into any contract or execute any instrument in the name of the Association. All contracts shall require the signature of the President or Vice President, with the approval of the Board of Directors.

Section B: Indemnification. In discharging their duties, the Directors, Officers, and various Committee Members of the Association shall be indemnified by the Association for judgments and fines (whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative) for any of the above enumerated matters, as well as reasonable expenses for each, including attorney’s fees actually and necessarily incurred as a result of such action or proceeding, if such Director, Officer or Committee Member acted in good faith, for a purpose which he or she reasonably believed to be in the best interests of the Association, but had no reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was unlawful.

Section C: Gifts. The Board of Directors, President, Vice President, Secretary, or Treasurer may accept on behalf of the Association any contribution, gift, bequest or device for the general purpose of or for any special purpose of the Association.

Article 11: Existence

Section A: Implementation. These By-Laws will be implemented immediately following their approval. These by-laws shall be approved by a majority vote of the members attending the regularly scheduled meeting of the Association.

Section B: Amendment. The By-Laws of this Association may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the Board of Directors. Any amendment to be considered must be presented at a regular meeting of the association at least one month prior to it being brought to a vote.

Section A: Approval. This Association may be dissolved by unanimous vote of the Board of Directors.

Section B: Implementation. Once a motion for dissolution has been approved, all liabilities and obligations of the Association will be discharged or adequate provision to discharge them will be made by the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Any remaining assets will be donated, unconditionally, to the current administration of Columbia City High School. If Columbia City High School no longer exists upon the dissolution of the Association, the Board of Directors shall dispose of all assets of the Association to such corporations or organizations operating exclusively for charitable, educational, religious, or scientific purposes and qualify as an exempt organization under Section 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or such corresponding provisions of any future United States Internal Revenue Law.) Assets not so disposed of shall be disposed by the Circuit Court of Whitley County, Indiana.

In accordance with the stated purposes of the Association, the Board of Directors and Officers shall make all reasonable efforts to maintain good relations and communication with Columbia City High School, its successors and its constituents. There shall be no financial relationship between the Alumni Association and the School, although the Association may periodically donate funds to the School for various purposes. The Association shall uphold the high standards set by the CCHS School Board.