The revised Section Bylaws were approved by vote at the January 18, 2024 Section meeting.
Dallas Section Bylaws effective January 18, 2024
Article I
Name
The name of this organization shall be the Dallas Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Inc. (SPEI). The Dallas Section was founded on 3/18/1953.
Article II
Mission and Vision
The Dallas SPE Section supports the mission and vision of the Society of Petroleum International (SPEI) which is to collect, disseminate, and exchange technical knowledge concerning the exploration, development and production of oil and gas resources, and related technologies for the public benefit; and to provide opportunities for professionals to enhance their technical and professional competence. The vision is to be a society of professional excellence, providing its members the highest quality of lifelong learning, and continuous personal and professional growth. The Dallas Section will accomplish this by providing:
· Quality opportunities that will educate and help maintain professional competence.
· Forums that offer opportunities to interact with colleagues and peers in the oil and gas industry.
· Informational and financial support for educational programs that support the field of petroleum engineering at the primary, secondary and college levels.
Article III
Jurisdiction
The jurisdiction of this Section shall include, but not be limited to, the following counties: Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Denton, Grayson and Rockwall, and in all cases shall be governed by the SPEI definition.
Article IV
Membership
All members and student members in good standing with SPEI, residing or working in the jurisdiction outlined under Article III, and those who select the Dallas Section as their local section, shall be eligible for membership.
Article V
Officers and Directors
Section 1: The Executive Committee shall be composed of the Chairperson, Chairperson-Elect, Past-Chairperson, First Vice-Chairperson (Programs), and Treasurer. It may act for the Board in all matters except the replacement of officers and the setting or changing of dues as defined in Article IX, Section 1. Any actions of the Executive Committee shall be recorded by the Chairperson and distributed to the Board of Directors within thirty (30) days.
Section 2: The Officers of this Section shall consist of a Chairperson, Chairperson-Elect, Past-Chairperson, First Vice-Chairperson (Programs), Second Vice-Chairperson (Education), Third Vice-Chairperson (Membership), Secretary, Treasurer, Treasurer-Elect, Sports/Social Chairperson, Scholarships Chairperson, Professional Networking Chair, Community Relations Chairperson, and Technology/Communications Chairperson. The aforementioned Officers of the Section shall have voting rights regarding matters of policy, Section business and budget.
Section 3: The Board of Directors shall be composed of the aforementioned Officers, and At-Large Directors appointed by the Chairperson (or Chairperson-Elect, as appropriate). Appointed positions will not have voting rights.
Section 4: All Board of Director members must be in good standing with SPEI throughout the term of their office by maintaining active membership, paying dues on time and adhering to the Section Operations Manual. Any Board member determined not to be in good standing with SPEI may be removed by a majority vote of the Board of Directors.
Section 5: Officers and Director’s term of office shall coincide with the SPEI Annual Reporting year. A vacancy in any office occurring between annual elections shall be filled by the Offciers
Section 6: The advisory committee shall be composed of former and noncurrent executive committee members. An advisory committee member can serve for up to 3 consecutive terms on the advisory committee. The advisory committee collectively has one voting right regarding matters of policy, section business, and budget.
Article VI
Election of Officers
Section 1: The Dallas Section Chairperson shall convene, by January 1 of each year, a Nominating Committee composed of five members of the Section to canvass the membership and determine those qualified to serve as Officers for the upcoming term of office. The Nominating Committee shall be composed of the Past-Chairperson (who will serve as Chair of the Committee), Chairperson, Chairperson-Elect, Secretary, and one member-at-large recommended by the Section Chairperson. If the Past-Chairperson is not available to serve, the Section Chairperson shall recommend a Chair for the Nominating Committee to be approved by the Officers.
Section 2: The Nominating Committee shall present a slate of Officer Candidates by February 15 to the current Officers for consideration and approval before March 1. The slate shall consist of at least one candidate for each position. If the current Officers do not approve any of the Officer candidates, then the current Officers will ask the Nominating Committee to determine other candidates for consideration and Officer approval before March 15.
Section 3: Section communications will provide the Officer-approved slate of Section Officers and Directors to the membership on or about March 15.
Section 4: All nominees approved by the Officers and presented to the Section shall stand as elected unless Section members nominate additional candidates as outlined in Article VI, Section 5 below. Any Officer position, except Chairperson, Past-Chairperson and Treasurer, may be challenged by additional candidates.
Section 5: Additional candidate nominations for one or more of the elected Officer positions shall be submitted to the current Officers before April 1.
A. All candidates must meet the qualifications for Section Membership in Article IV of the Dallas Section Bylaws.
B. Nominations must be made by petition from 50 members of the Section. Such petitions must be received by the Section Chairperson no later than April 1 of that year.
C. Nominations for all contested positions will be published in the April issue of the Section communications and at April monthly meetings.
Section 6: If an election is necessary, it shall occur at one of the regularly scheduled May section meetings. All Active Members of the Section shall be notified of the meeting time and location in both the April and May issues of the Section’s communications. A quorum as defined in Article XII must exist for the election to occur.
A. Marked ballots shall be taken for all contested positions.
B. The Chair of the Nominating Committee shall appoint an Election Judge to count votes of members present and authenticate the election.
C. Nominees for each contested position receiving the majority of votes shall be declared elected by the Officers.
Article VII
Duties of Officers and Directors
Section 1: The Chairperson shall preside at all meetings of the Section, the Board of Directors, and the Executive Committee. He/she shall appoint all Committees, perform all other duties that pertain to the management of the Section, prepare the Section Annual Report and serve as ex-officio member of all Committees. The Chairperson shall not succeed himself/herself except in the situation described in Section 3 below.
Section 2: The Past-Chairperson shall provide advice and counsel, as necessary, to the Board, in addition to serving as Chair of the Nominating Committee.
Section 3: The Chairperson-Elect shall preside at meetings in the absence of the Chairperson, shall chair such committees as the Chairperson designates and shall succeed to the office of Chairperson upon expiration of the Chairperson's term. In the event of a vacancy in the Chairpersonship, he/she shall assume the Chairpersonship for the remainder of the unexpired term and shall then serve his/her own elected term.
Section 4: The First Vice-Chairperson, Programs, shall be responsible for the arrangement of programs for the regular Section meetings. In the absence of the Chairperson and Chairperson-Elect, the First Vice Chairperson shall serve as Chairperson of the regular meetings.
Section 5: The Second-Vice Chairperson, Education, shall be responsible for the arrangements of continuing education programs through Study Group Meetings, seminars, and other forums.
Section 6: The Third Vice-Chairperson, Membership, shall be responsible for retaining current members, attracting new members and encouraging involvement and volunteerism from all members.
Section 7: The Treasurer shall receive and disburse all monies for the Section. The Treasurer must exercise a high degree of fiscal responsibility in making deposits, paying budgeted expenses, reporting the status of assets at Board of Director meetings and heading up the annual audit as outlined in Article IX, Section 3. Non-budgeted expenditures must be approved by the Chairperson if under $500 and by the Officers of the Board of Directors if over $500.
Section 8: The Treasurer-Elect shall assist the Treasurer and learn the responsibilities of the position. In addition, the Treasurer-Elect shall head up the finance committee for the purpose of reviewing section investments and ensuring sufficient operating funds are available in liquid assets. After their term, the Treasurer-Elect will automatically succeed to the position of Treasurer.
Section 9: The Secretary shall record and distribute all proceedings of the Board of Directors. He/she shall record, store and distribute minutes, as well as maintain section officer roster, bylaws or operational procedures.
Section 10: Community Relations Chairperson shall steward the Section's volunteer programs and other community service programs.
Section 11: The Sports and Social Chairperson shall steward the Section's various social and sporting activities.
Section 12: The Scholarship Chairperson shall lead the Section’s efforts towards financial support of petroleum engineering students at primary, secondary, and college levels.
Section 13: The Professional Networking Chairperson shall coordinate monthly networking events for members and potential members in the Dallas area.
Section 14: The Technology/Communications Chairperson shall coordinate and be responsible for maintaining the Dallas Section Website, the SPE Dallas LinkedIn page, as well as preparing all section correspondence via Informz.
Section 15: The At-Large Directors, under the guidance of the Chairperson, shall help with the overall direction of the Section and will act as liaisons between the Board and other groups.
Section 16: The Officers and Directors shall formulate all policies and conduct any other business of the Section as necessary including overseeing the Section’s annual budget and fund-raising activities.
Section 17: The Officers and Directors of the Board shall further be directed in their duties to the Section and to SPEI by adhering to the Section Operations Manual.
Article VIII
Meetings
Section 1: The Board of Directors, under the direction of the Chairperson, shall ensure the membership is notified, by all Section communication means available, of all forthcoming meetings and other relevant information that impacts the Section.
Section 2: The schedule of the regular monthly meetings, other Section meetings and events shall be coordinated through the Board of Directors.
Section 3: Regular or special meetings of the Board of Directors or of the Executive Committee shall be called as needed by the Chairperson.
Article IX
Dues and Finances
Section 1: Dallas Section members shall not pay Section dues separate from SPEI. However, if dues are ever determined to be necessary, then the amount of dues shall be set by the Board of Directors and approved by a majority of the vote of the membership present at the special meeting called for the approval of said dues.
Section 2: The Treasurer, Treasurer-Elect, and one other officer designated by the Board of Directors shall have “either/or” signature authority over the checking, savings and investment accounts. All officers with signature authority shall be bonded, the cost of which will be paid by the Section.
Section 3: An audit of the Section’s finances shall be conducted by the Internal Control Manager of SPEI during the last month of the Term Year. A committee, headed by the Treasurer and consisting of the Chairperson, Chairperson-Elect and Treasurer-Elect, shall oversee the audit.
Section 4: The fiscal year for the Dallas Section shall coincide with the SPEI fiscal year.
Article X
Disposal of Funds on Dissolution
On the dissolution of this Section, all funds remaining after the payment of all its debts shall be turned over to SPEI, unless that corporation shall be non-existent or also be in dissolution, in which event the remaining funds shall be turned over to another organization exempted under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1934, and which has goals and aims similar to SPEI. This article of the bylaws is not amendable during the existence of this Section.
Article XI
By-Laws
Section 1: Proposed bylaws amendments shall be posted on the Section website, as well as announced and presented at all regularly scheduled Section meetings held within sixty (60) days prior to the meeting scheduled for voting on the amendments. Notice of the meeting scheduled for voting on the bylaw amendments shall be made on the website, at all regularly scheduled Section meetings, and in all newsletters during the sixty (60) days prior to the meeting.
Section 2: Amendments to these bylaws, with the exception of Article X, shall be approved by a two-third affirmative vote of all current eligible members present at a regular meeting at which bylaw amendment(s) will be voted on.
Article XII
Quorum
Section 1: A quorum at any regular or special meeting of the Section shall consist of fifty (50) members.
Section 2: A quorum at a meeting of the Board of Directors shall consist of over 50% of the officers of the Board of Directors.
Section 3: A quorum at a meeting of the Executive Committee shall consist of all five (5) members of the Executive Committee.
Article XIII
Parliamentary Authority
Roberts’ Revised Rules of Order shall be the official guide for the Dallas Section in its conduct of its business.
Article XIV
Order of Business
The order of business of the Board of Directors shall be as follows, unless revised by the Chairperson with the approval of the Board of Directors.
1. Call to order by appropriate officer as specified by Article VII
2. Approval of minutes of previous meeting.
3. Old business
4. New business
5. Treasurer’s Report
6. Reports of Committees
7. Closing including date of next meeting
Adjournment
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