TIPS ON DEVELOPING OR REVISING YOUR STUDENT ORGANIZATION’S CONSTITUTION AT
This handy resource has been prepared to help new student organizations seeking registration status to develop their own constitutions. Other student groups who need and want to revise their constitutions may also utilize it. This format contains many aspects that aid in the successful operation of a student organization, and that are required by UD policy. Once your draft is complete make sure the document is clear, concise, without errors and something your organization would be proud to have in their file in the Office of Student Activities at the University of Dallas. CONSTITUTION Of The Computer Club At the University of Dallas
ARTICLE I NAME The official name of the organization shall be Student Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery
ARTICLE II
PURPOSE
The purpose of this organization shall be to To enrich the student body of the mechanics of computational programming ____________________________________________________________________________________ while having fun. The club aims at providing mental exercises in a more ____________________________________________________________________________________ enjoyable fashion then the students face daily from their studies. This will ____________________________________________________________________________________ de-stress the students by taking their minds off their studies temporarily ____________________________________________________________________________________ and having them focus on enjoyable programming exercises. ARTICLE III
MEMBERSHIP
(Please note that voting members must be currently enrolled UD students and should be in ‘good standing’—2.00 GPA unless the organization has higher GPA requirements.)
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1. Those eligible for membership are Any with an interest. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Membership will consist of the following types: (Note: Membership usually consists of voting, nonvoting, associate, etc. Define each type) Voting members will be those who have been to 2/3rds of the total meetings. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Non-Voting members will be the rest. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Membership will be revoked (removed) by the organization under the following conditions: (Note: Membership is typically revoked upon failure to pay dues if any exist, failure to remain in good standing with the University or failure to abide by the organization’s purpose as stated in this constitution.) Members will be rebuked if they are not in good standing with the ____________________________________________________________________________________ University. Members will also be rebuked if they act inappropriate as ____________________________________________________________________________________ deemed by all the officers. This would happen after the 3rd strike against ____________________________________________________________________________________ said member. The first strike may be administered by one officer and will ____________________________________________________________________________________ constitute as a warning. The second strike will be decided by an officer vote ____________________________________________________________________________________ and will temporarily remove the member from that meeting. The third strike will lead to rebuking as stated prior. ARTICLE IV OFFICERS 1.
Officer positions of the organization shall be President, Vice-President, Secretary _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Power and duties of the officers shall be: President a) _____________________________
________________________________ Calls meetings or elections, directs the course of each meeting, ________________________________ He is the director of the club. ________________________________ ________________________________
Vice-President b) _____________________________
Assists the President ________________________________ in any way possible. ________________________________ ________________________________ 2
Secretary c) _____________________________
d) _____________________________
e) __________________________
f) ____________________________
________________________________ Organizes events on a calender, ________________________________ mass email, removing those who wish to ________________________________ unsubscribe from our email list, ________________________________ keep an up to date list of tasks, ________________________________ getting flyers approved by spud, ________________________________ will keep track of funds. ________________________________ Keep track of warnings. To________________________________ Keep track / create attendance list ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________
3. Election of officers (Note: it is highly recommended that elections be held in the spring semester).
a)
To qualify to be an officer, one must attend 2/3rds of the meetings and have not received any warnings _________________________________________________________________________________ that semester. _________________________________________________________________________________
b) Nomination of officers will be by (Note: Options include, but are not limited to: from the floor, by ballot, by the executive committee, etc.) floor. _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________
c) The prescribed election/selection procedure to be used will be (Note: Options include, but are not limited to: voting for each office following nominations for that office, a single ballot listing all nominated people for each position, etc.) 3
Voting for each office following nominations for that office. _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________
d)
The majority vote The candidate receiving ____________________________________________ will be declared the winner, and will take office on the following year. _________________________________________________________________________________
e)
The term of office shall be (Note: From when to when) 1 year. _________________________________________________________________________________
4) Should vacancies occur before the completion of a term of office, they will be filled in the following manner ____________________________________________________________________________________ A temporary election will be held until the officer comes back. If the officer resigns, these positions last until the end of the ____________________________________________________________________________________ current year. ____________________________________________________________________________________ 5) Impeachment charges may be drought against any of the officers of the following reasons. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Money laundering, abuse of the strike giving power, or neglect of responsibilities. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 6) Impeachment charges may be enacted upon All officers. ____________________________________________________________________________________ 7) If it is decided to proceed with an impeachment, the following procedure will be followed (Note: It is suggested that the following steps be utilized…(1) officer in question be notified; (2) A special meeting be set up to discuss the charges, where all parties are allowed to respond; (3) if a decision is made to proceed, a vote should then be taken by the membership… usually needing a large percentage of the members voting for removal in order for the officer to be impeached; (4) Decide how the group will select the replacement; and (5) When the new person takes office. )
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1) The officer in question is notified. ____________________________________________________________________________________ 2) A special meeting between officers will be called to discuss ____________________________________________________________________________________ charges,it is here that the officer in question may state his reasons. ____________________________________________________________________________________ 3) A vote will be held if officer is decided to be guilty by the other ____________________________________________________________________________________ officers. This vote excludes the votes of the officers and will need a ____________________________________________________________________________________ 80% majority vote to impeach the accused officer. ____________________________________________________________________________________ 4) A quick election is evoked to replace the impeached officer. ____________________________________________________________________________________ 5) The elected member takes office immediately. ____________________________________________________________________________________
ARTICLE V ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 1. The executive committee shall consist of the following people (Note: Usually include all top officers, with the advisor as an ex officio member.) All officers. _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________
2.
The executive committee’s duties shall be to Issue strikes and vote in the impeachment ballot. _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________
3. Other committees of the organization and their duties will be: A) Will be added if necessary. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ B) ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________
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C) ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ D) (Note: Some organizations add a clause stating that additional committees may be added or organized as needed.) ARTICLE VI FACULTY ADVISOR 1. In order to qualify to be the Faculty Advisor for the organization, the individual must be a full-time faculty or staff member of the University of Dallas. Other requirements are They must be a Computer Science professor. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 2.
The faculty Advisor will be selected by The President. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________
3. The length of the term for the Faculty Advisor will be (Note: From when to when) As long as is wished by the President. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________
ARTICLE VII RULES AND PROCEDURES 1.
Attendance policy for members will be what determines the privileges of the member. _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________
2.
Organizational meetings will be held on Tuesdays. _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ 3. In order to conduct business, a quorum must be present. A quorum will consist of
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70% of all Voting-Members. _________________________________________________________________________________ or on special occasions, all officers. _________________________________________________________________________________ The President 4. In the event of conflict concerning proper rules of procedure, ___________________________ will serve as the recognized authority. (Note: Usually a resource, such as Robert’s Rules of Order is cited here. People are not cited here.) ARTICLE VIII FINANCE 1. Dues for membership in the organization will be (Note: We suggest that versus stating a specific amount in the constitution, each group have their membership determine an annual amount by vote. If dues are deemed necessary then the amount will be determined by _________________________________________________________________________________ vote. _________________________________________________________________________________
2.
Other sources of organizational funding shall be The University of Dallas' gracious donations or fund raisers. _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________
ARTICLE IX AFFILIATION 1.
The organization is an affiliate of The math department, specifically the computer science section. _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________
2.
The organization has the following relationship to the affiliate This is the official club for the Computer Science major. _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________
ARTICLE X AMENDMENTS All amendments to this constitution must be made by the following process (Note: We offer the following for your consideration: (1) Any proposed amendment must be presented in writing to the membership or to the Executive Committee who shall then take it to the membership; (2) Discussion should occur; (3) A vote for acceptance/approval should occur at a 7
following meeting… allowing people time to think and talk about it; and (4) The amendment 70% majority shall become part of this constitution upon a _________________________ vote of Voting-members and Officers. ______________________________________________________________________________
ARTICLE XI NONDISCRIMINATION CLAUSE Computer Club The ____________________________ shall not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, handicap or sexual orientation in the selection of its members or its programs.
ARTICLE XII UNIVERSITY RECORDS Computer Club The _____________________________ shall maintain a list of current officer, their addresses, Faculty Advisor and the most recently amended constitution with the Office of Student Activities.
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