Only advance reservations for Council events guarantee seating. Any reservation that is made and not cancelled within seventy-two (72) hours of the event will be billed to the individual. A five-dollar ($5) late charge will be assessed to those persons whose reservations are not received by the published deadline for reservations and will be billed by the Financial Officer.
Attendance verification will be provided by the Communications Officer upon request to attendees of Council events for make-up meetings if accepted by the member’s organization.
The executive board shall be authorized to approve unbudgeted expenses up to $250 per quarter. A signature and an initial shall be required when signing any expense reimbursement check payable to an ABWA member or an ABWA member’s company. Checks to all others under $250 will require only one signature. Only requests for reimbursement submitted to the Financial Officer no later than 30 days after the date of receipt will be considered for payment.
The regular quarterly meeting may be rescheduled by the Executive Board with 30 days notice to the Participating Chapters/Networks. A special meeting may be called by the Chair with notice being sent to all participating chapters/networks at least ten (10) days prior to the meeting.
Any member and/or guest having a returned check will be required to pay all incurred bank charges plus a $25.00 returned check fee within ten days of notification by the Financial Officer.
Any member and/or guest having a returned check for two meetings will be placed on “cash only” status and the Council will not accept checks from that member and/or guest.
The Financial Officer will deposit all monies no later than five days after receiving.
The quarterly newsletter shall be published on the Council website. The newsletter director shall send an email alert to the newsletter editor, Chair and delegates of all Council member organizations as well as Council National Members with the link to the Council website stating that the newsletter is ready for viewing. The newsletter director shall also alert all Houston Area Past National Officers, current District II Vice President, National Headquarters, Council Board members and Council Past Chairs regarding the availability of the newsletter.
No funds will be disbursed or contracts entered into without prior written consent from the Executive Board.
The annual audit for the preceding year shall be performed within 30 days of the installation of the new Executive Board.
The Excellence in Achievement (EA) Award will be awarded once a quarter to those chapters/networks that have demonstrated the mission of both the Houston Area Council and ABWA, within that quarter. Each chapter/network will receive a quarterly form to be returned to the designated Executive Board member one month before the quarterly meeting. The winning chapter/network will be awarded a Certificate of Achievement and up to $50.00 toward the following year’s council dues at each quarterly meeting. The decision of the award recipient will be the responsibility of the Executive Board of the Houston Area Council of ABWA.
The Houston Area Council of ABWA will annually award the current Chair the basic registration fee to attend the National ABWA convention, as funds permit. If the Chair is unable to attend the convention, the award will go to the Chair-Elect, Vice Chair, Financial Officer or Communications Officer, respectively.
In order to achieve the goals of the Houston Area Council, a fifth officer position to the Executive Board is added and will be called Chair Elect.
