WELCOME
In May 2004, as Memphis College of Art celebrated one of the
largest graduating classes in its history, it also welcomed back a
renewed and revitalized Alumni Association.
Since September 2003, plans
have been developed to maintain an effective and operational association.
In February 2004, a delightful 'valentine' note written by our beloved
faculty member, Tom Lee, was sent out to reconnect with all MCA alums.
As a result of Tom’s effort, more
than half of our alumni were reunited.
Nearly two weeks after Tom's
valentines were mailed, the first Alumni Association meeting in over
four years was held on February 27, 2004. At this meeting, the commitment
to create a lifelong relationship between Memphis College of Art and
its Alumni' was established.
Since the initial meeting in February,
the association has met every month, and the number of Alumni attendees
at each meeting has increased. On May 10, 2004, the Alumni Association
held its first election in four years.
There are many projects planned
for our Association, including an Alumni Directory for all MCAAA members,
an Alumni Exhibition, and the second Annual Alumni Reunion. Beyond
2006, the MCA Alumni Association hopes to branch out into chapters
across the country, arrange exciting trips for members, and develop
an Alumni Gallery at the Memphis College of Art.
The future looks bright
for our young association. Our success will depend in part on our willingness
and commitment to come together and stay together. We would like to
hear your ideas and opinions about how we can make our association
a successful one.
Memphis College of Art Alumni Association Officers
| Current | ||
| President Katey Henriksen | BFA 1997 | Graphic Design/Papermaking/Book Arts |
| Vice President Sabe Lewellyn | BFA 2002 | Photography |
| Secretary Trice Patterson | BFA 2005 | Photography |
| Treasurer Dani Harris | BFA 1987 | Illustration |
| Historian Jeanne Seagle | BFA 1977 | Advertising Design/Illustration |
| Immediate Past President Carrie Bartlett | BFA 1989 | Graphic Design |
| Past | ||
| President Carrie Bartlett | BFA 1989 | Graphic Design |
| Vice President Katey Henriksen | BFA 1997 | Papermaking/Book Arts |
| Secretary Sandra Walker | BFA 2003 | Painting |
| Treasurer Anita Whatley-Khalphani | MFA 1994 | Fibers/Surface Design |
| Historian Jeanne Seagle | BFA 1977 | Advertising Design/Illustration |
| Immediate Past President Carroll Todd | BFA 1976 | Sculpture |
CONSTITUTION
Article 1: Name of Association.
The name of this organization is Memphis
College of Art Alumni Association.
Article 2: Purpose.
The Memphis College of Art Alumni Association exists
primarily to promote MCA by establishing mutually beneficial relations
between the College and its alumni.
Article 3: Status.
This association will be an approved
organization sponsored by the College and as such will adhere to the
standards and practices of the College.
Article 4: Office Location.
The Alumni Association
office will be in the central offices of MCA.
Article 5: Membership.
Any former student of MCA who has completed 30 semester
hours in the degree program or two semesters in the Masters Program. The
level of membership shall be determined by the dues paid by the member
to the Association.
Article 6: Privileges.
All members shall be entitled to attend and vote
at all annual and special meetings of the Alumni Association. They shall
receive reasonable advance notice of such meetings, shall receive the
publications and annual reports from Memphis College of Art.
Dues paying
members shall be entitled to access and use of the Library, shall receive
an Alumni Association card, shall be entitled to Career Services, shall
receive invitations to all events, exhibitions, trips, reunions, and
homecomings, free transcript requests, discount at the MCA art center,
and discounted tuition for Community Education classes.
Lifetime members
shall receive the already mentioned privileges as well as, limited use
of the Campus facility for personal events and box seat tickets to Memphis
Redbirds games. These privileges are subject to approval from Memphis
College of Art's Administration.
Article 7: Dues.
Membership dues will be imposed as a condition of the
membership. The imposition of dues and the determination of the amounts
thereof shall be as determined by the Alumni Council. All dues collected
shall be applied or disbursed for the privileges of membership and in
furtherance of the purposes of the Association.
Article 8: The Alumni
Council.
The policies, affairs, and property of the Association
shall be managed and controlled by an Alumni Council which shall be composed
of the Executive Committee, The Board of Directors, and the Alumni Relations
Director as appointed by Memphis College of Art's administration.
1.
Directors. The directors are members of the Board of Directors, with
duties that are assigned to them from time to time by the president.
2. Alumni
Affairs Director. The Alumni Affairs Director, representing the administration
of MCA, shall be a non-voting member.
Article 9: Officers.
The officers of the Association
shall be a President, Vice President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. All
elected by the Alumni Council from its volunteer members. The officers
serve for three-year terms or until their successors are duly elected
and qualified. The powers and duties of the officers shall be as provided
in the by-laws.
Article 10: By-Laws.
The association will adopt by-laws
to set forth the policies and the procedures for the internal administration
of the association.
Article 11: Amendments.
The constitution may be amended
by a two-thirds vote of the members present at a duly constituted and
convened meeting of the association provided that the exact language
of the amendment to be voted on has been submitted to the membership
not less than 60 days prior to said meeting.
Article 12: Alumni Affairs
Director.
The Alumni Affairs Director is that person responsible for the
conduct of an alumni program as a member of the Office of Development
at Memphis College of Art. He/She will work closely with the Association,
and its Alumni Council, and with its approval, cause the programs
and activities of the Association to be conducted, and shall attend
to such usual and ordinary business of the Association as shall not
have been conferred otherwise upon the members, officers, or Alumni
Council of the Association.
Article 13: Immediate Past President.
The immediate past president of
the Association, through conduct of his official duties during the prior
year, is a valuable resource whose council can be expected to provide
continuity and the benefits of experience to the Association's affairs.
Article
14: Meetings.
There shall be an annual meeting of the Association for
the purpose of the election of the Alumni Council members, the presentation
of an annual report of the Affairs of the Association, and for the transaction
of such other business as may properly come before the meeting. Special
meetings of the Association may be called. The procedures for call,
notice, and conduct of such annual and special meetings shall be
as provided in the by-laws.
Article 15: Nominations.
The nominating committee nominates one candidate
for each office to be filled at the annual meeting. The secretary sent
the nominations to the members not later than sixty nor earlier than
ninety days before such meetings. Other nominations may be made by any
ten members in good standing. Such nominations, if received by the secretary
in writing not less than thirty days before the meeting, are valid
nominations and are published forthwith along with and in the same
manner as those of the nominating committee. No further nominations
are made.
Article 16: Committees.
Nominating Committee. A nominating committee,
with duties described above, is elected at the annual meeting. Three
members are elected each year for three-year Dissolution. The association
may be dissolved by a two-thirds vote of the membership. After the payment
of all liabilities, a two-third vote of the membership shall determine
how to confer any remaining assets to the College.
BY-LAWS
ARTICLE 1: Offices.
Headquarters of the Association shall be
located in the Development Office of Memphis College of Art, in the city
of Memphis, in the state of Tennessee. The Association may also maintain
offices at such other places as the Alumni Council may, from time to
time, determine.
ARTICLE 2: Meetings of the Association.
Section 1: Annual Meetings.
The annual meeting will be held
at the time and place selected by the Alumni Council with 30 days written
notice of such meeting being given to the membership. The purpose of
the annual meeting will be electing of Council members, presentation
of the annual report of the Association and the transaction of such
other business as may properly come before the meeting.
Section 2: Special
Meetings.
Special Meetings of the Association may be called at any time
by the majority of the Alumni Council membership or by the President,
and shall be called by the President or the Secretary of the Association
at the written request of twenty-five percent (25%) of the then members
of the Association entitled to vote at such meeting.
Section 3: Place
of Meetings.
All meetings of the Association shall be held at such place
or places designated in the notices of such meetings.
Section 4: Notice
of Meetings.
(a) Written notice of each annual meeting of the Association,
stating the time when and the place where it is to be held shall be served
either personally, by mail, or by email, not less than thirty days
before the annual meeting, upon each member of the Association entitled
to vote at such meeting. Written notice of a special meeting of the
Association, stating the time when and place where it is to be held,
shall be served either personally, by mail, or by email, not less than
fifteen days before the meeting is to be held, upon each member entitled
to vote at such meeting. Notice of a special meeting shall also state
the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called, and shall
indicate that it is being issued by, or at the direction of, the persons
calling the meeting. If mailed, such notice shall be directed to each
member at their address as the same appears on the records of the members
of the Association, unless such member shall have previously filed
with the Secretary of the Association a written request that notices
intended for he/she be mailed to some other address, in which case
it shall be mailed to the address so designated in such request.
(b)
Notice of any meeting need not be given to any member who became a member
after the mailing of such notice and prior to the meeting, nor to any
member who attends such meeting, not to any member who submits a signed
waiver of notice either before, at or after such meeting. Written notice
of any adjourned meeting of the Association, stating the time when and
the place where it is to be held, shall be served either personally,
by mail, or by email not less than fifteen days before such adjourned
meeting, upon each member of the Association entitled to vote at such
meeting.
Section 5: Quorum.
(a) Except as otherwise provided herein, or in the
Constitution, at all annual meetings of the Association, the presence
at the commencement of such annual meeting of members constituting a
majority of the membership of the Association shall be necessary and
sufficient to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Except
as otherwise provided herein or in the Constitution, the presence at
the commencement of such special meeting of any number of members shall
be sufficient to constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business.
The withdrawal of any member after the commencement of an annual or special
meeting shall have no effect on the existence of a quorum after a quorum
has been established at such meeting.
(b) Despite the absences of a quorum
at any meeting of the Association, the members, by a majority of the
votes cast by the members thereat, may adjourn the meeting. At any such
adjourned annual meeting at which a quorum is present, may be transacted
that which might have been transacted at the annual meeting as originally
called if a quorum had been present.
Section 6: Membership.
(a) All Alumni groups that conform to Article 5
of the Constitution shall be deemed eligible for membership in the Association.
Applications for membership will be accepted by the designated chairman
prior to, or at the annual meeting.
(b) An Alumni group may, with written
notice to the Alumni Council, resign or withdraw from the Association.
(c)
An Alumni group which withdraws from the Association while it is not
in good standing, must, in reapplying for admittance, correct all deficiencies.
No additional penalties shall apply.
Section 7: Voting.
(a) Except as otherwise provided by the Constitution,
any Association action shall be authorized by a majority of votes cast
at a meeting of the Association by the members entitled to vote therein.
(b)
Except as otherwise provided by the Constitution, at each meeting of
the Association, each member entitled to vote thereat shall be entitled
to cast one vote on every matter requiring a vote of the Association,
provided said member is in good standing and membership fee is paid.
(c)
A mail vote or a written ballot may be taken on question upon which it
is necessary or desirable to secure prompt action. The vote of the majority
of the members shall be as binding and conclusive as though taken at
a meeting duly called for that purpose. The results of such mail vote
or written ballot shall be entered in proper order in the minute book
of the Association. In the event that a majority vote has not been recorded
in favor of or against the matter being voted upon within fourteen days,
a second notice in regard thereto shall be mailed to all members not
having voted, and, in the event that after ten additional days, no majority
vote has been obtained, the question shall be deemed to have been tabled.
ARTICLE
3: Council.
Section 1: Number.
The number of Alumni Council members shall
be as provided in the Constitution.
Section 2.: Election and Term.
The
Board of Directors of the Alumni Council shall be elected by the voting
delegates of the Association at the business meeting of its annual meeting.
The term of a Director shall be two years. A Director may not serve more
than three terms consecutively. Directors shall be elected each year,
commencing in May 2004 with the election of the Board of Directors and
the Executive Committee. Each Director and Officer shall hold office
until the annual meeting of the Association two years subsequent to his/her
election, and until the successor is elected and qualified, or until
his/her prior death, resignation, and/or removal.
Section 3: Power and
Duties.
The Council shall be responsible for the control and management
of the affairs, properties, and interests of the Association, and may
exercise all powers of the Association, except as are expressly conferred
upon or reserved to the members of the Association. The nature of the
business and purposes of the Council shall encompass:
(a) Maximum use
of the abundant resources of the alumni, including the talents, services,
and appropriate financial assistance, to the attainment of the purposes
of Memphis College of Art.
(b) Promotion, establishment and maintenance
of the appropriate communications and other relationships between MCA
and the Association.
(c) Promotion of a unifying interest and loyalty
of present, former and prospective students and others interested in
the welfare of MCA and the stimulation of their willingness to participate
actively in the programs and activities of MCA.
(d) Assistance to MCA
in attracting outstanding students, faculty and administrators to its
campuses.