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Preamble
This organization complies with all State and Federal laws and Hamilton
College policies on non- discrimination. This organization supports and
encourages respect for political, religious, ethnic, racial, physical,
generational, sexual and affectional, and intellectual differences because
such respect promotes free and open inquiry, independent thought, and
mutual understanding.
Article I - Name
This organization will be named Residence Hall Council (RHC).
Article II - Purpose The Residence Hall Council is a student governing
board dedicated to improving the quality of life in the 22 residential
communities at Hamilton College. Members of the Residence Hall Council
will include all students living on campus.
The primary goal of Residence Hall Council is to provide opportunities
within the halls and houses that will enhance students' residential experiences.
The council will serve as a forum to share and implement new ideas within
our residential community, address topics such as; housing lottery, residence
hall/house policies as well as safety and security concerns within the
halls and houses. In addition to the above, the Residence Hall Council
has allocated funds to each residential community. Each hall/house will
have a seperate budget as well as gain support from the campus residential
community budget.
Article III - Membership
All Hamilton College students are eligible for membership in RHC, and
membership is obtained by attendance at weekly public meetings. Membership
is obtained by signing-up at the annual Student Activities Fair held during
the Fall Semester, attending one meeting, or volunteering at one special
event. Section 1. Voting members are those who either attend three weekly
meetings or attend one meeting and volunteer at one special event. At
the start of the Fall Semester, until members are capable of fulfilling
one of these requirements, voting members will be those who were able
to vote in the last academic year. Those who have become voting members
must re-fulfill the requirement each academic year. Voting members who
are not on the executive board will be known as general voting members,
while voting members on the executive board will be known as executive
voting members.
Article IV - Hazing
This organization complies with all State and Federal laws and Hamilton
College policies on hazing. This organization recognizes hazing to be
any action taken or situation created to inflict physical or mental discomfort,
embarrassment, harassment, or ridicule upon an individual or group. Further,
the members of this organization understand that any individual or group
found responsible for hazing will be subject to disciplinary action, which
may result in probation, suspension, or revocation of College recognition.
Article V - Officers
Section 1. The officers of this organization will be:
A) Housing Lottery Bigeminate (2)
B) Programming Emperor
C) Special Projects Ayatollah
D) Budget Dictator
E) Communications Tsar
F) Election Coordinator
Section 2. All voting members of the organization will be eligible
to hold office, provided that the member will be able, to the best of
his or her knowledge, will be able to fulfill the full term of office
at Hamilton College; no absentee office-holding will be allowed. The office
of Election Coordinator is filled internally by the Executive Board, and
will thus not appear on the election ballot. To be placed on the ballot,
a candidate must simply ask the Election Coordinator.
Section 3. The term for each position will be one academic year,
from the beginning of the Fall semester to the end of the Spring semester.
If a member wants to hold a position, but will not be on campus for one
of the two semesters, then this member must choose a running mate, and
the pair must be elected together. Only one person can hold the office
each semester.
Section 4. The Executive Board members will be elected towards
the end of the Spring semester. Members eligible to vote who are not able
to attend the meeting but do want to vote may request an absentee ballot.
The request must be received in by the election coordinator before the
election. Voting will be weighted so that the current executive board
will hold exactly half of the votes.
The weighting will take place as follows:
A) Each vote cast
by a general voting member will receive the weight of one vote.
B) The total number of general votes cast will then be divided by the
number of executive board voters (6), and this number is the weight of
each executive member vote.
C) For example, if there are 18 general voting members, then each executive
board vote will carry the weight of 18/6, or 3.
D) In the event that there are less than 6 general voting members, both
general votes and executive board votes will carry the weight of one vote.
Section 5. In the event that an elected official must step down
from office, the vacant office will be filled as soon as possible. Before
holding an election, the executive board reserves the power to fill the
position internally via an executive member taking on the additional role.
If the executive board does not choose this option, then the office will
be filled via the method outlined above.
Article VI - Executive Board
The executive board will consist of six people: two Housing Lottery Bigeminates,
the Programming Emperor, the Special Projects Ayatollah, the Budget Dictator,
and the Communications Tsar. The executive board must meet once a week
in private before the weekly public meeting. Each week, a different officer
will run both the private and public meeting. The office of Election Coordinator
will be filled by a member of the executive board.
Article VII - Advisor
This organization will be advised by one or more members of the office
of Residential Life. These advisors must attend both the public and private
meetings. The advisors will not have voting privileges within the organization.
Article VII - Meetings
Section 1. Regular, public meetings will be held weekly. The executive
board reserves the right to cancel a weekly meeting.
Section 2. Private, executive board meetings will be held every
week before the public meeting. Only officers and advisors will attend
these private meetings.
Section 3. A quorum for both the public and private meetings will
be defined as two-thirds of the executive board.
Article IX - Committees
It is the goal of RHC to work on all projects as a unified group. Any
executive board member, however, may organize a special committee to assist
in activities. These committees must be open to all voting and non-voting
members.
Article X - Sanctioning, Impeachment, and Removal
In the event of gross negligence, the executive board reserves the right
to remove members of the organization.
Section 1. Removal of a voting member.
If the executive board decides that a voting member has neglected his
or her duties, the right of the voting member to vote in elections can
be removed by a unanimous decision from the executive board. No voting
member may be removed simply for inflammatory views, but only for actions
and statements damaging to the credibility and respectability of the organization.
Section 2. Removal of an officer.
If an officer fails to fulfill the duties outlined in Article I of the
Bylaws, the other members of the executive board may remove him or her
by unanimous vote. The office will then be filled as outlined in Article
V, Section 5.
Article XI - Rules of Procedure.
Section 1. Robert's Rules of Order (Revised) will be the parliamentary
authority of this organization. Should this conflict with this Constitution,
the Constitution will take priority.
Section 2. In order to maintain active status, this organization
will comply with all Hamilton College policies and procedures, including
financial regulations, which pertain to student organizations.
Article XII - Amendments
Section 1. Amendments to this Constitution may be proposed by any
voting member of this organization. Officers of the organization may propose
new amendments only at the public meetings. The vote on the new amendment
must take place within the following week.
Section 2. Amendments must be approved by both general voting members
and executive board voters. The executive board must first approve the
amendment at the private meeting by a two thirds majority. If passed,
the amendment must then be approved by three fourths of the general voting
members at the public meeting.
Section 3. Amendments to this Constitution will be recommended
for approval to the Director of Student Activities.
BYLAWS
Article I - Duties of Officers
A) The Housing Lottery Bigeminates will be responsible for running
the Mid-Year Housing Lottery in the Fall Semester, and the Specialty,
Blocking, and General Housing Lotteries in the Spring Semester. They will
also be in charge of deciding on Unapproved Room Changes; they will recommend
solutions and penalties to these situations.
B) The Programming Emperor will be in charge of organizing events.
These may include, but not be limited to, Appreciation Days, Blood Drives,
Movie Nights, and other events to bring the Hamilton College community
together.
C) The Special Projects Ayatollah will maintain the RHC web site,
including on-line surveys. He or she will also serve as a liaison to outside
services such as, but not limited to, vending companies, laundry services,
and cable television companies.
D) The Budget Dictator will manage the finances of the organization.
He or she will organize the allocation of funds to residence halls and
have the final decision on such allocation. The Budget Dictator will also
organize the budget proposal for review to Student Assembly.
E) The Communications Tsar will be in charge of publicizing all
RHC events. He or she will also be in charge of taking attendance at meetings
for the purposes of both funding and voting eligibility.
F) The Election Coordinator will be in charge of running the election
for Executive Board positions. The Election Coordinator will determine
the date for the election, handle absentee ballots, and compile the results
of the election.
Article II - Duties of Advisor
The advisor(s) will be expected to serve as a liaison between the Office
of Residential Life and RHC, keeping the officials aware of all pertinent
events. The advisor(s) will also serve as a source of guidance, proposing
ideas and suggestions. The advisor should be a source of stability in
an organization that, by nature, involves much turnover.
Article III - Elections
The procedure
for elections will follow the outline given in Article V of this Constitution.
At the beginning of the Fall semester, the Executive Board should choose
an officer to also serve as an Elections Coordinator. This officer will
then take on the added responsibility of organizing all elections pertaining
to RHC offices, whether it be elections at the end of the school year
or elections held for replacements.
Article IV - Finances
RHC will derive the majority of its funds from the Office of Residential
Life, but RHC is also eligible for Student Assembly funds. The Budget
Dictator will organize these funds and see to their distribution.
Section 1. The Budget. The Budget will be managed by the Budget
Dictator. The Budget will necessarily include, but not be limited to,
funds designated to individual residence halls, with at least $100.00
per hall per year, and funds designated to the entire campus, an All-Campus
budget.
Section 2. Residence Halls. Individual residence halls can petition
for funds laid aside by the Budget Dictator by first sending a representative,
who need not be the same person, to two consecutive public meetings. The
representative can then submit a form detailing the nature of the expenditure,
and wait for approval by the Budget Dictator. Appropriated funds may be
used for gaming equipment, hall pizza parties, movie nights, or any other
activity which is open to the entire residence hall. Funds may not be
used for any controlled substances including drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.
If the desired event needs extra funding, then the hall can request to
use All-Campus funds.
Article V - Activities
Activities that are conducted on a regular basis include the housing lotteries,
blood drives, on-line surveys, and appreciation days.
Article VI - Meetings
The public meetings have traditionally been held on Thursday evenings,
and the executive board meetings have traditionally been held on Tuesday
afternoons. The executive board reserves the right to change these dates,
but the weekly executive board meeting must be held before the public
meeting. Written by John Doench on January 18, 1998 Revised by the Executive
Board on January 27, 1998
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