TCA Officers, Commitees,
& Constitution

officers | committees | constitution, v. 1997

The following are the list of officers.  We alternate between having a secondary teacher and a university professor in the office of President.

For more information, please contact the current TCA President, Melissa Dowling mdowling@smu.edu.

TCA Officers, 2006-2008

PRESIDENT:
    Melissa Dowling mdowling@smu.edu
PRESIDENT-ELECT:
     Patrick Abel, pabel@sisd.net
VICE PRESIDENT:
     Patti Rollins
EXECUTIVE TREASURER/SECRETARY:
     Nicole Lehmann, nlehmann@ahisd.net
HISTORIAN:
     Miranda Mathis
EDITOR:
     Larry Martin,
ADVISOR TO THE EDITOR:
     Jim Johnson, jimjohnson@austinc.edu
WEB MANAGER:
     Ginny Lindzey, ginlindzey@lindzey.us
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT:
     Clyde Lehmann, clehmann1@satx.rr.com

CA Area Representatives

Area A: Brenda Pearson brenda.pearson@humble.k12.tx.us

Area B: Patrick Bray pvbray@earthlink.net

Area C: Laura Veall veall@hpisd.org  

Area D:

Area E:

Area F: Cathy Moore cathy.moore@pflugervilleisd.net  

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Standing Committees

SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE:
     Melissa Dowling, Southern Methodist University,
       mdowling@mail.smu.edu
     Andrew Riggsby, University of Texas at Austin,
       ariggsby@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu
ORAL/READING PROFICIENCY COMMITTEE:
     Tish Dillworth (chair), tdilworth @academicplanet.com
     Laura Giles, magistralg@aol.com
     Jim Johnson, jimjohnson@austinc.edu

Ad hoc committees

MUSEUM COMMITTEE:
     Cindy Pope (chair), cindyp@acs.colleges.org
     Jill Nelson
COMMITTEE TO REVISE THE CONSTITUTION:
     Grace Starry West (chair), gwest@acad.udallas.edu
     Donna Gerard, XMGTT11B@prodigy.com
     Ginny Lindzey, ginlindzey@lindzey.us
     Anthony Damico
NOMINATION COMMITTEE:
     Ruthie Estes?
     Bob Cape, rcape@austincollege.edu
     Miranda Mathis?
PROGRAMS IN CRISIS COMMITTEE:
     Bob Cape, rcape@austincollege.edu
     Pat Abel
     Ed George
     (Betty Duke, bduke@pisd.edu)
     Tish Dilworth, tdilworth@academicplanet.com
     Ginny Lindzey, ginlindzey@lindzey.us

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TCA Constitution, Revised 1997

Article I. Name, Purposes and Membership

• Section 1. This organization shall be called the Texas Classical Association.
• Section 2. The purpose of the Texas Classical Association shall be to foster the teaching of the classics and to encourage an interest in them in Texas. Members of the Texas Classical Association are urged to join the Texas Foreign Language Association to unite in support of the teaching of foreign languages in Texas.
• Section 3. The membership of the association shall consist of those engaged in the teaching of the classics or those interested in the teaching of the classics. Classes of membership shall be as follows:
  • a. Regular: a member who pays his annual dues
  • b. Joint: membership for couples who want all the benefits of membership but only one copy of TCA publications
  • c. Sustaining: dues for this class shall be higher than those for regular membership, but with no additional privileges
  • d. Student: open to students enrolled in Classical Language, History or Civilization courses
  • e. Retired: teachers who are members at the time of their retirement qualify
  • f. Life: honorary membership bestowed for exceptional service rendered to the association

Article II. Officers and Duties

• Section 1. The elected officers shall be the President, the President-Elect, the Vice-President, the Executive Secretary-Treasurer, the Historian and the Editor of the Texas Classics in Action journal. Officers shall be elected at a regular fall meeting and shall serve two-year terms. Officers may be reelected for any number of successive or intermittent terms. The office of Editor of the Texas Classics in Action journal may be held concurrently with any other office in this association.
• Section 2. Any member of the association shall be eligible to hold office. A majority of votes cast by members present shall be necessary to elect any officer. Newly elected officers shall take office at the close of the meeting at which they are elected.
• Section 3. The duties of the elected officers shall be as follows:
  • a. The President shall be chairman and presiding officer of the Executive Committee and the TCA Council; he shall preside over all regular and called meetings of the association; he shall be responsible for the program at such meetings; he shall appoint or reappoint all chairmen and members of Standing Committees and remove or add other committees as he or the association shall deem necessary; he shall serve as an ex officio member on all committees; he shall serve in an advisory capacity to the Executive Committees of the Texas Foreign Language Association and the Texas State Junior Classical League; he shall lead and coordinate all activities of the association.
  • b. The President-Elect shall assist the President and be assigned by him to leadership in such projects as the association may be sponsoring; he shall concern himself with the training and placement of teachers; he shall succeed to the presidency automatically upon the expiration of the President's term of office; he shall assume the Presidency upon the resignation of the President; he shall fulfill that term and then embark upon his own.
  • c. The Vice-President shall function as the Parliamentarian at all meetings of the Association.
  • d. The Executive Secretary-Treasurer shall actively support and assist each of his fellow officers in the performance of his duties; he shall conduct an annual membership drive for the association; he shall record and disseminate the minutes of all regular and called meetings of the association; he shall receive all monies due the association and shall from the treasury pay all just debts of the association upon receipt of properly itemized statements; he shall make a financial report at each regular and called meeting of the association; he shall be State Advisor to TSJCL.
  • e. The Historian shall keep the official copy of the history of the association and update it annually; he shall maintain the archives of the association.
  • f. The Editor shall twice yearly edit, publish and mail to the membership issues of the journal Texas Classics in Action and the TCA Newsletter; he shall also edit and oversee all TCA publications on the World Wide Web.
• Section 4. The President, with the concurrence of a majority of the Executive Committee, shall have the power to appoint such additional officers as may be deemed necessary, including by not limited to, the members of the TCA Council and TCA Advisors to the Texas State Junior Classical League. These appointed officers shall be considered non-voting members of the Executive Committee.
• Section 5. An officer who is delinquent in the performance of his duties may be removed from office by a majority vote of the Executive Committee.

Article III. Government

• Section 1. There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the President, the President-Elect, the Vice-President, the Executive Secretary-Treasurer, the Historian, the Editor, the immediate Past President, and the various appointed officers. In the event the immediate Past President is unable to serve, his place on the Executive Committee shall be filled by any Past President the committee may select. The Executive Committee shall be the policy-making board of the association and shall meet at the call of the President. The Executive Committee shall have the power to fill vacancies occurring among their membership between elections, except that the President-Elect shall assume the Presidency, if at any time the office of President should become vacant. All such appointments shall be deemed to be interim in nature, the appointee to serve only until the time of the next elections of the association.
• Section 2. There shall be a TCA Council consisting of regional coordinators for the six areas of the Texas State Junior Classical League. The TCA Council shall assist the President by providing information necessary for policy decision; they shall aid the Editor in gathering material for the TCA journal as corresponding editors; they shall assist the Executive Secretary-Treasurer in the recruitment of members; they shall be active in support of TCA programs and policies in their respective areas. The President shall conduct the business of the TCA Council by personal contact and by correspondence, but he may call meetings of the TCA Council as may be deemed necessary.
• Section 3. There shall be three Standing Committees of the association:
  • a. The Nominations Committee shall have three members and shall provide a slate of nominees for election at regular meetings. The committee shall secure the consent of all nominees for presentation to the association; the slate of nominees presented shall not preclude nominations from the floor, provided that the consent of the floor nominee to serve has been obtained.
  • b. The TCA Committee on the Texas State Junior Classical League shall have three members and shall serve in advisory capacity to the Executive Committee of the Texas State Junior Classical League. Members of the committee shall work with the Executive Secretary to facilitate communication between TCA and TSJCL. The members of this committee shall be appointed for a staggered series of terms, resulting in terms of three years each, with one seat coming vacant each year. Members may be reappointed to any number of successive or intermittent terms.
  • c. The Scholarship Committee shall have three members and shall have the responsiblity of establishing criteria and selecting recipients for the TCA Professional Scholarship and the Gareth Morgan Student Teacher Scholarships. The Committee shall also select the recipients of the TSJCL scholarships as requested by its Executive Board and Advisors.

Article IV. Meetings

• Section 1. The association shall meet once yearly in the fall in a location selected by the President.
• Section 2. The association may meet at the call of the President at such time and place as he may designate; such called meetings shall be considered regular meetings of the association.

Article V. Publicity

• Section 1. The Consitution shall be published continuously on the TCA Web Site with copies available to members upon request to the Editor.
• Section 2. The Texas Classics in Action journal shall be sent to all members each year, giving a report of coming meetings, a list of active members, financial reports, forms for joining various classical associations, and any other current news and information of interest to the membership.
• Section 3. The TCA Newsletter shall be sent to all members each year, announcing the annual conference in the fall and the scholarships in the spring, plus other timely news as is appropriate.
• Section 4. A TCA World Wide Web site shall be maintained, providing electronic access to reports, documents, forms, current news, and links to other sites of interest to Texas classicists, as well as any other information that can be effectively distributed via this medium.

Article VI. Amendments

• Section 1. The Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any regular meeting of the association.
• Section 2. Proposed amendments must be presented in writing to the Executive Committee at least one week prior to the date of the meeting at which the amendment is to be introduced.

Article VII. Review

• Section 1. The constitution shall be reviewed quinquennially by a committee appointed by the President and the Executive Committee.

Bylaws to the Constitution of the Texas Classical Association

1. Dues for the various types of membership shall be recommended by the Executive Committee and approved by the general membership. Approved dues shall remain in force until altered by a majority vote of the general membership present and voting at a regular meeting.

2. Membership shall extend throughout the school year in which dues are tendered until the beginning of the following school year.

3. Robert's Rules of Order shall be the authority for the conduct of all meetings of the association.

4. Amendments to these bylaws may be enacted by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting at a regular meeting of the association.

5. Any proposed amendment to the bylaws must be submitted in writing to the Executive Committee at least one week prior to the date of the meeting at which the proposed amendment is to be introduced.

6. These bylaws shall be reviewed quinquennially by a committee appointed by the President and the Executive Committee.

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Last updated September 30, 2007. This site was re-created August 1998 by Ginny Lindzey, Webmistress, Texas Classical Association. All text and graphics are copyrighted. Original photo of arch by Roger Robison. To report problems and to get permission to reprint articles, please contact Ginny at ginlindzey@lindzey.us