1.01 The object of the Gulf Coast Section of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists is to promote the science of stratigraphy in the Gulf Coast states through research in paleontology and sedimentary petrology, especially as it relates to petroleum geology. The Corporation, herein referred to as the "Section," will be closely associated with the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies and will cooperate with it and with the local geological societies of which it is composed for the furtherance of mutual objectives.

ARTICLE 2. - MEMBERS

2.01 The Section shall have members, lifetime members, charter members, and honorary members.

2.02 Members shall be persons engaged in paleontologic, petrographic or stratigraphic studies that have application to the geology of petroleum and who work or reside in the Gulf Coast province of the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, or Florida, or whose interest or work is principally within these states. Membership, once obtained, shall not be dependent upon continued residence in the aforementioned states.

2.03 Anyone who qualifies for membership in the Section can become a lifetime member by paying a one-time lifetime membership fee. A lifetime member shall remain a member of the Section for life and shall not be required to pay annual dues. The lifetime membership fee shall be decided by the Executive Council and may be changed by the Council as it deems appropriate.

2.04 Charter members are those whose applications for membership were received before the first nomination of officers. They shall enjoy all the privileges of members, and, hereinafter, are included in all references to "members."

2.05 The Council may elect as honorary members persons who have contributed distinguished service to the science of stratigraphy, paleontology or sedimentary petrology, especially as they relate to petroleum geology in the Gulf Coast. Honorary members shall not be required to pay dues.

2.06 Each candidate for membership shall submit to the Section an application on a form authorized by the Council for this purpose.

2.07 New members enrolled after December 1 shall be considered as having paid their dues for the next calendar year.

ARTICLE 3. - COUNCIL AND OFFICERS

3.01 Executive authority of the Section is vested in a board of directors known as the "Council" consisting of six members who are duly elected by the members, as follows: President, President-Elect, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and the most recently retired Past President.

3.02 The President shall discharge the usual duties of a president, as well as act as presiding officer at all meetings of the Section and Council.

3.03 The Vice President shall assume the duties of the President in the case of the absence or disability of the latter. The Vice President shall also be Chairman of the Membership Committee and as such shall keep a complete up-to-date list of members.

3.04 The Secretary shall keep the records of the proceedings of the Section and a complete list of the membership. The Secretary shall attend to the preparation and mailing of notices, membership application blanks and other materials necessary to the business of the Section.

3.05 The Treasurer shall have custody of all funds of the Section. The Treasurer shall keep account of the receipts and disbursements, and submit an accounting to the membership at the end of each year.

3.06 The Council shall have control and management of the affairs and funds of the Section.

3.07 The President and Vice President shall not serve for more than one (1) year, except that if the Vice President succeeds to the position of Acting President, the Acting President may be elected to a full term as President.

3.08 In the event that neither the President nor Vice President is available to serve as presiding officer of the Section, the immediate Past President shall assume the President's duties.

3.09 The President-Elect shall serve for one (1) year as such, and in the following year the President-Elect shall assume the office of President. The President-Elect shall have not administrative authority except as a member of the Council. The President Elect shall acquaint himself with all the details of the office of President and generally prepare himself to serve as President. The President Elect shall be responsible for the preparation of the annual meeting for the ensuing year.

3.10 A vacancy occurring in the offices of Vice President, Secretary or Treasurer shall be filled by Council appointment.

3.11 A vacancy occurring in the office of President-Elect shall be filled by mail ballot by the membership through a special election called by the Council.

3.12 The Secretary and Treasurer shall serve for a term of two (2) years. These offices shall be renewable through election.

3.13 In addition to the prescribed duties set forth in these Bylaws, a list of current duties of the Section officers, which may be modified occasionally in response to changes in the Section's activities and needs, is to be kept by the Secretary.

ARTICLE 4. - MEETINGS OF MEMBERS

4.01 The Section shall hold at least one stated meeting each year, which shall be known as the Annual Meeting. This meeting will usually be held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies.

4.02 The program for the Annual Meeting shall be arranged by the Section Program Chairman in cooperation with the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies (GCAGS) designated Program Chairman All Section concerns regarding the Annual Meeting shall be coordinated by the Section designated GCSSEPM Vice-Chairman. The Section designated GCSSEPM Editor shall coordinate with the GCAGS Editor on the editing and publication of the Annual Meeting proceedings known as the GCAGS Transactions. The Section designated Judging and Awards Chairman shall coordinate all Section Awards at the Annual Meeting.

4.03 At the time of the Annual Meeting, a Business Meeting may be held for the transaction of Section business.

ARTICLE 5. - AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS

5.01 These Bylaws may be amended by two-thirds vote of returned mail ballots received by the Secretary sixty (60) days after proposal of amendments with provision for vote is mailed to the members. Any proposed amendments must have the approval of a majority of the Council before being submitted to the members.

5.02 A petition containing the signatures of twenty (20) active members is considered sufficient to bring before the Council a proposed change in the Bylaws. A majority vote of Council is also considered sufficient to initiate a proposed change.

ARTICLE 6. - DUES

6.01 The fiscal year of the Section shall commence on January 1 and end on December 31.

6.02 The annual dues of the members shall be set by a majority vote of the Executive Council.

6.03 A bill for dues shall be mailed by the Vice President, as Chairman of the Membership Committee, to all delinquent members by March 31 of each year. Members who have not paid by June 1 shall be dropped from the membership roles.

6.04 Members dropped for non-payments of dues may be reinstated following their payment of all delinquent dues.

6.05 Members may, at their discretion, pay their annual dues for a five (5) year period at a rate of five times the annual rate discounted ten percent (10%).

ARTICLE 7. - FINANCIAL PROCEDURE

7.01 The Treasurer's limit of authority to disburse funds will be determined by a majority vote of the Executive Council. The Executive Council should review and, if necessary, change the Treasurer's disbursement limit on an annual basis. No other officer or member shall enter into a contract or shall disburse any of the Section's funds without the explicit consent of a majority of the council.

ARTICLE 8. - ELECTIONS

8.01 The President shall appoint one (1) nominating committee, instructing the committee to submit nominations for President-Elect, Vice President, and Secretary or Treasurer. These nominations shall be in the Secretary's hands before April 15. A candidate for office must be a member of the Section.

8.02 Ballots containing the nominations for officers shall be prepared by the Secretary and mailed to each member of the Section on or before July 15. The ballots received by the Secretary before September 15 shall be counted by him. Receipt of a plurality of the votes cast for any office shall constitute election. In case of a tie vote, members of the current Council shall cast one additional deciding vote.

8.03 Results of balloting shall be announced at the Annual Meeting each October and the new officers shall enter upon duty on January 1 of the next calendar year.

ARTICLE 9. - BUSINESS REPRESENTATIVES

9.1 The Vice President shall appoint one business representative from each group of members in each local geological society affiliated with the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies and in other localities as needed. Each business representative shall have an up-to-date list of the Section members residing in the representative's vicinity. The business representative shall notify these members concerning any matter of Section policy which may be relayed to the representative by the President and shall have the authority to convene a meeting of those members to determine their views concerning Section affairs. The business representative will report the results of such meetings to the President of the Section. The business representative will cooperate with the Section Editor in the soliciting of papers to be presented at the Annual Meeting and with the Chairman of the Membership Committee in recruiting new members for the Section.

9.2 Student representatives shall be selected by the Council in consultation with faculty members at various colleges and universities in the Gulf Coast region and at other schools with an interest in Gulf Coast geology. Only one student representative shall be selected from each school. Student representatives must be (1) members of the Section, (2) full-time graduate or undergraduate students, and (3) majoring in geology, geophysics, or paleontology. Student representatives shall serve a one-year term and shall have recruiting and reporting duties similar to those of business representatives.

ARTICLE 10. - AUDIT

10.1 The President shall appoint an Auditing Committee which shall review the accounts presented by the Treasurer. The approval of the Treasurer's books by the committee shall be required before the final report will be accepted.

The Constitution of the GCSSEPM was originally adopted in 1954 and was amended in 1960, 1962, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1974, and 1981. The Section was incorporated under the laws of the State of Texas in 1981, and these Bylaws were adopted at that time in place of the original Constitution and its amendments. They were amended in 1984, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2004 and 2005. These Bylaws embody all of the provisions of the original Constitution and its amendments.