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About PAEC


Board:

President: Leszek Szałek
Vice-president: Marek Żywno
Secretary: Grzegorz Czajkowski
Treasurer: Marek Żywno
Webmasters: Aleksander Górajek, Michał Szymaniak


History:

In 1971 Stanislaw Bala, Tadeusz Jadkowski, Zbigniew Mroz, Bronislaw Szykier, Wojciech Winkler, Zenon Szymczak and Czeslaw Zaroda, came up with the initiative to form the Polish American Engineers' Club of the San Francisco Bay Area. The goals of the Club were formulated as networking to find new or better employment, exchange of technical experience, and social contacts. The Club grew rapidly, with new members joining the founders.

The club observed the 500th anniversary of Nicolaus Copernicus' birthday with a gala banquet. The 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence was observed with a special lecture at the San Francisco Presidio about Tadeusz Kosciuszko, the first engineer of the Washington Revolutionary Army. The Club has also organized many social events like ski trips and river rafting.

The first PAEC web site was designed in 1999 by club member Grazyna Krajewska of AmberDot LLC (http://amberdot.com). The web site was later maintained thanks to the effort of Konrad Musial and his his team at Yes Software (http://yessoftware.com).

At the present time the Club has new officers elected for 2-year terms, composed mainly of engineers and scientists who came from Poland in the last 20 years.


Statute:

1. Introduction

1.1. Name of the organization: POLISH AMERICAN ENGINEERS' CLUB (further referred to as PAEC).

1.2. PAEC is registered as a non-profit organization in the State of California.

2. Objectives of PAEC

2.1. Gathering persons involved in technology, science, and engineering for the sake of maintaining professional and social relationships

2.2. Facilitating exchange of professional experience and self-education, organizing presentations and seminars on topics in technology, business, and social relations

2.3. Providing mutual help in dealing with employment issues and searching for work

2.4. Providing mutual help in dealing with hardships related to illness or death

2.5. Promoting social life through outings and entertainment events

3. Membership and process of admitting new PAEC members

3.1. Any Northern California resident who is an engineer by education or practice or a person involved in technology related activities could become a PAEC member regardless of age, race, religion, or political affiliation. Because Polish language is often used during PAEC meetings it is advisable (but not necessary) that the member speaks some Polish.

3.2. A person willing to become a PAEC member applies for membership to the PAEC Secretary in person, by mail, or by e-mail. It is desirable that applicants, unless they are new to the region, come introduced by the existing members.


3.3. The PAEC Board accepts or rejects membership applications at the nearest Board meeting and the applicants are informed about the Board’s decision. The newly accepted applicants, after paying currently established annual dues, are added to the list of PAEC members and encouraged to take active part in PAEC activities. A rejection of an application remains confidential and its causes are not subject to disclosure.

3.4. PAEC members may voluntarily pay some additional dues in order to create a fund for self-assistance and such a fund remains at the discretion of the PAEC Board in accordance with the guidelines established by the PAEC General Assembly.

3.5. The PAEC General Assembly may recognize some accomplished and long-time members by bestowing on them the title of "PAEC Honorary Member".

3.6. The PAEC General Assembly may also bestow on the present or past members of PAEC such titles as "Honorary President", "Accomplished Member", or "Member Emeritus". Member Emeritus retains all the rights of a member but does not pay dues.

4. The PAEC Authority

4.1. The main authority of PAEC is the PAEC General Assembly of members in good standing. The General Assembly makes decisions through voting using the principle of simple majority.

4.2. The executive authority of PAEC is the PAEC Board elected via direct and secret ballots for the term of two years.

4.3. The PAEC Board, before reaching the end of its current term, forms the Nomination Committee and the Election Committee. The Nomination Committee is charged with a mission of selecting candidates for new members of the PAEC Board. The Election Committee conducts the election.

4.4. The election of the PAEC Board is held during the General Assembly meeting. The absentee voting is done via mail or Internet prior to the General Assembly meeting in a manner established by the Election Committee.

4.5. The PAEC General Assembly meeting elects five PAEC members who will serve as President, two Vice-Presidents, Secretary, and Treasurer.

4.6. The new elected PAEC Board members assign their functions during the first meeting of the new Board. The PAEC Board may establish any PAEC members as directors for specific tasks (e.g. webmaster). Such directors do not have the PAEC Board member status. The Honorary PAEC President and/or the previous PAEC President may participate without voting power in the PAEC Board activities.

4.7. Duties of the PAEC Board members:

4.7.1. The PAEC President directs the overall activities of PAEC

and represents PAEC in contacts with American or Polonia authorities and organizations.

4.7.2. The PAEC Vice-Presidents perform duties of the PAEC President in case of his/her absence and are responsible for the projects delegated to them by the President.

4.7.3. The PAEC Secretary is responsible for handling all correspondence regarding the PAEC matters, prepares reports from meetings, maintains the PAEC chronicles, and supervises the PAEC website.

4.7.4. The Treasurer is responsible for the PAEC finances, for collecting dues payments approved by the PAEC Board, bookkeeping the payables and receivables, and PAEC bank account. The Treasurer also files PAEC tax returns in compliance with California State laws.

5. The PAEC Verification Committee

5.1. The PAEC General Assembly elects three members to serve as the Verification Committee that supervises the PAEC financial activities

6. Changing the PAEC Statute

6.1. All the changes and corrections to the PAEC Statute are made by the PAEC General Assembly