NJCAA REGION XVIII/SWAC CONSTITUTION

Article I - Name

Section A - The name of this organization shall be Region XVIII of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).

Article II - Purpose

Section A - The purpose of the organization, in accordance with the philosophy and standards of the NJCAA, shall be to promote broad programs of intercollegiate athletics on the regional level which are consistent with the educational aims and objectives of junior and community colleges.

Article III - Membership

Section A - Eligibility for Membership

1. Colleges that fall within the nationally developed

geographic boundaries of Region XVIII are eligible for membership. Colleges outside the geographic boundaries may be eligible for membership.

2. Member colleges must have received or be candidates for state and/or regional accreditation.

3. Member colleges must receive approval of the NJCAA.

Section B - Conditions of Membership. The member colleges of Region XVIII NJCAA must:

1. Supervise and control intercollegiate athletics sponsored by Region XVIII in order that they be administered in accordance with the Constitution and By-Laws.

2. Establish and maintain a high standard of ethics and fair play.

3. Pay annual NJCAA and Region XVIII dues before the deadline set by the governing organizations.

Section C - Scenic West Athletic Conference - Core Sport Membership Requirements.

1. It is in the best interest of the Scenic West Conference that all schools maintain a minimum four (4) Core Sport requirement to be a member in good standing.

2. The Core Sports are:

I. Basketball - Men

II. Basketball - Women

III. Baseball

IV. Volleyball

V. Softball

VI. Soccer

3. Existing schools with four (4) of the six (6) core sports will be grandfathered.

4. Conference schools cannot drop below the four (4) core sports and remain in good standing. Sanctions for dropping below four (4) core sports:

a. No Region Tournament hosting privileges for any sport.

b. Double conference dues with a minimum of five sports.

c. Must have plans to return the sport(s) within two years or further conference sanctions to include possible expulsion to be determined by conference membership.

5. If you are a grandfathered school and wish to add a new sport, it must be a core sport, until you have all core sports. Failure to do this will result in:

a. No Region Tournament hosting privileges for any sport.

b. Double conference dues with a minimum of five sports.

c. Must have plans to return the sport(s) within two years or further conference sanctions to include possible expulsion to be determined by conference membership.

6. If you are a grandfathered school and you drop below four (4) core sports, you will lose conference membership.

7. It is the philosophy of the Scenic West Conference that we strive to provide as many opportunities as possible for student-athletes to compete. It is our intent to have equal sport opportunities at all member schools. The strength of the Conference relies on the commitment of each member school to core sport requirement.

8. New member application must provide adequate proposal as to the core sport requirements. A minimum of at least one (1) male and one (1) female sport required to initially have membership.

a. A core sport plan needs to be presented for the new member institution demonstrating full compliance of core sport. This plan will be reviewed annually by the conference membership at the June Meeting.

9. If Basketball is considered as a core sport it must be brought in as a men’s and women’s sport.

10. Any exceptions to this policy must be brought before member institutions for a vote.

Article IV - Officers

Section A - The elected officers of this organization shall be a Regional Director for Men; a Regional Director for Women; an Assistant Regional Director for Men; an Assistant Regional Director for Women; a Treasurer and a Member-at-Large. The officers shall be selected from the membership of Region XVIII by the Legislative Assembly.

Section B - The elected officers of this organization shall be elected at the Spring meeting to serve in accordance with procedures set forth in the by-laws.

1. Regional directors shall be elected bi-annually during even-numbered years.

2. Assistant regional directors shall be elected bi-annually during odd-numbered years.

3. The duration of office for the treasurer shall be decided by the Executive Committee.

4. The member-at-large shall be elected every three years, beginning in 1980.

Section C - The officers and a member-at-large shall comprise the membership of the Executive Committee.

Article V - Meetings

Section A - The organization shall hold two regular meetings each academic year: the Fall meeting (date and site to be determined at the Spring meeting); the Spring meeting (date and site to be determined at the Fall meeting).

Section B - Special meetings may be called at the discretion of the Regional Directors, or by a written request of fifty percent (50%) of the voting delegates of Region XVIII.

Article VI - Legislative Assembly

Section A - The Legislative Assembly shall consist of the designated voting representatives from the member colleges. Each member college shall have one vote depending on its membership in either the Women's division or the Men's division, or both. An institution which is a member of both the men's and women's divisions of Region XVIII may designate one representative who will be eligible for one vote in a joint session.

Section B - Voting by mail, by email, fax or by telephone shall be permissible on any issue between regularly scheduled meetings.

Section C - In a regularly scheduled meeting a quorum shall consist of more than fifty percent (50%) of the member colleges in Region XVIII.

Section D - A majority vote of the quorum is necessary to affect any policies and/or procedures, changes, deletions, or additions to the Constitution and By-laws of Region XVIII.

Article VII - Committees

Section A - Region XVIII shall have an Executive Committee composed of the elected regional officers plus a member-at-large.

Section B - Standing Committees shall be appointed to perform such duties as may be assigned to them in the By-laws or by the Executive Committee.

Article VIII - Finances

Section A - All funds of Region XVIII shall be obtained, held, and administered in accordance with the procedures as stated in the By-laws.

Section B - The Treasurer shall render a financial report at all Region XVIII meetings.

Article IX - Amendments

Section A - This Constitution may be amended at any regularly scheduled meeting of the Region by a majority affirmative vote of the quorum. The proposed amendment to the Constitution must have been circulated to the member colleges by the regional directors at least two (2) weeks prior to the meeting.

Article X - Championship Tournaments

Section A - Region Championship Tournament size will be based on the number of teams in the sport in the SWAC regular conference play. (Note: Article X is not in effect at present time, August 2003, for Region 18 Tournaments).

Article XI - SWAC Standings concerning "no contests" and/or failure to meet contractual contest agreements

Section A - Institutions will be given a win for conference

standings only when an opposing institution cannot field a team resulting in a "no contest" and/or non-fulfillment of contractual contest agreement.

Section B – There will be a financial penalty assessed to an institution when they cannot field a team resulting in a "no contest" or failure to fulfill contractual contest agreement.

Article XII – SWAC Members Equivalency Reports

Section A – Each SWAC institution will complete and distribute to each SWAC institution AD an equivalency report for each core sport on the new Equivalency Reporting Forms at May/June meeting each year.