You will find the ACBS's Chapter Board Handbook attached below.

We must be logged into your ACBS account to access this page.

Presented by Hubert Czupała, Maria Karekla, Melody Didisse, Sanna Turakka, Eugen Secara, Lidia Baran, Stefan Wagler, Silvia Nicolescu at the ACBS World Conference Nicosia, Cyprus 2023.

Since May 2021, two nominated leaders from each ACBS Chapter have expressed an interest in participating in the CBS national and language chapters' PROSOCIAL process. We completed the prosocial facilitator training and continued to meet online.

We know that the evolutionary success of ACBS is not only about increasing membership, the growing impact factor of the JCBS, or the number of groups worldwide promoting the ACBS. For this reason, we worked together using PROSOCIAL principles to communicate, cooperate, identify and solve problems to build a stronger community. We hoped we could support training and practice opportunities and spread evidencebased information, strategies, sovereignty and autonomy of decisions of CBS national and language chapters. We want to use this opportunity to discuss our different experiences utilizing this process on a personal, chapter and international level. To encourage others to share perspectives, raise discussion and take action towards inclusiveness and further promote the work of the ACBS.

The recording is available on the ACBS website for members here - https://contextualscience.org/video/acbs_prosocial_evolution

Chapters generally cover large areas (countries, states/provinces) and affiliates cover smaller geographic areas (cities, regions).

(Note, there are some early city-wide chapters that were grandfathered in, but ACBS now prefers groups that are mostly city-oriented to adopt the Affiliate model... but that is negotiable.)

Chapters are not "over" Affiliates; Affiliates do not "answer to" Chapters.

Chapters and Affiliates are encouraged to work together and combine their resources, but it is not required. A Chapter may choose to invite Affiliate leadership to participate in Chapter work/decisions (or vice versa), but it is not required for either group.

Affiliates are "affiliated" directly with ACBS, as are Chapters.

In our experience, Affiliate Boards are not required. However, Affiliates are required to have at least 2 leaders at all times.

If you're Affiliate has a Board, don't worry, that's ok. That's great in fact and means that folks are interested in getting involved.

If the Affiliate collects money for events, the Affiliate will need to follow local and national laws. 

Annual reports are required for all Chapters, SIGs, and Affiliates.

Annual reporting to ACBS helps ACBS to stay informed about what each chapter, SIG, and affiliate has been up to, what you are planning, what activities occurred during your year, what problems you have encountered, what feedback you would like to give us, your wish list for Chapters, etc. (this data is collected via your Annual reports submitted on the website).

Reporting is requested for the previous calendar year. Chapters/SIGs formed in the final 3 months of a calendar year, are not required to report in the following April. (We know you're just getting started.) Due dates for Annual Reports are as follows:

Chapters annual report deadline - March 15 (changed from April 15)
SIGs annual report deadline - April 15 
Affiliate annual report deadline - October 15

Your main contact person listed (in your report) will be reminded by email on when the annual is report is coming due. He/she or any other board member may be tasked with completing the report. If your Chapter/SIG/Affiliate needs to change your official contact during the year, please email the ACBS office (support@contextualscience.org) at any time, to do so.

Each time someone submits the Annual Report, they will get an emailed copy of your input in text format. We recommend you save a copy of this on your own hardrive for future reference, e.g., so that you don't have to recreate the entire process from scratch the following year, to track your own goals, etc.

You can save, edit and work on the Annual Report over the course of a couple of weeks if you like.  To do this, you must log in prior to submitting the information in the form, and enter at least one keystroke in each required field, you may edit it (via the link emailed to you) until the submission deadline.

Did you know there is a new Chapter & SIG Award?  Learn more here about how to apply and what qualifies - New Chapter & SIG Award/ Grant

Links to the Annual Report forms

• Click here to submit a Chapter annual report
• Click here to submit a SIG annual report
• Click here to submit an Affiliate annual report
   

ACBS Chapters are required to have by-laws.

By-laws should be specific enough to help the running of the organization, but general enough that the organization can function easily without violating/contradicting the by-laws in actual practice. By-laws establish continuing, generally-applicable policies or procedures basic to the structure or management. In matters in which changes can be anticipated over the life of the organization, such as dues structure, functions of staff employees, etc., the by-laws should give only general guidance or set minimal requirements.

By-laws typically contain:

• Purposes of the organization
• Membership qualifications
• Officers qualifications, terms of office, titles, etc.
• Election information (frequency and manner of balloting)
• Filing of officer vacancies
• Voting by members and directors
• Amendment procedures
• Dissolution procedures

Different Countries/States/Provinces may have specific requirements for their by-laws. Please check with your local authorities to make sure that your chapter by-laws also fulfill their government requirements.  (Usually the same office that you would go through to get a business license would provide this information.)

When logged into this website, members can view a general chapter by-law example at the bottom of this page.

ACBS Chapters are required to have by-laws.

General Information about By-Laws
(adapted from "Association Law Handbook, 4th Ed., p.17-20")

By-laws are rules adopted and maintained by a Chapter to define and direct its internal structure and management. They are subordinate only to the articles of incorporation (if the Chapter is incorporated). By-laws are best used to detail how the Chapter is formed and how it is run.

By-laws may be viewed as constituting the terms of an agreement between a Chapter and its members. This 'agreement' is generally legally enforceable.

By-laws should be specific enough to help the running of the Chapter, but general enough that the organization can function easily without violating/contradicting the by-laws in actual practice. By-laws establish continuing, generally-applicable policies or procedures basic to the structure or management.

In matters in which changes can be anticipated over the lifespan of the Chapter (such as dues structure, functions of board members, etc.) the by-laws should give only general guidance or set minimal requirements. Specific decision on these matters may more conveniently be
- left to resolution by Chapter board of directors, or
- left to resolution by the chapter membership, or
- based on another governing document, such as a Chapter's manual of policies and procedures.

Amendments to Chapter by-laws are purposefully difficult and should be made rarely.

You must follow your Chapter by-laws.  If you don't, you aren't serving your group faithfully.

By-laws are purposefully a little vague, to give you flexibility, and specific in other ways, to keep you on track.

If your Chapter has been going along, but find something about your by-laws doesn't work for you, or is holding you back, (too many, or too few board members? Outdated name choice, if your group has grown? etc.) it might be time to change your by-laws.

Your by-laws explain in them, what has to happen to change them.  Typically a vote of your Chapter's membership is required.  Also, ACBS will want to see your new by-laws before they are officially changed, to update our files, as well as to make sure that the changes aren't so drastic as to change your mission too far away from ACBS's goals/values. Also, ACBS can offer some suggestions about by-laws (and warn you against too large boards, or specifically requiring certain committees, etc.) before you take them to your membership.

Steps:

1. Draft a new version of your by-laws.  (Track changes in Word is the best way to display the differences/changes.)
2. Send them to the ACBS Executive Director for review/approval.
3. Follow your existing/old by-laws and put the proposed changes in front of your membership for a vote (typically it's your entire chapter membership, not the board, unless you are in a country with different by-law requirements).
4. If approved, send the updated by-laws to ACBS to keep on file.

Trade Associations (which ACBS is) qualify for tax-exempt status under US, IRS tax code designation 501c6.  This is tax-exempt.  We are established as a "corporation". It is not "non-profit" in the sense that any money given to it is not tax deductible, and we can not apply for a waiver of state sales tax, as a "charity" can.

IRS Help via Phone: I've been impressed multiple times by how knowlegeable and helpful the IRS has been when calling them for assistance.  They are tax experts on the other end of the line, not a receptionist.

Telephone Assistance for Exempt Organizations, Retirement Plan Administrators, and Government Entities:
Toll-Free, 1-877-829-5500
Hours of Operation: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Local Time.

ACBS is not an attorney or an accountant and can not provide definitive tax advice.  The information below is for your convenience only.

How to establish your association at the state & federal levels:

Step 1, apply for an EIN
Step 2, contact your state's secretary of state to be recognized in your state (ACBS is categorized as a "non-profit corporation" in the state of Nevada). You need to file your Articles of Association with them.  Go here to find contact information for your state.

Before you apply to your state, you'll need your By-laws and list of officers (often referred to as members).

Step 3, complete the Form 1024 with fee form: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/k1024.pdf

You'll need your by-laws, list of officers, Articles of Incorporation/Association, a conflict of interest policy. (ACBS has attached theirs to this webpage if you need a template.) ACBS has also attached their original 1024 application to this webpage (login and see below.  This is for your info only.  Please do not copy or forward it.

Step 4, check to see if your city has any additional requirements for a tax-exempt entity (some do, some don't)

http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Application-Process
http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Frequently-Asked-Questions-About-Applying-for-Tax-Exemption

https://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Other-Non-Profits/Life-Cycle-of-a-Business-League-%28Trade-Association%29 this is each step, from formation to annual maintenence of your tax status

These links above might help you too.

Annual Tax reporting for 501c6 Trade Associations:

990 - Annual Information Return

990-N - For Associations with Annual Gross Receipts of less than $50,000 (please verify this number annually)

1099s & 1096 - Usually 1099-MISC are all that are required.

501c6 Associations are required to keep annual minutes.

If you have paid staff (not occassionally contracted 1099 workers) you'll need to issue W-2s, and complete annual W-3, and pay Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) on form 940. In addition to quarterly 941 reporting. For these employees states will also require you to pay state unemployment, sales/use-tax, and other possible taxes quarterly.  (ACBS has a paid version of QuickBooks, with the Payroll Subscription to calculate these.  You may consider something like this if you have W-2 employees.)

If you need to order documents (W-2 forms to complete for employees, 1099s, etc.) the IRS will send them to you for free if you order here.

You will need to check with your state to see if you need to do any kind of Annual Tax Return equivalent or not, for your state.

Annually, you'll also need to pay for your business license, with your state (amout varies by state... Nevada is about $50 annually). One thing to note, it is possible to incorporate in a state other than your own.  It may be cheaper.  HOWEVER, you'll need to contract with a company to be your "registered agent" (I think that's under $150 for ACBS annually), and if you have paid employees in your state (not the state of incorporation) you'll need to register with your state anyway as a "foreign" company doing business in that state.  There is typically an annual fee associated with that (although it's usually less than a business license).

What if I don't want to incorporate? (or don't have the money to pay the fees to incorporate)

The simplest way moving forward is to work via an individual.  This can be a trusted senior member, a trusted board member etc.  You would create a PayPal account for this purpose, collect money that way, and any "profit" at the end of the year would actually work like "income" for that person.  They would pay taxes on it, as you are not a tax-exempt entity. Presumably any money paid in taxes would be deducted from the profit, so that the individual doesn't carry any financial burden doing this.  Assuming that you would want to operate under the name "ZZZ chapter of ACBS" then to do this you'd likely need to file a "fictitious name" form filed officially through your state, so that you can accept checks and do business under that name. This person would "hold" the money for the chapter and pay it out as needed.

Ok, what else do you what on this page?  Or what can you update?  Please click "add comment" below, when logged in, and let us know any new information that should be added or updated on this page.

Thanks!

...

Chapter and SIG leaders are invited to join the ACBS Chapter and SIG Leadership Listserv. 

The Chapter and SIG Leadership Listserv has more than 300 members.  It is a good resource for Chapter and SIG leaders. You can post your question and other Chapter and SIG leaders can respond.  ACBS Staff post announcements, deadline reminders, and tips/FAQ.

If you are a Chapter or SIG leader and you want to join the listserv, please email community@contextualscience.org

As is laid out in each Chapter's By-laws, all Chapters are required to have a Board, elected in the way described in the By-laws.  Terms and positions are also outlined in the By-laws.  Things like term limits, and other details about the Board or elections, may go into a policy manual, if you choose to create one.  The lack of a detailed By-laws description of things like term limits, rejoining the Board in another role, etc., gives Chapters leeway to abide by their By-laws, but execute a process/election that can be tailored to their needs.

You can review the ACBS Chapter Board Handbook for more detailed information here.

Best practice usually suggests collecting nominee names, and then a committee can take various paths to determining who is ultimately on the ballot.

The best election practices start well before the nominee process, and includes pulling in new people to projects and committee work, and those who are successful contributors should be asked to consider more participation as well as possibliy running for a Board position in the future, etc.

Willingness, a record of follow through, commitment to the organization, ability to work well with others, and thoughtfulness are all good indicators of a potential successful Board member.

Here is a good article regarding building a good Board/ballot.

https://www.boardeffect.com/blog/board-member-election-process/

Attached are the policies the ACBS Board follows in building the ballot.

ACBS is willing to run your first election for you, if that is helpful. We would just do it via a surveymonkey.com (a free account), which you could do as well.

The Survey Monkey free account allows a maximum of 40 submissions. So, if you anticipate more than 40 people voting, then you can also run your elections using Google Forms. Google Forms doesn't limit the number of submissions like surveymonkey does and is a survey tool housed in the Google Drive (which can be accessed through Gmail). Users completing the survey are not required to have a Gmail account. More information on this service can be found here.

You would put a call out for nominations from your group, then collect nominations (nominating self, or nominating others... but then of course you'd have to confirm they were willing to run).

If you want to collect bios or platform statements from the nominees you can. It depends on your group as to how much info you think you need. (We do this for ACBS elections.) You may choose to add this information to your section of the website as a child page, so that you don't have to include them all in your email about voting... up to you.

You then draft a letter, with subject line, noting the available positions, and the candidates for each position, and giving an end date for voting (I suggest 7-14 days after the ballot is sent out).

ACBS (or you) would create a ballot in surveymonkey.com and include that link at the bottom of the email.

The "letter/ballot" can be distributed via your listserv or if you prefer, ACBS is happy to send it to everyone that has indicated SIG/Chapter membership on our ACBS website. (Or we can give you those contact emails so that you can send out the message. You can request these emails at any time, like prior to the call for nominations.)

When the election is complete (if ACBS did it), we'll email you and one other person from your chapter/sig the results (so that you have a second person verifying).

Then you would email those elected and those not (thanking them), then notify the chapter members of the results.

(SIGS may choose a less formal method of election, but Chapters should create a formal procedure and refer to their by-laws.)

You can find a general chapter by-laws example at the bottom of this page. (You must be logged in as an ACBS member to view the attachment.)

Remember, your local state/province/country may have mandatory additions to by-laws, so you may feel free to ammend this example as needed to comply.

Boards must exercise the Duties of:

Care - do due diligence, be prepared, make thoughtful decisions in line with our mission and values

Obedience - support the organization and work to reach the goals voted on by the Board (even if you were a dissenter)

Loyalty - prioritize the wellbing of the organization over any other associations or self-interests

There is a bit more to it than that, but that is a quick description.  You can review these duties in the ACBS Chapter Board Handbook here.  For more thorough, but readable, articles about them please read below.

See more about these duties here:

https://www.boardeffect.com/blog/fiduciary-responsibilities-nonprofit-board-directors/

or

https://www.esoppartners.com/blog/bid/89198/Corporate-Governance-Duties-of-Care-Loyalty-and-Obedience

Why only 2 if we have more people willing to run?

This question is asked often. Different groups/organizations do it in different ways, but generally the best practice is to have only 2.
While this is not an exhaustive list, here are some of the reasons why ACBS only has 2 people on the ballot for each position:

PROS (reasons for more than 2 to appear on the ballot)

• A candidate unknown to the Election Committee, but known to the members, has an opportunity to be elected.

CONS (reasons against having more than 2 people appear on the ballot for a single position)

• A run off election would be needed.  Our bylaws (and most bylaws) say that to be on the Board, a candidate must receive 50%+1 of the votes cast.  If there were 7 on a ballot, the top vote getter could have at little as 14.5%, which is insufficient for election to a board.  A run off election would be necessary among the top 2 vote getters.
  • This is problematic too because not as many people vote in a "run off" election.  Voter fatigue sets in, and there are always fewer votes.  Also voters sometimes think there was an error with the first election because it seems to be happening "again".
  • Re-running the top 2 vote getters isn't without it flaws, because it's possible that the other candidates impacted each others chance (example: if candidates: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 were all from the same place, and candidates 6 and 7 were from a different place, the votes from region 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 may have split across those five, giving all of them a disadvantage).
• Voters don't often read and research candidates in detail.  Having an unlimited number on the ballot could mean that the least qualified could be elected.  Having an Election Committee narrow the slate on the basis of representation, past volunteerism, ethics, etc., is an aid to the voters.
• Those on the ballot with the largest social media presence or the largest number of published books/articles will likely always win. Name recognition on the ballot is really important, because the voters don't all read the bios/platforms of the candidates.  This inappropriately would likely result in those with the biggest name recognition winning each election.
• You have more people on the ballot "not elected", and most candidates are unwilling to put their name forward, and not be selected, a finite number of times.
• Those on the ballot from the largest region/profession/etc., are likely to win most of the time, which does not ensure diverse representation.
• There would be no way of promoting equitable representation in different demographic categories (race, nationality, gender, etc.) across all of the available, open Board positions. 
• Not basing inclusion on a ballot on ethics, dedication, volunteer history, and the ability to get things done can result in an unresponsive board member with few achievements.

Having only 2 candidates on the ballot for each position doesn't solve all of these potential problems above, but it does help in many cases. To assist with the potential issues above, an Election Committee can closely review nominees and select the 2 who will best represent and lead the association.

For Chapters: Ideally you would like to have 2, but if you only have 1 candidate, you may still hold the election (and should, unless your bylaws indicated that you do not need to hold them in that case).

Here are a few links to how Nominating/Election Committees are encouraged to operate:

https://www.boardeffect.com/blog/electing-new-board-members-making-magic-happen/

https://www.rchcae.com/board-nominations-selection

https://www.boardeffect.com/blog/guidelines-for-a-nonprofit-nominating-committee/

The use of an image without a valid license is considered copyright infringement in violation of US copyright law, Title 17 of the United States Code.

The images on the ACBS website are either owned or licensed by ACBS or are public domain (free) images. If you would like to use an image from the ACBS website, please contact the ACBS office at acbs@contextualscience.org for permission and verification that ACBS has the legal authority to provide permission for use of an image.

Likewise, if you are going to place an image on your Chapter or SIG webpage, or other page, on the ACBS website, please make sure that it is a public domain image or owned solely by you. (Please note: This is different than a "royalty free" or "free" image.) You can find more information and links to public domain resources here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Public_domain_image_resources

Some would even go as far as to say that even with a public domain image, it's smart not to have it be a photograph where you can see someone's face. (Unless you've taken it with their full knowledge and their permission.)

If in doubt, please check with us first to make sure that the image is okay to be used on the ACBS website. Thank you!

General Association information

I have looked at and referenced a number of the resources on this website: http://www.rchcae.com/

If you need anything regarding governance, strategic planning, volunteer management, he has a lot of free documents/policies/examples for download.

A few companies/products that may have free to cheap products that will help with the management of your Chapter/SIG.

• The ACBS Website! - create a web presence for your group under your primary group/chapter page.  Check out the FAQ for details.
• SurveyMonkey.com - to do polling and elections
• MailChimp.com - to send out bulk, formatted emails
• PayPal.com - for collecting funds... has sites in many different languages
• Doodle.com - for helping to find a meeting time when everyone is available

More Tech Tools & Resources

The following represent a sampling of available tools and resources chapters could use to address a number of the operational tasks. Note: This list was compiled over a year ago and there are a gazillion+ and new technologies coming online every day. Probably need to develop a process to catalog and curate on an ongoing basis. This could be done in a chapter forum/listserv.

If any of these are no longer working, or if you have something to add, please login and “comment” at the bottom of this page and we’ll update it.

Some of these (like the conference calling) are US Based, and may not be available elsewhere.

Online Document Sharing (free versions available)
Google Docs – http://www.google.com
4 Shared – http://www.4shared.com
Scribd – http://www.scribd.com/about
DocStoc – http://www.docstoc.com/
DropBox – http://www.dropbox.com

Online Calendar (free versions available)
Yahoo Groups – http://groups.yahoo.com/
Google Groups – http://groups.google.com/
Groupsites – http://www.groupsite.com (offers full group services – free & fee based)

Distribution Tools
MailChimp –http://mailchimp.com/ (free)
1and1mail –http://www.1and1soft.com (free)
Constant Contact –http://search.constantcontact.com/ (fee-based)
MagnetMail – http://www.realmagnet.com (fee based)
iContact –http://go.icontact.com/ (fee-based)

Conference Call Services (free versions available)
You can use these services to schedule a conference call for your chapter leaders. Each of these services is different, so please review their websites and see which one works best for your needs.
Once you schedule a call you’ll need to send out the day/time and call-in information to call’s participants. We recommend sending it as an Outlook meeting request so it is automatically added to a person’s calendar once they
accept the meeting invite; however, you can also send all of the information in a regular email.
Rondee – http://www.rondee.com/
Wiggio – http://wiggio.com/ (offers full group services – free)
GroupMe – http://groupme.com/ (offers group messaging & conferencing)
GoogleVoice – http://www.google.com/googlevoice
Free Conference Call – http://www.freeconferencecall.com/
No Cost Conferences – http://www.nocostconference.com/

Webinar Services
AnyMeeting - http://www.anymeeting.com/
GoToWebinar - http://www.gotomeeting.com

Social Media & Social Networking Tools
LinkedIn (free)
Facebook – groups & private groups (free)
Groupsites – http://www.groupsite.com (offers full group services – free & fee based)
WordPress – http://wordpress.org/ (free & fee-based; blogging platform with CMS)
ListServe – http://www.listserve.com (fee-based)

Web-hosting
The ACBS Website! - http://contextualscience.org
Go Daddy – http://www.godaddy.com (fee-based; add-ons include calendar, email marketing)
DreamHost – http://dreamhost.com/ (fee-based)
MediaTemple – http://mediatemple.net/ (fee-based)
Laughing Squid – http://laughingsquid.us/ (fee-based)
Web Hosting for Free – http://www.webhostingforfree.com/ (free)
Webs – http://www.webs.com (free)

Advocacy Tools
Citizen Speak – http://www.citizenspeak.org/ (free)
The Proponent –http://www.theproponent.com/ (fee-based)
Rally Congress – http://www.theproponent.com/ (fee-based)

Web-Based Databases (fee based)
Wild Apricot – http://www.wildapricot.com/
MemberClicks –http://www.memberclicks.com/
Star Chapter – http://www.starchapter.com/
MemberHub – http://memberhub.com/home/
WishList – http://member.wishlistproducts.com/

Shared Grantwriter (contract services)
Allied Grant Writers – http://www.alliedgrantwriters.com
Resource Associates – http://www.grantwriters.net

Volunteer Management
iVolunteer - http://ivolunteer.com/
VolunteerSpot - http://www.volunteerspot.com
Volunteer Scheduler Pro - http://www.rotundasoftware.com/volunteerschedulerpro/

Event registration
Event Brite - https://www.eventbrite.com/
RegOnLine - https://www.regonline.com/
WuFoo - http://www.wufoo.com

Surveys
Survey Gizmo - http://www.surveygizmo.com/
Survey Monkey - https://www.surveymonkey.com/
TypeForm - http://www.typeform.com/

... have any good additions (or are any of these not helpful?)? login to the website, and click "add new comment" below, and put in your info and ACBS will incorporate it into this page

In our experience, SIG Boards are not required or necessarily needed.

If you're SIG has one, don't worry, that's ok.  That's great in fact and means that a lot of folks are interested in getting involved.

We find that often a looser leadership construction can work well too.  Hours of getting an election off the ground, assigning official roles and duties, are saved by not having an "official" Board.

Instead, we suggest a volunteer Leader/Chair, or co-leader/co-chair (as many as you like/need), and then additional volunteers to help.

Also when you figure out what you want to do as a SIG, creating small committees (long-term, or better yet, short-term) to do small, specific tasks, often work well to get things done.

Beyond what is specificially articulated in your By-Laws, who among the Board members actually executes Board "work" is up to the Board in general.

For example, the "Secretary-Treasurer" designation doesn't mean that this person is necessarily the "note taker" for all meetings.  They need to monitor the finances and make sure that Board Meeting Minutes are being taken (and are ultimately responsible for this), but beyond that, the person actually executing some of these duties can be different. Duties can be separated among the Board members (or assigned by the President) as they see fit, or given to non-elected Committee Chairs. (Note, non-elected Board members or Committee Chairs don't have a vote on the Board.)

Board members can serve any length they need to.  However, you must follow your by-laws.

Boards can create internal policies guiding whether or not someone can hold a position more than once, if they must wait in between terms, if they can be president more than once, the requirements to qualify as a student, etc.

We strongly suggest not being too restrictive. Some Chapters/SIGs have a small leadership pool which is ok, but can make it difficult to fill all positions.  You don't want to create policies that necessarily exclude your best people. 

Create your definition of "student" for the purpose of the ballot (ACBS says that a "student" is someone who does not get their terminal degree confired sooner than half way through their term.  Someone set to receive their Ph.D. (for example) 3 months into a 1 year position, would not qualify to run. Your definition may be a little different.) and determine of someone can hold a position more than once (and if consecutively), and then continue with minor changes to that document as needed (with a Board vote) over the years.

Uncontested elections still require a vote.  This goes back to your by-laws.  You must follow your by-laws.

Most by-laws state that Board Members are elected by the membership.  If you don't have an opportunity for voting... even if it's uncontested... then you have not followed your by-laws.

This absolutely happens.  When you hold an election with uncontested position(s), I highly suggest the ballot to look something like this:

President:

• Example Name1

Secretary

• Example Name2
• Example Name3

Then people select their chosen candidates.  They are NOT provided with a "yes/no" option for uncontested positions, but do give voters the chance to not vote for someone.  (meaning they can skip the question, and leave it blank, and still submit the rest of the ballot; this is useful if someone doesn't know the candidate)

Chapters and SIGs may use the ACBS logo when appropriate online and in print.  The one caveat is that it needs to be 100% clear that the event/program or whatever it's being used with is being promoted by the Chapter/SIG and not by ACBS international. ACBS can provide you with the ACBS logo files as requested (image only, with text, etc.).

ACBS retains all ownership and copyright of the logo, in its original and derivitive forms. Chapters and SIGs do not have the authority to grant rights for the use of the logo or other ACBS intellectual property (including, but not limited to, membership lists) to a 3rd party or other affiliate.

Chapters and SIGs are permitted to allow their members to use their Chapter or SIG logo in the same way that ACBS permits ACBS members to use/display their logo. (See here for more details.)

ACBS is willing to make special logos for a Chapter or SIG as requested.

We need to know the exact wording you want on the logo and what file format you need it in.  (Our native files will be in .ai, Adobe Illustrator, but you can't open it unless you have that program.  We can make jpg, tiff, bmp, pdf, etc.)

Here are examples of chapter logos.

Individuals may not use the ACBS logo without express written consent from ACBS.