Proposed By-law Changes for 2022

March 31, 2022
2021-2022, Credentials

Megan O’Rourke
Providence College
Credentials Committee Chair
IACAC Past President

The 2021-2022 Credentials Committee presents the following updates to our by-laws. These updates continue to address the changes within our association as we move forward. As in years previous, the Credentials Committee also makes sure that Illinois Association for College Admission Counseling (IACAC) adheres to guiding principles of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). The proposed by-law changes will be voted on electronically after the Annual Membership Meeting on Wednesday, April 27, 2022. Members not attending this year’s Conference will have the opportunity to ask questions of IACAC leadership during an informal virtual meeting on April 20th. Ballots will be sent to all eligible voting members electronically on Wednesday, April 27th immediately following the Annual Membership Meeting. Voting will be open until Thursday, April 28th at 10:00 am. If a member cannot vote electronically within that timeframe, they may request a proxy ballot by April 15th by emailing past-president@iacac.org.

I would like to thank the members of the Credentials Committee who have given their time and expertise in working with the following updates and changes to provide for the by-laws that will continue to allow future leadership and members to adapt to the changes and growth within the association.

Committee Members: Sarah Goldman, Jennifer Sloan, Laura Schutt, Allen Lentino, Christine Grotzke, Brian Hodges, Tony Minestra, Carin Smith, Stephanie Szczepanski-Dugo, Patrick Walsh, Shawn Wochner, Julie Nelson, Ellen Rostker, Erin Hoover

PROPOSED BY-LAW CHANGES

Block #1

Amend Article I. Membership. Section 1. Voting Membership. Add new 4 & 5 items and renumber all other items within this section.

New Language:

A. Individuals:

4. Persons charged with supervising admission and enrollment management
activities who are employed at an Illinois university or university system office.

5. Persons charged with supervising counseling activities who are employed at
an Illinois school or system district office.

Amend Article I. Membership. Section 1. Voting Membership.

Old Language:

C. Organizations:

1. Any organization, agency, or institution which is not-for-profit, maintains an
educational facility in the State of Illinois, and provides postsecondary counseling
and financial aid services at the state or local level.

2. Any organization, agency, or institution, which is not-for-profit, maintains an
educational facility in the State of Illinois, and provides postsecondary counseling
and financial aid services at a multi-state, national or international level.

New Language:

C. Organizations:

1. Any organization, agency, or institution which is not-for-profit, maintains an
educational facility in the State of Illinois, and provides postsecondary counseling,
admission, or financial aid services at the state or local level.

2. Any organization, agency, or institution, which is not-for-profit, maintains an
educational facility in the State of Illinois, and provides postsecondary counseling,
admission, or financial aid services at a multi-state, national or international level.

Amend Article I. Membership. Section 1. Voting Membership to re-letter the entire section to list the items in the following order:

A. Educational Institutions
B. Organizations
C. Individuals

Rationale: As our membership model has changed, we want our membership categories to more accurately reflect how someone becomes a member within IACAC and we used NACAC to model the language of this section.

Block #2

Amend Article I. Membership. Section 2. Nonvoting Membership.

Old Language

A. Individuals:

2. Any individual who provides teaching and/or training to professionals who work with
students in the transition to postsecondary education, and who is currently employed
in a postsecondary, graduate, or professional program at an accredited two- or
four-year college, university, or other not-for-profit postsecondary educational
institution, and who, in the opinion of the Executive Board, is in accord with the
purposes of IACAC and does not qualify for membership under Section 1 of Article
1.

New Language:

A. Individuals:

2. Persons who provide teaching and/or training to professionals who work with
students in the transition to postsecondary education, and are employed in a
post-baccalaureate or graduate program at an accredited not-for-profit institution
according to the policies approved by the IACAC Executive Board.

Amend Article I. Membership. Section 2. Nonvoting Membership.

Old Language

C. Organizations:

1. Any individual or for-profit organization, business, agency, or institution possessing
interests which, in the opinion of the Executive Board, are in accord with the
purposes of IACAC and that does not qualify for membership under Section 1. of this
article.

New Language:

C. Organizations:

1. Any individual or for-profit organization, business, agency, or institution that provide
services to the counseling, admission, or financial aid professions in support
of Illinois students in the transition to postsecondary education.

Amend Article I. Membership. Section 2. Nonvoting Membership to re-letter the entire section to list the items in the following order:

A. Educational Institutions
B. Organizations
C. Individuals

Rationale: We want to streamline the language, have it follow the same structure as the voting membership section, and we used NACAC as a model to do so.

Amend Article I. Membership. Section 3. Membership Procedures.

Old Language:

To obtain membership a qualifying individual, organization, agency or institution shall file a completed membership application as directed by the Association, along with applicable dues in accordance with these By-laws. All current members shall be included in the membership list and must complete a membership application.

New Language: Section will be removed and all other sections will be renumbered accordingly.

Rationale: This has been moved to the Policy and Procedures Manual. This document was approved by the Executive Board in March and shared with the membership with the by-law changes.

Amend Article I. Membership. Section 5. Meetings.

Old Language:

There shall be an annual meeting of the membership of IACAC held in the spring each year at which (cabinet and council) Officers, Directors, and Delegates to the NACAC Assembly shall be elected. This meeting may be held in-person or in a virtual environment. The President is empowered to call other general membership meetings, which must be announced in writing to each voting member at least two weeks prior to the date of the meeting. The annual meeting in any event shall be held before June 1 of each year. Except as otherwise provided in Section 4 of Article IV of these By-laws, each member shall have one vote on each matter presented to the membership for its consideration.

New Language:

There shall be an annual meeting of the membership of IACAC held in the spring each year at which IACAC Officers, Directors, and NACAC Delegates shall be elected. This meeting may be held in-person or in a virtual environment. The President is empowered to call other general membership meetings, which must be communicated to each voting member at least two weeks prior to the date of the meeting. The annual meeting in any event shall be held before June 1 of each year. Except as otherwise provided in Section 4 of Article IV of these By-Laws, each voting member shall have one vote on each matter presented to the membership for its consideration.

Rationale: This provides clarity to this section and establishes who can vote at the annual meeting.

Amend Article II. Executive Board. Section 2. Cabinet.

Old Language

The Cabinet of IACAC shall comprise President, President-elect, Most Recent Active Past President, Secretary, Treasurer, Treasurer-elect and Most Recent Active Past Treasurer. Each cabinet member shall be elected from the voting membership of IACAC. The Secretary shall serve a term of two years. The President-elect shall automatically succeed to the office of the President; the President shall automatically succeed to the office of the Most Recent Active Past President upon the completion of their respective terms. The Treasurer-elect shall automatically succeed to the office of Treasurer; the Treasurer shall automatically succeed to the office of the Most Recent Active Past Treasurer upon the completion of their respective terms. The Executive Assistant shall serve as a non-voting member of the cabinet.

New Language:

The IACAC Cabinet is comprised of the President, President-elect, Most Recent Active Past President, Secretary, Treasurer, Treasurer-elect and Most Recent Active Past Treasurer. Each cabinet member shall be elected from the voting membership of IACAC. The Manager of Operations shall serve as a non-voting, ex-officio member of the Cabinet.

Rationale: The structure of the cabinet positions does not belong in this section. We will be moving this information to Section 1. Duties of Cabinet Officers.

Amend Article II. Executive Board. Section 3. Council Team Directors.

Old Language:

There shall be four Team Directors of IACAC. All four of the Team Directors will be elected from the voting membership of IACAC, two engaged in postsecondary educational counseling and two engaged in secondary school counseling whenever possible. Team Directors will serve two-year terms which shall be staggered to the extent possible.

New Language:

There shall be four Team Directors of IACAC. All four of the Team Directors will be elected from the
voting membership of IACAC and comprised of any combination of the IACAC voting
membership categories. Team Directors will serve two-year terms which shall be staggered to
the extent possible.

Rationale: This language does not fully represent all voting members. Language was updated to make clear that any voting member can be elected, and that the Nominating Committee should consider a mix of people when putting together the slate.

Amend Article III. Cabinet and Council. Section 1. Duties of Cabinet Officers.

Old Language:

A. President.

The President shall preside at the annual membership meeting, all other general
membership meetings and all Executive Board meetings. The President shall have
overall supervision of the plans for any special general membership meeting. The
President, or an Executive Board Member appointed by the President, shall be the
official representative of IACAC at meetings of other organizations or on such
occasions where representation has been requested or is deemed desirable. The
President shall perform such other duties as are provided for in these By-laws or as
assigned by the Executive Board or the general membership and shall submit an
annual report to the general membership at the Annual Membership Meeting. The
President, if eligible, shall serve as a delegate to the NACAC Assembly in
accordance with the NACAC By-laws.

B. President-elect.

The President-elect shall assume the duties of the President in the absence of the
President and shall act as chairperson of the Conference Committee.

D. Secretary.

The Secretary shall record the minutes of the annual membership meeting, all other
general membership meetings, the Executive Board meetings and the Finance
Committee meetings. The Secretary shall be responsible for correspondence as
referred by the President.

E. Treasurer.

F. Treasurer-elect.

The Treasurer-elect shall be the chairperson of the Professional Development
Grants Committee and will serve on the Finance Committee and the Illinois College
Fair Committee.

New Language:

A. President.

B. President-elect.

The President-elect shall assume the duties of the President in the absence of the
President and shall act as chairperson of the Conference Committee. The
President-elect shall automatically succeed to the office of the President upon
completion of their term.

D. Secretary.

E. Treasurer.

The Treasurer shall be responsible for maintaining the official financial records of
IACAC, performing other financial transactions, and monitoring fund development.
The Treasurer shall be chairperson of the Finance Committee and shall submit an
annual report to the general membership at the Annual Membership Meeting. The
Treasurer shall automatically succeed to the office of the Most Recent Active
Past Treasurer upon completion of their term.

F. Treasurer-elect.

The Treasurer-elect shall be the chairperson of the Professional Development
Grants Committee and will serve on the Finance Committee and the Illinois College
Fair Committee. The Treasurer-elect shall automatically succeed to the office of
the Treasurer upon completion of their term.

Rationale: We have provided the terms of the positions and moved information from Article II. Executive Board. Section 2. Cabinet.

Amend Article IV. Nominations and Elections. Section 1. Nominating Committee.

Old Language:

This Committee shall include the two Most Recent Active Past Presidents. The chairperson shall be the Most Recent Active Past President who shall select at least four additional voting members to serve on the Committee, (effort should be made to represent IACAC membership) at least two engaged in postsecondary counseling or the admission of students and two engaged in secondary school counseling.

New Language:

Rationale: Changing to reflect that we have different categories of membership now and any voting member is eligible to serve on the Nominations Committee.

Block #3

Amend Article IV. Nominations and Elections. Section 4. Voting and Election.

Old Language:
A. Two separate written ballots shall be cast at each annual membership meeting. One ballot
shall consist of candidates to fill the offices of President-elect, Secretary (alternate years),
Treasurer-elect and the Directorships, the terms of which expire at such meeting and shall
be distributed to the voting membership. The other ballot shall consist of the candidates for
Delegates to the NACAC Assembly to be elected at such meeting and shall be distributed
only to NACAC voting members. At each Annual Membership Meeting the ballots shall be
counted by tellers appointed by the Chairperson of the Credentials Committee. The
candidates securing the highest number of votes cast for each office shall be declared
elected and the Most Recent Active Past President shall then publicly announce the names
of the newly elected members of the Executive Board to the general membership. In the
case of a tie-vote between candidates for specific position(s) on the Executive Board, voting
members will revote for said position(s) during the Annual Membership Meeting.

New Language:

A. Ballots shall be cast electronically during each annual membership meeting.The
candidates securing the highest number of votes for each office shall be declared elected.
In the case of a tie-vote between candidates for specific position(s) on the Executive Board,
voting members will revote for said position(s).

Amend Article IV. Nominations and Elections. Section 4. Voting and Election.

Old Language:

B. Voting members who cannot attend the Annual Membership Meeting, and who desire the
opportunity to vote for the election of members of the Executive Board and on issues to be
presented at the Annual Membership Meeting, may request a proxy. A proxy request form
shall be published in the issue of the IACAC newsletter which announces the candidates
nominated by the Nominating Committee. Upon receipt of each proxy request, the Most
Recent Active Past President shall ascertain the requesting member’s eligibility and, if
appropriate, mail or deliver a proxy to such member. Proxies must be completed and
returned to the Most Recent Active Past President at least one week prior to the convening
of the IACAC annual membership meeting. Proxies so requested and distributed shall
appoint the Most Recent Active Past President and the Current President as proxies. Each
proxy shall indicate for each office the nominee of the Nominating Committee for which the
proxies shall be voted as well as their preference on the issues presented.

New Language:

B. Voting members may request a proxy. Proxies must be completed and returned at least one
week prior to the convening of the IACAC membership meeting. Proxies so requested and
distributed shall appoint the Most Recent Active Past President and the Current President
as proxies.

Rationale: These sections have been simplified and the items removed have been added to the Policy & Procedures Manual.

Amend Article V. Council Teams and Committees. Section 2. Standing Committees.

Old Language:

T. Summer Institute

New Language:

T. New Counselor Institute

Rationale: The committee would like to better reflect the nature of this program.

Amend Article V. Council Teams and Committees. Section 3. Other Committees.

Old Language:

Any Committee deemed necessary to implement the activities and purposes of IACAC may be appointed as an ad-hoc committee by the President, with approval of the Executive Board.

New Language: Section will be removed and subsequent sections will be re-numbered accordingly.

Rationale: This has been moved to the Policy and Procedures Manual.

Amend Article VI. Finance. Edit Section 3, remove Section 4 and re-number accordingly.

Old Language:

Section 3. Investments and Indebtedness.
Monies in excess of the current year’s expenses may be utilized as outlined in the IACAC
Fiscal Policy. Any expenditure not provided for within the budget shall be approved by the
Executive Board.

Section 4. Accountant’s Review.
The outgoing Treasurer shall have the books of IACAC approved by the incoming President
and incoming Treasurer after the Annual Membership Meeting but no later than July 31st.
There shall also be an annual accountant’s review of IACAC’s financial statements by a
certified public accountant.

New Language:

Section 3: Fiscal Policy
The Fiscal Policy outlines financial operations, authorized expenses, and the overall
financial goals and responsibilities of the IACAC Executive Board. This document is
updated regularly and is approved by the Executive Board.

Rationale: These two sections are already a part of IACAC’s Fiscal Policy and do not need to be represented in the by-laws, but the fact that IACAC has a Fiscal Policy should be.

Amend Article VI. Finance. Section 6. Budget.

Old Language:

The Executive Board shall submit a budget to the membership for approval at the annual membership meeting. The budget shall include an amount for contingencies which the amount shall not be in excess of 15% of the total amount included in the budget. The Executive Board shall be authorized to transfer funds within the budget among similar line items and shall have sole discretion over the disbursement of the contingency amount.

New Language:

The Executive Board shall submit a budget to the membership for approval at the annual
membership meeting.

Rationale: This information is too specific for by-laws. The section that was removed has been moved to the Policy and Procedures Manual.

Amend Article VIII. Rules of Order.

Old Language:

The latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern all procedures for IACAC not covered by the Illinois General Not-For-Profit Corporation Act and these By-laws. The association is also governed by the IACAC Leadership Manual and the IACAC Fiscal Policy.

New Language:

The latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern all procedures for IACAC not covered by
the Illinois General Not-For-Profit Corporation Act and these By-laws. The association is also
governed by the Leadership Manual, the Policy and Procedures Manual, and the Fiscal Policy.

Rationale: This reflects that IACAC now has an additional governing document.

Amend Article VII. Quorum. And Article VIII. Rules of Order.

Language will not change, but Articles VII and VIII will move to Article I. All other article numbers will be changed accordingly.

Rationale: The goal is to organize these two sections and move them to the part of the by-laws where it makes more sense for them to be.