BYLAWS

This organization shall be called The Tennessee Conference of Graduate Schools.

It is founded for the purpose of considering matters of common interest relating to graduate study and research, articulating the needs of graduate education, and influencing public opinion and legislation for the improvement and advancement of graduate education through appropriate channels.

Each institution of higher education in the State of Tennessee which has regional or professional accredited status and offers graduate work will be eligible for membership.

The Conference shall meet in October and April of each year. The meetings shall be rotated among the three grand divisions of the state.

The officers of the Conference shall be a president, a vice president (who shall be designated as president-elect), a recording secretary and a secretary-treasurer. Officers shall be elected annually except the secretary-treasurer who shall be elected every three years. Elections shall be held at the April meeting. 

The four elected officers of the Conference and the immediate past president shall constitute the Executive Committee.

The officers and members of any committees that may be appointed shall be selected as individuals and not as representatives of a particular institution.

The Executive Committee shall prepare an agenda for each meeting.

At meetings each member institution may have any number of representatives present, but each member institution shall have a single vote cast by the graduate dean or the officer designated as the official contact person for that institution.

No act of the Conference shall be held to control the policy or line of action of any member institution.

Each member institution of the Conference shall be assessed a $25 membership fee to be paid annually. The secretary-treasurer shall maintain a detailed ledger for all expenses and income, and shall report on all expenditures and income at each meeting.

These Bylaws shall become effective upon approval of two-thirds of the graduate deans or officers responsible for graduate work at Tennessee institutions present at the April 1977 meeting. Amendments to this document before its ratification may be made by a simple majority of the graduate deans or officers present.

Amendments to the Bylaws after April 1977 may be proposed by the Executive Committee or by written petition of any of the members. To be adopted, proposed amendments must receive the approval of a two-thirds majority of the members voting at a meeting. However they originate, proposals for amendments shall be received by the Executive Committee and forwarded with recommendations to the members, in writing, at least 30 days before the meeting at which they are to be voted upon.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of these articles, the Conference is organized exclusively for one or more of the purposes specified in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, and shall not carry on any activities not permitted to be carried on by a corporation exempt from Federal income tax under IRC Section 501(c)(3) or corresponding provisions of any subsequent Federal tax laws.

No part of the net earnings of the Conference shall inure to the benefit of any member, trustee, director, officer of the Conference or any private individual (except that reasonable compensation may be paid for services rendered to or for the Conference), and no member, trustee, officer of the Conference or any private individual shall be entitled to share in the distribution of any of the corporate assets on dissolution of the Conference.

No substantial part of the activities of the Conference shall be carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation (except as otherwise provided by IRC Section 501(h) and participating in, or intervening in (including the publication or distribution of statements), any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office. [Adapted from the By-Laws of the National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals (NAGAP).]