WIEA Bylaws

Wisconsin Indian Education Association’s mission is to promote education and educationally related opportunities for American Indian people in Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Indian Education Association, Inc. will seek to:

1. Advocate, address and act on issues on Indian education at the tribal, local, state and national levels.

2. Aid in the planning, implementation, review and evaluation of Indian education programs in the State of Wisconsin and to coordinate efforts with appropriate organizations.

3. Establish a communications network and disseminate information between various committees, programs, organizations, and institutions involved in American Indian Education.

4. Conduct research, develop and maintain all materials in a permanent site for easy access to W.I.E.A. membership.

5. Update a W.I.E.A. Directory at a minimum of every 3 years.

6. Assist in developing, training, research and workshops for Indians and non-Indian Educators and/or staff who work with Indian people.

7. Review and evaluate educational proposals and programs when requested. Depending upon the complexity and time commitment of the review and evaluation, a fee from the requestor may be required.

8. Develop, maintain and administer educational scholarships, awards, and grants for American Indian students residing in Wisconsin.

9. Plan and implement an annual W.I.E.A. Conference.

10. Pursue fund-raising and grants to maintain financial stability of the Association.

CATEGORIES OF MEMBERSHIP.

The categories of membership shall be as follows:

1. VOTING MEMBERSHIP. Voting membership shall consist of the following classes and membership dues: (Dues may be subject to change as determined by the Board of Directors. Dues for each class of membership are renewable annually during the month of the Annual Business Meeting.)
   1. INDIAN ADULT VOTING MEMBERS. These individuals will be at least 18 years of age and will have an interest in the education of American Indians. Dues, $25.00.
   2. INDIAN STUDENT VOTING MEMBERS. These individuals will be enrolled in an accredited institution and shall be able to provide proof of enrollment. Dues, $5.00.
   3. INDIAN ELDER VOTING MEMBERS. These individuals will be any elder (55 and older) who is interested in the education of Indian people. Dues, FREE.
   

2. NON-VOTING MEMBERSHIP. Non-voting members shall have the full rights and responsibilities of the voting membership with the exception of voting on Association issues and election to the Board of Directors.
   1. ASSOCIATIONS PROFESSIONALS. These individuals will be employed in the education or related field and are interested in the educational advancement and development of Indian youth and adults. Dues, $30.00.
   

   RULES OF MEMBERSHIP.
   

   1. VOTING. Each voting member shall be entitled to one vote on each matter submitted to a vote of the membership. Issues voted on by the entirety of the voting membership shall be at the Annual Business Meeting only. All other matters will be referred to the Board of Directors through their regions. Proxy votes shall not be allowed.
      

   2. RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES. Any member shall have the right to present resolutions, proposals and issues affecting the entire membership of WIEA at the Annual Board Meeting. Issues that may be considered regional or not affecting the entirety of WIEA should be brought to the Board of Directors through their representatives.
      

   3. TRANSFERABILITY. Membership in the Association is not transferable or assignable.
      

   4. RESIGNATION. Any member may resign by filing a written resignation with the Secretary of the Association.
      

   5. REMOVAL OF MEMBERS. Any member may be removed for cause by three-fourths (3/4) vote of the board of Directors or two-thirds (2/3) vote of the General Voting Membership. Cause for removal will include, but not be limited to, falsely representing him/herself as an official of WIEA, willfully promoting false information about WIEA or deliberately provoking actions that would result in harm to the WIEA. The President shall notify, in writing, any member who has been removed for just cause. Any Member so removed, may re-apply for admission in the same manner as an initial application for membership. In the case of any member using fraudulent documents or data for membership requirements, removal shall be automatic, and no vote shall be needed.

1. THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS shall be limited to Tribally enrolled or descendants of Tribally enrolled people. The Board shall be composed of at least (14) members, two (2) each from the following regions:
   

   NORTHWEST – includes Bad River, Red Cliff, St. Croix and Lac Courte Orieilles Reservations. U.W. Superior, Mount Senario, Northland College, Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, LCO Community College, Tribal and Public Schools.
   

   NORTHEAST – includes Lac du Flambeau, Mole Lake and Forest County Potawatomi Reservations. Nicolet Area Technical College, Tribal and Public Schools.
   

   EAST – includes Menominee and Oneida Reservations. U.W. Green Bay, U.W. Oshkosh, U.W. Fox Valley, St. Norbert College, Northeastern Wisconsin Technical College, Fox Valley Technical College, College of Menominee Nation, Native American Educational Services, Tribal and Public Schools.
   

   CENTRAL – includes Stockbridge-Munsee Band Reservation and Tribal areas of Wittenberg, Brotherton, and Wisconsin Rapids. U.W. Stevens Point, U.W. Marathon, Northcentral Technical College, Tribal and Public Schools.
   

   WEST – includes Tribal areas of Tomah, Black River Falls, Wisconsin Dells and Baraboo. U.W. Eau Claire, U.W. Stout, U.W. River Falls, U.W. La Crosse, Chippewa Valley Technical College, Tribal and Public Schools.
   

   SOUTHEAST – includes Indian community of Milwaukee. U.W. Milwaukee, Marquette University, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Tribal and Public Schools.
   

   SOUTH – includes Indian community of Madison, U.W. Madison, Edgewood College, Madison Area Technical College, Tribal and Public Schools.

   REGIONAL COMPOSITION IS NOT LIMITED TO THE ABOVE NAMED GROUPS OR INSTITUTIONS.
   Regions will choose each BOARD Member by the method that the selecting Region determines, provided the selection process complies with the following provisions:
   

   1. The BOARD Member must be a voting member in good standing.
   2. The BOARD Member must be chosen at a regional meeting prior to the Annual Business Meeting of the Association. The Annual Business Meeting is held in conjunction with the Annual WIEA Conference.
   3. Each region will select an alternate to serve, if one of the Board Members is unable to serve his/her full term or cannot attend a Board meeting.
   4. It shall be the responsibility of the Board Representative to disseminate the minutes of all meetings to the members in their regions and respective communities.
   5. The terms of the representatives shall be staggered such that initially 1/2 the Board members are elected for 3 year terms and the other 1/2 for 2 year terms and the elections shall be established to fill the expired 2-year terms. At the annual business meeting, each region will inform the Chairperson which representative is the 3-year Member and who is the 2-year member. The region is free to decide this in the manner it chooses.
   6. The Board of Directors shall be the policy-making Board of the Association, between meetings of the full membership. The Board shall have full charge of the property and business of the organization with full power and authority to manage and conduct the same, subject to the instructions of the general membership. It shall plan and direct the work necessary to carry out the programs and/or plans adopted at the meeting of the general membership. The Board shall create and designate special Board Liaisons and sub-committees as it may deem necessary to work with special interest groups.
   7. In the case of a vacancy on the Board of Directors, the alternate shall serve until the Annual Business Meeting. In the case of an alternate who is unable to serve, the Board will select a member from that region to serve out the term.
   8. It is the Board Member’s responsibility to notify their alternate and the President of the Association if they are unable to attend a meeting.
   9. Three (3) unexcused absences within a twelve-month period by a member of the Board of Directors shall result in removal from the Board. The region may Appeal the removal within 60 days at a regular Board meeting. The Board’s decision after reviewing the appeal will be final. An Alternate will fulfill the term during the appeal process and/or if the individual is removed from the Board. This is to assure that regions have consistent representation. The President shall notify the Board member being removed, in writing, of the action taken by the Board.
   10. The Association will reimburse the WIEA Board Members for board-related expenses as needed and approved by the Board of directors.

1. The Annual Business Meeting shall be in conjunction with the conference. The Annual Conference shall be held in the Spring.
   

2. Regions shall meet at least semi-annually.
   

3. The Board of Directors shall meet at least quarterly.
   

4. Upon petition of one-third (1/3) of the Board members,(1/3 = 5 members) the Board must convene within thirty (30) days from the date of petition.
   

5. A simple majority of the Board of Directors plus the President or in the absence of the President, the Vice-President, shall constitute a quorum.
   

6. Board meetings shall be open, however, only board members will be voting on issues. In the event that the Board must deal with personnel or removal issues, the Board will adjourn into executive session. During the executive session, only persons directly involved with the issues and Board members may be present. At the conclusion of the executive session, the Board shall go back into open meeting and enter into the minutes any action taken.

1. The Annual Conference shall be held in the Spring.
   

2. The Annual Business Meeting shall be held during the middle day of the conference.The Annual Business meeting will consist of the following agenda items:
   President’s Annual Report
   Annual Treasurer’s Report
   Annual Audit Report
   Minutes of the Previous Year’s Conference
   Resolutions
   Regional Reports
   Election of Officers
   Conference Bids
   Other Business
   

3. The Chair of the Planning Committee will be a Board Member of the Region sponsoring the Conference.
   

4. The sponsoring Region will form a Planning Committee responsible for any internal decisions regarding the Conference or any appointed office or other Conference related responsibility.
   

5. The Registration fee will be waived for the Chair of the Annual Conference Planning Committee.
   

6. Other Registration and conference fees may be waived and/or adjusted only by the Board of directors with support from the Annual Conference Planning Committee. The Board of Directors shall have prior final approval for any contracts related to the conference.
   

7. The budget for the Annual Conference will be initially determined by the Planning Committee and approved by the Board of Directors.
   

8. Fundraising will be done by the Planning Committee and reported to the Board of Directors.
   

9. A Final Conference Report, including a Fiscal Report will be submitted to the Board of Directors within 60 days after the conclusion of the Annual Conference.

1. Officers of the Association shall be voting members in good standing. The Officers shall be the President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer.
   

2. Officers of the Association shall be members of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors shall elect the officers and the general membership may confirm the officers at the Annual Business Meeting. In the event of a dispute, an election for the disputed officer position will occur at the Annual Business Meeting or at a special election called by the Board of Directors. Any special election must occur before the next regular Board meeting.
   

3. In the case of the Office of the President being declared vacant, the Vice-President shall assume the Office of the President. If the Vice-President’s seat becomes vacant at the same time as the President’s vacancy, the remaining Officers of the Association will assume these positions in the following succession: Secretary, then Treasurer. The new President will appoint a Secretary and Treasurer to fill the vacated positions.
   

4. If any office of the Association, other than the President, is declared vacant for any reason, the Board of Directors shall elect one of their members to fill the expired term.

1. The President shall preside at all Board of Directors’ meetings and any other meeting called by the Association. The President or the President’s designee shall be the official representative of the Wisconsin Indian Education Association. The President shall not vote on issues, unless there is a tie vote, whereas the President must vote to break the tie.
   

2. The Vice-President shall preside at all meetings in the absence of the President. The Vice-President shall perform such other duties as the President and Board of Directors shall instruct/direct.
   

3. The Secretary of the Association shall keep the records of all meetings. It shall be the responsibility of the Secretary to send the minutes of the meetings to the Board Members.
   

4. The Treasurer shall collect and receive all monies due, and maintain the Association Membership records. The Treasurer shall be responsible for the collection of dues and shall be the custodian of these monies and shall deposit them in a bank. The Treasurer shall have the authority to sign check drafts on behalf of the Association by the vote of the Board of Directors and with the signature of the President of the Association or his/her designated appointee.

These By-laws may be altered, amended, or repealed and new By-laws may be adopted by 2/3rds of the Directors present at any meeting, if at least two (2) days written notice is given of intention to alter, amend or repeal of, to adopt new By-laws at such meeting. The revised By-Laws will be provided to the voting membership via mail, facsimile, or electronic methods, as determined by the Board of Directors, for a 30-day comment period. If no concerns are brought to the Board of Directors within that 30-day comment period, the revision will be considered final and binding.

Disclosure clause indicates, “Should Wisconsin Indian Education Association disband” that the funds be turned over to the Tribal Colleges of Wisconsin; Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe and Menominee Nations to be used for Scholarships and “equally divided”

Board of Directors Meeting

As Secretary of the Board of Directors for the Wisconsin Indian Education Association, I hereby affirm that this new By-Law is approved by a majority vote March 24, 2015 poll vote from WIEA Board of Directors communicated by email and given 2 days. I further affirm that the email communications met all existing laws pertaining to open meetings in the State of Wisconsin and will be posted on WIEA website on March 27, 2015, that quorum was met and that President, Brian Jackson facilitated communications.

Christine Munson, Secretary, Central Region Representative

Each year, a different region is responsible for hosting the annual conference. The region is responsible for assembling a conference planning committee to plan and carry out the execution of the conference. The following is the conference rotation through 2025:

Conference Rotation

2011 East - Keshena


2012 West - Ho-Chunk Dells


2013 Central - Wausau


2014 Northwest - Red Cliff


2015 Southeast - Milwaukee


2016 South - Madison


2017 Northeast - Minocqua


2018 East - Keshena


2019 West – Wisconsin Rapids


2020 Central 
- Milwaukee

2021 Northwest 
- Virtual

2022 Southeast
 - Milwaukee

2023 South
 - Madison

2024 Northeast 


2025 East

2026 West

2027 Central

2028 Northwest

2029 Southeast

2030 South

2031 Northeast