Professional Members

A Professional membership in the Society include persons having supervisory responsibility in engineering (maintenance), or supporting departments of a Michigan healthcare facility and/or a Professional member of a healthcare engineering association. Only Professional members in good standing may vote, be recognized or hold office in the Society.

Associate Members

Associate members of the Society shall include individuals who work with or call on healthcare institutions or organizations that do not have direct healthcare engineering responsibilities and are typically not employees of a healthcare institution or organization. Associate members may participate in meetings of the general membership but shall not have voting privileges.

Lifetime Members

A member in good standing who retires after 10 years of Professional membership may be elected to Lifetime member status by indicating a desire to maintain an interest in hospital engineering and continue to participate in the Society activities on a yearly basis. Lifetime members shall not have voting privileges and must be nominated by a Michigan Regional Chapter or a MISHE Board Member. Approval of the request will be by a simple majority vote of the Board of Directors.

Honorary Members

Honorary membership may be granted annually to such persons of distinction as are deemed worthy by the Board of Directors. Nominations for Honorary memberships must be submitted by a Michigan Regional Chapter or MISHE Board Members. Honorary members may participate in meetings of the general membership but shall not have voting privileges.

Regulatory Liaison Member

Regulatory Liaison Members are those individuals who are employees of regulatory agencies. Regulatory Liaison Members shall not have voting privileges and must be nominated by Michigan Regional Chapter or a MISHE Board Member.

Educator/Student/Mentoring Members

An Educator/Student membership in the Society shall be available to full-time educators and enrolled college students taking course work in any discipline related to work done by Professional Members. A Mentoring membership in the Society is available to any person employed full-time at a healthcare organization and being mentored into a leadership role within that organization for any discipline related to work done by Professional Members. The Mentoring Member must be sponsored by a Professional Member from the same organization. The Educator/Student/Mentoring Member may serve on committees but may not vote or hold office.

Member In Good Standing

A member who is in “Good Standing” is a member that:

1. Pays dues before the end of the first quarter (approximately 90 days after the first of the year).

2. Continues to pay dues, uninterrupted, from the time they become a member.

3. Has been a member and paid dues for a minimum of 3 years (requirement to hold office).

4. Has not been previously expelled from this Society (including Regional Chapters and Affiliates)

5. Retires after a minimum of 10 years of Professional membership (a requirement for Lifetime Membership)

Dues

All members will pay dues individually to continue to be a member in good standing. All members will join through their respective regional chapter. Dues shall be payable by March 1 of each year. Dues may change as per decisions of the board at the end each year.

· Professional Dues: Annual dues will be $10.00 for Professional members

· Associate Dues: Annual dues will be $25.00 for Associate members. If an Associate belongs to more than one Michigan Regional Chapter, there will be a one-time charge for MISHE membership.

· Educator/Student membership is set at $25.

· Regulatory Liaison, Lifetime and Honorary members shall pay no dues.

Termination Of Membership

Members may be recognized as terminating in the following ways:

1. Resignation: A member may at any time file a resignation from the Society in writing with the Society's Executive Director.

2. Suspension or Expulsion: The MiSHE Board of Directors may suspend or expel any member “for cause” (see definition below) at any time, after giving such member the opportunity for a hearing before the Board of Directors. Such hearing shall be conducted in a manner similar to the “hearing procedure” found in the Board Member Handbook. Any member suspended or expelled may be reinstated by the affirmative vote of a majority of the voting members of the Board of Directors. The term "for cause" shall include, but not be limited to, any of the following:

· Any violation of these bylaws.

· Any violation leading to criminal conviction.

· Any conduct on the part of a member that is prejudicial or non-facilitating to the interests and welfare of the Society and its members.

3. Loss of Eligibility.
Membership of any person who, because of change of position or employment, is no longer eligible for membership in the Society shall be automatically terminated at the end of the term for which dues have been paid. The Board of Directors has the right to consider the grace period for special circumstances.

4. Nonpayment of Dues.
Membership of any person who is 90 days in arrears in the payment of annual dues will be automatically terminated.

Prejudicial And Non-facilitating Attributes of Membership

All societies enjoy the benefit of members who work for the benefit of the society. Those members display all of the most facilitating attributes of membership. In contrast, there are a few members who display opposing attributes. Since MiSHE and its Regional Chapters is a volunteer society, members elect to join and are accepted with no question. If members support the society, they benefit the society and each other. If a members attributes detract from the society, the society has the right question membership and shall act to expel such a member.

The following attributes are not considered to be an all-inclusive list of attributes. Instead, these are intended to be a guide for the society to take expulsive action.

· Public displays of anger or physical violence.

· Interfering with the services or programs provided by the society.

· Independently negotiating for services during a society event for personal or company gain.

· Not complying with reasonable requests by the society.

· Holding money, keeping money, or not accounting for money that is paid to the society.

· Conviction of a crime that reflects negatively toward the society and opposes the bylaws (as determined by the board).

· Misrepresenting, covering up, or lying about the intent, action or policy of the society or personal activity.

· Not disclosing conflicts of interest.

· Working to cause disorder or schism within the society.

· Refusing to follow the rules, practices, and bylaws of the society.

· Practicing deception, in all forms.

· Dishonesty in all forms.

· Defrauding the society or its members.

· Harassing members of the society or other organizations.

· Using society funds for personal gain.

· Colluding with others to confuse, hide, or distort information or actives related to the society.

Hearing Procedure

This procedure is to be used for the resolution of conflicts of interest, expulsion or other types of resolution. The following procedure is a guideline to be followed for fair resolution.

1. NOTICE – Notice will be provided by the Executive Director in written or electronic mail a minimum of 10 days prior to a hearing. This will also be the rule if the board takes action and calls a special board meeting. Ten days prior, a notice will be provided to the person in question. This notification will constitute the first step.

2. BOARD ACTION – The board will be required to vote to either take action or to dismiss. Both the vote to take action or dismiss will be recorded in the form of minutes and stored for future access by the board.

3. THIRD-PARTY PRESENCE – There will be an attempt to identify a third-party (disinterested person) to set in on the hearing. This person is to be used as a moderator to diffuse and reduce conflict.

4. ADVOCATE – The notified person may bring one person to act on their behalf at the hearing.

5. TIMELINE – Resolution shall be made as quickly as possible. Resolution will occur sooner than 6 months after notice has been received. All parties are to adjust their calendars to meet a quick resolution schedule.

6. PARTICIPANTS – The hearing committee will consist of Officers of the Board (past-president, president, president-elect, secretary and treasurer) and the Director.

7. PROCEEDURE – The following is a guide to the procedures of the hearing. In the event of a question, provision will be made to be fair to all parties.

· Restatement of the notice

· Statement of the position of the person(s) being affected

· Presentation of evidence

· Discussion

· Proposed resolution

· Final discussion

· Determination by the Board