Revising the Constitution

[loki]

The current vague status of the constitution needs to changed.

Let the ball roll.

Suggestions, language, whims, and wishes start here.

[cordrym]

I think we should have a "Scout" as an officer. Someone whose duty it is to keep us informed as to items of club interest that are going on in the community.

For example, telling us that Jurassic Park is being played at Forsayth Park.

Such person should be computer savvy, able to find information on upcoming movie releases, what movies are being made, if any comic book signings are in the area, and if there are any small conventions going on.

This should be separate from the Advertising Committee, whose duties would be to advertise club events, and events that the club will be participating in. This committee should be headed by the secertary and have members from other active committees.

and,

The duties of negotiating group rates, discounts for club members, and fund raising should fall to the treasurer.

and,

Maintaining cordial relations with other campus organizations should fall under the Vice President.

and,

Reaching out to off campus groups for the purpose of joint projects, obtaining guest speakers, or other projecrts should fall under the pervue of the chairperson of which ever committee is responsible for the project.

These changes should fix the overpowered nature of the current promotions committee.

[cordrym]

Meetings.

General meetings:

General meetings shall be held 3 times a month. The meeting times for each semester shall be set by the president in consultation with the membership. The only official business conducted at general meetings shall be the taking of attendance, the bestowal of Honorary Memberships, the recording of expenses incurred, announcement of resolutions passed at Business Meetings,and the acceptance of applications for membership. These meetings may be conducted in any convenient accessible place, on or off campus, and may occur at restaurants or parks. At least one general meeting each month shall be conducted on campus.

(I've asked around, and it turns out that we would have more members if we actually held meetings. This is coming from people at the Anime club. In the early days of the club, we did have general meetings that alternated with business meetings. These were later subsumed by gaming sessions. Non gamers stopped attending, and gamers would often not show up for business meetings. This led to the idea amonst some that the club was "mostly a gaming club".)

Business meetings,

Business meetings shall be held twice a month, and may or may not occur in conjunction with general meetings. The dates for these meetings shall be determined by the executive council, shall be announced at the beginning of each month, and shall be held at a date and time convenient for the greatest number of officers with consideration given to convenience of the greatest number of voting members.

(if the officers can't make the meeting there is no point in having one, so their convenience is more important. So long as they have a quorum the meeting can go forward.)

Special Meetings.

Special meetings may be called by either the president or the executive council for special purposes that cannot wait until the regularly scheduled business meeting. Announcements for such meetings must be given 3 days in advance. Special meetings are open to the membership.

Closed Meetings.

These are meeting called by the president or executive council under special circumstances that are not open to the membership as a whole. The purpose of such meetings much be reported to the club adviser. Attendance at such meetings is open to only club officers, and other members selected by the officers. The reasons for such meetings may include, but are not limited to, investigations into misbehavior by club members, discussions of university regulations, sessions to settle disputes between club members, and the planning of surprise parties.

Committee meetings:

Committee meetings are meetings that are held by committees erected with the consent of the general membership. The format, setting, and attendance requirements for such meetings may vary according to the purpose of the committee, and may be vetoed by the president.

Services:

Services shall be considered to include all events conducted by club members other than General Meetings, Business meetings and Committee meetings, that are open to the public, or are provided in private to other groups or institutions, for the purpose of fostering interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Attendance at services will not count as attendance at meetings for the purpose of meeting membership requirements.

Examples of public services include:

Movie Screenings
Sci-fi marathons
Book discussions
Gaming sessions
Public Demonstrations
Club sponsored trips or tours open to non members
Lectures or presentations by guest speakers not occurring at business meetings.

Examples of Private Services include:
Speaking at schools,
Reading at nursing homes
other volunteer activities.


Membership Tiers

1)Honorary memberships

Honorary members will not have voting privileges, or the ability to hold any office. They will not be counted toward quorum, or be considered part of the active voting membership. They will not be held to attendance standards to maintain their honorary status.

They will be the other privileges of membership, including the issuance of a membership card that shall grant them any discount negotiated with businesses that are extended to members.

Such memberships shall be issued by decree of the President, or by vote of the membership.

There shall be three forms of honorary membership.

The first shall be extended to special guests of the organization who provide entertainment, knowledge, inspiration, or other service to the Club. This will include, but shall not be limited to, authors, actors, playwrights, scientists, astronauts, business owners, and artists. Such memberships shall be lifetime.

(something nice for guests)

The second shall be minors under the age of 18 who are not enrolled at AASU, but attend club services or meetings. Such memberships shall expire on the 15th of September following their 18th birthday, or upon acceptance at AASU, and may be revoked by order of the president in cases of extreme misbehavior.

(To include the children of members and to foster interest by potential future members. Let the kid get the discount card so mom and dad will buy em the books, get em hooked good.....)

The third shall extend to those who have strong interest in club activities, but may not attend events due to geography or health. This shall include students and staff at AASU's sister school in Kazakhstan.

(Danforth, any handicapped person in the community, people who move out of town, and any "pen pals" overseas)

2) Voting membership

Voting membership shall be extended to AASU Students, Faculty , Staff, and members of the Alumni Association. To become a member, one must (a, have been an active member in the organization before {date new constitution goes into effect}, (b, declare intention to join the organization, file an application for membership with the club secretary, and then attend any combination 3 general or business meetings. Only Voting Members shall be allowed to hold office, vote for officers, and vote for the use of funds from the club treasury. (this addresses concerns that SAC and SGA may have about "Student control" and "use of funds to benefit students".)

Voting members shall be immediate converted to Associate member status should they loose any prerequisite for voting membership.

3) Associate members.

Associate memberships shall be extended to any persons who do not meet the requirements for Voting membership, and are also active in club activities. To become an associate member, one must (a, have been an active member in the organization before {date new constitution goes into effect}, (b, declare intention to join the organization, file an application for membership with the club secretary, and then attend any combination 3 general or business meetings.

Associate members may not hold constitutionally mandated offices, vote in elections, or vote on the disbursement of funds from the clubs general treasury. They may propose and vote on projects, participate in events, and will be issued a membership card.

(this means that members like James and Naty can propose anything they want, and vote on it, but the Student members control the purse strings and decide if the project is actually funded.
This provides a check and balance system that allows Associates to have a voice, but maintains student control of funds provided to the club by SGA)

They may vote on dispersement of funds in special accounts not funded by AASU that have been erected to hold funds held specifically for the benefit of Associate members.

(This allows Associate members to benefit from, and have voice in the use of, monies raised in, fundraisers that they have participated in. Such fund raisers may, for example, be held to raise funds to defray the cost of attendance to conventions. Any such funds will not be commingled with any funds granted to the organization by AASU.)

Associate members who should later meet the prerequisites for Voting membership shall immediately be converted to voting member status.

4) Regular Guests.

Regular Guests shall include any person who attends multiple club meetings or services, and who requests to be informed of club activities via club new letters or internet systems, but who have not declared interests in formally joining the organization, or have not yet met attendance requirements. Contact information for regular guests shall be recorded by the secretary. Regular guests have no voting status, shall not be issued a membership card, and will not be counted for quorum.

Regular guests may include non club members who regularly attend gaming sessions, movie nights, or book discussions, and such persons may occasionally be included in group trips.

(This accommodates gamers who don't want to join a "Science Fiction" club, and prevents the organization from being dominated by any subgroup that only attends one type of event. Since guests will not be issued membership cards, they will not be able to come to events a few times just to get a discount. This will encourage participation in the club as a whole, and prevent the formation of clicks. It also covers disinterested boy/girl friends, and prevents people from Accidental joining the club and screwing up the quorum count)

5)Guests.
This includes anyone else who attends a club event, but does not register contact information with the secretary. No person shall ever be compelled to register contact information. (shy folks won't be scared off)

Maintaining membership Status.

There shall be 3 types of membership status.

1) Active members, This includes members who attend at any combination of at least 3 business meetings or general meetings in a period of 2 months.

2) Inactive members, This includes any members who fail to attend any combination of at least 3 business meetings or general meetings in a period of 2 months. Such persons are not counted as members for the purposes of quorum. Inactive members who attend either 2 meetings in a month, or 3 meetings in 2 months.

(this keeps people from disappearing for a semester, and then showing up expecting to vote on something, but allows people who get swamped by school to get back into the organization quickly once their time is freed up)

3) Members on Hiatus.
Members who are planning to go on an extended trip, or who will not be attending AASU for a semester, but plan to return, may ask the club secretary to place them on Hiatus status. They will not be counted toward quorum, but will be restored to active member status immediately upon their return.

(This allows people leaving for the summer to return with out having to sit out on voting for a month.)

[loki]

“Closed Meetings.

These are meeting called by the president or executive council under special circumstances that are not open to the membership as a whole. The purpose of such meetings much be reported to the club adviser. Attendance at such meetings is open to only club officers, and other members selected by the officers. The reasons for such meetings may include, but are not limited to, investigations into misbehavior by club members, discussions of university regulations, sessions to settle disputes between club members, and the planning of surprise parties.”

I do not feel that such is either required or beneficial for a revamped constitution.
For instance, if I wanted to invite Scarlett and Chris to my apartment and discussed the club with them, I would have to tell the advisor (something that seems more of a hassle for our advisor than anything else) and declare it a closed meeting.

I do not think this constitution should curtail our normal right to assemble, eh?

Besides… I’m leery of the idea of including a ‘just me and my buds’ clause into the constitution.

[loki]

cordrym said:

I think we should have a "Scout" as an officer. Someone whose duty it is to keep us informed as to items of club interest that are going on in the community.

For example, telling us that Jurassic Park is being played at Forsayth Park.

Such person should be computer savvy, able to find information on upcoming movie releases, what movies are being made, if any comic book signings are in the area, and if there are any small conventions going on.

Um... I don't think that an official position is required... or even a particularly grand idea. Anyone who happens to come across a useful tidbit should be allowed, if not encouraged, to present it to the rest of the club.

The duties of negotiating group rates, discounts for club members, and fund raising should fall to the treasurer.

I'm inclined to say that it should fall to the person most capable of getting the deal.

More of a meritocracy than an appointed task, I would think... or rather, a task appointed to the person who most merits it.

Maintaining cordial relations with other campus organizations should fall under the Vice President.

I would be inclined to simply strike this from the board.

Cordial relations should be maintained, but there should be no specific person designated to do so; someone could read it as, "This guy has to be an alright kind of dude, but the rest of us can be complete (insert negative phrase)s."

Reaching out to off campus groups for the purpose of joint projects, obtaining guest speakers, or other projecrts should fall under the pervue of the chairperson of which ever committee is responsible for the project.

Or, the person appointed by the chairperson to pursue that task.

[James]

cordrym said:

3) Members on Hiatus.
Members who are planning to go on an extended trip, or who will not be attending AASU for a semester, but plan to return, may ask the club secretary to place them on Hiatus status. They will not be counted toward quorum, but will be restored to active member status immediately upon their return.

(This allows people leaving for the summer to return with out having to sit out on voting for a month.)

Maybe I am not getting it, but, isn't not being counted in quorum the same as not being able to vote? If I understand you correctly you mean to say:

Persons notifying the club of extended absence, such as leaving for summer vacation or family emergency, shall be restored to full status upon return and allowed full membership rights immediately upon return. This leave, however, cannot be beyond a period of (tbd, suggesting three) months or a single semester.

[rogue]

When shall be the next meeting on the constitution? Also, what is the official club membership at? It takes a 2/3 passing of all members to change it. So, if we have 30 members we need 20 to say yes.


Abstaining btw I found out over the break by SGA means that the person is basically voting no. When a person abstains, is is not a neutral vote, but just stating they do not have enough info to say Yes or to fully say no. So, if a group has say 10 people and to pass something you need a majority, if 5 abstain, and 4 vote yes, and 1 no, it is not passed, the 5 abstains is listed as a no and a majority is not reached.

Also, the officer of scout, I find it reduntant to create such. Promotions committee was never supposed to be a one man show, it was supposed to a committtee, so it was supposed to have several people on it that did the advertising, the contacting with other clubs, promoting the good of the club. By creating the scout, we basically are taking the committee and turning it into one person that has a voted posistion to contact other clubs. This also does away with the idea of voted contacts. Such as making a person the Rogue Phoniex contact that Scarlett is.