The name of this organization shall be "Utah Recreation and Parks Association"
The mission of the Utah Recreation and Parks Association is to actively support and promote the growth, development and preservation of recreation, leisure, parks, and natural resources in the State of Utah.
This will be accomplished through:
- Development of high standards of leadership, facilities and programs.
- Acquiring and disseminating accurate information.
- Promoting interest in and understanding of recreation and parks.
- Acting as liaison with the National Recreation and Park Association as an affiliate member.
Membership in the Association shall be designated as:
- Professional membership shall include all types of full-time and part-time professional recreation and parks employees.
- Agency membership is open to all public, private, or semi-private and commercial organizations whose functions are wholly or primarily the provision or promotion of recreation and leisure time services.
- Associate membership shall include those who have an interest in parks and recreation or related areas and who are not employed as a park and recreation professional.
- Honorary membership in the Association may be conferred upon persons who have made outstanding contributions to the recreation and parks profession or closely related fields. Candidates may be nominated by a special committee appointed by the President. Election to honorary membership is contingent upon a majority of the Executive Board.
- Student membership shall include full or part-time students majoring in parks and recreation or related areas.
- Retired Professional membership shall include those who are 55 and older and have retired from working in parks and recreation or related areas.
- Corporate membership is for private organizations which manufacture or distribute products to those in parks and recreation or related areas.
- Volunteer membership shall include those who volunteer time for the good of parks and recreation.
The business of this organization shall be conducted by the Board of Directors. Business may also be brought before the membership at the Annual Conference.
Section 2A quorum is essential for the conduct of business. A majority of the number of Board Members constitutes a quorum. If a quorum is not present, the meeting may be adjourned by the members present. In the absence of a quorum the only official business or question which may be decided is a call for adjournment.
The Board of Directors shall consist of up to twenty-one (21) voting members and up to four (4) non-voting members.
Section 2The voting members of the Board of Directors shall include:
- The President, Past President, President-Elect, and Executive Treasurer.
- Section Representatives which are elected by the general membership to represent the various areas:
- AquaticsL
- Corporate
- Education
- Health & Wellness
- Parks (including parks, urban forestry, cemeteries and golf courses in county, city and special service areas)
- Recreation (including sports, special events, leisure services, and arts)
- State Agencies
- Administration
- An Adaptive representative shall be appointed by the Executive Board for a two-year term.
- A Cemetery representative shall be elected by the membership for a two-year term.
- A Student representative shall be appointed by the Education representative for a one-year term.
- A Young Professional representative shall be elected by the membership for a two year term.
- A Citizen Advocate representative shall be appointed by the Executive Board for a two-year term.
- Region representatives are elected by each region to serve on the Board of Directors for a two-year term. The regions consist of:
Region One: Cache, Rich, Box Elder, Weber, Davis and Morgan Counties.
Region Two: Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele Counties.
Region Three: Utah, Wasatch, Duchesne, Uinta, Daggett, Juab, Sanpete, Sevier, Carbon and Millard Counties.
Region Four: Emery, Grand, Washington, Beaver, Piute, Wayne, San Juan, Iron, Garfield and Kane Counties.
The non-voting members of the Board of Directors shall include:
- The current Conference Chairperson.
- The Hershey State Director shall be appointed by the President with ratification by the Board of Directors for a five-year term.
- Executive Director.
- D. An Executive Secretary may be appointed to serve at the pleasure of the President for a one-year term to provide the Association with continued information and records according to the instructions of the Board of Directors.
Any representative, who misses two consecutive URPA Board meetings without notifying the President, Executive Director, or Executive Secretary, may be removed from the Board of Directors. A letter of concern shall be sent to the member, requesting their presence at the next Executive Council meeting, at which time their absences shall be discussed. Failure to fulfill attendance at this meeting shall give the Executive Council cause to rule that his/her position on the board has been vacated. Replacements for such vacancies on the Board of Directors shall be appointed by the President for the duration of the unexpired term of the replaced director, with such appointment ratified by the Board of Directors.
Section 6The membership of each section and region may elect other officers to conduct the business of that section as needed.
Section 7Vacancy in the office of the Presidency due to resignation or death will be filled by the President-Elect.
Section 8Vacancy in the office of President-Elect due to resignation or death will be filled by a special vote of the membership.
Section 9Vacancies due to the lack of nominations, resignation, or death in all positions other than the President and President Elect will be filled by appointment by the President ratified by the Board of Directors.
Elected officers for the Association shall be elected by ballots and assumes office immediately following the annual business meeting and continues in office for the designated term. The Nominations Committee shall report officer nominations to the Executive Council sixty (60) days prior to the annual meeting. Ballots will be sent to the voting membership thirty (30) days prior to the annual meeting. All ballots returned to the Nominating Committee ten (10) days before the annual meeting will be valid and recorded for balloting of officers.
Section 2Voting will be accomplished by ballot distributed to the voting membership. Space for write-in candidates will be provided on the ballot.
Section 3All members may vote in any election.
Section 4The voting officers to be elected to the Board of Directors will include:
- The President-Elect will serve for a period of three years, the first year as President-Elect, the second year as President, and the third year as Past President.
- The Executive Treasurer shall serve for a period of three years.
- Section Representatives. Representatives will serve for a period of two years. Elections for half of the representatives will be held on the even numbered years and the remaining half on the odd numbered years.
- Region Representatives. Representative will serve for a period of two years. Elections for half of the representative will be held on the even numbered years and the remaining half on the odd numbered years.
- A Cemetery representative shall be elected by the membership for a two-year term.
The voting officers to be appointed to the Board of Directors will include:
- An Adaptive Recreation Representative shall be appointed by the URPA Executive Board for a two-year term.
- A Citizen Advocate representative shall be appointed by the Executive Board for a two-year term.
- A Student representative shall be appointed by the Education representative on a yearly basis.
The non-voting officers to be appointed to the Board of Directors will include:
- The current Conference Chairperson. The succeeding Conference Chairperson shall be appointed by the President during his/her term with ratification by the Board of Directors. Upon appointment, the succeeding Conference Chairperson will assume the responsibilities of the Conference Chairperson the following year.
- The Hershey State Director shall be appointed by the President with ratification by the Board of Directors for a five-year term.
- An Executive Secretary may be appointed to serve at the pleasure of the President for a one-year term to provide the Association with continued information and records according to the instructions of the Board of Directors.
Vacancies of officers will be filled by the elected or appointed representative immediately following the annual business meeting.
Section 8Officers as such, shall not receive any stated compensation for their services as officers, other than approved and budgeted expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
Section 9If there is a tie in votes, the tie shall be broken by vote of membership present at the annual conference prior to the annual business meeting.
An Executive Director shall be employed by URPA to perform administrative duties as assigned by the Board of Directors. Selection of the Executive Director shall be made by an appointed Selection Review Committee with concurrence of the Board of Directors.
Section 2The Executive Director shall be given an annual salary commensurate with his/her assignment. Remuneration shall be determined annually at the first meeting of the Executive Council.
The duties of officers shall be such as are implied by their respective titles and such as specified in these by-laws. A job description for officers shall be kept current by the Board of Directors. Section 2
The President shall preside over all meetings of the Association including meetings of the Board. The President shall appoint all committees subject to approval of the Board of Directors and shall be an ex-officio member of each. The President of the Utah Recreation and Parks Association shall have as a major project the planning and programming of the annual statewide Recreation and Parks Conference. This conference will be designed to meet the interests of everyone vitally interested in Recreation and Parks.
Section 3The President-Elect, in the absence of the President, shall discharge the duties of the President in order of their precedence.
Section 4The Executive Director shall keep an accurate, classified list of the membership of the Association, with the address of each, and shall keep an accurate record of the proceedings of meetings as well as informative history of the activities of the Association.
Section 5The Executive Treasurer shall receive all money due the Association, issue receipts and statements as necessary, and shall pay all bills only upon order of the Executive Council. The Executive Treasurer shall keep an accurate record of receipts and disbursement presenting that record to the Auditing committee one week before the annual conference.
Section 6The Board of Directors shall be responsible for the public relations, membership and publicity of the area he/she represents.
Each member of the Board of Directors will be appointed by the President to assume one committee assignment either from the following committees or others as deemed necessary.
- Public Relations and Publicity. The Chairman of this committee together with other appointees as necessary shall assume the responsibility of collecting, receiving, and disseminating newsletters and other information to members of the Association, the public and special groups.
- Membership. It shall be the duty of this committee to encourage interested eligible persons to become members of the Association, by way of personal contact, correspondence, etc. This committee shall investigate and make recommendations to the Board of Directors of candidates for membership.
- Nominating and Awards Committee. The chairman of this committee shall be the immediate past president. This committee shall include all past presidents of URPA and others as appointed and shall prepare a nominating ballot of officers to be presented to the membership for voting at the Annual Conference in line with the regulations of elections. Under instructions from the Board of Directors, this committee will select individuals or groups for special citations or awards.
- Legislative Committee. It shall be the duty of this committee to report on local, state, and federal legislation. In addition, the committee shall recommend and submit legislation which benefits parks and recreation issues. The committee shall communicate this information with the Board and membership.
Three (3) members of the Board of Directors shall be appointed to audit the financial records no later than one (1) week prior to the Annual Conference. The Board of Directors shall be authorized to contract for a professional audit if necessary.
There shall be a minimum of four (4) meetings: (1) Annual Utah Recreation and Parks Conference; (2) Executive Council; (3) Board of Directors; (4) Annual Business Meeting
- An annual meeting of the Utah Recreation and Parks Association membership shall be held at a place and time to be determined by the Board of Directors.
- The Board of Directors shall meet six times a year or on special call of the President. The time, place and manner of calling of meetings and other procedural matters are to be determined by the Board of Directors.
- The Executive Council will meet regularly every month or on special call of the President.
- An Annual Business Meeting shall be held each year at the Utah Recreation and Parks Association conference. A financial statement and officers shall be presented at the Annual Business Meeting.
- Other special meetings may be called by the President, Executive Council, and Board of Directors as necessary.
The membership year shall be from January 1 to December 31 with membership fees being delinquent after January 31.
Section 2Membership dues and other fees shall be determined annually by the elected Board of Directors.
Section 3The membership of each section or region may vote to assess those members' annual dues in addition to the Association dues. Such dues will be collected by the section.
This constitution may be amended by a majority vote of the voting membership. Proposed amendments must be presented to the Executive Council sixty (60) days prior to the annual meeting of the Association. Thirty (30) days prior to the annual meeting the amendments and a ballot must be sent to the voting membership. All ballots returned to the Executive Secretary ten (10) days before the annual meeting will be valid and recorded for balloting on constitution amendments.
Section 2An affirmative vote of a majority of the returned ballots shall be necessary for the adoption of any amendment. The Executive Council shall count the ballots.
Section 3- Recommendation of any member of the Board of Directors of URPA; or
- Petition of two (2) percent or 10 voting members in good standing (whichever is smaller) of the URPA voting membership.