By Laws Of Chi Epsilon

ARTICLE I
Organization and Membership

Section 1. Chapter Designation.

Chapters shall be designated by the names of the schools at which they are located. Alumni chapters may be established and named according to their geographical location.

Section 2. Membership.

To become a member of Chi Epsilon a candidate must participate in a formal initiation ceremony. The three grades of membership are Member, Chapter Honor Member, and National Honor Member. No one shall be eligible for national honor member who has not been previously initiated as a member or chapter honor member.

Section 3. Member Eligibility.

(a) Undergraduate Students. To be eligible for membership, an undergraduate must rank scholastically in the upper third of his or her class in a curriculum leading to a baccalaureate degree in civil engineering or in a closely related curriculum which is approved by the Supreme Council. This requirement is normally to be considered the SOLE scholastic criterion for membership, and is NOT the prerogative of the individual chapter to lower this criterion in any manner. The candidate must also satisfy the additional requirements specified in the Constitution, Article. III, Sections 2 and 3.

A chapter may petition the District councilor for authorization to waive the above scholastic requirements for a candidate due to mitigating circumstances.

(b) Transfer Students. A transfer student, or an advanced student who was previously enrolled in a non-civil engineering curriculum, may be eligible for membership provided he or she has maintained an overall average in the upper one-third of his or her class. The class standing should be based upon the grade point average earned at his or her present institution. Prior to consideration the candidate should have been registered in civil engineering for at least one academic year at the present school. The candidate must also satisfy the additional requirements specified in the Constitution, Article III, Sections 2 and 3.

(c) Graduate Students. A graduate student who was initiated as an undergraduate may be an active member of the chapter at the school he or she is presently attending. A graduate student in civil engineering is eligible for membership provided the student has shown outstanding ability and has completed the equivalency of one-half of one academic year in the graduate program where the student is currently enrolled. The student must be nominated by a member of Chi Epsilon, endorsed by two Chi Epsilon faculty members, and elected by three-quarters of an election quorum.

Graduate student members may be considered as inactive members at the discretion of the chapter. However, if inactive status is desired, cause must be shown to the chapter president and the faculty advisor.

(d) A Civil Engineering Alumnus from an institution which had no chapter of Chi Epsilon at the time of his or her graduation, but presently has a chapter, may be eligible for membership in that chapter or another, if he or she was graduated in the upper one third of his or her class, and fulfills all other requirements of an undergraduate candidate. If a student graduates and becomes eligible for membership at the same time, he or she shall be eligible for membership.

(e) Faculty. A faculty member who has been shown outstanding qualifications as a teacher in civil engineering and has exhibited experience and ability worthy of emulation by young civil engineers may be elected as a member of Chi Epsilon by meeting the following requirements:

1. A three-quarters vote of the total chapter voting membership is required in order to recommend to the Supreme Council the conferring of chapter membership on an individual.

2. Approval of the Supreme Council prior to the notification and initiation of the candidate for membership is required.

(f) Alumni chapters shall have no power to elect members; however, at the invitation of an active chapter, an alumni chapter should have the power to initiate duly elected honor members, subject to Supreme Council approval.

(g) Election of members shall be by secret ballot of election quorum of the chapter, and shall be held within one month date when the list of eligible students shall become available. An election quorum shall consist of at least two thirds of a chapter’s active membership.

(h) No chapter shall initiate candidates prior to receiving authorization from the Supreme Council.

(i) Active chapters may initiate eligible civil engineering students who attended colleges or universities that have an accredited civil engineering curriculum, but do not have an active Chi Epsilon chapter. The approval of the district councilor is required for each such prospective member prior to initiation.

(j) Alumni who were eligible for membership at graduation, but were not initiated may be considered for membership at a later date.

Section 4. Chapter Honor Membership.

Chapter honor membership may be granted to anyone who, by virtue of his or her professional accomplishments in the field of civil engineering, has attained a degree of eminence in the profession, and who exhibited experience and ability worthy of emulation by young civil engineers. Requirements shall be as follows:

(a) The candidate shall possess a minimum of ten years experience in the civil engineering profession as a registered professional engineer, or otherwise be identified as an eminent civil engineer by the Supreme Council.

(b) A three-quarters vote of the total chapter voting membership is required to recommend to the Supreme Council the conferring of chapter honor membership on an individual.

(c) Approval of the Supreme Council prior to the notification and initiation of the candidate for membership is required.

(d) A Chi Epsilon member may be elevated to the position of chapter honor member if the member meets the above three qualifications.

Section 5. National Honor Membership.

Members of Chi Epsilon, by distinguished and preeminent accomplishment in civil engineering, and in outstanding furtherance of the object and purpose of Chi Epsilon, are eligible for elevation to national honor membership. Preliminary nominations of candidates for national honor membership may be made by a Chi Epsilon chapter, a previously elevated national honor member, or by a member of the Supreme Council. Such nominations must be submitted to each member of the Supreme Council. The Supreme Council may elect the available nominations. The ceremony of elevation shall require the participation of at least three members of the Supreme Council.

ARTICLE II
Government

Section 1. Of the National Society.

(a) Active chapters shall be those chapters that have initiated at least one new member in the immediate past biennium and have been certified as being in good standing by the Supreme Council. A chapter declared inactive may be reinstated by the Supreme Council upon proof that the chapter is capable of meeting all requirements of the Constitution and Bylaws.

(b) Inactive chapters may not initiate members into Chi Epsilon.

(c) A two-thirds representation of the chapters in good standing constitutes a quorum of a national conclave. A simple majority of those eligible to vote as defined in Article IV, Section 1(b) of the Constitution shall be required to secure positive action on any main and subsidiary motion, as defined in the authorized rules of parliamentary procedure (Newly Revised, Robert’s Rules of Order 1990 Edition). Those chapters not attending the conclave shall proxy their vote to another chapter in good standing, except that no chapter shall receive more than one proxy.

(d) The National Conclave shall be the final court of appeals in all matters, including but not limited to the interpretation of the constitution and in all disciplinary actions.

(e) The Supreme Council shall consist of elected members: District Councillors, Councillors Emeritus, Councillors-at-Large. Each member of the Supreme Council shall be entitled to one vote. In the event that the offices of the National Secretary-Treasurer and the Editor of The Transit are combined, this single office will be called the Executive Secretary and will be entitled to one vote. In the event that a conclave elects a Councillor Emeritus and/or Councillor-at-Large, each one shall vote as a regular member of the council.

(f) The Councillors shall, in general, be elected to serve for two conclave periods (four years). The district councilors shall have overlapping terms of office; one-half being elected at one conclave, and one-half at the next. One district councilor shall be elected from each of the districts within the United States.

(g) In general, districts shall be equitably proportioned with respect to the number of chapters. If a disproportionate situation exists, the Supreme Council is authorized to temporary redistrict and to appoint an additional temporary councilor for each new district.  Permanent redistricting shall be decided by the next national conclave.