Neurodiversity Alliance Bylaws

Preamble: We advocate neurodiversity by coordinating the activities and resources of
students, staff, and faculty to raise awareness, promote access, and ensure equity for
the neurodivergent population at the University of ��ϱ��, Reno.
Name: The name of this organization is the Neurodiversity Alliance of the University of ��ϱ��, Reno; hereafter referred to in these bylaws as “the Alliance.”
Government: The Alliance shall be governed the Neurodiversity Alliance Council, hereafter referred to as the Council.
1. The Council will consist of:
  1. One representative from each of the Standing Committees
  2. The Allied Faculty Representative
  3. The Allied Students Representative
  4. The Allied Staff Representative
  5. Liaisons from Allied groups (e.g., Alumni Liaison), invited and/or approved by the Council, who shall be voting members but will not be eligible to serve as Alliance Chair
  6. Members of Affiliated Groups are welcome to attend Council meetings, and may be recognized to speak, but shall not vote or be considered representatives or liaisons on the Council.
2. Council procedure
  1. One member of the Council will be elected by a majority of the Council to serve as Alliance Chair,
    1. who is responsible for assembling the agenda and overseeing the general conduct of Council operations
    2. whose term will be one school year
    3. who may serve multiple and/or consecutive terms
    4. who may only be removed from office by a motion approved by 2/3 or more of the voting members of the Council (excepting the Alliance Chair, who shall not vote on removal).
    5. If the office of Alliance Chair becomes vacant before the end of its term, the representative of the Elections and Nominations Committee shall become the interim Alliance Chair and a new Alliance Chair shall be elected to serve the remainder of that term by a majority vote of the Council at the earliest opportunity. If the representative of the Elections and Nominations Committee is not available to serve as interim Alliance Chair, the interim chair will be the first available representative of the standing committees listed in the following order: Finance and Development, Resources and Referrals, and Outreach and Events.
    6. One member of the Council will be elected by a majority of the Council to serve as Secretary,
      1. who will compile the minutes of the meetings and distribute them prior to the next meeting of the Council
      2. whose term will be one school year
      3. who may serve multiple and/or consecutive terms
      4. who may be removed from office by a motion approved by 1/2 or more of the voting members of the Council (excepting the Secretary, who shall not vote on removal).
      5. If the office of Secretary becomes vacant before the end of its term, a new Secretary shall be elected to serve the remainder of that term by the voting members of the Council at the earliest opportunity.
  2. One member of the Council will be elected by a majority of the Council to
    serve as Secretary
    1. Who will compile the minutes of the meetings and distribute them
      prior to the next meeting of the Council,
    2. Whose term will be one school year,
    3. Who may serve multiple and/or consecutive terms, and
    4. Who may be removed from office by a motion approved by 1/2 or
      more of the voting members of the Council (excepting the
      Secretary, who shall not vote on removal).
    5. If the office of Secretary becomes vacant before the end of its
      term, a new Secretary shall be elected to serve the remainder of
      that term by the voting members of the Council at the earliest
      opportunity.
  3. Each of the representatives must be a different person. Liaisons may serve as both a representative and as a liaison, in which case that person shall be eligible to serve as the Alliance Chair.
  4. The Council meets at minimum twice a semester, with one meeting occurring near the beginning and one near the end. The Alliance chair shall set the meeting dates after conferring with the Council members, and at the last meeting of a school year shall set the first meeting date for the subsequent school year.
  5. The Alliance Council has the power to create Task Forces to conduct such business as addressing specific goals, engaging in research, and policy development. Task Forces will be created Ad Hoc, but may remain in effect for as long as required to complete its original or a modified charge. As a Task Force is not a Standing Committee, it shall not have a representative on the Council, although members of the Council may serve on and/or chair Task Forces.
  6. As a general rule, decisions will be made by consensus of the Council voting members, with the following exceptions.
    1. Indecision
      1. If consensus on a specific course of action cannot be reached after what the Alliance Chair deems a reasonable time, the Alliance Chair shall invoke the procedures for the governance of meetings codified in Robert’s Rules of Order.
      2. A “reasonable time” shall be determined by the parameters of the course of action involved, including relevant deadlines, potential funding shortfalls, and the similar constraints.
      3. A majority vote of the Alliance members (excluding the Alliance Chair) can nullify the Alliance Chair’s decision to invoke Robert’s Rules.
      4. Approval of a motion for nullification will follow the procedures of Robert’s Rules of Order, and must set a specific time after which further attempts to establish consensus will cease and the procedures will again follow the guidelines of Robert’s Rules of Order.
    2. In the case of a vote to elect, remove, or replace an officer, the procedure will be that specified above in the description of the appropriate office.
Standing Committees
1. Names and mandates
  1. The Finance and Development Committee is responsible for proposing and administering budgets, fundraising, and identifying financial needs.
  2. The Elections and Nominations Committee is responsible for organizing elections of the Allied groups and, if needed, soliciting members of the standing committees to serve as chairs.
  3. The Outreach and Events Committee is responsible for arranging speakers, conducting public relations, organizing summit and conference participation, and circulating notices and announcements to the Alliance.
  4. The Resources and Referrals Committee is responsible for identifying, publicizing, and coordinating already available resources, and referring as appropriate individuals’ specific requests for accommodations, support, and/or assistance.
2. Procedures
  1. A committee will determine its own structure and procedures, although the Alliance Chair may specify procedures should the committee cease to perform its responsibilities.
  2. A committee will determine who serves as its representative on the Council, although the Alliance Chair may designate a representative if none is available to attend a Council meeting. Representatives will report their activities to the Council at all regular committee meetings.
  3. Committee members may belong to, serve on, or even chair multiple committees, but may only serve as the Council representative for only one committee.
  4. The Council can task a committee with a specific mandate, but otherwise it is the purview of the committee to oversee its own agenda and business.
  5. Committees shall meet regularly to conduct their business and fulfill any mandates tasked to them by the Council. 6. Committee membership will be governed by the procedures of standing committee.
  6. Committee membership will be governed by the procedures of standing committee.
3. Creation: Additional Standing Committees may only be created by amendment to these bylaws.
Units
1. Allied member groups:
  1. Members
    1. All members of the Alliance shall belong to the Allied Student, Allied Staff, or Allied Faculty groups, according to their role in the university. When a member with multiple roles might belong to more than one group (e.g., a graduate teaching assistant), that member shall select only one of these units in which to belong. Such a choice will be binding except in cases where that person’s roles change.
    2. For the purposes of article, Academic Faculty and other administrators shall be included in the Allied Faculty group.
  2. Allied Representatives
    1. Each group will select a representative to serve for one school year on the Council. Members may serve multiple and/or consecutive terms.
    2. The Elections and Nominations Committee will organize open elections for the representatives at or as soon as possible to the beginning of the school year, and prior to the first Council meeting of that year.
    3. Each representative will have one alternate, who will typically be the receiver of the second highest vote tally in the election. If such a person is not available, the representative will select an alternate.
    4. Runoff elections and similar arrangements will be organized as necessary by the Elections and Nominations Committee.
    5. Each representative should report to and strive to represent the interests of the entire group represented.
    6. A representative may be removed from office by a vote of 2/3 or more of the Council.
2. Allied Groups: The Council may solicit and/or will approve outside groups as Allied with the Neurodiversity Alliance. The specifics of such an alliance may vary as appropriate, but Allied groups shall have a designated Liaison that serves as a voting member of the Council.
3. Affiliated Groups: The Council may solicit and/or will approve affiliation of outside groups with the Neurodiversity Alliance. The specifics of such affiliation may vary as appropriate, but Affiliated Groups shall not have a designated Liaison that serves as a voting member of the Council.
Amendments
1. Any member of the Council may propose an amendment to these bylaws by submitting a text of that amendment to the other members. The proposed amendment must be seconded by at least one other Council member.
2. Once a proposed amendment has been submitted and seconded, the Alliance Chair will open discussion on the amendment.
  1. If possible, the amendment will be adopted by consensus.
  2. If consensus cannot be reached “after a reasonable time,” the procedures described above at II.B.5.a shall be enacted.
3. If the amendment is approved by the Council, the Secretary shall assemble a revised version of these bylaws to be distributed to the Council members prior to the next meeting, and shall provide the revised bylaws to the appropriate university administrators within a reasonable time.
4. Unless specified in the text of the amendment, the amendment shall go into effect immediately upon approval.

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Neurodiversity Alliance bylaws

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