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CWRUbotix Constitiution.md

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THE BYLAWS OF CWRU

ROBOTICS CLUB (CWRUbotix)

Approved by the General Body: 2016-02-19

Last amended: 2022-02-19


Article I: Statement of Purpose

  1. Section 1: The CWRU Robotics Club, called CWRUbotix, creates robots that solve challenging and relevant problems. In pursuing this objective, it provides the student body with opportunities to learn concepts beyond their curriculum, to gain real-world experience in leadership, project management, robotics, and related fields, and to promote STEM and robotics education within the local community.

Article II: Membership and Conduct

  1. Section 1: Membership shall be open to all current students, faculty, and staff of Case Western Reserve University regardless of race, color, creed, sex, gender, sexual orientation, ancestry, language, national origin, disability, age, or status as a veteran.

  2. Section 2: An active member is someone who has attended at least 2 of the last 5 General Body meetings, who has contributed to club efforts or attended club-facilitated training, and who has not been removed from the club by the Executive Board.

  3. Section 3: The General Body consists of all active members.

  4. Section 4: Any person may be removed from the club for misconduct. Removed persons are barred from attending or participating in all club activities and stripped of all explicit or implicit rights and responsibilities. A majority vote of the Executive Board is required to remove a person from the club and removal may last for a specified time period or indefinitely. The Executive Board may reverse removal by a majority vote.

  5. Section 5: Any action that is discriminatory, disrespectful, or that causes discomfort or inconvenience to the club or any of its members is misconduct. Furthermore, violation of university, club, or club resource policy is misconduct. Other actions may also be considered misconduct.

  6. Section 6: The club will cease association with any business, sponsor, donor, advisor, member, competition, or other entity or relationship that discriminates based on race, color, creed, sex, gender, sexual orientation, ancestry, language, national origin, disability, age, or status as a veteran.

Article III: Executive Board

  1. Section 1: The Executive Board shall consist of six officers: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, Lab and Safety Manager, and Public Relations Manager. These officers shall be elected by the club during the annual elections.

  2. Section 2: The Executive Board interprets the constitution.

  3. Section 3: A majority vote of the Executive Board is defined as a vote where more than fifty percent of the Executive Board votes in the affirmative.

  4. Section 4: Newly elected officers board shall serve a term that begins at a date set by the outgoing Vice-President which precedes the first day of classes of the fall semester.

  5. Section 5: Any officer of the Executive Board can create a committee to assist in the completion of their responsibilities.

  6. Section 6: The President is responsible for the general functioning of the organization and is the head of the Executive Board. They shall conduct General Body and Executive Board meetings. They shall act as a primary liaison between the club and organizations with which the club interacts. They are responsible for ensuring timely progress of club activities. They may appoint non-voting officers in the event of a vacancy until the replacement officer is elected.

  7. Section 7: The Vice-president shall conduct business in the absence of the President and assist the President and Executive Board whenever necessary. Should the president’s position be vacated, the Vice-president will become the President, leaving the Vice-president position vacant. The Vice President shall be responsible for transitioning new officers.

  8. Section 8: The Secretary shall facilitate communication between the Executive Board and the general membership, and communication among the general membership. They shall compose and publish meeting minutes for all General Body and Executive Board meetings. They shall be responsible for ensuring committees and project teams take and publish meeting minutes. They shall organize, maintain, and make available all club documents, maintain a list of all active members, manage the club mailing lists, and provide other information services.

  9. Section 9: The Treasurer shall maintain accurate organization finance records including a club budget that is updated weekly which shows current funds in all accounts and all project team budgets. They shall facilitate the club’s ability to make purchases. They shall coordinate funding efforts including submitting annual funding requests to the Undergraduate Student Government and Case Alumni Association and obtaining and communicating with sponsors or potential sponsors of the club.

  10. Section 10: The Lab and Safety Manager is responsible for managing and organizing any spaces occupied by the club, facilitating access to those spaces, managing club property, and purchasing lab equipment and tools. They shall enforce proper safety procedures and policies, and ensure active members are aware of relevant campus resources, and club resource policies.

  11. Section 11: The Public Relations Manager shall manage advertising for all club events, organize outreach activities, and organize public fundraising efforts. They shall maintain the club website and social media accounts.

    1. Subsection 1: The Public Relations Manager must appoint and chair a social media committee. The committee is charged with maintaining the club’s social media presence. It is recommended there be at least one committee member for each competition and project in which the club participates.

    2. Subsection 2: The Public Relations Manager must appoint and chair a website maintenance committee. The website maintenance committee is charged with regularly updating the club website.

  12. Section 12: All expenditures must be approved by majority vote of the Executive Board.

Article IV: Projects and Competitions

  1. Section 1: All competitions shall have a dedicated coordinator. The coordinator’s job includes arranging transportation, registration, general logistics of competitions, immediately reporting potential problems to the Executive Board, and submitting reports to the Executive Board as requested.

  2. Section 2: All projects and competitions that require funding must have a team leader, who must present a full budget and timeline to the Executive Board in the requested format, and submit reports to the Executive Board as requested.

Article V: Elections

  1. Section 1: All elections shall be facilitated by an Elections Director. The Elections Director will facilitate nominations, provide opportunities for interested members to learn about positions, promote the election, and run the elections meeting. The Elections Director cannot be nominated or elected to any position during the election.

  2. Section 2: Annual elections shall be held on a date selected by the Executive Board and announced to the General Body no later than January 31st. The election date must fall in the last week of March or the first week of April. For the annual election, the Elections Director must be elected at least three weeks before the elections date by majority vote of the General Body.

  3. Section 3: The Executive Board will act as the Elections Director for all elections that are not the annual election. Non-annual elections will occur at the first regularly scheduled General Body meeting that occurs after the minimum open nominations period has passed.

  4. Section 4: A member is eligible to be nominated, to nominate, and to vote only if they are an active member.

  5. Section 5: Nominations must be open for at least 72 hours before any election, and at least two weeks before the annual election. Nominees must accept their nomination to be considered for election. Nominations will close for each position as it comes up for election.

  6. Section 6: Positions will be elected in the order they appear in the constitution. Each candidate will be allowed equal time to speak and answer questions. After each candidate has presented or had someone present on their behalf, voting will proceed with the candidates outside of the room.

  7. Section 7: All elected positions are elected by a majority vote of the present General Body. In the event of no majority winner, instant runoff voting via paper ballot must be used.

Article VI: Vacancies and Removal from Office

  1. Section 1: If a vacancy occurs for any elected position it shall be announced immediately to the entire club at which point nominations will be open and the elections will be held according to Article V. Section 3.

  2. Section 2: Any executive member may be removed from office for specific grievances by either a majority vote of the Executive Board or a two-thirds vote of the General Body. If the Executive Board will remove the executive member then the member against whom grievances are brought will not vote, and the advisor will be the sixth voting member. Grievances must be presented at one of the regularly scheduled meetings of the body voting to remove, and the vote will occur at a different regularly scheduled meeting of that body. The vote must occur at least one week after grievances are presented. If the member who is being removed can’t usually attend the regularly scheduled meetings of the body voting to remove accommodations must be made so they are able to attend both meetings if they wish. An open discussion must be held both after grievances are presented at the first meeting and again and before the vote occurs at the second meeting.

  3. Section 3: Members of the Executive Board must reside on or within commuting distance of campus for the duration of their elected term, excluding portions of the year classes that are not in session. If an Executive Board member is absent from Executive Board meetings for a period greater than a month of their elected term, they will be removed from office and the vacancy will be filled according to Article VI, Section 1.dismantling status.

  4. Section 4: Members of the Executive Board should be physically or electronically present for all Executive Board meetings. If an Executive Board member is absent from four consecutive Executive Board meetings, they will be removed from office and the vacancy will be filled according to Article VI, Section 1.

Article VII: Meetings and Operations

  1. Section 1: The Executive Board shall hold meetings that are advertised and open to the club at least once per week.
  2. Section 2: More than fifty percent of the Executive Board must be present for the Executive Board to conduct business.
  3. Section 3: The President in consultation with the other Executive Board officers shall decide on regularly scheduled General Body meeting times and places.
  4. Section 4: The President shall conduct General Body meetings according to agendas set by the President prior to each General Body meeting.
  5. Section 5: A quorum of fifty percent of the Executive Board and fifty percent of active members must be present to conduct official club business at a General Body meeting. Official club business is defined as all elections and other actionable items that the Executive Board decrees.
  6. Section 6: A majority vote of the General Body is defined as more than fifty percent of present active members voting in the affirmative.
  7. Section 7: A two-thirds majority vote of the General Body is defined as more than two thirds of present active members voting in the affirmative.

Article VIII: Amendments

  1. Section 1: Any member may propose an amendment during any General Body meeting. If seconded the proposed amendment shall be discussed then tabled until the next meeting. At the next meeting, the amendment will be read out loud, a discussion will be held, and a vote will be held. A two-thirds majority vote of the General Body will be required to pass the amendment.

  2. Section 2: The Executive Board may, at their discretion, hold a simple majority vote to bring forth decisions which will greatly affect the daily operations of the club to be voted on by the General Body. This decision requires a two-thirds majority vote in the affirmative by the General Body to be passed.