ARTICLE I – NAME AND AFFILIATION

1. The name of this organization shall be the South Carolina Society of Hospital Engineers (henceforth referred to as SCSHE). The Society shall be affiliated with the South Carolina Hospital Association (henceforth referred to as SCHA) as a personal membership section, and shall operate in accordance with the Bylaws of that organization.

ARTICLE II – PURPOSE

1. To promote the improvement of hospital engineering and maintenance, to provide continuing education programs for hospital engineering and maintenance personnel and to work toward higher standards in hospital engineering and maintenance.

2. To promote a free exchange of ideas and information, plan and sponsor such meetings and workshops as deemed necessary for this purpose, and to further the education and development of members and other interested persons.

ARTICLE III – MEMBERSHIP

There are five types of membership: active, technical, life, non-SCHA, and hospital contract engineer.

1. Active members of the Society shall be personal members of the SCHA and designated to perform supervisory functions in engineering and maintenance operations, and biomedical engineering in member institutions of the SCHA, institutions located in counties bordering South Carolina and other Associations as approved by SCHA. Membership shall also be open to employees of state and federal agencies, contracted management firms performing supervisory functions in engineering and biomedical engineering on behalf of said institutions and the SCHA whose position impacts healthcare engineering, subject to approval of the Board of Directors.

1. Technical members shall be personal members of the SCHA and actively engaged in performing technical functions in engineering and maintenance operations in member institutions of the SCHA and other Associations as approved by SCHA. The primary purpose of this category is to provide an administrative framework for the formation of and membership in technical personal membership sub-groups for non-supervisory personnel.  Technical members, while not having a voice in the organization, shall have voting rights within the sub-group of which they are members.  Within any sub-group, Articles IV – VII of these Bylaws shall apply, unless superseded by a set of Bylaws written specifically for that

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sub-group and approved by the parent organization and adopted by a majority vote of the sub-group membership.  The elected President of each sub-group shall serve on the Board of Directors of the parent organization.

1. Life membership shall be offered to active members who retire or special individuals designated by the Society and approved by a simple majority of votes. A life member may attend the Society Business Meeting but does not have voting privileges.  Life members do not pay annual dues but are required to pay the going rate to attend any Society function.  If a life member should take a position that qualifies him/her as a potential vendor, establishing a possible conflict of interest, they forfeit their life membership status.

1. Non-SCHA membership shall be offered to individuals, such as retired

hospital engineers from other states who have retired in South Carolina, and are still interested in participating in SCSHE.  These individuals shall be charged membership the same as SCHA members, allowed to attend all sessions of the meetings but shall be a non-voting member.

1. Hospital Contract Engineer membership shall be offered to individuals

who work in the capacity of supervisory functions in engineering and/or maintenance operations, and/or biomedical engineering in member institutions of the SCHA, but are employees of a firm that is contracted to perform engineering services for the SCHA member hospital.  This individual may attend educational programs but will not be allowed voting membership. 

ARTICLE IV – DUES AND ASSESSMENTS

1. Members of the Society shall pay the membership dues of the SCHA as established by the Board of Trustees of that Organization.

2. The SCHA shall provide the Board an accountability of Society funds at Board meetings or upon request.

ARTICLE V – VOTING

1. Each active member is entitled to one vote. Voting shall be done in person.  A simple majority of members present and voting shall prevail.  Voting shall normally be by a show of hands.  At the request of any active member present, voting will be by secret ballot.

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2. Nominations may be made from the floor in any meeting where election of officers is conducted

ARTICLE VI – QUORUM

1. A quorum shall consist of at least 25% of the membership.

ARTICLE VII – OFFICERS

1. The officers shall be President, President Elect, the Recording Secretary, Immediate Past President, Advocacy Liaison, and Networking Coordinator who shall constitute the Executive Committee.

2. All officers are elected for a period of two years and may not serve consecutive terms in any one office, with the exception of the Network Coordinator. Should the President Elect have to permanently assume the duties of the President during his tenure as President Elect, he shall remain eligible to assume the Office of President for the additional term.  Officers shall be elected every two years, following the current administration’s election date (but preferable during the Fall Meetings).

3. The Board of Directors shall consist of the Society officers, one vendor representative, the President of sub-groups which are four at-large members selected from the membership by the Executive Committee. The selection should be made with the intent of providing appropriate representation with regard to size of the institution and region of the state.  Each at-large member shall be chosen from one of the three geographical areas depicted within the three SCHA regions (Piedmont, Midlands, and Low Country) and a fourth to be named at the discretion of the board.  The vendor representative shall come from an active company who does business in the state of South Carolina. This representative shall bring the vendor perspective to the board for any decisions that may apply. The term of office for a vendor and at-large-members shall be two years.

4. The Board of Directors will appoint a member of its choice to fill any vacant office and to complete the unexpired term of any elected officer. Such person may be elected to that office or any other office at the next scheduled election of the Society.

ARTICLE VIII – DUTIES OF OFFICERS

1          The President shall preside at all meetings of the Society and shall exercise general supervision over the affairs of the Society.  The President shall appoint such committees herein provided and may appoint other committees or may delegate another to serve in their place.  He/she will serve on the Board at the end of his term as Immediate Past President.

2         The President Elect shall assume the duties of the President at any time the President is absent from a meeting and shall become the President if for any reason the President relinquishes office or becomes incapable of exercising the duties of that office or become ineligible for membership in the Society . 

3         The Recording Secretary shall keep the minutes of the meetings and of the Executive Committee and forward a copy to SCHA for printing, distribution and archiving.  The historical file of Society minutes shall be maintained at the SCHA.

4         The Immediate Past President shall receive from the South Carolina Hospital Association the names of new members.  This individual shall oversee recruitment activities and shall provide applications (or require the SCHA to do so) to interested individuals.

5         The Event Coordinator shall independently act, or chair a committee, to organize non-educational events for the purpose of networking within the Society membership and with vendors who support the Society by their participation in the educational program’s vendor show.  Each event shall receive the approval of the Board.  The coordination of all events shall be performed by the Networking Coordinator or a member of said committee.

6          The Advocacy Liaison is the point person for identifying local issues and acting as a conduit for two-way communication to with the ASHE Advocacy Committee. These liaisons bring organization to the process of code creation, revision, and enforcement. The Liaison is charged with disseminating information to chapter members and then providing feedback to the Advocacy Committee to establish ASHE positions on issues and craft arguments for or opposed to specific issues. The Advocacy Liaison shall assume the duties of maintaining the SCSHE web site with historical and current information.

ARTICLE IX – MEETINGS

1. The Society will conduct two educational programs a year, including the Annual Fall Meeting with the election of officers, when applicable. The Annual Fall Meeting will be centrally located, preferable Columbia.  Additional meetings may be called by the President.  The meetings will be 2 days, unless changed by the membership.  SCHA will mail out the meeting information at least 60 days prior to the meeting.

2. Education Programs are provided for the purpose of developing excellence in hospital engineering within South Carolina. These programs are provided for active, technical and life members but may be attended by vendors, at the discretion of the Society Board.  Attendance by vendors will include a registration fee that will be determined by the Society Board for each educational program.

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ARTICLE X – COMMITTEES

1. Committees shall be appointed by the President as needed.

ARTICLE XI – AMENDMENTS

1. These Bylaws may be amended at any regular or called meeting of the Society by two-thirds vote of the membership present, provided that the membership shall have been notified in writing of all proposed amendments 30 days in advance of the meeting during which the proposed change to these Bylaws is to be considered.

2. All changes to the Bylaws become effective immediately upon being passed by the membership.

Approved 5/10/2013

Updated & approved 2021