BYLAWS

MICHIGAN SOCIETY FOR HEALTHCARE ENGINEERING

REVISION DATE: September 2006

Revisions in 2007 for 2008

 

ARTICLE I

Name and Purpose

 

Section 1.  Name

The name of this statewide, non-profit organization shall be the Michigan Society for Healthcare Engineering, herein after known as MISHE.

 

Section 2.  Purpose and Objectives

MISHE is organized for educational purposes and is a non-profit organization.  The main objective shall be to promote better patient care through improved engineering practices by:

A.                Encouraging and assisting members to develop their knowledge of healthcare engineering principles.

B.                 Conducting regular meetings, conferences and educational programs.

C.                 Promoting the improvement of healthcare services by assisting members to exchange ideas relating to facilities management.

D.                Promoting communications between MISHE, Michigan Regional Chapters, American Society for Healthcare Engineering, and other healthcare engineering and related organizations.

E.                 Encouraging communication with regulatory and accreditation agencies to create a better understanding of necessary codes and standards relating to the physical plant which are consistent with the state of the art of engineering principles.

F.                  Promoting the professional development and recognition of MISHE and its members.

G.                Act as an advocacy group for codes and standards, which affect its members.

 

ARTICLE II

Membership, Dues and Voting Privileges

 

Section 1.  Professional Members

A Professional membership in MISHE shall include persons having 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 MISHE.

 

Section 2.  Associate Members

Associate members of MISHE 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. 

 

Section 3.  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 MISHE 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.

 

Section 4.  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.

 

Section 5.  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. 

 

Section 6.  Dues

All members will pay dues individually 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.

 

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

 

6.2 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.   

 

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

 

ARTICLE III

Board of Directors and Officers

 

Section 1.  Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of MISHE shall consist of two Professional members from each Michigan Regional Chapters, Board Officers, the MISHE Director, two Associate members, two Regulatory Liaison members, the MECH Committee Chairman and healthcare engineering representative on the Michigan State Fire Safety Board.  Board of Directors will be a member of good standing.

 

The Board of Directors’ terms of office will be two years, starting in October.  The terms of representatives from the same Michigan Regional Chapter shall be staggered.  Michigan Regional Chapters shall elect their representatives and submit the name(s) to the Board of Directors by June of each year.  If a representative from a Michigan Regional Chapter is elected as a Board Officer, his term of office shall expire after completing his term as Past President or Treasurer. There is no term limits on Board representatives.

 

The duties of the Board of Directors will be to develop policies for membership approval, elect the Secretary and Treasurer from the existing Board representatives, and provide directions to the standing and special committees.

 

Section 2.  Succession of Board Members and Officers

Representatives to the Board are selected by Michigan Regional Chapters for a term of two years.  Board members are elected as each representative’s staggered term runs out. Nominations will be presented to the Board at the Annual Conference meeting in the fall of each year.  Officers of the Board are elected from the current Board membership each year to serve a period of one year, which shall be in addition to their representative tenure requirement of two years.  Officers of the Board will represent a minimum of 3 Michigan Regional Chapters, holding the offices of Immediate Past President, President-Elect, and Secretary.  Selection of the Board Officers will rotate in an order described in the Handbook.  The President-Elect will automatically become President after the September annual meeting.  The Secretary will automatically become President-Elect after the September annual meeting.  The succession of Officers of the Board will be as follows: Secretary to President-Elect, President-Elect to President, and President to Immediate Past President.  A new Secretary will be elected by the Board at the Board meeting immediately preceding the Annual meeting.  The term of office shall be one year, after the September annual meeting.

 

Section 3.  Immediate Past President

The Immediate Past President will serve at the direction of the President and shall assume duties as assigned.  The Immediate Past President is to serve as the chair for membership.

 

Section 4.  President

The President shall preside at all meetings of the Board of Directors and of the membership, shall appoint committee chair and any special committees by the final MISHE board meeting of the year, serve as a member of the Annual Conference Planning Committee and shall serve as a member of his/her represented Michigan Regional Chapter during the tenure of office.

 

Section 5.  President-Elect

The President-Elect shall perform such duties as assigned by the President, shall preside over meetings in the absence of the President, shall serve as a member of the Annual Conference Planning Committee and will assume the office of President should said position become vacant prior to the completion of the President’s term of office.

 

Section 6.  Treasurer.

The Treasurer shall receive and disburse funds of the society at the direction of the President and Board of Directors.  The Treasurer shall draft a budget for adoption by the Board for the first meeting of the New Year.  The Treasurer is responsible for compiling the membership lists updated each year from the Michigan Regional Chapters.  The Treasurer position is elected every four years; there are no term limits.  The Treasurer must be a Professional member.

 

Section 7.  Secretary

The Secretary shall be the recording officer of the MISHE, and act as corresponding secretary at the direction of the President and for the Board of Directors.  The Secretary shall also assist in compiling the membership lists to be updated each year by Michigan Regional Chapters. 

 

Section 8.  Associate Members

There will be two Associate Members nominated and elected to the board.  These two Associate Members may be chosen from any of the Michigan regional chapter, but may not be from the same regional chapter or company.  Associate members have voting rights.  Their terms shall be staggered.

 

Section 9.  Members of the Board

Board Members represent their constituent Michigan Regional Chapters and the interests of Healthcare Engineering statewide.  Board members not serving as officers shall be responsible for submitting quarterly news items to the MISHE Newsletter Chair.

 

Section 10.  Members at Large

Members at Large are the MECH Chair and the healthcare engineering representative on the Michigan State Fire Safety Board and the MISHE Director.  All three have voting privileges.

 

Section 11.  Officers and Board Members Handbook

The Officers and Board Members Handbook should be consulted to clarify responsibilities of officers, Board members, committee chairman, Members at Large, and committee members.  The handbook guides the internal operation of the MISHE Board and can be edited, revised and updated by vote of a simple majority of an official meeting of the Board.

 

Section 12.  Quorum Count and Voting Board Members

A quorum shall be representation from at least three Michigan Regional Chapters and at least five board members. (Also See Article IV, Section 2, Electronic Participation) The voting members on the board are: 10 Regional Representatives, two from each of the five Michigan regional chapters; 5 Board Officers, President, President Elect, and Secretary, Treasurer, Immediate Past President (who are MI regional chapter representatives also), 2 Associate Board Members, and 3 Members at Large. The maximum number of voting Board Members is (15). Officers of MRC may act as their regional representative if said representative is absent.

 

ARTICLE IV

Meetings

Section 1.  Meetings of the Board

Meetings of the Board of Directors shall be held quarterly, at the call of the President of at the request of a majority of the Board members.

 

Board members are encouraged to attend every Board meeting.  Missing a Board meeting will not excuse members from their responsibilities and committee assignments during a meeting.  When a member cannot attend, they are to pass all material, and meeting information to be discussed to another representative from their Michigan regional chapter, to another Board member on their committee, or to the MISHE Director.

 

“Roberts’ Rule of Order” shall govern MISHE in all cases to which they may be found applicable and not inconsistent with the Bylaws of MISHE.

 

Section 2.  Electronic Participation

Board Members physically unable to attend to quarterly Board Meetings or specially called Board Meetings, shall be considered in attendance and part of the quorum count if said Board Member is in attendance via electronic conferencing. Board Member is considered “present” as long as real time communications exists between the Board Member and The MISHE Board

 

Section 3.  Annual Meeting

There shall be a minimum of one annual meeting of general membership of MISHE during the regular business year.  The Annual Conference has been designated the appropriate time to have a general membership meeting.  The Board of Directors may change the meeting date if announced at least two months in advance of the meeting.

 

The purpose of the annual meeting shall include:

A.                                        Educational programs

B.                                         Transaction of MISHE business and committee reports

C.                                         Introduction of new Board members and new President

D.                                        Membership vote on changes to the Bylaws of MISHE

 

ARTICLE V

Standing Committee

Section 1.  List of Standing Committees

The following standing committees shall be appointed by the President:

A.                                        Codes and Standards

B.                                         Annual Conference

C.                                         Education

D.                                        Newsletter

E.                                         Membership

F.                                          Scholarship

G.                                        MECH

Each committee shall include at least one Board member.

 

ARTICLE VI

Amendments

Section 1.  Amendment Procedure

The affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Professional members present of MISHE voting at the annual meeting, or other meeting called for such purposes, shall be required to amend the Bylaws.  Notices of such a proposal shall be sent to the membership at least 30 days prior to the meeting at which the proposed change will be voted upon.

 

ARTICLE VI

Dissolution

Section 1:        Dissolution of Assets

 

Upon the dissolution of MiSHE, assets shall be distributed to an exempt organization, ASHE (American Society for Healthcare Engineering), within the meaning of IRS 501 code, or the corresponding section of any future Federal Tax Code, or shall be distributed to the federal government, or to a state or local government for a public purpose. Any such assets not so disposed of shall be disposed of by a Court of Competent Jurisdiction of the county in which the principal office of the association is located.