DBER-SiT Bylaws

[Discipline-Based Education Research

Scholars in Training]
Date Adopted: xx/xx/20xx
Next Review Date: xx/xx/20xx

Meetings
A general meeting of the entire DBER-SiT community is held in conjunction with the Annual
SABER Conference. The Leadership Team will meet at least once a month to deal with any
business of the DBER-SiT community unless a meeting cancellation is approved by the
Leadership Team. Additional meetings rules are in the DBER-SiT Policies and Procedures
document.

General Rules
Both Leadership Team meetings and general meetings will use Robert's Rules of Order.

Voting
● General Meetings
○ Quorum: Not applicable
○ Procedures
■ Taking Vote: Voting by voice or by electronic vote
■ Tie Breaking: During general meetings, the Chair will break ties.
■ Absentee: All votes are submitted electronically following the meeting.
■ Electronic: The committee allows votes to be taken via online survey.
■ Recusing: Members may recuse themselves for any reason.
● Leadership Team Meetings
○ Quorum: 75%
○ Procedures
■ Taking Vote: Voting by voice or by electronic vote
■ Tie Breaking: During Leadership Team meetings, all votes must pass by a
75% supermajority.
■ Absentee: People can vote if not physically present by proxy
■ Electronic: The committee allows votes to be taken via online survey or
email to the Chair.
■ Recusing: Members may recuse themselves for any reason.
Members of DBER-SiT
● Formation Process: All graduate students and postdocs, matriculating graduate students,
and individuals who have transitioned out of such positions for up to one year, provided
they have not yet started formally advising graduate students and/or postdocs.
● Rotation/Limits: No time limit, save transitioning out of membership as described above.
● Removing: No special removal besides that governed by SABER as a whole.
● Replacing: No replacements necessary.

Leadership Team Positions, Duties, and Policies

● Chair: The Chair serves as the liaison between the DBER-SiT Leadership Team and the
SABER Executive Committee. The Chair is responsible for ensuring that all affairs of
DBER-SiT are conducted in a manner consistent with the Policies and Procedures, calling
and presiding at all meetings of DBER-SiT as specified in the DBER-SiT Policies and
Procedures, and organizing, delegating, and completing current requirements passed
down by the SABER Executive Committee. The Chair is a voting member of the
Leadership Team and a non voting member of the DBER-SiT community except in the
case of ties.
● Secretary: The Secretary is responsible for all email communication within the Leadership
Team, reaching out to the DBER-SiT community as deemed necessary, and the routine
secretarial tasks of the Leadership Team as described in the DBER-SiT Policies and
Procedures. The Secretary is a voting member of the Leadership Team and DBER-SiT
community.
● Subcommittee Chairs/Co-Chairs: Chairs/Co-Chairs of Subcommittees are responsible for
the execution of the responsibilities of their respective Subcommittee as described in the
DBER-SiT Policies and Procedures. All Chairs/Co-Chairs are voting members of the
Leadership Team and DBER-SiT community.
● Leadership Team Policies:
○ Formation Process: All members of the Leadership Team except the Chair are
elected by the DBER-SiT community. The Chair is elected by the Leadership Team.
Election procedures are defined in the DBER-SiT Policies and Procedures.
○ Rotation/Limits: The term for all DBER-SiT Leadership Team members is one year.
Once elected to a position, a Leadership Team member may keep the same
position for a maximum of three consecutive terms, as long as they are still eligible
to be a member of DBER-SiT, without need for re-election. There is no limit to how
long an individual may serve on the DBER-SiT Leadership Team.
○ Removing: The process for removal from the DBER-SiT Leadership Team is
detailed in the DBER-SiT Policies and Procedures.
 ○ Replacing: The process for replacement of a member of the DBER-SiT Leadership
Team is detailed in the DBER-SiT Policies and Procedures.

Communication
● Agenda: The Secretary is responsible for creating the agenda for both general meetings
and Leadership Team meetings. Items are added to Leadership Team meetings by the
co-chairs of subcommittees or by the chair or secretary.
● Minutes: The Secretary is responsible for keeping minutes of all general meetings and
Leadership Team meetings and then distributing them to the relevant parties.
● Regular Reporting: Subcommittee chairs will report subcommittee business to the
DBER-SiT Chair at monthly meetings, and more often if need be.
● Confidentiality: The DBER-SiT Committee will act with full transparency regarding its
processes (see Policies and Procedures document for more information). All
communications, voting records, and meeting notes for both the Leadership Team and
subcommittee meetings will be confidential.
● Tool: DBER-SiT maintains a public site to facilitate communication among the DBER-SiT
community.