ARTICLE I – MISSION STATEMENT
Beta Alpha Psi is a nonprofit international honorary and service organization for accounting, finance, and information systems students at AACSB- or EQUIS-accredited universities. Beta Alpha Psi provides opportunities for development of technical and professional skills to complement university education; participation in community service; and interaction among students, faculty, and professionals.
ARTICLE II – CATEGORIES OF MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. Membership in Beta Alpha Psi shall be limited to those persons of good moral character who have achieved scholastic and/or professional excellence in the fields of accounting, finance, or information systems; who have been initiated according to the official membership ceremony; and who are in good standing.
Section 2. Members of Beta Alpha Psi enrolled as accounting, finance, or information systems students at an institution where there is a chapter shall be designated as Student members.
Section 3. Candidates of Beta Alpha Psi are students who have declared a concentration in accounting, finance, or information systems (or who have indicated an intention to concentrate in accounting, finance, or information systems) but who have not yet met the requirements for the membership ceremony.
Section 4. Members of Beta Alpha Psi who are on the faculty of an institution where there is a chapter shall be designated as Faculty members.
Section 5. Members of Beta Alpha Psi, once classified as Student members, who are no longer concentrating in accounting, finance, or information systems or no longer associated with a collegiate institution where there is a chapter shall be designated as Alumnus members.
Section 6. Members of Beta Alpha Psi, once classified as Faculty members, who are no longer associated with a collegiate institution where there is a chapter shall be designated as Alumnus members.
Section 7. Members of Beta Alpha Psi who, at the time of their membership ceremony, are neither students nor faculty at the institution where the initiating chapter is located shall be designated as Honorary members.
Section 8. An individual may be initiated only once as a member of Beta Alpha Psi, but may be an Honorary member of multiple chapters.
ARTICLE III – CANDIDATE STATUS
Section 1. Degree seeking undergraduate students and non-degree post-baccalaureate students at institutions where a chapter is located shall be eligible for Candidate status after they, at a minimum;
- have declared a concentration in accounting, finance or information systems (or have stated an intention to declare a concentration in accounting, finance, or information systems);
- have completed at least one year of collegiate courses (30+ semester hours or equivalent), and
- have attained a cumulative grade average of at least 3.0 (where A is equal to 4.0) or the equivalent or for non-U.S. institutions have attained an honors distinction utilized by their institution deemed to be equivalent by the BAP Board of Directors.
Section 2. In order to fully benefit from Beta Alpha Psi (BAP) activities, students seeking to be BAP candidates must declare their candidacy when they have at least the equivalent of one academic year remaining prior to graduation. A student may remain a candidate for no more than twelve months prior to induction as a full member; exceptions for special circumstances may be made only with approval of the chapter’s faculty advisor.
ARTICLE IV – ELIGIBILITY FOR MEMBERSHIP
Eligibility requirements are described in the policies and procedures manual.
ARTICLE V – MEMBERSHIP CEREMONY
Candidates for membership must be present for the membership ceremony. A membership ceremony in absentia will be granted only under extreme circumstances and the membership ceremony in absentia must be approved by the BAP Executive Office and the BAP President. The official membership ceremony shall be used.
ARTICLE VI – BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Section 1. The Board of Directors (“Board”) of Beta Alpha Psi shall consist of the following members:
- President
- President-Elect
- Immediate Past President
- Directors-at-large, as defined in the policies and procedures manual
- Advisory Forum Chair
- Advisory Forum Chair-Elect (every other year only)
- Alumni Representatives (2)
- Director of Chapter Activities
- Director of Administration and Development
- Business School Dean
- AICPA Liaison
Section 2: Terms
The terms of office are as follows:
- President – One Year
- President-Elect – One Year
- Immediate Past President – One Year
- Directors-at-large, as defined – Three Years
- Advisory Forum Chair – Two Years
- Advisory Forum Chair-Elect (every other year only) – One Year
- Alumni Representatives – Two Years
- Director of Chapter Activities – Three Years
- Director of Administration and Development – Three Years
- Business School Dean – Two Years, with an option for one additional year.
- AICPA Liaison – Serves at the discretion of the AICPA (In the event that Beta Alpha Psi terminates its agreement with the AICPA , the AICPA Liaison position on the Board will be eliminated.)
All terms begin immediately following the annual meeting.
The Board, at its discretion, may make exceptions to the normal term of office, installation, and eligibility of members of the Board of Directors.
Section 3. If after notice, and a fair hearing before the Board, a Board Member is determined by a two-thirds vote of the Board members, eligible to vote, in a secret ballot, to be negligent in the performing of assigned duties, that member shall be removed from the Board.
Section 4. No Board member shall serve concurrently as a faculty advisor of a chapter.
Section 5. Retiring Board members are not eligible to immediately succeed themselves on the Board or immediately be elected to another position.
Section 6. The nominations committee shall be responsible for providing the Board a slate of candidates for Board appointment with the exception of the Alumni representatives. Alumni nominees shall be nominated by their chapters. Current alumni representatives will present a slate of finalists to the Board for consideration.
Section 7. When the term of a Board member is due to expire, the nominations committee shall submit to the Board one name for each of the positions as described in the policies and procedures manual.
Section 8. The nominations committee consists of the following individuals: the immediate Past President, Advisory Forum Chair, the President, the President-Elect, the Business School Dean, and the Director of Activities for Directors-at-large. The immediate Past President serves as chair of the nominations committee. The nominations committee shall ascertain the extent to which potential nominees meet the eligibility requirements of the Bylaws. The criteria to be followed by the Committee in determining eligibility are detailed in the policies and procedures manual. A member of the nominations committee informs each nominee of the responsibilities of that position in order to determine his/her willingness to serve.
Section 9. The finance committee consists of the following individuals: the immediate Past President, the President, the President-Elect, the Business School Dean, the Advisory Forum Chair, and the Director of Administration and Development. The immediate Past President serves as chair of the finance committee. The president of Beta Alpha Psi may appoint an audit task force, as necessary.
Section 10. A quorum shall be constituted when a majority of voting members of the Board of Directors are present at called meetings, except as otherwise specifically designed in the Constitution or Bylaws of Beta Alpha Psi. In order for a matter, other than an amendment to the Constitution or Bylaws, to receive approval of the Board, it must be approved by a majority of the Board members entitled to vote. The President is a voting member of the Board. Votes, other than those related to Bylaw changes, may be executed by email.
Section 11. The Board may delegate some of the Board duties and responsibilities to its Executive Director.
Section 12. It is the responsibility and duty of each Board member to fulfill the duties as assigned and detailed in the procedural manual.
ARTICLE VII – INTERNATIONAL CHAPTER
Section 1. The International Chapter shall be composed of members of the Board, the Faculty Advisors and Student President (or another elected representative) of each local chapter.
Section 2. The International Chapter shall meet at least annually at the time and place designated by the Board.
Section 3. The International Chapter shall advise the Board on matters and present to the Board, for consideration, such proposals as they may consider conducive to the welfare of Beta Alpha Psi.
ARTICLE VIII – FINANCIAL AND AUDIT POLICIES
Section 1: The financial policies of Beta Alpha Psi are established by the Board and are to be administered by the Director of Administration and Development.
Section 2: The Finance Committee will meet as often as deemed necessary by the Chair, but in no event shall they meet less than two times annually. The Committee members may confer by telephone, fax, or email in order to react to any special or unusual situations.
Section 3: The Finance Committee may recommend to the Board the appointment of investment advisors, custodians, trustees, and directed trustees, as needed.
ARTICLE IX – ESTABLISHMENT OF LOCAL CHAPTERS
Section 1: The Board has the sole right and power to approve the establishment of local chapters.
Section 2. The President, or a Board member designated by the President, shall inform the proposed faculty advisor of the petitioning organization concerning the actions taken relating to the petition.
Section 3. After the Board approves the establishment of a chapter, the President (or designated Board member) presides at the installation of the new chapter.
Section 4. Members of the petitioning group who are no longer enrolled as students at the time a chapter is installed, but who satisfy other eligibility requirements, may be included in the charter group as student members.
Section 5. The Executive Office shall maintain all permanent documentation of all chapters.
ARTICLE X – GOVERNANCE OF LOCAL CHAPTERS
Section 1. Local Chapter Voting members – Current BAP students and BAP faculty members.
Section 2. Local Chapter non-voting members – Honorary members, Candidates, and Alumni members.
Section 3. Each chapter shall enact a constitution appropriate for its own government, provided it does not violate or contradict the Beta Alpha Psi Constitution and Bylaws.
Section 4. Each chapter shall have at a minimum a president, vice-president, faculty advisor, secretary, and treasurer. Chapters may combine the duties of secretary and treasurer into a single office. Additional officers may be elected to meet the needs of the chapter. All offices shall be held by Student members except that the office of Faculty Advisor which shall be held by a faculty member at the university or college of the chapter, and who is also not a member of the Board.
Section 5. Each chapter shall adopt a fiscal reporting year of May 1 to April 30.
Section 6. Each chapter is expected to maintain a minimum acceptable level of activity, as defined by the Board, in order to retain its charter. Further,
- each chapter not maintaining the minimum acceptable level of activity is subject to provisions concerning probation as provided in Article XV of these bylaws;
- that minimum acceptable level of activity is determined by a two-thirds vote of the Board members eligible to vote;
- the policy expressing the minimum acceptable level of activity is to be prominently featured in the annual Program for Chapter Activities.
Section 7. Each chapter, with revenues in excess of an amount designated by the Board, must have financial statements examined by an independent auditor licensed by the state in which the chapter is located or by a Chapter Audit Committee. The Chapter Audit Committee must consist of not less than three chapter members. The Chapter Audit Committee members shall not have served as chapter officers during the fiscal period to be audited. The Audit Committee will conduct an audit of the chapter’s financial statements in compliance with generally accepted auditing standards except for the requirement of independence.
Section 8. Chapters not meeting the standards of Section 6 and/or Section 7 shall be placed on probation for a period not exceeding two years.
Section 9. If a local chapter elects to have an executive committee, it may have powers to act in all matters except revision of the chapter constitution and bylaws; election, membership ceremony, expulsion of members; and nomination and election of officers. All actions taken by the executive committee shall be reported to the members at the next regular chapter meeting.
Section 10. A chapter has the power to remove an officer for continued absence or failure to properly administer the duties of the office.
ARTICLE XI – DUTIES OF CHAPTER OFFICERS
Duties of the Chapter officers are set forth in the Policies and Procedures Manual
ARTICLE XII – RECOGNITION OF FUNDING FOR LOCAL CHAPTER ACTIVITIES
The association of Beta Alpha Psi with persons or organizations providing funds to individual chapters is restricted to recognizing those persons or organizations as sponsors of a particular event(s) or program(s). The written recognition of sponsors is restricted to simply listing the sponsor names on associated documents such as programs, handouts, newsletters, student rosters and the like. The type size used to list sponsor names is to be consistent with the type size of the document.
ARTICLE XIII – RESIGNATION OF MEMBERS
Section 1. A member or Candidate may resign from Beta Alpha Psi by notifying, in writing, the Faculty Advisor and the local chapter president.
Section 2. The resigning member shall surrender the membership certificate and other Beta Alpha Psi insignia to the local chapter. The local chapter must forward the membership certificate to the Executive Office. Membership ceremony fees and Candidate fees are nonrefundable.
ARTICLE XIV – EXPULSION OF MEMBERS
Expulsion of a member is a serious matter. A local chapter has the right to expel a member provided the policies and procedures manual for the expulsion of members is strictly followed.
ARTICLE XV – PROBATION, SUSPENSION, AND REVOCATION OF CHARTER
The Board may place a chapter on probation for failure to comply with the Constitution and Bylaws. Criteria for probation, suspension and revocation of chapter charter are set forth in the policies and procedures manual.
ARTICLE XVI- AMENDMENTS
Section 1. For purposes of revising the Constitution and the Bylaws the voting membership shall be defined as all members of the Board.
Section 2. Voting procedures for amendments to be voted on during one of the three scheduled annual Board meetings are set forth in the policies and procedures manual and must be strictly followed.
Section 3. Email voting will be allowed on all matters other than Bylaw changes.