NEW MEXICO SCHOLASTIC CHESS ORGANIZATION
CONSTITUTION
(Approved May 14, 1994)
(Last Amended March 2, 2002)
Name.
The name of this organization shall be New Mexico Scholastic Chess
Organization ("NMSCO").
A. The Scholastic Steering
Committee
A1. Duties. The executive body of the NMSCO
shall be the Scholastic Steering Committee ("Committee"). The primary duty of
the Committee shall be to organize the New Mexico Scholastic Open Chess
Championships ("Championships") and, if necessary, regional qualifying events.
The specific duties are described in the following sections of this
Constitution. The Committee may appoint or designate whichever persons or
parties it deems fit to organize the Championships, but the Committee is not
thereby relieved of the ultimate responsibility for organizing the
Championships.
A2. Composition. The Committee shall consist of
three members with one vote per member.
A3. Election. One
Committee member and one alternate shall be elected at the Electoral Meeting to
be held at each of the three major Championships: High School/Youth, Junior High School, and
Elementary/Primary School. The alternate shall serve only upon resignation of
the elected member.
A4. Eligibility. Membership on the Committee
is open to any New Mexico resident age 18 or older.
A5. Term. The
term of office of each Committee member shall be one year. Newly elected members
assume their duties on May 1 following their election.
A6.
Vacancies. A Committee vacancy shall be filled by the elected alternate.
Otherwise the Steering Committee member(s) shall fill the vacancy by appointing
any eligible person. The appointed member shall have the same rights and
privileges as if he/she had been elected to the Committee.
A7.
Resignations. A Committee member who fails to appear for three consecutive
Committee meetings, counting General Meetings, shall be deemed to have resigned
from the Committee.
A8. Chairperson. At least two weeks prior to
the annual General Meeting, the Committee shall elect one of its members as
chairperson of the Committee. If no agreement is reached, the chair goes to the
member elected at the Elementary Championship. The duty of the Chairperson shall
include calling Committee meetings and presiding at the annual General Meeting.
A9. Secretary. At least two weeks prior to the annual General
Meeting, the Committee shall elect one of its members as Secretary of the
Committee. The duty of the Secretary shall include keeping the minutes of
Meetings, updating the Constitution, Bylaws, and Guidelines, and preparing an
end-of-year report, as necessary. The Secretary
shall make an updated copy of these documents available upon request no later
than thirty days after any modification.
B.
Meetings, Constituency, and Miscellaneous
B1. Committee
Meetings. The chairperson or any two Committee members may call a meeting of
the Committee to discuss official business. The chairperson must notify the
remaining members in person or by telephone of the meeting no later than five
days prior to the meeting. If any member is unable to attend, the chairperson
should attempt to reschedule the meeting at least once to accommodate the
member.
B2. Electoral Meeting. An Electoral Meeting shall be held
on the same day and location as each of the three Scholastic Open Championships.
The purpose of the Electoral Meeting shall be to allow the constituency to elect
a representative and an alternate to the Steering Committee. The chairperson of
the Steering Committee shall chair the meeting and shall set and announce the
time of the meeting. If the Committee chairperson is unable to attend the
Electoral Meeting, he/she may designate any eligible constituent to chair the
meeting. No other business may be officially transacted at the Electoral Meeting
but the chairperson may open the meeting to informal discussion of any chess
topic of interest.
B3. General Meeting. A General Meeting of the
constituency shall be held annually for
the purpose of amending this Constitution and Bylaws. The
tournament at which the meeting will be held will rotate in three year cycles
between, and in the order of, the High School/Youth tournament (beginning in 1998), the
Junior High School tournament and the Elementary/Primary School tournament. A majority of the constituency/electorate may at the
General Meeting vote to hold a subsequent General Meeting.
B4.
Constituency
a. The constituency at the
Electoral Meeting shall be the parents/guardians and team coaches of the players
on the day of the Championships as well as the day's officially appointed
tournament directors ("TDs"). A team coach must have at least four players
participating in the Championship on the day of the election to be a
constituent. One assistant team coach may be a constituent provided at least ten
players from the school are participating in the tournament.
b. The constituency for the General Meeting shall be any person
who qualified as a constituent of any of the Electoral Meetings held that
calendar year or the previous calendar year and any
high school junior or senior who played in the High School/Youth Championship that calendar year.
c. Doubtful cases shall be
resolved by majority vote of the uncontested constituency at the relevant
meeting.
B5. Voting. Each constituent present at an Electoral
Meeting or General Meeting shall have one vote. No player may be represented by
more than one constituent. (For example, a school that enters a team of twelve
members into the Elementary Championship but brought fifteen parents and two
coaches is limited to twelve votes at the Elementary Electoral Meeting.)
B6. Quorum
a. Steering Committee
Meetings. Any two Committee members present together at a Committee Meeting
shall constitute a quorum. However, the chairman must make every reasonable
effort to bring all three members together before transacting any business.
b. Electoral and General Meetings. Any ten
constituents present at an Electoral Meeting or at a General Meeting shall
constitute a quorum. If an Electoral Meeting or a General Meeting fails to
produce a quorum, the Steering Committee shall have seven days to reschedule or
suspend the meeting for that year.
B7. Remuneration. Steering
Committee members shall not receive a salary or compensation for serving on the
Steering Committee. However, members may be reimbursed for reasonable expenses
incurred in carrying out their duties.
B8. Appointments. The
Committee may make appointments necessary to carry out the duties and
responsibilities described in this Constitution. Among these appointments shall
be a treasurer to keep track of income and expenses and a chief tournament
director ("Chief TD") to run one or more of the Championships. The Chief TD
shall be of a level and experience recommended by USCF guidelines. The treasurer
and chief TD need not be selected from among the Committee members themselves.
Any appointee may be dismissed from his post upon majority vote of the
Committee.
B9. Amending the Constitution. This Constitution may
only be amended by a two thirds majority of the constituents present and voting
at a General Meeting.
B10. Scholarships. The
NMSCO is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting scholastic chess in
New Mexico. With the exception of keeping an operating base, any profits during
a year should be distributed as scholarships to New Mexico scholastic players.
The policy for distributing scholarships should be decided prior to the
first tournament by the organizing committee and published on the NMSCO website.
The policy can vary from year to year at the discretion of the committee, giving
the committee the right to judge what is best for New Mexico scholastic chess.
If the committee does not publish a policy, the default will be to provide for
representation by winners, both teams and individuals, of the championship
sections, other highly rated players, and outstanding performers elsewhere in
the tournaments at the Arnold Denker tournament and national scholastic
tournaments.
The committee is urged to turn in their requests for
expense reimbursements to the NMSCO treasurer as soon after the last NM
scholastic championship as possible so that the scholarship fund can be
determined. If they do not do so within two weeks of the last tournament, the
NMSCO treasurer shall guess at the size of the prize fund based on previous
years' expenses and inform the committee even though there may be some risk that
such an award will place the operating base in jeopardy.
The committee
shall announce the awards to the players within 4 weeks of the last NM
scholastic tournament or 2 weeks before the first national scholastic
championship tournament, whichever date comes first. If the committee does not
meet this schedule, the duties of distributing the prize fund become the
responsibility of the NMSCO treasurer, with or without the consent of the
committee, and he/she should try to dispurse the funds within 1 week of the
above date.
B11. Bylaws. All matters not directly
concerning the makeup or duties of the Steering Committee or the definition and
rights of the constituency shall be addressed by the Bylaws to this
Constitution. The Bylaws and amendments to the Bylaws become effective upon a
majority vote of the constituency present and voting at a General Meeting.
B12. Adoption. This Constitution becomes effective upon approval
by a sixty percent (60%) majority vote of the constituency present at the first
General Meeting.
B13. Procedures. Parliamentary procedures not in
conflict with this Constitution shall follow the latest edition of Robert's
Rules of Order.
NEW MEXICO SCHOLASTIC CHESS ORGANIZATION
BYLAWS
(Approved May 14, 1994)
A. The Scholastic Open Championships
A1. Definition. The Scholastic Open Chess Championships
("Championships") shall consist of the High School/Youth, Junior High School, and
Elementary/Primary School Open Championships, but shall not include the
NMAA-sponsored High School Team Championship.
A2. Purpose. The
purpose of the Championships is to determine the New Mexico high school, junior
high school, elementary school, and primary school chess champion players and
teams.
B. Player Eligibility and State Titles
B1. High School/Youth
Championship. Any U.S. resident
student, or foreign student studying full time in the United States, who
is under age 20 at the time of the tourney
in grades K through 12 shall be eligible to participate in the High
School/Youth Championship. The top
finishing New Mexico player shall be designated the New Mexico Youth Champion. The top finishing New Mexico player in
grades 12 and under shall be designated the New Mexico High
School Champion. (Note: the New Mexico High School team champion is determined
in a separate team competition organized under the auspices of the New Mexico
Activities Association.)
B2. Junior High School Championship. Any
U.S. student, or foreign student studying full time in the United States, who is
in grades K through 9 shall be eligible to participate in the Junior High School
Championship. The top finishing New Mexico player and the top finishing New
Mexico team shall each become the New Mexico Junior High School champions.
B3. Elementary School/Primary School Championship. Any U.S.
student, or foreign student studying full time in the United States, who is in
grades K through 6 is eligible to participate in the Elementary School
Championship. The top finishing New Mexico player and the top finishing New
Mexico team shall each become the New Mexico Elementary School champions.
The Primary School Championship shall be held concurrently with the
Elementary School Championship and shall be open to any U.S. student in grades
K-3. The top finishing New Mexico player and the top finishing New Mexico team
shall each become the New Mexico Primary School champions.
B4. A
"New Mexico player" is anyone enrolled as a full time student in a New Mexico
school or anyone whose home or permanent residence is in New Mexico. A "New
Mexico team" shall be a team from a school located in New Mexico.
B5. Unless otherwise certified by an official state document, the
grade of a home-schooled student or a student from an ungraded school shall be
five less than the player's age on the preceding September 1. Values of zero or
less shall be considered kindergarten. (Example: a home-schooled player whose
age is 8 on September 1, 1993 shall be considered a third grader for the 1994
championships.)
B6. Denker
Tournament of Champions designee. If the K-12 championship produces a clear
winner who is eligible, by residence and year in school, to represent New Mexico
in the Denker Tournament of Champions, that player shall be designated the New
Mexico representative to the Denker tournament.
If not, then:
1. If
the top point group in the K-12 championship contains exactly one player who is
eligible, that player shall be the designated representative;
2. If the top
point group in the K-12 championship contains more than one player who is
eligible, the representative shall be selected by means of a playoff, organized
by the Chief TD, among eligible players in the top point group who express a
willingness to participate;
3. If the top point group in the K-12
championship contains no eligible player (that is, all players in this point
group either have graduated from high
school not a student of high school or reside outside New
Mexico), the Steering Committee shall organize a playoff among eligible and
willing players in the next lower point group(s), not to exceed 6 players, and
limited to point groups no more than one point below the top point group. In any
case requiring a playoff, the Steering Committee shall organize the playoff no
more than four weeks following completion of the K-12 championship.
C. Teams
C1. There is
no limit to the number of players a school may enter into a section of a
multiple-section tourney, but only the top four scores in that section count for
team score. However, up to two handicapped scores from same-school players in
the Reserve section may be used for the team score in the Championship Section.
The chief TD shall announce and post the handicap values prior to the start of
Round 1.
C2. A school may compile only one team score per
section.
C3. All
team players must be enrolled as full-time students at the school they are
representing or in one of its feeder schools occupying the same or an adjoining
campus. Players from feeder schools will only be allowed to play as members of
the team if they attend that team's meetings on a regular basis and their own
school does not have an independent club of its own.
C4. A school is
defined as an educational institution registered with the state in which the
school is located.
C5.
A school may compile team points in any section which contains at least two
players from that school. Exception: a school may compile a Championship team
score if it fields at least one player in the Championship section and one in
the section immediately below Championship.
C6. Home-school teams
will be allowed and treated the same as school teams provided they meet the
following conditions: All
members on a home-school team must practice together on a regular
basis in an organized home-school chess club. A regular basis for this purpose is defined as at
least biweekly for a period of at least ten weeks prior to a tournament. The home-school team
shall be required
to submit a club roster to the tournament
director by the end of
the registration period listing home-school students who have
actively participated in the home-school chess club. A school district may field
several home school teams if each team otherwise meets the requirements of this
section. A student may not represent more than one home-school team in any
school year.
D. U.S. Chess Federation Rules
D1. The Championships shall be run under the latest available
U.S. Chess Federation ("USCF") rules of play. Major variations from the rules
shall be announced in the tournament flier. Minor variations shall be announced
and posted prior to the start of Round 1.
D2 All tournament
sections shall be USCF rated. All players shall meet the minimum membership
requirements established by the USCF for participation in USCF-rated events.
E. Organization of the Championships
E1. The organization of the Championships shall be the
responsibility of the Committee as a whole. Where possible, the Committee shall
seek the input of its appointed Chief TD.
E2. The Steering
Committee shall have the lead responsibility in the following matters:
- advertising the Championships among potential schools and players by
preparing and mailing a timely and informative brochure;
- all financial matters including but not limited to: setting and collecting
entry fees; collecting USCF dues; paying bills; preparing and presenting a
yearly written, itemized account of all monies collected and disbursed;
awarding scholarships to the top New Mexico scholastic players;
- obtaining the necessary equipment to run the Championships, including but
not limited to: computers and computer supplies, pairing cards, score sheets
and miscellaneous stationery;
- arranging for the availability of inexpensive food at the Championship
sites;
- recruiting site personnel, including but not limited to door monitors,
scorekeepers, and computer operators;
- ordering, unpacking, and displaying the trophies;
- organizing the awards ceremony;
- selecting the New Mexico participant to the annual USCF-sponsored Arnold
Denker Tournament of State High School Champions;
- disseminating the results of the Championships to the news media;
- maintaining records of all Steering Committee Meetings, Electoral
Meetings, and General Meetings.
E3. The Chief TD shall
have the lead responsibility in the following matters:
- insuring that the USCF's rules of play are strictly observed during the
competition;
- verifying that all players are properly enrolled in the USCF;
- training and briefing the assistant TD's;
- briefing the players at the start of the tournament;
- pairing the players;
- timely posting of the wall charts during the tourney;
- determining the final standings of the tournament players and team, and
designating the trophy winners;
- preparing the final tourney report and submitting the report on time to
the USCF;
- submitting USCF memberships and JTP's on time to the USCF;
- checking the USCF crosstables for accuracy and promptly reporting errors
to the USCF.
E4. Some of the responsibilities of the Chief TD
and the Committee are more appropriately performed jointly or in close
consultation. These responsibilities include:
- preparing the tournament brochure and other official tourney
announcements;
- processing the player registration forms and keeping an accurate record of
all fees collected;
- selecting the playing site and arranging the playing areas;
- training tournament personnel.
New Mexico
Scholastic Chess Organization
http://www.nmsco.org/NMSCO.html