Section 7. Associate Members (“Associate Members” should replace term “Affiliate Members.”)
A. Associate Members shall be members who participate in certain, but not all, conference sports.
B. An institution that has been a full member of the Conference and seeks inclusion as an associate member must not have been a member of the Conference for a minimum of four years before seeking such status.
C. Any institution satisfying Article III, section 1 requesting associate membership in the Conference shall send to the Commissioner a written notice, a completed application and a non-refundable application fee of $2,000 seeking such admission.
D. Upon receipt, the Commissioner shall forward such a notice and a copy of the application to the Executive Committee and the Governing Body at least 30 days prior to its next regularly scheduled meeting of the application.
E. At the next regular scheduled meeting, consideration will be given to the inquiry and the Governing Body shall vote on the inquiring institution.
Upon an institutional affirmative vote of three-quarters (3/4) of the entire Governing Body, the membership process will continue as set forth below. The vote shall be by written ballot and then the results shall be made public by the Commissioner and noted in the minutes of the meeting.
If the required percentage of affirmative votes is not received, the membership process will terminate.
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The Conference Commissioner and the Conference President by written letter shall notify the inquiring institution of the decision of the Governing Body relative to proceed with the membership process.
F. Once the Governing Body determines that the membership process should be enacted, the President and the Director of Athletics of the inquiring institution shall attend the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Governing Body to offer a presentation in support of their application. If the initial vote is taken at the fall meeting, then the presentation shall occur at the spring meeting. If the initial vote is taken at the spring meeting, then the presentation shall occur at the fall meeting.
G. After the presentation but before the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Governing Body, a representative group of the Governing Body (e.g. the Commissioner, two members of the Executive Committee, one SWA, one FAR and one at-large delegate) shall conduct a campus visit to the inquiring institution. At the next regularly scheduled meeting, the group shall report on its visit. Gender balance shall be maintained in the formation of the committee. No institution shall have more than one member on the committee. If the presentation occurs at the spring meeting, then the visit shall occur before the fall meeting. If the presentation occurs at the fall meeting, then the visit shall occur before the spring meeting.
H. After the report of the site visit group, the President of the Conference shall set the date for the final vote on the institution’s application for membership, which shall occur at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Governing Body. If the site visit report occurs at the spring meeting, then the final vote shall be taken at the fall meeting. If the site visit report occurs at fall meeting, then the final vote shall occur at the spring meeting. Once the date has been set, the Scheduling Committee shall begin to draft schedules that reflect the potential inclusion of the inquiring institution into competition schedules.
I. The final vote shall be by written ballot and then the results shall be made public by the Commissioner and noted in the minutes of the meeting.
J. Upon affirmative institutional vote of three-quarters (3/4) of the entire membership, the inquiring institution shall be entitled to become a member of the Conference.
K. The elected institution shall become a member of the conference upon payment of their membership dues and shall have voting privileges upon receipt of their annual dues. No collection of dues shall occur before the final vote is taken.
L. Associate Members shall be entitled to the benefits specific to the sport for which they have been granted membership. Associate Members shall be permitted to vote only on matters directly affecting the sport or sports for which the Associate Member has been approved for membership. Associate Members may not serve on Governing Body committees.
M. Such voting privileges shall only be for the Director of Athletics (or designee) when the affiliated sport(s) are part of the agenda at a Governing Body meeting; and
N. The coach(es) of the sport(s) affiliated at their respective coaches meetings.
O. Associate Members shall pay annual dues of 20% of the full members’ annual dues requirement for each sport.
