Oklahoma Counselors in Higher Education (OCHE) is an organization of mental health service providers and administrators who have come together for the purpose of promoting associations that foster the sharing of knowledge and resources to strengthen mental health service provision, especially as it pertains to higher education settings.
Article I: Name and Mission
Section 1: Name
Oklahoma Counselors in Higher Education is the name given to this association.
Section 2: Mission
OCHE is an association for those in higher education whose professional duties include mental health counseling or administration overseeing mental counseling personnel. OCHE strives to support and enhance the practice of college mental health counseling to foster student development and good student functioning, to promote ethical and responsible professional practice, to promote knowledge exchange among college counselors and administrators across service areas and institutional settings, to encourage cooperation with other organizations related to higher education and college student development, and to provide leadership and advocacy for mental health counseling in higher education.
Article II: Membership
Section 1: Membership
Qualifications for Membership: Members shall have earned degrees or shall be pursing degrees from institutions of higher learning with accreditations recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and qualify in the following ways:
Section 2: Types of Membership
- Professional Member – a person with a master’s or doctorate degree in counseling, counseling & guidance, clinical or counseling psychology, social work, or closely related field who is working as in counseling as a counselor or administrator over counseling units in a higher education setting.
- Student Member – a student engaged in graduate study in counseling, social work, applied psychology, or a closely related field in an accredited institution may be accepted as a student member upon recommendation of his or her faculty advisor.
- Retired Member – any person retired from a position in college counseling or a position related to college counseling.
- Associate Member – persons who support OCHE’s objective and who have an interest in affiliation without meeting requirements for professional, student, or retired membership may be admitted associate members. They shall not have the right to vote or hold office.
Section 3: Severance of Membership
Failure to pay dues as prescribed by these by-laws shall be interpreted as withdrawal from membership from OCHE. At that time the individual membership shall cease to exist. Association members or members who have their professional license suspended or revoked for any reason will be dismissed from OCHE as well.
Section 4: Rights and Privileges
Professional, student, and retired members are eligible to vote on matters coming before OCHE and are eligible to hold office in OCHE.
Article III: Officers
Section 1: Elected and Appointed Officials
The elected officials of OCHE shall be the President, the Vice President/President-Elect, a Secretary, a Treasurer, Membership Chair, Communications Officer, one representative from 4 year institutions, one representative from two year institution, and one representative from career/technology centers/schools. The Treasurer may be an elected or an official appointed by the President if no single candidate meets with the Board’s approval at the time of elections.
Section 2: Duties of Officers
President
1. To exert leadership in achieving the purposes of OCHE.
2. To preside at business meetings of OCHE, and the OCHE Executive Board.
3. To appoint chairpersons of both standing and special committees of OCHE which are established under the office of President, except as otherwise specified in these Bylaws.
4. To serve ex officio on all committees of OCHE.
5. To submit all reports and other information as may be requested or required by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the Regional University System of Oklahoma (RUSO), and OCHE.
6. To notify OCHE candidates of election results.
7. To perform other duties as directed by the Executive Board.
Vice President/President-Elect
1. To serve as a member of the OCHE Executive Board.
2. To coordinate of convention programs.
3. To perform other duties as directed by the Executive Board.
4. To serve as Chairperson of the OCHE Committee on Nominations and Elections.
Past-President
1. To serve as a member of the OCHE Executive Board.
2. To perform the duties of the President-Elect in the event of the resignation, incapacity, absence or death of the President
Secretary
1. To serve as a member of the OCHE Executive Board.
2. To keep records of the proceedings of the meetings of OCHE, the OCHE Executive Board.
3. To conduct the official correspondence of the OCHE, including the issuance of notices of meetings when requested by the President.
4. At the direction of the President, to transmit within 30 days to the OCHE Newsletter Editor, the names of the OCHE officers following their election or appointment, so that the OCHE membership may be informed.
5. To solicit such written reports of standing and special committees for the Executive Board and the OCHE business meeting as called.
Treasurer
1. To serve as a member of the OCHE Executive Board.
2. To review and approve requests for disbursements which have been authorized by the OCHE Executive Board.
3. To help the President prepare and propose a budget to the Board.
4. Receive and forward formal membership applications to the Membership Chair, and collect payment from members for their annual dues.
5. Present reports of the financial status of OCHE to the Board and the OCHE membership at each meeting of these bodies.
5. To present a proposed budget to the OCHE Board.
6. To present the OCHE budget to the Executive Board.
7. To perform other duties as directed by the Executive Board.
Communications Officer
1. To oversee the dissemination of information of the OCHE Executive Board.
2. To maintain the OCHE website.
3. To work with the Vice President/President Elect in advertising conference offerings.
4. To serve as a member of the OCHE Executive Board.
Membership Chair
- To form and lead a membership committee
- To maintain a roster of members names and contact information, updated in January and July of each year.
- To keep an accurate, updated record of those members who have paid their membership dues.
- To organize membership drives to increase the membership of OCHE.
Members-at-Large
1. To participate at the request of the President in OCHE activities related to the functions of the Executive Board that are extrinsic to the duties of other officers of OCHE.
2. To perform other duties as directed by the Executive Board.
Institutional Representatives
1. To serve as members of the OCHE Executive Board.
2. To report to the OCHE Executive Board on issues related to the institutions they represent .
3. To perform other duties as directed by the Executive Board.
Section 3: Terms of Office
The elected term of office for the President, Vice President/President-Elect, Communications Officer, Membership Chair, and Secretary shall be a two (2) year term. The Treasurer shall serve a two (2) year term. Each Member at Large member and Institutional Representative shall serve a three (3) year appointed terms, with Members-at-Large serving rotating terms. All appointments are made by the President, with input from the Executive Board.
Section 4: Vacancies
In the event of a vacancy in any office but that of the President or President-Elect, the OCHE Executive Board shall, by majority vote, appoint a successor to serve until the next annual election.
- If a vacancy occurs in the office of President, the President-Elect shall complete the unexpired term and shall then serve a full term in his or her own right.
- If a vacancy occurs in the office of President-Elect, the Past- President shall perform the duties of the President-Elect until the next annual election.
Article IV: Executive Board
Section 1: Executive Board
The Executive Board of OCHE shall consist of the President, President-Elect, Communications Officer, Immediate Past-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Chair, and Institutional-representative members. This Board shall be empowered to conduct the business of OCHE.
Section 2: Functions of the OCHE Executive Board
1. Make all necessary policy decisions on behalf of OCHE during the interim between business meetings of OCHE.
2. Formulate general policies of OCHE concerning the objectives and purposes of OCHE and recommend such action as seems necessary to present these policies to the voting members of OCHE for adoption.
3. Have the final responsibility for all meetings of OCHE at the state level.
4. Coordinate the relationships of OCHE with other professional organizations related to College Counseling.
5. Consider all proposed amendments to these By-Laws.
6. To advise the President in making appointments.
Article V: Meetings
Section 1: Executive Board
The OCHE Executive Board shall meet at least once each year. A meeting of the OCHE Executive Board shall be held at the time and place as deemed necessary by the Executive Board or the President. At least one-half of the members of the OCHE Executive Board shall constitute a quorum throughout any meeting of the OCHE Executive Board at which official business is transacted. The Executive Board shall be empowered to conduct the business of OCHE between meetings.
Section 2: Membership
An annual meeting of the OCHE membership shall be held yearly for the purpose of hearing summary reports from officers and committees and conducting such business of OCHE as deemed necessary by the Executive Board.
Section 3: Electronic communication
Votes taken during a conference call will be counted by majority vote as in face-to-face meetings.
In order for issues that arise between face-to-face meetings to be addressed in a timely manner, voting via email can be done at the initiation of the president. Issues requiring an email vote may include, but are not limited to, votes on projects that have a time limit and require immediate action. Votes will be cast by the “reply all” option where all board members will see the votes. Roberts’ Rules of Order will be suspended in the case of electronic voting and during email meetings. The president will be responsible for verifying a quorum and regulating discussion to include all participating board members. In regards to communicating via technology i.e. email or phone, for meeting and voting purposes, a quorum shall also constitute at least one half of the board.
Article VI: Committees
Section 1: Standing Committees
The Standing Committees of OCHE shall be the following: 1) Nominations and Elections; 2) Membership, 3) and Conference. All other standing and special committees shall be appointed and approved by the Executive Board.
Section 2: Composition and Function of Standing Committees
Nominations and Elections Committee
1. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall conduct the nominations and elections of OCHE and review and recommend procedures for conducting the annual election. 2. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall consist of four members, including the chairperson.
3. The Immediate Past President of OCHE shall serve as chairperson. Other members of the committee shall be appointed by the President.
4. The term of office for the members of the Nominations and Elections Committee shall be one year. No member of the Nominations and Elections Committee shall be a candidate for office.
Membership Committee
1. The Chairperson and the members of the Membership Committee shall be appointed by the President and approved by the Executive Board.
2. The Membership Committee shall consist of five members.
3. The Membership Committee shall recruit and maintain members for OCHE.
Other Standing Committees
There shall be other Standing Committees as may from time to time be established by the OCHE Executive Board to deal with matters of a continuing or reoccurring nature related to the accomplishments of the general purposes of OCHE.
Number of Members and Tenure
The number of members and the tenure of committee members will be established by the Executive Board.
Special Committees
1. The OCHE Executive Board or the President may establish special committees to deal with matters of an immediate or non-recurring nature related to the specific purposes of OCHE.
2. The President shall appoint the chairperson and the members of special committees.
3. The term of service of each special committee shall expire when the duties of the special committee are completed.
Committee Meetings and Reports 1. Meetings of committees shall be called by the chairperson.
2. The chairperson of each committee shall submit a written report of the committee’s activities and recommendations to the OCHE Executive Board as requested.
Article VII: Nominations and Elections
Section 1: Procedures
- The Nominations and Elections Committee shall canvas the voting members of OCHE for nominations for elective offices of OCHE.
- Professional, Retired and Student members shall be eligible for nomination to any office. Guided by the nominations, the Nominations and Elections Committee shall prepare a slate of officers containing, if possible, at least two names for each OCHE office to be filled.
- The Nominations and Elections Committee shall select nominations to appear on the slate on the basis of qualifications for office, the number of nominating votes received from the OCHE membership, and the consent of the nominee.
Section 2: Voting
The candidate receiving the largest number of votes for each office shall be elected to that office.
Article VIII: Business Affairs of OCHE
Section 1: Severable or Transferable Interest
No member shall have any severable or transferable interest in the property of OCHE.
Section 2: Control and Management
All property of OCHE shall be subject to the control and management of the Executive Board. Any accumulation or disposal of real property, except upon dissolution of OCHE, must be approved in advance by the Executive Board.
Section 3: Disposal Upon Dissolution
Upon a dissolution of OCHE, none of its property shall be distributed to any of the members and all of such property shall be transferred to other organization or organizations as the Executive Board shall determine to have purposes and activities most nearly consonant with those of OCHE, provided that such organizations shall be exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or corresponding provision of the Internal Revenue laws.
Section 4: Appropriation of Association Funds
- No appropriations of Association funds shall be made except pursuant to the authority of the Executive Committee.
- The Executive Committee shall adopt an annual budget.
Section 5: Association Year
The fiscal year and the governance year of OCHE shall be July 1 – June 30.
Section 6: Financial Audit Statement
The Treasurer will review periodic financial audit statements.
Article IX: Amendments
Section 1: Amendments with Previous Notice
Procedures for the amendment of these By-Laws with previous notice shall be as follows.
- Amendments may be proposed by the OCHE Executive Board or by petition of 20% of voting members submitted to the Secretary of OCHE in advance of a OCHE business meeting.
- Proposed amendments, together with such comments or written recommendations as may have been formulated by the Executive Board or by the petitioners, if any, shall be distributed by the Secretary in writing, to the voting members at least 30 days prior to the next business meeting, at which time such proposals shall be discussed and voted upon.
- Proposed amendments shall be considered to have been adopted if approved by a majority of votes cast at the next business meeting following their distribution to the voting members.
Article X: Nondiscrimination
Section 1: Nondiscrimination
OCHE shall not discriminate against any individual on the basis of ethnic group, color, creed, sex, age, sexual orientation, or disabling condition.
Article XI: Parliamentary Authority
Section 1: Parliamentary Authority
Roberts Rules of Order, most recent edition, shall govern the proceedings of OCHE.
Created February, 2011