Policies

Affiliate Members

Affiliate members are encouraged to attend the Annual Conference and will be recognized at the Annual Conference Banquet.

Amendments

The Handbook may be amended by a mail vote or at any called meeting of the Board of Directors by a favorable vote of six Board members. If any member shall propose amending this Handbook, the proposed change shall be reviewed by the Board and approved or rejected at its next meeting or by a mail vote. Any such amendments or rejected proposals shall be presented to the membership at the next Annual Meeting: at that meeting any rejected proposal for amendment may be approved by a simple majority of those present.

Annual Conference

Members canceling their paid annual conference registration before the registration deadline date shall be entitled to a full refund of the registration fee. Members canceling their paid annual conference registration during the period between 30 and seven days prior to the start of the conference shall be entitled to a refund of one-half of the registration fee. Members canceling their paid annual conference registration less than seven days prior to the start of the conference shall not be entitled to a refund, unless extenuating circumstances prompt the board of directors to approve such a refund.

Associate Members

Upon paying Annual Conference sponsorships, associate members are encouraged to participate in Annual Conference activities. Associate members are not entitled to vote or hold office (Article II, Section 3).

Awards, Scholarships, and Grants

  1. The sponsor of a proposed CFEA award, scholarship or grant must be a regular, affiliate or associate member of CFEA.
  2. The proposed award, scholarship or grant must have merit to the Association, Association members or the interfraternal community. Final acceptance of merit will rest with the CFEA board.
  3. All criteria for the proposed award, scholarship or grant will be made in cooperation with the CFEA Board, the appropriate committee(s) and the sponsor. Final approval of criteria will rest with the CFEA Board.
  4. Final acceptance and approval of the award, scholarship or grant must occur no later than the midyear meeting of the CFEA Board to allow for proper notification of the membership of the availability of the new award, scholarship, or grant.
  5. Sponsors of, nominees for, or nominators for an award, scholarship or grant may not vote, judge or take part in selecting the recipient of that award, scholarship or grant.

Budgets/Association Funds

  1. The CFEA Board and officers shall make every effort to maintain a balanced budget and not spend reserves for annual expenses.
  2. The Annual Conference shall be self-sustaining with annual expenses balanced by annual membership fees.
  3. The annual expenses of association business, committees and services shall be balanced by annual membership fees.
  4. A reserve fund shall be maintained for emergencies and added to when possible. Reserves may be used for items that might benefit the membership over a period of years. One year of operating funds will be maintained in the reserve fund. Annual withdrawls from reserve funds shall not exceed 10 percent of the account balance.
  5. A separate income and expense line item (and separate reserve fund, if and when fiscally possible) shall be maintained for non-conference education projects. It should support and draw income from special projects undertaken by the Association that may run over a period of years. The projects, which must be approved by the CFEA Board, should be primarily, but not exclusively, for interfraternal audiences outside the Association.

Debit Card Procedures

  1. The College Fraternity Editors Association (CFEA) shall maintain a maximum of two (2) Enhanced Jeanie BusinessCards (debit MasterCards) issued by Fifth Third Bank.
  2. One Enhanced Jeanie BusinessCard shall be issued to the current president of the Association and one shall be issue to the current treasurer of the Association.
  3. Authorized use of the Enhanced Jeanie BusinessCard shall be restricted to the president and/or treasurer of the Association.
  4. Use of the Enhanced Jeanie BusinessCard shall be restricted to Association-related business expenses. Any personal or other use is strictly prohibited.
  5. To avoid usage fees, the “credit” option shall be selected when making purchases.
  6. Receipts for Enhanced Jeanie BusinessCard purchases shall be submitted to the treasurer within ten (10) days of the purchase date.
  7. Cardholders shall surrender the assigned card at the conclusion of their term of elected office.

Directory

  1. The Directory shall be regularly updated and made available at least once annually to the CFEA membership. The Board of Directors shall determine in what form the Directory will be distributed.
  2. In general, in addition to listing member organizations, the Directory should include the CFEA Constitution, committee chairmen, past presidents, Varner Award winners, Ford Award winners, a list of CFEA services, the history of CFEA and other material that the Secretary and Treasurer deem appropriate.
  3. Any organization whose dues, either new or renewal, are received after Directory deadlines will not be included in the Directory. These organizations, however, are still to be considered members of CFEA. As their dues are received, they will be added to the CFEA mailing list maintained by the CFEA Secretary.
  4. The Directory shall be made available and regularly updated on the CFEA website.

Elections

  1. In the event that a nominee is proposed from the floor for one of the four officer positions, each nominee for that position will be accorded up to five minutes for presentation, personally or by others, of his or her qualifications. At the conclusion of the presentations, a secret ballot shall be held for that office, with each regular member organization having one vote.
  2. Should there be, after nominations from the floor, more than four nominees for the director positions (not officer positions), all nominees shall be presented as a group and each nominee or a supporter shall be accorded up to three minutes for presentation of the nominee’s qualifications. After the presentations, a secret ballot shall be held on the four director positions as a group, with each regular member organization having one vote.
  3. The President shall appoint three members to act as tellers of ballots for secret elections.

Fiscal Year

The CFEA fiscal year is July 1 to June 30.

Fraternity Executives Association (FEA)

Refer to resolution from 2000 Conference regarding CFEA annual meeting.

Gifts

CFEA is opposed to establishing a tradition of giving gifts of monetary value for services rendered by board members or committee chairmen.

Mailing Lists

  1. The CFEA mailing list will be maintained by the CFEA Secretary.
  2. The CFEA Treasurer is responsible for notifying the Secretary of all address changes.

Membership

  1. Individuals do not hold membership in CFEA; rather organizations are members of CFEA. Because these organizations name their representatives, individuals must route their request through their member organizations.
  2. The rights and privileges of membership are those of the organization with the representative acting on behalf of his or her group.
  3. Annual membership dues will be $65.00 per member organization; effective 2006.

New Members

  1. The New Members Committee Chairperson is responsible for welcoming new editors or editors of new member organizations throughout the year.
  2. Each new editor should receive by mail a packet of CFEA materials.

Nominations

The CFEA President shall not be present for, nor involved in, Nominations Committee candidate interviews.

Parliamentarian

The President appoints a Parliamentarian for the Annual Conference business sessions. The Vice President and the Parliamentarian annually review the Constitution and the Handbook.

Past Presidents

CFEA Past Presidents no longer serving their organizations as editors are honorary members.

Vice President

The Vice President is encouraged to contact prospective committee chairmen and members prior to the end of his or her term as Vice President.

Service Award and Recognition Pins

Recognition pins will be awarded only to those CFEA member organization representatives attending the Annual Conference. Pins awarded are silver for five years, gold for 10 years, pearl for 15 years, garnet for 20 years, and diamond for 25 years.

Varner Award

  1. The Varner Award recipient will have his or her Annual Conference registration, room and meals paid for by CFEA, although the Board of Directors may specify a two-day maximum for room and meals for budgetary reasons. The recipient’s organization is requested to fund his or her transportation.
  2. Varner Award nominees are limited to those candidates who are living or who have been deceased for less than five years from the date of nomination.

Voting

The CFEA President shall exercise a vote only to make or break a tie vote of the Board of Directors. However, this provision shall not prevent the President from voting in annual or special meetings as the representative of his or her member organization.