Constitution and Bylaws

Article I – Name

Section I. The official name of this organization shall be “North Dakota DECA.” DECA is an association of marketing students.

Article II – Mission.

The missions of this association are:
 To prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

Article III – Organization

Section I. The North Dakota Association of DECA is an association of local DECA chapters of the state of North Dakota.
Section II. The administration of North Dakota DECA shall be invested in the North Dakota DECA Executive Committee. All officers shall be elected for a term of one year.

DECA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

I. Length of terms – One year term for everyone, except the State Advisor.
II. Representation

a. State Advisor of DECA
b. Present Officers of North Dakota Marketing Education Association

III. Activities

a. Determine short and long range programs of North Dakota DECA
b. Identify priorities for general membership approval
c. Approve the budget and all DECA records

This Executive Committee is not set up with the intention that they make the decisions, but rather to come prepared with sound recommendations and proposals, backed with facts and figures, and present them to the members. If the Executive Committee Members are doing their jobs, they will have advance information sent out to the member chapters. The members will then have time to familiarize themselves with the proposal before the Fall Leadership and State Career Development Conferences.

Section III. The State Association shall be composed of four divisions – a High School Division, a Post Secondary Division, an Alumni Division, and a CONSTITUTION OF THE NORTH DAKOTA HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION OF DECA Professional Division. Each division may have an Executive Committee of officers who will be elected annually by the voting delegates of that division.

Section IV. Charters shall be issued to local DECA Chapters by the Executive Committee of the North Dakota Association of DECA.

Article IV – Membership

Section I. The members of North Dakota DECA shall be Chartered Chapters of that
State Association.
Section II. Classes of membership which shall be recognized by the North Dakota Association of DECA are:
Active Members – These shall be students enrolled in a high school program of Marketing Education as approved by the State of North
Dakota. Active Members must pay dues as established by this State Association and will be eligible to hold Chapter or State Office, participate in Chapter, State or National Competitive Events, and if chosen, serve as a Voting Delegate and represent his/her Chapter in the State and National DECA affairs of his/her division. (includes both high school, post-secondary and collegiate divisions)
Professional Members – These persons may be associated with or participating in the professional development of DECA as approved by the State Association. Such members may include Teacher-Coordinators, Teacher-Educators, and Marketing Education Supervisors; persons enrolled in ME – Pre-Service Teacher-Education programs; employers and/or training stations sponsors of ME students; Advisory Committee Members, and others willing to contribute to DECA’s growth and development. Professional members will pay dues as established by the State Association, but will be ineligible to serve as a Voting Delegate, hold office, or otherwise represent North Dakota DECA.
Alumni Members – Membership in this Division is available to any former DECA member. Members will pay dues as established by the State
Association, but will be unable to serve as a Voting Delegate, hold office, or otherwise represent his/her State Association.
Honorary Members – These shall be leaders in the field of education, business or government, as approved by the State Executive Committee.

Article V – Voting

Section I. Each Chapter shall appoint at least three members who shall be considered Voting Delegates. Each chapter will receive one additional ND DECA Constitution and Bylaws 3 vote for every ten members over 20 members. (29 members = 3 voting delegates, but 30 members = 4 voting delegates) One additional member will be given to chapters with 100% membership. Maximum votes per
chapter is 15.
Section II. These Delegates must be present to vote.
Section III. Voting done before State and National DECA dues are received will be based on the previous year’s membership.

Article VI – Meetings

Section I. Two official meetings shall be held each year. These shall be held at the Fall Leadership Conference and the State DECA Career Development Conference.
Section II. The Executive Committee shall be empowered to call special meetings.

Article VII – Officers

Section I. The officers of the North Dakota Association of DECA shall be elected each year to serve for a one year term of office.

Article VIII – Dues

Section I. State dues shall be determined at the Office Leadership Conference for the school year and shall be payable before November 15. Members must be both state and national members; unified dues are required.
Section II. The membership year shall be September 1 to August 31 inclusive.

Article IX – Emblems and Colors

Section I. The emblem of the North Dakota Association of DECA and its colors shall be the same as those adopted by National DECA.

Article X – Amendments

Section I. The Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the authorized delegates only such amendments shall be made as are in keeping with the missions stated in Article II.
Section II. Proposed amendments changes must be sent to the North Dakota DECA Chapters at least 30 days prior to an official meeting.

Article XI – Audit

Section I. The financial accounts of the North Dakota DECA shall be audited each year by the MEA President.

Article XII –Delegates to the National Career Development Conference

Section I. The number of delegates shall be variable with the directives of the
national DECA constitution. The number of alternates shall be the same as the number of delegates.

Article XIII – Rules Regulations and By-Laws

Section I. Such rules, regulations, and by-laws as are deemed necessary for the proper conduct of this organization shall be adopted.
Section II. No rules, regulations, or by-laws shall be adopted which are contrary to this constitution.
Section III. In all meetings, Robert’s Rules of Order Revised, shall serve as standard procedures. 

High School Division of the Association
I. Duties and Obligations of the North Dakota State Officers
Section A: Nomination for Election Candidates must submit the “Candidate for Nomination form by the required date each year. Candidates must pass the required “State Officer Examination” by the required date with at least a 70% or higher score.
Candidates meeting the qualifications will be notified prior to the State Career Development Conference. Candidates will be required to submit a folio with the following information: a picture of the candidate, a goal sheet including at least three goals while serving as a state officer, a short paragraph stating why candidate is running for office, a one page resume of past activities, and at least two letters of recommendations as a candidate.
Section B: Elections
Elections will take place during the annual Career Development Conference each year. Candidates will be interviewed and scored based
on the interview. This score will be combined with the score received from the required portfolio. This will count as part of the election.
Voting delegates will be determined for each official chapter. Voting delegates are based on the student membership only. Voting delegates
will cast a vote for state officers. The vote and the interview score will determine the elected state officers.
Section C: Attendance
Officers elected to serve the members of North Dakota DECA are required to attend the State Officer Leadership Training, the Fall Leadership Conference and the State DECA Career Development Conference. Officers are encouraged to attend the Central Region Leadership Conference, and the National DECA Career Development Conferences.
Section D: Responsibilities of Officers
Officers are presented responsibilities at the State Officer Leadership Training each summer. Responsibilities include:
 Working with local chapters to encourage membership, participation,
leadership development, and social activities
 Promote DECA on a local, state and national level
 Develop a program of work including goals for the year
 Work as a team to encourage a statewide continuity at the National DECA Conference when attending.
 Officers are not allowed to drive to or from any DECA activity without special permission from the state advisor and local advisor. It is the
responsibility of the chapter advisor to arrange transportation.
Section E: State Officers Responsibility at the National DECA Conference State Officers shall serve as voting delegates. State officers will attend the SOLDA – State Officer Leadership Development Academy. The state officers shall hold meetings at the National Career Development Conference with suggested agenda items: promote spirit at general sessions, encourage participation at al functions and sessions, reports and updates by voting delegates, and information updates and/or changes in the program. Meetings will be held ½ hour before curfew, with advisors meeting shortly after curfew.
State Officers are not guaranteed to represent the state at the ICDC. New officers are placed in the SOLDA and qualify to represent the state.
Section F: Removal from Office
The State Advisor(s) shall have this responsibility
Missing a Function
Should an officer miss a required function listed in Section C, they will be automatically removed from office. Justifiable excuses will be at the
discretion of the State Officer Consultant with the consultation with the local advisor and the other state officers. Other high school activities are not acceptable reasons for missing these DECA functions.
Other Reasons for Removal
State Officers can also be removed from office if they do not complete their program of work, officer responsibilities, or are involved in any
conduct at any time and place that will reflect negatively upon DECA.
Filling a Vacancy
The vacancy will be filled with the runner up in the election from the State CDC if the vacancy occurs before the State Officer Leadership Training.
II. National Officer Nomination from North Dakota
Section A: State of local chapter officers can qualify to be a candidate for national office.
Selection Process
1. A letter of intent must be submitted to the state advisor to be distributed to local advisors prior to the Fall Leadership Conference.
2. The candidate will be introduced at the Fall Leadership Conference with a motion during the business meeting to support the candidate for
national president or central region vice president.
3. The vote of the students at the Fall Leadership Conference must be 1 more than 50% of the total members present.
4. If there is more than one student interested in running for national office, a nominating committee will be formed to interview all of the
candidates. The candidates will also take a written exam on DECA. The candidate with the highest score – interview and exam – will be
the state’s nomination for office.
5. North Dakota DECA will support no more than one candidate for national office at the high school division each year.
6. The candidate for office must submit the required materials with the appropriate signatures to the state advisor no later than 7 days prior to the submission deadline set by National DECA Inc.
III. State Conference Storm Procedures
Section A: Fall Leadership Conference
If a storm occurs during the scheduled time of the Fall Leadership Conference, the conference may be rescheduled or canceled with the
decision made by the State Advisor.
Section B: State Career Development Conference
Storm hits the hosts city & the conference is called off
1. All Individual Series Events would be based solely on a written test. Tie breakers would be built into the test. Each advisor would
administer the test to their own students based on pre-registration and mail the test to be scored to the host advisor or to the state advisor.
2. All Management Team Events would be based solely on a written test score only. Tie breakers would be built into the test. Each advisor
would administer the test to their own students based on preregistration and mail the test to be scored to the host advisor or to the
state advisor.
3. All written events (prepared before the conference, including Marketing Research Events, Chapter Team Events, and Participating Events) will be based on the written (manual) part of the event only. There will be no interview. The judges will be responsible to rank all of the entries with no ties.

1. Storm hits prohibiting even one chapter from attending State Conference
   
   1. The conference would continue and take place for all chapters able to participate. A minimum of SIX chapters must be in attendance to hold the conference.
   2. The school(s) that can’t attend would still have the opportunity to compete in the following manner: (A) all participants must be preregistered (no additions or changes) and (B) the first and second place winners in each event would be determined only from those chapters actually at the conference, and (C) the third place winners would be determined by the written test scores or the manual scores.
   3. The State Advisor would request from National DECA, an extra competitive spot for each of the events so affected. This would give North Dakota an extra spot for each of the events so affected. Should National DECA turn down our request for an extra spot in each of these events, we would request that the affected number be allowed to attend the national conference, but not compete.
2. If a storm prevents any chapter with a state officer candidate from attending state conference:
   
   1. The Officer Election will be postponed and candidate speeches, normally given in front of the student delegation, will be canceled.
   2. All state officer candidates in attendance will have speeches videotaped during the conference by the state advisor or his/her designee.
   3. The state officer candidate interviews will be postponed, and will be conducted with each candidate via telephone conference call within 14 days of the conclusion of the state conference as determined by the state advisor.
   4. Each absent state officer candidate will have 7 days from the start of the state conference to submit a video-taped speech via email to the
   state advisor or his/her designee for approval (officer candidates will follow protocol for speech as outlined by the state advisor; no
   additional sound or other visual/audio enhancement of any kind will be allowed).
   5. Video-taped speeches of all state officer candidates will be emailed to all chapter advisors, who are responsible for assembling their voting delegates, playing each video-taped speech, and
   tabulating/electronically submitting votes via email to the state advisor or his/her designee by the deadline as indicated.
   6. The state officer team will be determined and announced using the same weighted system used during the state conference:
    50% student vote
    40% interview
    10% portfolio

   State Policy
   North Dakota DECA Members Attending ICDC Policy

Section I State Officers
1. Outgoing state officers must qualify in a competitive event to attend the ICDC. Outgoing officers attending the conference will work with the new officers in developing “state spirit” at the general sessions.
2. Newly elected state officers are encouraged (but not required) to attend the ICDC. The newly elected state officers will (1) compete in their qualified event, (2) serve as a voting delegate or voting delegate alternate, (3) attend the State Officer Leadership Development Academy (SOLDA) (4) substitute in a series or team event if available.
National Officer Candidates
1. National Officer Candidates will attend the ICDC; competitive events may be an option. They are not to serve as a voting delegate.

Section II Outstanding New Members
1. The North Dakota Outstanding New member may represent North Dakota DECA at the ICDC.
2. The North Dakota Outstanding New Member will (1) compete in their qualified competitive event or (2) participate in the LDA.

Section III Academy Participants
1. DECA members may fill the Academy slots in the following order:
a. Outstanding New Member
b. Newly elected state officers
c. Chapter Awards Project Chairpersons
d. Members from a new chapter
e. Members from chapters with NO qualifiers in any competitive event
Section IV Series Event Qualification
1. The first, second and third place finalists in each series or team event will qualify to represent the state.
2. If either of those place winners do not participate the next qualified candidate may attend.
3. The qualified candidate below third place must have a combined total score of at least 70% in the event.
4. The qualified candidate must place in the top 4 in the event; no one placing 7 or higher will be allowed to represent North Dakota.

Section IV Written Event Qualification
1. The top two entries in each event qualify for the ICDC.
2. If either of those place winners do not participate the next qualified written event entry will be allowed to attend providing: the score is at least a 60% of the total possible points. Entries receiving less than a 60% will not be allowed to represent North Dakota.
3. The qualified candidate must place in the top 6 in the event; no one placing 7 or higher will be allowed to represent North Dakota.
4. No substitutes for any written events may take place at the ICDC. Students must have competed at the state conference to compete in that event at the ICDC (individual, team, and chapter projects).

Section V Special Activities
1. DECA members qualifying in the Stock Market Game or Virtual Business Challenge or other special activity may attend the conference; competing in the specified competition. Local policy oversees the state policy to restrict only first or second place finalists to attend the ICDC.