KIAC Constitution
CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE I
NAME
The name of the organization shall be the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
ARTICLE II
PURPOSE
The purpose of this Conference is to regulate, control and promote all the recognized sports and to insure that athletic activities of the colleges constituting the Conference be maintained on an ethical plane.
ARTICLE III
OFFICERS AND COMMITEES
Section 1. Names of officers
The officers of the Conference shall be Commissioner (ex-officio), Past-President, President, President-Elect/Secretary, and Treasurer, each of whom will perform the customary duties of such officers. Other than the commissioner officers will be elected from the executive committee of the conference and receive a stipend/honorarium commiserate with their level of service.
Section 2. Composition of Officers
Both genders must be represented on the executive committee
Section 3. Term
Each elected officer will serve a term of two years.
Section 4. Election of Officers
Officers of the Conference will be nominated and elected during the Spring Meeting every other year.
Executive Committee:
The executive committee will be formed to include the officers of the conference and four at-large members. Both genders must be represented on the executive committee.
Ex-officio members of the Executive Committee shall include the Commissioner, the Eligibility Chair, the Conference Sports Information Director, and a designee from the Faculty Athletic Representatives.
Section 6. Duties of Officers and Committees
Commissioner:
The commissioner shall perform such duties as are prescribed in the By-Laws and/or such duties as may be prescribed by the Executive Committee to which he/she is responsible. The Commissioner’s duties shall include:
1. To serve as the chief administrative officer of the Conference.
2. To represent the conference at the annual NAIA national convention and on the Regional Management Committee. Travel and lodging expenses will be reimbursed by the KIAC.
3. To interpret and enforce all conference regulations and impose sanctions as necessary. The decisions of the Commissioner are to be reported to the President of the Conference and to each member institution. Members shall have the right to appeal decisions of the Commissioner to the Executive Committee.
4. To serve as an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Executive
Committee and any other committee the Executive Committee may direct.
5. To stay abreast of the activities of the Conference and its individual
members and to give advice and guidance in the solution of any problems.
6. To be responsible for officials for basketball. This includes the assignment of officials and supervision of them. If he/she so desires, he/she may designate a portion of this responsibility. For example, he/she might ask another individual to be responsible for the assignment and supervision of officials for women’s basketball.
7. To conduct a continuous educational program looking toward the
development of scholarship, sportsmanship and understanding of the values of competitive athletics, and to exert all reasonable effort to acquaint the public with the ethics and high ideals which motivate the Conference in its conduct of intercollegiate athletics.
8. To maintain a file of precedents and interpretations of Conference and national rules and regulations, and to keep members informed regarding changes and interpretations of national rules.
9. To conduct a continuing study of scheduling in all sports and to assist athletic directors and coaches in the preparation of schedules.
10. To perform such other duties as the Conference may direct. He/she shall have all powers necessary for the performance of his/her duties.
11. To make a report concerning his/her activities at each regular Conference meeting.
President:
It will be the duty of the President to arrange for all regular and special called meetings of the Conference, and to preside at said meetings, and to fill vacancies on the Executive Committee of at-large members, and to perform other customary duties of the office. It is understood that after serving a two-year term as President, the individual will become the Past-President.
Past-President:
It will be the duty of the Past-President to serve as a senior advisor to the President to provide for Conference continuity and consistency as well as perform in other functions and roles as appointed by the President. It is understood that after serving a two-year term as Past-President, the individual may rotate out of the Conference Officers or be nominated for further Conference involvement.
President-Elect/Secretary:
It will be the duty of the President-Elect to perform the duties of the President in his/her absence and to fulfill other responsibilities as appointed by the President. It is understood that after serving a two-year term as President-Elect, the individual will become President.
As Secretary, he/she shall keep minutes of all regular and special called meetings of the Conference. He/she shall inform the members of the time and location of all meetings. He/she shall be responsible for furnishing each member with three copies of the Constitution and By-Laws each time there are major revisions and with preparing and distributing supplements to document in which all rulings of interpretation by the Executive Committee are recorded.
Treasurer:
As Treasurer, he/she shall present at each meeting a detailed statement of receipt and disbursement of all funds of the Conference. The treasurer will also be responsible for receiving financial statements from conference championships and disbursing payment to tournament officials.
Executive Committee:
The Executive Committee shall administer and propose the policies of the conference. Every effort shall be made to maintain institutional balance in representation on the executive committee. At-Large members of this committee shall be selected by nomination and vote of the membership to a two year term at the regular Spring Meeting. The two-year terms will begin in the off-year of other elections. In the event of a resignation a new at-large member will be appointed by the commissioner to complete the term.
Whenever cases are referred to the Executive Committee, the committee may suspend or place on probation until the next regular meeting of the Conference, any member who violates any rule, regulation, or policy of the Conference. The committee may prohibit any team or teams from being recognized as Conference champions; and/or prohibit any member from participating in the distribution of Conference funds. In all disciplinary actions, the member institution charged with violations may appeal actions of the Executive Committee to the Conference at the next meeting of the Conference. Committee members may not participate in
adjudication of problems involving their own institutions.
The committee may, at its discretion, ask the Commissioner to investigate the activities of a member institution. A majority vote of the committee is necessary to initiate an investigation.
For the committee to take official action a quorum must be present. A quorum is a majority of those on the committee.
The committee may choose to hold an open meeting, but all actions shall be transacted in executive session.
Lodging expenses of the Executive Committee shall be borne by the Conference.
Policy, constitutional or by-law changes must be approved by the Executive Committee. Once approved, the decision will be brought to a vote by the Athletic Directors.
Sport Committee Chairs:
Sport Chairs are assigned by the Commissioner to serve as the liaison between the Conference and the specific sport areas. Sport Chairs may be reassigned annually or may continue in the same capacity for an unlimited tenure.
Responsibilities:
1. To maintain communication with sport coaches.
2. To ensure and post-season play-off plans (site, date, seeding, etc.) are developed and submitted to the Commissioner by the Conference deadline.
3. To submit KIAC Financial Report to the Commissioner and conference Treasurer by the Conference deadline.
4. To submit specific sport award recipients (athlete and coach) to the
Commissioner by the Conference deadline.
5. To attend the fall meetings of the Conference and preside over specific sport meetings.
6. To, with the support of the sport specific coaches, recommend by-law changes to the Executive Committee.
ARTICLE IV
REPRESENTATIVES
In transacting official business with a college, the officers of the Conference shall recognize only the Athletic Director or someone appointed by him/her or by the duly appointed authority of the college.
ARTICLE V
VOTING
Voting shall be done by the Athletic Directors of member schools or someone appointed by him/her or by duly appointed authority of the college. A majority of Conference members represented shall constitute a quorum. Voting by proxy is prohibited. Athletic Directors who are not present to vote and wish to appoint someone else from their institution to vote in their absence shall notify the Commissioner, in writing, of their absence and the identity of the person voting for them. If no representative is designated by an institution, that institution forfeits its voting privilege at that meeting.
ARTICLE VI
MEMBERSHIP
A. Full Membership
Any four-year college which is a member in good standing in the National
Associations of Intercollegiate Athletics and who sponsors three sports for men and three sports for women, two of which must be team sports, is eligible for membership in the Conference. Formal application for membership will be considered at any regular or called meeting. New members may be admitted by a three-fourths majority vote of members in good standing.
B. Associate Membership
The Conference recognizes membership of those schools who are eligible for NAIA membership but who do not meet minimum Conference sports
requirements as associate members. Associate membership allows for full participation in those intercollegiate sports that the school offers. Associate members will be recognized to have voting privileges in matters related only to their specific sports programs. Conference dues for associate members will be set by the Executive Committee but not exceed dues for full members.
ARTICLE VII
RESIGNATION
A resigning member or one dropped from the Conference shall forfeit its pro-rata share of the Conference assets.
ARTICLE VIII
MEETINGS
Section 1. Regular Meetings
Unless changed by the commissioner, the semi-annual meetings of the Conference shall be held on the third Wednesday in October and in the spring on the second Wednesday in April.
Section 2. Special Meetings
A special meeting may be held any time at the call of the President. Such special meetings shall not be called by the President at the request of conference members.
Section 3. Location of Meetings
The location of both the fall and spring meetings shall be determined by the Executive Committee.
ARTICLE IX
CONFERENCE FINANCING
Any expense incurred during the year in carrying on the work of the Conference shall come from the Conference treasury. In case Conference finances are insufficient to cover such expenses they shall be borne equally by Conference members. Conference activities are financed by an annual dues assessment. Dues will be determined at the annual spring meeting. Single gender institutions will be assessed two-thirds of the full membership fee.
Lodging and travel expenses associated with Regional Management Committee business and the NAIA Convention for the commissioner. RMC officers and league president shall be borne by the conference when necessary.
ARTICLE X
AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION
This constitution may be amended at any regular or special meeting by a majority vote of the delegates present and eligible to vote, provided that the proposed amendment shall have been submitted, in writing, six weeks before the meeting to the Commissioner of the Conference, and complete copies of the proposed amendment are sent to all member institutions at least two weeks prior to the meeting.
ARTICLE XI
CONDUCT AND SPORTSMANSHIP
The Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference shall take such procedures as it deems necessary to prevent violations of the principles of amateur sports, fair play and good sportsmanship.
Grievances and related matters shall be reported in writing to the Commissioner with a copy sent to each member of the Executive Committee. Any institution involved in a questionable incident or irregularity shall be expected to investigate the incident and take positive and direct action to correct the situation.
Removal from a game or match of any player or coach shall be reported to the Commissioner, and each incident shall be reviewed by the Commissioner with a report to the Executive Committee if any action is necessary.
Any flagrant disregard for the welfare of the Conference shall be reviewed by the Commissioner and the Executive Committee. The institution and/or individual so involved will be subject to disciplinary action as hereafter indicated.
Any coach, student, school official or spectator using insulting language or resorting to other questionable tactics to incite another coach, player, or school official before, after, or during an intercollegiate contest, or who has been ejected from a contest because of such tactics, shall be reported to the Conference for possible disciplinary action. Action shall be taken by the Commissioner who shall report his action to the Executive Committee.
The coach and all other school athletics official shall remain seated on the bench or within the normally prescribed coaching area except during times out. He/she shall in no way incite, demonstrate, or otherwise attempt by word or action to register disapproval toward officials. The officials of every contest where unacceptable behavior on the part of a coach occurs shall complete a report to the Commissioner. Failure to do so may lead to the removal of said official from the approved list of officials.
Any student who is under penalty or discipline or whose character or conduct is such as to reflect discredit upon the Conference may be declared ineligible by the Conference.
No artificial noise makers (bells, drums, beating on cans, etc.) are to be used at a contest involving a member institution. Any band music will be restricted to before the start of the contest and at half time and official times out. Any violation shall be subject to a technical foul and reported to the Commissioner.
The home management is answerable for the behavior of the crowd. It shall be the responsibility of the home institution to take steps to avoid potential problems, i.e. by serving soft drinks only in paper cups, no bottles; by seating cheering sections in separate and divided areas by providing security both inside and adjacent to areas of access or parking, etc.; by providing private protected dressing areas for officials and players.
The Conference reserves the right to take such action as deemed necessary to protect and improve the program intercollegiate athletics for the benefit of its members. All irregularities coming to the attention of the Conference shall be acted upon by the noninvolved members at a called or regular meeting. Penalties as severe as permanent suspension or disbarment in the sport involved may be assessed to both individuals and institutions.
The individual or the institution in question will have no voice in rendering a decision as to guilt or vindication, and will be expected to testify only to the extent of answering questions put forth by the Conference.
Any and all incidents must be reported by the institution considered the home team during the contest in question. The officials in charge will be called upon to make a report. This shall be done immediately following the contest. Any suspected irregularity shall be reported to the Commissioner with a copy to be filed with the Secretary of the Conference and no further attempt shall be made to inform other members of the incident except at the hearing called by the Executive Committee, and if other institutions accept such information they
immediately involve themselves, become suspect, and may be disqualified from the decision making process. A meeting called by the Executive Committee, chaired by the Commissioner, may appoint an investigator who will be charged with obtaining facts in relation to the case at hand. Balloting on disciplinary action taken will be by secret ballot on the non-involved college representatives.
SPORTSMANSHIP STATEMENTS:
The KIAC recommends reading the following statement or the statement in the Champions of Character program.
To be read by public address prior to game:
The Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference encourages and promotes sportsmanship by student-athletes, coaches, and spectators, Profanity, racial or ethnic comments, or other intimidating actions directed at officials, student athletes, coaches or team representatives will not be tolerated and are grounds for removal from the site of the competition.
The Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference requires officials to enforce all rules regarding unsportsmanlike conduct by coaches and players. There will not be any tolerance for negative statements of actions between opposing players, especially taunting and baiting. If such comments are heard, a penalty will be assessed immediately. If any coach protests an unsportsmanlike penalty, he or she will be ejected from the contest. We have been instructed not to issue warnings during the contests. It is strongly suggested that you remind your participants of this policy.