Revised July 2023
WEST TENNESSEE FFA AWARDS PROGRAM
BY-LAWS
1 The awards program shall be designated as the WEST TENNESSEE FFA AWARDS PROGRAM.
2 Purpose: To supplement and offer incentive to FFA members in the awards program of the Tennessee Association FFA. This program will not conflict with policies and by-laws of the State Association, present or future.
3 Administration:
a) The governing body shall be known as the West Tennessee FFA Awards Program Executive Committee and shall be composed of one advisor representing each FFA district, Jeremy Fair, Treasurer (term expires 2025) and Laura Moss, Recording Secretary (term expires 2024). The Treasurer and Recording Secretary are on two year terms with Treasurer coming off in odd years and Recording Secretary in even years. The West TN FFA Regional Coordinator, shall act as ex officio member. District representatives shall be elected by the advisors of his/her district to serve a term of three (3) years. This representative shall not be elected to serve consecutive terms.
b) The following officers shall be elected by the Executive Committee at the annual planning meeting: Chairman and Vice-Chairman.
c) The following sub-committees shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Executive Committee:
1. Sub-committee for making minor decisions for Executive Committee
2. Financial Auditing Committee
3. Other committees deemed necessary.
d) The Skills Committee shall be composed of an advisor from each district elected at the Annual Agricultural Education Teacher's Conference and two permanent co-chairmen.
e) The Banquet shall be held in Jackson each year. A permanent Banquet Committee shall be composed of:
___________, Chairman Ann Johnson
Liz Flanagan Terri Lea
Haley Williams Missy Hammond
f) The Executive Committee shall revise the rules and regulations governing the awards program annually and distribute copies to each chapter early in the school year.
g) The West Tennessee FFA Vice-President who served in this capacity the majority of the school year shall serve as Master of Ceremonies at the West Tennessee FFA Awards Banquet.
4 Membership: Chapter members of each local chapter in good standing with the State Association shall be an active member upon payment of annual dues. A chapter in good standing will have its "State and West Tennessee dues paid in full by March 1 preceding the annual convention. 'In full' shall be interpreted to mean all regular FFA members. Any chapter which does not pay its dues by March 1st will be suspended until all dues in arrears and a $50 penalty is paid to the State FFA Treasurer." (State By-laws adopted 55th Annual Convention).
5 Finances:
a) Each chapter in good standing shall pay annual West Tennessee Awards Program dues to finance the West Tennessee FFA Awards Banquet. Dues are payable at the beginning of each school year and should be paid by March 1st of the current school year. Dues shall be $3.00 per FFA member. Checks should be made payable to West Tennessee FFA Awards Program and mailed to West Tennessee FFA Awards Program, Jeremy Fair, 1080 McLaughlin Drive, Munford, TN 38058. An electronic printed copy of the roster shall be included with the dues. Do not send West Tennessee Dues to the State FFA office. A reminder shall be sent to the advisors of delinquent chapters March 15th and a second notice, if needed, on March 31st.
b) Other contributions may be accepted from individuals, businesses or organizations to help finance the program.
c) The program treasurer and office secretary will handle all funds and a financial statement shall be published annually for the State Agricultural Education Teachers' Conference.
d) Five hundred dollars may be paid annually for incidental expenses.
e) Surplus funds not needed for the operation of the program shall be invested in a federally insured institution at the discretion of the treasurer and Executive Committee.
f) All checks not presented for payment in 60 days shall be removed from the books.
g) A maximum of $2500 will be set aside to cover expenses incurred by the West Tennessee Regional Officers.
6 Activities of this program shall conform with policies of the State Association FFA Awards Activities and, in addition, shall be governed by the following regulations:
a) In case of ties in the Skills Contest, considering only tied teams, the team that places first the most number of times shall be the winner. If the teams remained tied, the team that places second, etc. If tie still exists, the team placing first in Stud Assembly (Lower Division) and Electric Welding (Upper Division) shall be the winner. (See Skills Rules and Regulations.)
b) In case of a tie for the Awards Championship Cup, the chapter ranking highest in two of the three divisions is the winner. If a tie still exists after all tiebreakers have been used, the winner of the instructional division shall be the winner.
c) In case of a tie in the Instructional Division, the team with the most number of first places in West Tennessee CDEs shall be the winner of the tied teams. If a tie still exists, the Chapter that competes in the most CDEs shall be the winner.
d) In case of a tie in the Supervised Agricultural Experience Division, the Chapter with the most State Degree recipients shall be the winner. If a tie still exists, the Chapter that turns in the most proficiencies shall be the winner.
e) In case of a tie in the Leadership Division, the chapter with the highest number of earned tickets to the West Tennessee FFA Awards Banquet shall be the winner. If a tie still exists, the chapter with the largest percent of FFA membership shall be the winner. The third tie breaker will be the chapter with the highest percent of FFA members attending camp to receive the Outstanding Leadership Certificate.
f) Ties in CDEs/LDEs will be broken according to the State CDE Handbook.
g) For the Extemporaneous Public Speaking and Creed Speaking LDEs, Chapters will be flighted by random draw. Prepared Public Speaking and Employment Skills will be flighted based off manuscript scores. A member may only participate in one speaking contest.
h) With the Skills, Floriculture, Ag Communications, Ag Issues, Marketing Plan, Ag. Sales, Prepared and Employment Skills CDEs/LDEs being the exceptions, all chapters must pre-register their team at westtnffa.ffanow.org by Midnight the day before the CDE unless specifically instructed otherwise by a West Tennessee FFA Person to be determined soon. Chapters who fail to pre-register may compete in the CDE, but will not earn points for their chapter in the Awards Program. The points in that particular placing will be null and void.
i) All Chapter Points for Stars, Leadership Points, Plow, Show Points are contingent upon meeting regional deadlines set by the Regional Coordinator.
j) Changes in the point system will not go in effect until one year after the changes have been made.
k) A contestant in any instructional contest must be a member of the chapter represented.
l) Awards shall be:
Instructional Division Top 3 Cups & Top 10 Plaques
Supervised Agricultural Experience Division Top 3 Cups & Top 10 Plaques
Leadership Division Top 3 Cups & Top 10 Plaques
Overall Winner Top 3 Cups & Top 10 Plaques
Top Ten Chapters in each of the above Top 10 Plaques
State-Only CDE Regional Winners & Regional Runner-Up Plaques
Agriscience Fair Regional Winners Plaques
Most Improved Chapter 1 Cup
Champion Single Teacher Department 1 Cup
m) Any competing chapter advisor(s), with concerns about an event or CDE/LDE, will bring the issues to the event chairman, who will consult with the Regional FFA Coordinator if further issues arise.
n) For all contests utilizing judgingcard.com, results are not official until 24 hours after original posting. For all other CDEs/LDEs, placings will be official at their announcement at the conclusion of the event.
7. Delegates from West TN FFA to the National FFA Convention: TN FFA Delegation will be from the current West TN Regional Officer team. They will be given preference in the following order: 1. President, 2. Vice President, 3. Secretary, 4. Treasurer, 5. Reporter, 6. Sentinel
8. In the event a regional officer is removed/resigns from office, the next candidate will be moved onto the team. The team will be consulted to their new position titles.
9. Amendments: Any ruling by the State Association affecting this program automatically becomes part of these by-laws. These by-laws may be amended by a two-thirds majority of the Executive Committee at a regular meeting.
Revised: West Tennessee FFA Awards
Executive Committee
July 2023