Constitution of the Residence Hall AssociationKettering University A Section
Purpose: To provide a representative government for all students living in Thompson Hall during the A section in order to: 1. Act as a recognized communication line between Thompson Hall A section students and the administration. 2. Enable Thompson Hall A section students to keep informed on any changes in policies and to act in an organized way to solve Thompson Hall problems. 3. Serve as the prime programming organization to meet the community, social, athletic, and educational needs of the residents of Thompson Hall during the A section. ARTICLE I. EXECUTIVE OFFICERS SECTION I. PRESIDENT A. Duties The President shall be the presiding officer at all meetings of RHA. The President shall organize and plan all regularly scheduled meetings in advance. The President shall have a vote if and only if there is a tie vote in quorum of the RHA. The President shall have the power to call a special meeting of RHA when necessary. SECTION II. VICE PRESIDENT A. Duties The Vice President shall assume the office of the President when the President is incapable of performing the responsibilities of the office due to absence or illness. The Vice President shall temporarily assume the duties of other executive board members in the event that any are incapable of performing their duties. In the event a vacancy occurs in the executive board, the Vice President shall assume the duties of that office until the position is filled. The Vice President shall serve as an ex-officio member of all committees and shall be responsible for maintaining the Program Evaluation file. The Vice President shall have no vote in the standing committee. The Vice President shall have the power to call special meetings of the standing committees when in consultation with the chairperson of the committee for which it is deemed necessary. If the Vice President position is vacant, then the Secretary temporarily becomes the Vice President until the RHA chooses a new Vice President. Should a vacancy occur within the chairperson position of a committee, a new chair will be selected from within the committee. The Vice President shall then present that person for appointment to the RHA for a majority vote to approve the selection. The replacement procedure is outlined in Article III, Section III. SECTION III. SECRETARY A. Duties The Secretary shall keep the minutes of meetings. The Secretary shall see that copies of the minutes of all the meetings are made available to the members of the RHA upon request. The Secretary shall report all outside communications to RHA at each meeting. The Secretary shall assume the duties of the President when both the President and the Vice President are incapable of performing the responsibilities of that office on a temporary basis only. SECTION IV. TREASURER A. Duties The Treasurer shall make an oral financial report at all regularly scheduled meetings of RHA and distribute written financial reports upon the request of a committee of RHA. The Treasurer shall assume the duties of the President when the President, Vice President, and the Secretary are incapable or performing the responsibilities of that office on a temporary basis only. B. Budget The Treasurer will produce a budget within two weeks of the start of RHA meetings for the term. The RHA will then vote to approve the budget. If the budget is not approved, adjustments will be made in accordance to the RHA. It will then be re-voted upon by RHA. If the budget is not approved within three full weeks since the first RHA meeting for the term, presidential discretion will be allowed to determine the final budget. SECTION V. NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR (NCC) The NCC shall serve as the voting representative of The NCC shall act in accordance with the wishes of The NCC shall act to maintain SECTION VI. The MOCC shall serve as the voting representative of The MOCC shall act in accordance with the wishes of The MOCC shall act to maintain SECTION VII. VACANCIES OF OFFICE Should any executive office become vacant, the voting membership of RHA shall nominate suitable replacements to fill the vacancy; the majority of quorum of the RHA must approve the nominee for the nominee to take office. The replacement process must take place within two weeks of the time the office was declared vacant. SECTION VIII. ELECTION OF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS A. Organization The elections shall be supervised and audited by the Assistant Director of Residence Life. B. Qualifications A candidate for an executive board position must be a resident of Thompson Hall (with exception of the NCC and MOCC) and not be on any form of University probation. Candidates must file a petition of intent with the Assistant Director by Candidates for the NCC and MOCC position must have prior MORHA, GLACURH or NACURH conference experience. It is preferred that they, too, are residents of Thompson Hall; however, since these officers will be of upper-class standing, they may live off-campus. C. Format The President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer will be elected at a Hall-wide election to be held the second week Monday of the first section. The candidates receiving the most votes is the winner. The NCC and MOCC shall be elected during the second term for the upcoming year at an RHA meeting under the supervision of the Assistant Director of Residence Life. A three-week period shall ensue to complete the election. SECTION IX. IMPEACHMENT AND RECALL In the event of an officer's misconduct in office or his/her inability to satisfactorily handle and execute the responsibilities of his/her office, a member of the RHA may initiate impeachment or recall procedures. After all sides of the case have been amply presented, a vote of the RHA shall be taken with two-thirds majority of all voting members necessary for passage. ARTICLE II. REPRESENTATIVES SECTION I. UNIT REPRESENTATIVES A. Requirements All RHA representatives shall be residents of Thompson Hall for their entire term of office. B. Election One representative shall be elected by each unit by a simple majority prior to the first scheduled meeting. Units are encouraged to have more than one representative; however, each unit will have only one vote. C. Duties The representatives shall represent their unit at meetings of RHA. The representative shall function as an unbiased representative of the majority of his/her unit. The representative shall be the conduit of information between RHA and his/her unit. The representative will also be required to be involved in no less than one standing committee. D. Attendance Attendance will be kept and enforced by the Secretary. In the event that a unit is not represented at one RHA meeting the RA for the floor will receive a verbal warning that their representative was not present. In the event of two consecutive absences the unit will lose their unit money or in the event of a total of three absences the unit will lose their money. E. Powers Each Thompson Hall unit shall have one vote in all voting procedures. F. Restrictions A unit representative cannot serve as an executive officer, or an officer of Student Senate. If a representative is elected to one of these positions, he/she must be replaced by another unit member, at the discretion of the unit. SECTION II. STUDENT SENATE REPRESENTATIVE The President of RHA shall, at the beginning of each school section, formally request of the Freshmen Class Representative to the Student Senate Policy Council, that he/she act as a liaison between the Student Senate Policy Council, and report on Student Senate activities at each meeting of the RHA. ARTICLE III. STANDING COMMITTEES SECTION I. PURPOSE To plan and provide activities, both educational and social, for the residents of Thompson Hall, and to encourage participation in the clubs, organizations, and societies of SECTION II. STRUCTURES Each committee shall consist of members of RHA and residents of Thompson Hall. Each member of RHA shall actively participate in at least one of the standing committees. If a member wishes to transfer from one committee to another, he/she must notify the Vice President prior to making the transfer. SECTION III. CHAIRPERSON Each committee chairperson shall be elected from the representatives of the RHA at the yearly organizational meeting. Each committee chairperson shall preside at meetings of the committee. The chairperson shall be responsible for delivering a verbal committee report during each RHA meeting. The chairperson shall evaluate each event which the committee initiates, plans, or sponsors by using the Program Evaluation Form. The chairperson shall present this evaluation during the committee report at the meeting of RHA following the event. The chairperson shall then submit the form to the Vice President. If the chair of a committee is vacant, then that committee shall appoint a new chairperson from within that committee. The RHA then must approve the selection by a vote; a majority approves the selection. If no suitable or willing person is found within the committee, then the RHA may select someone else from the RHA; a majority approves the selection. SECTION IV. MEETINGS The Vice President shall be notified at least one day in advance of all committee meetings. SECTION V. COMMITTEES A. Social and Recreational Committee B. Facilities and Food Service C. Educational Programs D. Constitutional Ratification E. Fundraising ARTICLE IV. PASSAGE OF PROPOSALS/ GENERAL PROCEDURES Voting on all motions shall be by a "yea" or "nay" vote as the Secretary calls off the roll of units present. All votes shall be recorded in the minutes as FOR, AGAINST, ABSTAIN. In order for the RHA to vote on any issues there must be quorum. Quorum is defined as 50% plus one of the units being present. All motions pass by a simple majority vote. ARTICLE V. MEETING PROCEDURES All speakers shall be duly recognized by the presiding officer before taking the floor. Only one speaker shall be recognized at a time. Discussions shall follow before a vote is taken. Guests are welcome at all meetings. All RHA meetings shall follow Parliamentary Procedure as defined by Robert's Rules of Order. ARTICLE VI. ADVISOR The Assistant Director of Residence Life will serve as the advisor to the RHA. The Assistant Director will also serve as an ex-officio non-voting member of the Executive Board. The Assistant Director shall attend meetings of the executive board and the general RHA meetings. The Director of Housing and Residence Life shall serve in an ex-officio advisor capacity only. ARTICLE VII. CONFERENCES Members of the RHA will be allowed to attend conferences, if and only if, each attending member keeps a detailed log of what they learn while at the conference. Upon returning from the conference the participating members must present their findings in a full written report. The written report is to be given to the NCC or MOCC, for their respective conference, to be filed for future reference. RHA shall decide on any funding grants allotted to the delegation to help offset the conference costs on a per conference/per delegate basis. It is the responsibility of the RHA to pass funding for the dues for the following year to MORHA, GLACURH and NACURH. The Advisor will see to it that the dues and appropriate paperwork are filed on time. ARTICLE VIII. RATIFICATION AND AMENDMENT The constitution shall be ratified at the beginning of each term by the currently active RHA. Amendments may be made to the constitution following a two-week period and a two-thirds vote. Ratified
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