PART I. CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE I.  NAME

The name of this organization shall be the Johnson University Alumni Association (the Association).

ARTICLE II.  PURPOSE

The purpose of this Association is to:  (1) promote sustained loyalty to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; (2) promote continual loyalty and support to Johnson University (Johnson or the University); and (3) maintain a spirit of mutual encouragement and helpfulness among members of the Association.

ARTICLE III.  CHARACTER

The national meeting of the Association shall be an autonomous mass assembly for the promotion of the best interest of the Kingdom of God and Johnson University.

ARTICLE IV.  LOCAL AND SECTIONAL ORGANIZATION

The Association shall encourage local or sectional organizations, the purpose of which will be in accord with the purpose and character of the national organization.

ARTICLE V.  MEMBERSHIP

Section 1.  Voting membership in the Association shall be granted to former students who have earned 12 or more credits at Johnson University and who have paid annual alumni dues by December 31 preceding the annual business meeting.

Section 2.  Voting membership in the Association shall be granted to all faculty and trustees who have paid their current annual alumni dues.

Section 3.  Non-voting membership in the Association shall be granted to all former students who have earned 12 or more credits at Johnson University, but who have not paid their current alumni dues.

Section 4.  Non-voting membership in the Association shall be granted to all faculty and trustees who have not paid their current annual alumni dues.

Section 5.  Honorary (non-voting) membership in the Association may be conferred by the Association on individuals who have manifested strong interest in the University through financial support and student recruitment and have maintained loyalty and faithfulness to Christ and his gospel.

Section 6.  Non-voting membership in the Association shall be granted to all seniors currently enrolled at Johnson University.  Alumni dues are waived by the Alumni Association for the first-year graduates, making them eligible for all privileges of voting membership.

Section 7.  Voting membership covers the period from January 1 to December 31.

ARTICLE VI.  OFFICERS

Section 1.  Officers of the Association shall be president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer.

Section 2.  Any voting alumnus of Johnson University may serve as an officer of the Association.

Section 3.  Officers shall be elected by voting members attending the annual Association meeting for a term of one year.

Section 4.  Duties of the officers shall be such as usually pertain to these offices and:  (1) to plan and carry out the annual Johnson University Homecoming; (2) to supervise election of the Council of Seventy; (3) to administer and execute all decisions made by the Association; (4) to organize and see that annual area alumni rallies are set up and held in the designated areas.

Section 5.  Officers shall be elected one year in advance at the annual February business meeting of the Association and shall take office at the last session of the Johnson University Homecoming of the year in which they are to serve.

ARTICLE VII.  MEETINGS

The regular annual business meeting shall be held during the week of the Johnson University Homecoming.

ARTICLE VIII.  AMENDMENTS

Section 1.  This Johnson University Alumni Association Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the voting members present at the annual business meeting of the Association.

Section 2.  The Johnson University Alumni Association By-Laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the voting members present at the annual business meeting of the Association.

PART II. BYLAWS

ARTICLE I.  FINANCES

Section 1.  Alumni will not be required to pay dues to belong to the Association.

Section 2.  The Alumni Association shall finance all projects and programs by dues and contributions.

Section 3.  Voting membership dues will be established by the alumni at a regular business meeting of the Association.

ARTICLE II.  NOMINATION OF OFFICERS

Officers shall be nominated by a committee of three appointed by the Alumni president at the annual Association meeting.

ARTICLE III.  ELECTION OF HONORARY MEMBERS OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

Nominations to honorary membership in the Alumni Association may be submitted by alumni to any members of the Council of Seventy for consideration by the Council at a meeting prior to the annual meeting of the Alumni Association. Nominees recommended by the Council of Seventy shall be approved or disapproved by the Alumni Association at their annual meeting.  A two-thirds vote is required for approval.

ARTICLE IV.  COUNCIL OF SEVENTY

Section I.  Membership.

  1. The Council of Seventy shall be composed of seventy alumni, no less than sixty of whom must be voting alumni and no more than ten of whom may be honorary alumni.
  2. In the event that the Alumni Association president is not on the Council of Seventy, he/she shall be made an ex-officio member.
  3. The president of the University shall be an ex-officio member of the Council of Seventy.
  4. Ex-officio membership on the Council of Seventy shall be granted to Johnson University alumni who are foreign missionaries on furlough.
  5. All Johnson University faculty and administrative officers shall be ex-officio members of the Council.
  6. All Johnson University trustees shall be ex-officio members of the Council.

Section 2.  Election of Council Members.

  1. Annually each voting alumnus may nominate five members for the Council.
  2. A recommendation committee, consisting of the president of Johnson University, the vice president for advancement, the director of alumni relations, and the current alumni officers shall carefully study the record of each nominee and shall recommend for election seventeen or eighteen, as the case may be. Should there be Council members whose terms have not expired, but who resign or are deceased, the recommendation committee shall submit names to fill their unexpired terms, in addition to the seventeen or eighteen new nominees.
  3. The recommendation committee shall keep in mind the following factors: (l) number of nominations the nominees receive; (2) their interest in Johnson University as shown by financial support and number of students sent; (3) their ability to serve as indicated by their present positions; (4) their loyalty to Christ and his gospel.
  4. A list of those recommended for election by the recommendation committee shall be placed in the hands of all members of the Alumni Association who are present at the alumni meeting for study.
  5. At the time of election, the entire slate of those recommended may be elected as a group, provided there are no objections.
  6. In the event that any Alumni Association members shall object to any of the nominees recommended, they shall state their objections in the Alumni Association business session and call for a separate vote on each nominee to whom they object.
  7. Upon the rejection of any nominees, the recommendation committee shall be called upon to substitute other names. In the event that they have no further recommendations, nominations may be received from the floor.

Section 3.  Term of Council Membership.

  1. Term of office for the Council of Seventy shall be four years.
  2. A Council member automatically retires for at least one year after serving one term.
  3. On even years, eighteen new members shall be elected and on odd years, seventeen shall be elected.
  4. Term of office shall begin in February of the year chosen and shall close in February four years later.

Section 4.  Meetings

  1. The Council of Seventy shall meet at the annual Johnson University Homecoming in February.
  2. A quorum shall consist of thirty-five members. The officers of the Council and the president of the University will decide what items may be acted upon when less than a quorum is present.
  3. The president of the Council of Seventy may call additional meetings of the Council by giving a three-week notice to the membership of same.

Section 5.  Duties of the Council of Seventy

  1. Provide counsel to the trustees, faculty, and president of Johnson University.
  2. Vacancies. As vacancies occur in the Board, the Board Development Task Force, as it may from time to time be constituted, shall serve as a nominating committee. As part of the nomination process, the Board Development Task Force shall consult with the Executive Officers of the Council of Seventy. Nominations for Trustees shall be presented to the Board of Trustees and then reported to the Council of Seventy in its regular meeting. If a person so nominated is for any reason unacceptable to the Board of Trustees, the Task Force will meet again and present another nominee. If for any reason the Task Force is unable or unwilling to make a recommendation, the Trustees will have the power to fill the vacancy.

Such vacancy shall be filled by a majority vote of the Trustees holding office immediately preceding the vote.

  1. Council members shall realize that they are personal representatives of Johnson University and: (1) do all possible to send qualified students to Johnson; (2) be constantly on the lookout for financial support for Johnson and encourage this support at all times; (3) work diligently to enlist all alumni in the support of the University.
  2. Devise and carry out a system of honoring Johnson men and women who have rendered distinguished services to the University, the church, the community, or to the nation (See Appendix A).

Section 6.  Officers of the Council of Seventy.

  1. Officers of the Council of Seventy shall be president, vice president and secretary.
  2. Officers shall be elected at the annual meeting of the Council one year in advance of their taking office and shall take office at the last meeting of the Council of the year in which they are to serve.
  3. The president of the Council cannot serve more than two successive years as president.

APPENDIX A. HONOR COMMITTEE

ARTICLE I.  PURPOSE OF COMMITTEE

To recommend to the Alumni Association a recipient, or recipients, for an award known as the Johnson University Alumni Distinguished Service Award.

ARTICLE II.  MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE

Section 1.  This committee shall be composed of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the president of the University, the vice president for academics, the vice president for advancement, the director of alumni relations, the officers of the Alumni Association, the president of the Council of Seventy, the immediate past president and the president-elect of the Alumni Association.

Section 2.  The president of the Alumni Association shall serve as chairman.

ARTICLE III.  SELECTION OF THE RECIPIENTS

Section 1.  The Honor Committee will maintain a pool of potential recipients of the Distinguished Service Award from which one to three persons or couples will be nominated each year.  This pool of potential recipients will be kept by the director of alumni relations at Johnson University.  Alumni are encouraged to submit names in writing to the director of alumni relations to be added to the pool of prospective recipients.

Section 2.  Nominations should be based upon any area of work related to the purpose of Johnson University or on outstanding service to Johnson University in contributions, teaching, service to, or promotion of the University.  A nominee should be one who has demonstrated extraordinary service to Johnson University and/or to the overall Kingdom of God over an extended period of time.  A nominee’s life, past and present, should exemplify exceptional commitment and integrity beyond the ordinary.

Section 3.  Only Johnson University alumni shall be nominated for the Distinguished Service Award based upon areas of ministry related to the purpose of the University.  Non-alumni may be nominated for the Distinguished Service Award based on outstanding service to Johnson University.

Section 4.  From all the nominees presented, the committee is to select by majority vote the person, or persons, who have rendered the most distinguished service.  This name, or names, is to be presented to the Association for final ratification.  A two-thirds vote of the alumni present at the annual business meeting will be necessary to qualify the person, or persons, recommended for the Distinguished Service Award.

ARTICLE IV.  RECOGNITION OF RECIPIENT OR RECIPIENTS

Section 1.  An appropriate Johnson University Distinguished Service Award plaque is to be presented to the recipient or recipients.

Section 2.  A special plaque shall be mounted in a public area of the University buildings on which the names of each recipient of the Distinguished Service Award shall be inscribed.

ARTICLE V.  PROCEDURE FOR PRESENTATION

Section 1.  The Honor Committee will present their recommended award recipient, or recipients, to the alumni for their approval.

Section 2.  Upon approval by the Association, the announcement of the awards will be made by the outgoing Honor chairman. If the recipients are not in attendance to receive public acknowledgment, notification will be made by the Alumni Secretary of the awards.  They shall be mailed on or near March 1, informing the time of the presentation, and ascertaining their presence at graduation exercises or the following Homecoming.

Section 3.  The award will be purchased, prepared, and granted by the Johnson University Alumni Association. It will be presented by the president of the Association or his/her designated substitute.