CONSTITUTION OF THE LAKE TRAVIS FFA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Adopted 2022
ARTICLE I
NAME
The name of the organization shall be the
Lake Travis FFA Alumni Association, a member of The Texas and National FFA Alumni Associations.
ARTICLE II
OBJECTIVES
1. Lake Travis FFA Alumni Association is organized exclusively for charitable, religious, educational, and scientific purposes, including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code.
2. To encourage and support the Agriculture Science and FFA programs of Lake Travis Independent School District.
3. To aid and assist the students through guidance, leadership, and encouragement toward scholastic and economic achievement.
4. To enhance parental awareness of the aims and purposes of Agriculture Science and the FFA Organization.
ARTICLE III
MEMBERSHIP
1. The membership shall be composed of any person interested in working with the Agriculture Science Program and the FFA Organization of Lake Travis High School.
2. The annual dues for membership into Lake Travis FFA Alumni shall not be less than $35.00 per person. At least one adult member per family is required.
3. The fiscal year will be June 1 through May 31.
4. The membership year shall be September 1 through August 31 of the following year.
5. No member shall be considered as an active member and in good standing unless he or she has paid all dues and has fulfilled or currently fulfilling the fundraising and volunteer obligations as outlined by the Executive Board for the current school year.
6. Voting members will be those members considered active and in good standing.
ARTICLE IV
OFFICERS
1. The elected officers of the Alumni shall be President, Vice-President of Administration, Vice President of Fund Raising, Secretary, & Treasurer. No officer shall serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office.
2. The nomination of the officers shall be made at the April meeting. Additional nominations may be taken from the floor at the May meeting. In order to be eligible to serve as an officer, the nominee must be a member in good standing of the Alumni organization. The election of officers will be held at the May meeting by simple majority. Newly elected officers will be installed and assume duties at the June meeting. Each outgoing officer shall assist the incoming officer in making a smooth transition into office.
3. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association and of the Executive Board and shall have general supervision of the affairs of the Association.
4. The Vice-President, Administration shall be in charge of the committee work in general, and shall assume the duties of the President in his/her absence or in the event of a vacancy in the office.
5. The Vice-President, Fund Raising shall be in charge of the fundraising committee work in general.
6. The Secretary shall keep minutes of the meetings of the Association and of the Executive Board; shall distribute written meeting minutes at each meeting for each member; maintain a current membership roster to be presented at each meeting; verify current members in voting matters; attend to the necessary correspondence of the Association and perform other such duties as maybe prescribed by the President/Executive Board.
7. The Treasurer shall keep an accurate account of all funds raised and deposited. He/she shall be prepared to furnish financial report to the President/Executive Board on request and shall submit a complete financial report at each regular meeting. He/she shall be responsible for collecting, accounting, and disbursements of the funds raised by the Lake Travis FFA Alumni Association.
8. The Agriculture Science Instructor(s) shall be ex-officio member(s) of the Executive Board.
9. Whenever a vacancy occurs on the Lake Travis FFA Executive Board, other than expiration of their terms of office, the Executive Board shall appoint a person to fill the unexpired term of office.
ARTICLE V
MEETINGS
1. The Association shall meet the first Tuesday of each month, unless otherwise designated by the Executive Board.
2. Special meetings of the Association may be duly called by the President.
3. All meetings of the Association shall be governed by Standard Parliamentary Procedures.
4. The membership present at a duly-called meeting shall represent a quorum.
5. Amendments to the Constitution may be made by 2/3 majority vote of the quorum.
ARTICLE VI
BOARDS/COMMITTEES
1. The Executive Board shall be composed of the President, Vice-President Administration, Vice-President Fund Raising, Secretary, Treasurer, Web Master, and the Agriculture Science Instructor(s). The Executive Board identifies and sets strategic plans and goals. As the duly elected governing body, the Executive Board may make decisions for the Association membership when time constraints prohibit a duly called meeting.
2. The Scholarship Committee shall be composed of a Chairperson and four members. There shall be involvement in this committee by the Agriculture Science Instructor(s). No parent of a current senior student shall be allowed to serve on the Committee.
3. The Scholarship Committee is responsible for administering the Lake Travis FFA Alumni Scholarship program. It is their duty to see that the applications are fairly evaluated by an unbiased, impartial panel (selected by the committee) as described in Article VIII. The Scholarship Committee shall be responsible for managing scholarship funds from fundraisers, donations, memorials, and honorariums.
4. The Buyer Group Committee is composed of the Executive Board. The Buyer Group Committee shall be responsible for soliciting and distributing funds at the Travis County Show and Major Stock Shows. A small fund of money, decided upon by the Executive Board, will be set aside for students participating in TCYS (should they make sale) that did not have an active Alumni Parent due to inability, sickness or other reasons deemed reasonable by the Executive Board. This student must be an active member of the FFA and in good standing and must be willing to participate in Alumni events and fundraising.
5. The Fundraising Committee is composed of the Vice-President Fundraising and three members.
The Fundraising Committee shall be responsible for planning, coordinating and executing various fundraising opportunities. The committee is responsible for maintaining accurate records to be used to verify member standing.
ARTICLE VII
FINANCES
1) The Association shall maintain financial accounts under the supervision of the Treasurer.
2) The Treasurer shall provide a financial statement for all association accounts to the membership at each regular meeting.
3) The Executive Board shall submit a new budget for each school year, to include projected fundraising amounts and proposed areas of fund distribution no later than the October Alumni meeting.
4) The President and Treasurer shall have signing authority on the financial accounts.
5) All expenses shall be approved via a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the quorum. Except in situations where the Executive Board is authorized to make decisions under time constraints, and the amount is not to exceed $300.00.
6) No part of the net earnings of the organization shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to its members, trustees, officers, or other private persons, except that the organization shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposed set forth in the purpose clause hereof. No substantial part of the activities of the organization shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the organization shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office. Notwithstanding any other provision of this document, the organization shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on (a) by an organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or (b) by an organization, contributions to which are deductible under section 170(c) (2) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code.
7) Upon the dissolution of the organization, assets shall be distributed for one or more exempt purposes within the meaning of section 501 (c) (3)of the Internal revenue Code with a primary placement for funds dispersing to the Lake Travis FFA, or 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 disposed of shall be disposed of by the Court of Common Pleas of the county in which the principal office of the organization is then located, exclusively for such purposes or to such organization or organizations, as said Court shall determine, which are organized and operated exclusively for such purposes.
8) Families must join the Lake Travis FFA Alumni (at least one adult member per family) in order to be considered an “active member with voting privileges or in good standing” for the current school year.
9) All active members are required to participate in the Alumni fundraising efforts either by active participation, (selling of items) or participate in the buyout in lieu of selling items. The buyout amount is determined by the Executive Board for the current school year. Families choosing not to participate in the fundraising or the buyout will forfeit their student’s opportunities to receive Alumni funds at Travis County Youth Show and Major Stock Shows.
ARTICLE VIII
SCHOLARSHIPS
There will be one (1) category of scholarships available to be used in either Academic or Vocational educational establishments. Scholarship will only be available as funds are available and dedicated to the scholarship program.
1. In selecting the candidates to receive the Alumni Scholarship(s), application packets will be examined, evaluated, and ranked by a panel of judges who are familiar with FFA program. The panel may request interviews.
2. To be eligible to apply for a scholarship, the student must meet each of the following criteria
a) The Student must be an active member in good standing with the Lake Travis FFA Chapter.
b) Student must be a graduating senior of Lake Travis High School with a minimum GPA of 2.5.
c) Student must have been accepted and be eligible to attend a post-secondary school (technical/vocational schools, colleges or universities).
d) Student must prepare and submit an official application with a copy of their current transcript showing SAT or ACT scores and GPA, and school letter of acceptance. Applications will be made available on the LT FFA website no later than April 1st of the current school year. The student shall submit the application via US Postal Service; it must be post marked no later than April of the current school year.
3. Scholarship funds will be distributed directly to appropriate school, college, or university for the fall semester. Vocational scholarships will be distributed in a similar manner.
4. The Scholarship Committee will determine the number of available scholarships and amount(s) of each scholarship.
5. Scholarships will be awarded at the Annual Banquet.