Revised March 2018 and approved by vote of division June 2018
ARTICLE 1. NAME
The name of this Division shall be the Engineering Ethics Division of the American Society for Engineering Education.
ARTICLE 2. PURPOSES
The purposes of this Division are:
A. To convey to the engineering and technology education community the importance of socially responsible development and use of technology;
B. To foster increased knowledge of engineering ethics;
C. To promote the teaching and learning of engineering ethics by engineering and technology educators and, through them, their students;
D. To promote life long learning and integration of ethics into the professional lives of scientists, engineers and technologists; and
E. To strive for the achievement of the above stated objectives by promoting and hosting conferences, workshops and sessions at ASEE Annual conferences with full support of, and in the manner consistent with, the purposes of the
ARTICLE 4. ORGANIZATION AND OFFICERS
An Executive Committee composed of the Chair, the Program Chair, the Secretary/Treasurer and three elected members-at-large shall administer the Division.
The terms of the Chair, Program Chair and Secretary/Treasurer shall be one year and the terms of the members-at-large shall be three years, staggered so as to have one replaced by election each year.
ARTICLE 5. ELECTION OF OFFICERS
A The Chair and all other members of the Executive Committee of the Division shall be officially installed at the close of the luncheon/business meeting conducted at the annual conference.
A Nominating Committee, consisting of three (3) members of the Division shall be appointed by the retiring chair, with the approval of the Executive Committee, at each annual meeting. It shall be the duty of the Nominating Committee to nominate one or more candidates for the office of Secretary/Treasurer, and one or more candidates for one member-at-large.
The Nominating Committee will submit its slate of candidates to the members thirty (30) days before the annual meeting during which time the voting is to take place. The nominating committee will also accept nominations at the annual business meeting. The nominators shall solicit a statement of evidence of the nominee’s experience in and knowledge of engineering ethics.
It will normally be presumed that the Program Chair shall automatically move to the office of Chair. However, the Nominating Committee may, with the consent of a simple majority of the Executive Committee, select another nominee for the position of Chair. It will normally be presumed that the Secretary/Treasurer will automatically move to the office of Program Chair. However, the Nominating Committee may, with the consent of a simple majority of the Executive Committee, select another nominee for the position of Program Chair.
In the event of the resignation or death of one of the members of the Executive Committee, the vacated office shall be filled for the duration of the unexpired term by a person to be appointed by vote of the Executive Committee, except that in the event of resignation or death of the Chair, the Program Chair shall assume automatically the duties of the Chair. Nominations and balloting for the above positions maybe completed by the use of e-mail balloting through the ASEE prior to the annual meeting if recommended by two thirds of the Executive Committee.
ARTICLE 6. MEETINGS AND ACTIVITIES
A meeting of the Executive Committee and a business meeting of the Division shall be held during the annual meeting of the Society. Additional executive committee meetings can be called by the Committee Chair, or by a jointly signed request by any three (3) members of the Executive Committee, at times and places other than those of the annual meeting.
The Executive Committee shall administer any other activities that are deemed desirable for the promotion of the purposes of the Division.
Members of the Society and other interested persons shall be eligible to attend all meetings of the Division. However, voting privileges shall be extended only to those who are registered as members of the Engineering Ethics Division.
Additional activities of the division, such as establishing position statements or making amendments to the bylaws, may be proposed, in writing, by any member of the Division, and if approved by a simple majority of the Executive Board, shall be presented to the membership for vote. If not in conflict with the ASEE constitution and bylaws, these activities shall be adopted upon an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Division members present at the division business meeting or, if not voted on during the business meeting, by electronic ballot upon affirmative vote of two-thirds of the responders to electronic solicitation.
Any action of this Division shall be invalid if it is in conflict with the Constitution or Bylaws of the American Society for Engineering Education.
ARTICLE 7. DUTIES OF THE OFFICERS
The Chair shall:
A. Have administrative responsibility for the conduct of all functions of the Division in accordance with these By-Laws and the policies and procedures established by the Executive Committee.
B. Schedule, organize and conduct annual business meetings of the Division and all meetings of the Executive Committee.
C. Appoint committees in accordance with the By-laws.
D. Compile an annual report of the activities of the Division as requested by the Secretary of the Society.
The Program Chair shall:
A. Serve, plan, organize and conduct the program sponsored (or co-sponsored) by the Division at the Annual Conference of the Society and at or any other conference, seminar or workshop that is consistent with the purposes of this Division.
B. Supervise the conduct of these sessions, including the arrangement of facilities, the selection of speakers, etc.
C. Act for the Chair at business meetings of the Division and Executive Committee in the event of the Chair’s absence from these meetings.
D. Establish a best paper committee consisting of five members, and distributed to them those papers nominated during the best paper review process. At the program chair’s discretion, s/he may select other papers that received high ratings from reviewers.
E. Review proposals that involve human subjects to ensure that authors have received IRB approval as a necessary condition for acceptance of their final paper.
The Secretary/Treasurer shall:
A. Be responsible for the official records and correspondence of the Division and Executive Committee and shall maintain the official files of the Division and pass these along to his or her successor.
B. Record minutes of the annual business meeting and meetings of the Executive Committee and distribute copies to appropriate Society and Division officers.
C. Oversee and maintain the financial operations of the Division and regularly report the financial status at meetings of the Executive
ARTICLE 8. COMMITTEES
8.1. Each year the Division Chair, with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee, shall constitute such committees as are necessary to promote the purposes of the Division.
It shall be the responsibility of each Ad Hoc Committee Chair to keep the Executive Committee informed of the activities being performed by the committee. Committee activities in all cases will be subject to review and approval by the Executive Committee.
8.2. The awards committee will consist of five members: the secretary/treasurer, at-large members, and the immediate past chair. The division chair and the program chair are excluded due to potential conflicts of interest. If a committee member’s paper is nominated, s/he will not serve on the committee, and the division chair will appoint a substitute. Each committee member will rank the first, second, and third best papers. The program chair will compile all rankings to determine the best paper. In the case of a tie, one other past chair will cast a deciding vote.
ARTICLE 9. DIVERSITY STATEMENT
The Engineering Ethics Division recognizes that the explicit and welcomed inclusion of diverse individuals as well as diverse stakeholder groups and the diverse values and perspectives that they represent is critical to understanding the complex ethical and social issues surrounding education and practice in engineering and engineering technology. Celebrating diverse perspectives also provides strength in creativity, broadness of new ideas, and increased effectiveness in arriving at the most innovative, equitable, and socially responsible solutions possible.
Thus the Engineering Ethics Division is committed to promoting the inclusion and education of all diverse individuals and groups and to encouraging the free and welcomed expression of diverse ideas in the professions of engineering and engineering technology. The Division is committed to diversity as part of its purpose to convey to the engineering and technology education community the importance of socially responsible development and use of technology.
ARTICLE 10. AMENDMENTS TO BYLAWS
Amendments to these bylaws may be proposed by a two-thirds majority of the Executive Committee or by a petition signed by not less than ten (10) individual members of this Division and submitted to the Chair.
Proposed amendments shall be announced to each member of the Division at least thirty (30) days before the date of the annual meeting at which the proposed amendments are to be considered.
Amendments shall become effective upon the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members present at the annual business meeting and subsequent ratification by the ASEE Board of Directors.