5301 Weber Rd. Corpus Christi, TX78411 (361) 878-5140

Constitution and By-Laws

(Revised August 2011)

In no way will the Chapter Constitution be in Conflict with the National and State Constitutions.

Article I: Name and Purposes

Section A

The Name of this organization shall be known as the Mary Carroll FFA Chapter. Chapter Number TX0192

Section B

See Aims and Purposes – National FFA Constitution.

Article II: Organization

Section 1

The Mary Carroll FFA is a Chapter unit of the District, Area, State and National organizations for students of Agricultural Science. It shall consist of FFA members.

Section 2

The Mary Carroll FFA accepts in full, the provisions of the constitutions and bylaws of the Texas FFA Association, as well as those of the National FFA organization.

Article III: Emblem

Section A

The emblem of the FFA organization shall be the emblem of the Mary Carroll FFA chapter.

Article IV: Membership

Section A

Members in this organization shall be of four kinds; active, junior, alumni, and honorary as defined by the national and state constitutions.

Section B

The regular work of this chapter shall be carried out by active members. Every member must play an active role in the chapter and participate equally.

Section C

Active members in good standing may vote on all business brought before the chapter. A member not in good standing may not be eligible to participate in FFA activities. An active member shall be considered in good standing when:

  1. He/She attends chapter meetings with reasonable regularity
  2. He/She shows interest in the chapter and takes part in all chapter activities
  3. He/She pays dues annually. The Chapter dues are set at $25.00
  4. He/She participates in fundraisers
  5. He/She abides by the FFA code of ethics and conduct

Junior members may be allowed to vote on matters with the discretion of the officers and advisors.

Section D

Honorary members in this chapter will be limited to the Honorary Chapter FFA Degree.

Article V: By-Laws

Section A

By-Laws shall be adopted to fit the needs of the chapter at any regular meeting by a two-thirds vote of the members present, providing such By-Laws do not conflict with the National, State, Area and local constitution in any way.

Mary Carroll FFA By-Laws

Article 1: Fiscal Year

Section A

The fiscal year shall be from September 1 to August 31st of the following year

Article 2: Raising Funds

Section A

The responsibility of raising funds is up to the chapter officers and chapter members. The chapter advisors will supervise all fundraisers.

Section B

The chapter will conduct at least two major fundraising projects each school year.

Section C

All members must participate in at least two fundraisers (met required quota when applicable). The FFA Advisors will set guidelines for determining who will be eligible to attend the “end of year trip” and/or state convention, based on participation, and POA points (Program of Activities).

Article 3: Conduct of members and officers

Section A

Chapter officers shall consist of the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Reporter, and Sentinel.

Section B

Officer and FFA meetings are mandatory for all FFA officers and unexcused absences will result in a mandatory resignation of duties and office being held. An election will be held to elect the new officer (Please refer to Section E for officer replacement guidelines). Any officer that misses three meetings with excused absences will also result in a mandatory resignation.

Section C

Any FFA Member sent to ISS 2 times or suspended from school will be grounds for dismissal from any FFA function and office held. Misbehavior at ANY FFA function, ANYAgriculture department facilities, or ANY CCISD property will not be tolerated. Such actions could lead to being prohibited from participating in future FFA functions. Any major infraction of the School Code of Student Conduct will result in suspension or removal from the Mary Carroll FFA chapter.

Section D

Chapter officers must have completed at least one year of agriculture class or classes and hold the degree of green hand.

Section E

All officers must maintain academic eligibility as required by UIL rules. Any officer not maintaining his/her eligibility will be suspended until regaining his/her eligibility. Any officer that is suspended twice, due to grade ineligibility, will result in a mandatory resignation of office (Please see section E for replacement guidelines).

Section F

If for any reason a student office becomes vacant, a special election will be held to appoint an interim officer. If for any reason the office of president becomes vacant, the vice president becomes president, and a vice president will be appointed from the remaining officer team. The vacant officer position will have a special election. Students eligible to run will be those who were nominees at the previous officer election, along with any other member meeting candidate requirements.

Section G

Officers will be required to attend Local, District, Area, and State Functions as part of their duties as an officer of the Mary Carroll FFA Chapter. In addition, officers must participate as a member of a Leadership Development Event. In the event an officer does not participate in a Leadership Event, without advisor approval, that officer will not be eligible to attend the FFA State Convention for that year, and will not be eligible to run for office the following year.

Section H

Members and officers are not to disgrace the FFA, FFA members, FFA advisors, and FFA Alumni or supporters, by words or actions on their part including any social media.

Section I

All officers must complete all of their duties or resign from their duties as an officer. Officer duties are:

President

  • Preside over meetings using parliamentary procedure.
  • Appoint committees
  • Represent the chapter in public relations and official functions
  • Coordinate the activities of the chapter
  • Be a role model and set a positive example for the other officer and members.
  • Motivate our entire officer core into participating in all chapter functions and competitions
  • Memorize all parts for opening and closing ceremonies

Vice President

  • Assume all the duties of the president in his/her absences.
  • Develop the Program of Activities
  • Coordinate all committee work
  • Work with the president and advisors to attain chapter goals
  • Memorize all parts for opening and closing ceremonies

Secretary

  • Prepare and post the agenda for each chapter meeting
  • Prepare and present the minutes of each chapter meeting
  • Place all committee reports in the official FFA chapter Secretary book
  • Maintain member attendance and activity records and issue membership cards
  • Memorize all parts for opening and closing ceremonies

Treasurer

  • Receive, record, and deposit FFA funds and issue receipts.
  • Present monthly treasurer’s report at chapter meetings.
  • Collect FFA dues
  • Maintain a neat and accurate official FFA Chapter Treasurer’s notebook.
  • Memorize all parts for opening and closing ceremonies

Reporter

  • Release news and information to local, regional, and campus news media.
  • Publish a chapter newsletter.
  • Prepare and maintain a chapter scrapbook
  • Serve as chapter photographer
  • Memorize all parts for opening and closing ceremonies

Sentinel

  • Assist the president in maintaining order.
  • Keep the meeting room, chapter equipment and supplies in proper condition.
  • Welcome guests and visitors
  • Take charge of candidates for degree ceremonies and elections
  • Assist with special features and refreshments
  • Memorize all parts for opening and closing ceremonies

Article 4: Officer Elections

Section A

A combination score based on the following point system will elect officers:

  • Candidate speech and thought question evaluated by one guest faculty member, and one representative from the Alumni. Speeches will be presented at an official FFA meeting. Thought question will immediately follow. (20% )

Speech & thought question evaluation will consist of:

  1. Voice, 5pts
  2. Power of expression, 5pts
  3. Personal appearance, 5pts
  4. General Effect, 5pts
  5. Thought question, 5pts
  • Application & Interview to include all FFA Activities and any other information that demonstrate work ethic, student involvement, and leadership skills.(20%).
  • 50 question exam that are chosen from Gray’s Parliamentary Guide for FFA, from the official FFA manual, and chapter knowledge questions (20%)
  • Vote of members present. Each member will be allowed to cast three votes for three different candidates of their choice, (20%). A majority of the current member roster must be present to vote.
  • Teacher Referral and Conduct Verification (20%)
  • Application and transcript are required to be turned in if running for office

Section B

Officer’s scores will be determined by the following formula:

Percentage from Speech & Thought Question + Percentage fromApplication and Interview + PercentagefromExam + Percentage from Teacher Referral = Total Evaluation Score

Section C

Officer elections will be held prior to the annual Mary Carroll FFA Awards Banquet. Election date will be posted on the FFA Bulletin Board, and the Mary Carroll FFA website. All attempts will be made to have elections during the April chapter meeting.

Article 5: Academic requirements

Section A

Be it known that all members of the Mary Carroll FFA Chapter will strive to improve and maintain exceptional academic grades. Poor grades are not acceptable. Any member failing any nine week grading period, will not be allowed to participate in FFA activities until three weeks into the next grading period, and at which time the student has improved their academic status to “passing”. If for any reason the student is still failing, they will again have to wait until the next three weeks for eligibility. (House Bill 72).

Article 6: Active Membership Degrees

Section A

There shall be four degrees of active membership based on achievement. They are:

1.Green Hand

  1. Chapter FFA Degree
  2. Lone Star FFA Degree
  3. American FFA Degree

Section B

Qualifications for degrees

A)Greenhand Degree:

  1. Be regularly enrolled in ag science class
  2. Be familiar with the purpose of the FFA and the program of activities in the local chapter.
  3. Recite the FFA Creed
  4. Complete the record book and point system at year-end.
  5. Be in good standing with FFA
  6. Submit application
  7. Come to chapter banquet to receive your pin.

B)Chapter FFA Degree:

  1. Receive your Greenhand pin
  2. Be enrolled in Ag Science class
  3. Have participated in at least three official functions
  4. Have earned and productively invested at least $150.00 by the members own efforts or worked at least 45 hours in excess of scheduled class time. This time worked must be documented in the point system
  5. Have a satisfactory scholastic record.
  6. Be in good standing with the FFA
  7. Submit written application
  8. Come to banquet to receive pin.

C)Lone Star FFA Degree:

  1. See requirements in official handbook, or the Texas FFA website.

D) American FFA Degree:

1.See requirements in official handbook, or the Texas FFA website.

Article 7: Meetings

Section A

Regular Chapter FFA meetings shall be held at least once per month during the school year and the chapter will provide at least one activity during the summer for officers to participate and discuss business.

*** FFA Members are required to attend all meetings. Those members who miss more than 1 meeting in the fall semester will be ineligible to participate in any FFA event, including the Nueces County Livestock Show. Those members who miss more than 1 meeting in the Spring Semester will result in a 1 month delay of receiving their Livestock Show check.

Section B

Official FFA Opening and Closing ceremonies shall be used at each regular FFA meeting. All business will be conducted with Parliamentary Procedures using Jarrel D. Gray’s Parliamentary Guide for the FFA and Robert’s Rules of Order as our guides.

Section D

Officers will meet before every regular meeting to plan and make a program, or tend to any special business that needs to be addressed beforehand.

Article 8: Dues & Fees

Section A

No member shall be considered in good standing until their $25.00 FFA dues have been paid and the deadline for paying dues shall be October 15th unless a student is newly enrolled in the 2nd semester of school.

Section B

All members raising an animal project must pay barn fees, membership dues and sign a barn agreement before brining there animal to the agriculture facility.

Article 9: Amendments

Section A

This constitution may be amended at any regular chapter meeting by a two-thirds vote of the active members present, provided that the changes do not cause it to be in conflict with the state or national constitutions.

Section B

Bylaws may be adopted to fit the needs of this chapter at any regular meeting by a two thirds vote of the active members present as long as such bylaws do not conflict with the constitution.

Acknowledgement of Receipt – Mary Carroll FFA Bylaws and Constitution

I ______hereby acknowledge receipt and understanding of the Mary Carroll FFA Constitution and Bylaws. I have read and understand all responsibilities and consequences that are issued for noncompliance. I also understand for any reason I do not follow these bylaws and constitution, appropriate disciplinary action will be enforced (up to and including removal of any office held or membership termination). I agree to provide all academic, disciplinary, and attendance records of the student/exhibitor, if requested by any AST/FFA Advisor for membership review.

Initial the following

Constitution and By-Laws

____ Article IV: Membership, Active Members

Mary Carroll FFA By-Laws

____ Article 2: Raising Funds, Section C Fundraisers

____ Articles 3: Conduct of Members and Officers, Section C

_____ Articles 3: Conduct of Members and Officers, Section H

_____ Article 7: Meetings, Section A

_____ Article 8: Dues and Fees, Section A

_____ Article 8: Dues and Fees, Section B

______

Student/ Member Date

______

Parent / Guardian Date

______

Jim Vinson: AST / FFA AdvisorRandy Alaniz: AST / FFA Advisor

______

Nichole Sullivan: AST / FFA Advisor