                   |
|
Pagan Student Association Constitution 2003-2004Visit the PSA webpage! Constitution
of The Pagan Student Association at the Ohio State University
Article I.
Name, Purpose, and Non-Discrimination Policy
Section
1. The Name of the group shall be “The Pagan Student
Association at The Ohio State University.” The group may be referred to in
this document as "PSA", "the group", or "the
organization." Section 2.
The Purpose of the group shall be to
provide Pagan students and students interested in alternative religions a forum
for discussing and learning as well as a social atmosphere. Section 3.
The group and its members shall not discriminate against any individual(s) for
reasons of race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin,
sex, age, military status, or handicap. Article II.
Membership: Qualifications
and categories of membership
Section
1. There shall be two types of membership.
These shall consist of Student Members and Associate Members. Section
2. Student
Members shall consist of currently enrolled students (as defined by The Ohio
State University) who attend at least one meeting per quarter.
These individuals are allowed to vote. Section
3. Associate
membership shall consist of individuals who attend at least one meeting per
quarter and are not currently enrolled students (as defined by The Ohio State
University). Voting privileges may
be extended to them as per Article III, Section 3. Section
4. Members’ full names, address, phone #, or other identifying
information may not be released to any other organization or person without
their consent, request by the university or subpoena by authorized local, state,
or federal court in the course of a criminal investigation or trial not
withstanding. a)
Members of the group may belong to any other civic, fraternal or
religious organization or club they may wish to join. b)
Membership in PSA is entirely voluntary.
Any member may resign membership at any time. Section 5. Revocation
of membership or expulsion from group: Membership may be revoked or a person may
be expelled from the group if the executive committee feels the person or party
does any of the following: a)
Harassment/discrimination. b)
Violating OSU Student Code of Conduct c)
Abuse of the meeting facilities d)
Misrepresenting or maligning PSA e)
Violation of local, state, or federal statutes The decision to expel a member or revoke
membership may be vetoed by a two thirds majority vote by the membership at the
next official meeting. Article III.
Organizational Leadership: Titles,
terms of office, type of selection, and duties of the leaders.
Section 1.
There shall be four officer positions.
These shall consist of two Co-Chairs, one Historian, and one Treasurer.
Officers must be Student Members for their entire term of office, except
the Historian, who may be an Associate Member. a)
Co-Chairs:
i.
The Co-Chairs shall be responsible for planning meetings, workshops and
events, and in the co-ordination of any relationships with outside groups.
ii.
The Co-chairs shall represent the group in all public matters unless they
specify otherwise themselves. In
the event Co-Chairs do not wish to fulfill this roll or are unable to, a
majority vote may be taken to determine a temporary representative.
iii.
Neither Co-Chair may hold the position of Treasurer as per University
guidelines.
iv.
The Co-Chairs may also sponsor the formation of standing committees and
Special Interest Groups described in Article IV.
Sponsorship is defined as stating approval of the Special Interest Group
or Standing Committee in an official meeting.
Sponsorship may be withdrawn by stating reasons for withdrawal at an
official meeting. A vote of 2/3 of
the members may veto the decision to withdraw sponsorship. b)
The
Historian
i.
The Historian shall be responsible for keeping track of meetings and any
literature that is handed out by or to the group.
The Historian shall be responsible for maintaining a scrapbook of all
literature pertaining to the group.
ii.
The Historian is responsible for keeping accurate historical notes as
well as having a thorough knowledge of this document and historical precedents
set in order to best advise the group when questions of procedure or precedent
arise.
iii.
The Historian is also responsible for voting procedures as per Article
III, Section 4.
iv.
The Historian may hold the position of Co-Chair or Treasurer. c)
The
Treasurer
i.
The Treasurer shall be responsible for collecting and distributing all
funds donated or collected by the group. .
ii.
The Treasurer is responsible for balancing the account of the group, as
well as reporting to the group and the University quarterly on the state of the
funds, including any expenditures and income, where it went and where it came
from (respectively), and for keeping the checkbook on hand during meetings, as
detailed in Article VIII
iii.
The Treasurer is responsible for writing receipts for any donations, and
for reimbursing any persons (including, but not limited to: workshop presenters,
lecturers, and pizza delivery boys).
iv.
Fundraising and expenditures must follow University guidelines. Section 2. All terms of office shall be from the end of the final
official meeting of Spring quarter where elections take place until the official
meeting at which new officers are elected. Section 3.
All offices shall be elected at the final meeting of Spring Quarter by a
majority vote. Associate Members
may vote if a two-thirds majority vote of the Student Members deems it
appropriate. Section 4. Election procedures a)
Nominations
for officer positions are to be made the week before elections.
Nominations must be made at the meeting unless extenuating circumstances
(as defined by one or both Co-Chairs) prevent a person from being present at
that meeting. The Historian will
call for nominations at the meeting. Nominations
must be made, seconded, and then accepted by the nominee.
Persons may nominate or second themselves, but not both.
A list of candidates will be created by the Historian and distributed to
the members that night. b)
Excessive
campaigning (as defined by the majority of the group) shall result in removal
from the list of candidates. c)
Voting
for offices shall be done by secret ballot.
Members will vote for two Co-Chairs, one Treasurer, and one Historian on
their ballot. Write-in candidates
are allowed. d)
The
Historian will tabulate all results unless he is running in an opposed election,
in which case a member agreed upon by the majority who is not running in an
opposed election will tabulate all results. e)
The
outcome of elections will be announced the night of those elections.
The member who counted the votes will not reveal the exact tallies to the
other members. If questions
pertaining to the veracity of the count exist (as agreed by the majority of the
group), a public recount will take place. Section 5. At the discretion of the group, new officer positions may be
created. A proposal for the
position may be given at any official meeting, with voting on the position to
occur at the next official meeting. New
officer positions shall be created by a majority vote.
Nominations to fill said position shall be taken immediately upon
creation of said position. The new
officer shall be elected the following official meeting, and the term of office
shall run until deemed necessary or until the voting day assigned above in
Section 3 of this Article. Upon
creation of new permanent officer positions, a new section shall be assigned to
this Article in Section 1, describing the responsibilities of the new position
unless it is a temporary position that does not last until the next officer
vote, as defined in Section 3 of this Article. Section 6. In the event of elected officers being unable or unwilling to
finish their term of office, a special election will be held.
Nomination for the office will occur immediately following the
announcement of the position being vacated at an official meeting.
Elections will occur at the following official meeting as per this
Article. Section 7: Removal from Office: A call for impeachment may be made for
any of the following: ·
Failure
to appear at 5 meetings per quarter. ·
Misrepresenting
or maligning PSA. ·
Sexual
harassment. ·
Violating
OSU code of conduct. ·
Failure
to abide by this constitution. Any
Student Member may call for impeachment of any officer.
Impeachment and reasons must be stated at an official meeting.
Before the next meeting, the Executive Committee will meet with all
relevant parties to discuss the charges and present any evidence that the
accuser did not want to make public. At
the next official meeting a vote will be held after restatement of accusations
and defense to the entire group. A
vote of two thirds is required for a removal from office.
Vacation of office shall occur immediately upon the votes being tallied
if they are in favor of removal from office.
In extreme cases, membership may be revoked by the members (as in cases
of harassment) as per Article II, Section 5. Article IV.
Standing Committees and Special Interest Groups
Section 1. The
Executive Committee shall consist of all elected officers and the advisor.
The executive committee shall have the power to expel members, as per
Article II, Section 5. Section 2. At
the discretion of the group, the ability to create committees shall be by a
majority vote at any official meeting. The
new committee shall be elected immediately, and the term of office shall run
until deemed necessary or until the voting day assigned above in Article III
Section 3, which ever comes first. In
the event of the creation of a new permanent committee, a new section shall be
added to this Article describing the composition and responsibilities of said
committee. All committees shall be
sponsored by at least one Co-Chair, as per Article 3, Section 1.a.iv. Section 3.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs) may be formed by any Student Member to deal
topics of special interest to members of the group.
Issues SIGs might be formed around include ritual study groups, tarot
study groups, Asatru study groups, yoga groups, etc.
SIGs must be sponsored by a Co-Chair as per Article 3, Section 1.a.iv. Section 4.
Standing committees may make reports during the business portion of an official
meeting. Special Interest Groups
may not use official meeting time to conduct their business, but may make
announcements about time, place, and topics. Article V.
Advisor(s) or Advisory board: Qualification Criteria
Section 1. The
advisor of the group shall be Hugh Urban. Section 2. In the event that a new advisor is required, a new advisor
will be selected and approved by a majority vote of members.
The advisor must be a full time Faculty member as per university
regulations and must accept the position. Article VI.
Meetings of the Organization: Required meetings and their frequency.
Section 1. There
shall be official meetings once each week of Autumn, Winter, and Spring
Quarters, beginning with the first week of each OSU Academic Quarter and ceasing
the week prior to finals week. The
weekly official meetings shall be on a day determined by the members. Committee meetings are considered official meetings as long
as they focus on PSA business. Unofficial
meetings may occur at anytime members of PSA decide to come together for SIG
meetings, movie nights, or other social gatherings. Over the summer, unofficial meetings generally occur once
every two weeks, if the membership desires. Section 2. The official meeting will fall into three portions.
The first portion of the meeting will be the Business Portion, in which
the Co-Chairs have the floor and announcements are made that are of general
interest to the group as a whole. The
second portion of the meeting will be the Presentation Portion, in which a
presenter, workshop, or event will take place.
The final portion of the meeting will be the Social Portion. Article VII.
Non-Profit Nature of the
Association
Section 1. The Pagan Student Association at The Ohio State
University is organized exclusively for charitable religious, educational and
scientific purposes including for such purposes the making of distributions to
organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501(c)3 of the
Interval Revenue Code or a corresponding section of any future federal tax code. No part of the net earnings of the organization shall
inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to, its members, directors,
officers, or other private persons, except that the Corporation shall be
authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered
and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes set forth
in Article I of this constitution. No substantial part of the activities of the
organization shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to
influence legislation, and the organization shall not participate in, or
intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) any
political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this
constitution, this organization shall not, except to an insubstantial degree,
engage in any activities or exercise any powers that are not in furtherance of
the purposes of this organization. Upon the dissolution of this organization, the
officers shall, after paying or making provision for the payment of all the
liabilities of the organization, dispose of all the assets of the organization
exclusively for the purposes of the organization in such manner; or to such
organization or organizations organized and operated exclusively for Neopagan
religious, educational or charitable purposes as shall at that time qualify as
an exempt organization or organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1954 as revised (or the corresponding provision of any future
United States Internal Revenue Law); or return those funds to The Ohio State
University as required by their donation; or as the officers shall determine. Any such assets not so disposed of shall be disposed
of by the Court of Common Pleas of Franklin County, exclusively for such
purposes or to such Neopagan organization or organizations, as said Court shall
determine, which are organized and operated exclusively for such purposes. Article VIII.
General Fund.
Section 1. The General Fund will consist of
a checking account. Each check will require the signature of both Co-Chairs and
the Treasurer. The Historian may not sign a check in the absence of another
officer. Section 2. Use of the General Fund must be
in accordance with the group's purpose, stated in Article I, Section 2. Section 3. The Group may not make
commitments that cost more than the General Fund has available. Due to this,
fundraising must be done in advance of any commitments being made if not enough
money is in the fund. Section 4. PSA shall make no use of any
debit or credit cards, or of cash transactions that do not involve a receipt for
goods or services. Section 5. The Treasurer is required to
keep all receipts for two quarters, and to turn receipts over to the Historian
after that point, who will file them by quarter. The Historian will also keep a
copy of all financial reports filed by the Treasurer. Article IX.
Method of Amending Constitution: Proposals, notice, and voting
requirements.
Section 1. Proposals:
During the business portion of any official meeting, any Student Member
or officer may propose amendments to the constitution. Section 2. Immediately
following the proposal, the members shall debate it. Section 3. The
night of the meeting at which an amendment is proposed, the Historian will
provide the proposal to all members of the group, notifying all members of a
vote to take place the following official meeting.
Failure to do so prior to 2:00 AM the next morning shall result in the
vote being postponed to the next official meeting. Section 4. Voters on amendments shall consist of the members of the group present at the meeting. Following a passing vote, the amendment shall be incorporated immediately. Voting procedures shall follow Article III, Sections 3-5.
Content © 2003 - 2004, Michael J Dangler |