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TRINITY
UNIVERSITY CONSTITUTION
The official name of the organization will be the Trinity University International Club, henceforth referred to in this document as the IC.
The objectives of the IC are as follows: 1) To serve as partner in the coordination of international student activities with the Trinity University International Programs Office, henceforth referred to in this document as IPO; 2) To form a social support network for international students, exchange students, returning and future study abroad students, International Studies majors and minors, and all other students interested in international students, studies, and issues at Trinity University; and 3) To promote awareness of global issues and diversity on and off campus.
All current Trinity University students are eligible for membership in the IC.
Section 1: Executive Cabinet The Executive Cabinet will consist of the following officer positions:
Executive Cabinet positions share authority laterally, with no officer wielding more or less authority than any other. All Executive Cabinet decisions shall be made by majority vote with no one officer being allowed more than one vote per question. Concurrent duties of all members of the Executive Cabinet include: - Regularly attending both general and executive meetings, as well as
IC events; Section 2: President The President shall be responsible for the following duties: - Act as chief liaison between Trinity University and the IC; Section 3: Co-President The Co-President shall be responsible for the following duties: - Act as secondary liaison between Trinity University and the IC with
the IC President; Section 4: Events Coordinator (Social Director) The Events Coordinator shall be responsible for the following duties: - Serve as chief coordinator of all IC events, both on- and
off-campus, with the exception of meetings; Section 5: Meetings Director The Meetings Director shall be responsible for the following duties: - Serve as chief coordinator of all IC meetings, both general and
executive, by planning and presiding over them; Section 6: Public Relations Director The Public Relations Director shall be responsible for the following duties: - Advertise all IC events and general meetings to IC members and the
Trinity University campus; Section 7: Treasurer The Treasurer shall be responsible for the following duties: - Oversee and manage the IC's Students Account Office budget; and Section 8: Historian The historian shall be responsible for the following duties: - Photograph all IC events with the purpose of keeping a scrapbook and creating a video. Section 9: Co-Events Coordinators (2 officers) The Co-Events Coordinators shall be responsible for the following duties: - Assist with official duties of the Events Coordinator; and Section 10: Co-Public Relations Directors (2 officers) The Co-Public Relations Directors shall be responsible for the following duties: - Assist with official duties of the Public Relations Director; and
Section 1: Voter Eligibility Requirements All current IC members, including graduating and leaving students, as well as all IPO faculty and staff (with the exception of the International Student Advisor, henceforth referred to in this document as the ISA), shall be eligible to vote in Executive Cabinet Elections. No member of either IC or IPO shall be eligible to vote more than once for each position. Candidates for office are eligible to vote. Members may choose not to participate in elections. Members eligible to vote who cannot attend the election may vote by informing the Election Monitor(s) (see Art. V, Sect. 3) of their selections at a time prior to but not following the election. Section 2: Executive Cabinet Candidate Eligibility Requirements All current, non-graduating IC members are eligible to run for all positions of the Executive Cabinet, excluding the Co-Events Coordinators and Co-Public Relations Directors positions, which shall be reserved for first-year students incoming in the fall semester. Students planning to study abroad or take an academic leave of absence during the fall semester of their term in office are not eligible to run for election. Students planning to study abroad or take an academic leave of absence during the spring semester of their term in office may still run for a one-semester (fall) position. Students planning to graduate in December of the fall semester may also run for a one-semester (fall) position. Students who are currently studying abroad or on academic leave at the time of elections are still eligible to run for election, given that all other eligibility requirements have been met. The ISA has discretionary veto power over candidates for the Executive Cabinet, both before and immediately after elections. Section 3: Election Monitor(s) Elections of the Executive Cabinet shall be overseen and administered by a neutral third party or parties, the Election Monitor(s), who shall be agreed upon by a majority vote of the current Executive Cabinet prior to the Executive Cabinet elections for the next term. The Election Monitor(s) shall not be a current member of the IC, nor shall he or she be a member of IPO faculty or staff. The ISA has the discretionary authority to veto a selection for Election Monitor. Section 4: Executive Cabinet Elections Procedures Members of the Executive Cabinet shall be elected by vote of the
general membership in April of the spring semester preceding their term
in office (fall and spring semesters of the upcoming academic year), at
a date and location to be announced to all IC members and IPO staff at
least one week in advance. Voting shall take place on-campus at a location accessible to all eligible members. Votes shall be administered via secret ballot and shall not be administered electronically. Each candidate for election shall be allotted an equal amount of time to make a candidacy speech prior to the vote for that position. Candidates who cannot attend the election may opt to have a stand-in speaker present their speech at the election and may request to have their candidacy announced at the election by the Election Monitor. No candidate may offer personal favors (either tangible or intangible) to eligible voters prior to voting. Voting for Executive Cabinet positions shall be administered in the following order:
The votes shall be hand-counted by the Election Monitor immediately following the vote for each position, and the winners shall be announced immediately following the count and preceding the next election for a position. Candidates may choose to run for multiple positions following the announcement of the results for each position vote. Candidates may not be elected to more than one position. In the event of a tie, the tied candidates may opt to serve jointly in that position, or one candidate may opt to forfeit that position and run for another. Section 5: Co-Events Coordinators and Co-Public Relations Directors Candidate Eligibility Requirements: Candidates for the two (2) Co-Events Coordinator positions and for the two (2) Co-Public Relations Director positions must be first-year students (as determined by year of enrollment rather than by credits earned) and eligible for IC membership. These four positions shall not be filled by non-first year students. Candidates may apply to either a Co-Events Coordinator or a Co-Public Relations Director position. Section 6: Co-Events Coordinators and Co-Public Relations Directors Appointments Procedures The President of the IC must announce the availability of these four (4) positions, as well as the procedure for applying for said positions, to all Trinity University students at least one week prior to the interviewing of candidates. The announcement must be made during August or the first half of September of the fall semester of the current term. Candidates for these positions shall be interviewed by all members of the Executive Cabinet at a date and location to be announced to all students who have applied for the positions at least one week in advance. The interviews must be held on-campus and at a location accessible to all candidates. The Executive Cabinet will select from the candidates which four will be appointed to the available positions. The decision to appoint a candidate must be made by unanimous vote the Executive Cabinet members. No Executive Cabinet member shall be allowed more than one vote. Appointments will be announced promptly to all IC members and ISO faculty and staff. Appointees shall be immediately granted full membership in the Executive Cabinet as well as the same privileges as current Executive Cabinet members. No hazing of Co-Events Coordinators or Co-Public Relations Directors by current Executive Cabinet members shall be permitted (see CCI handbook for Trinity University's official definition of "hazing"). The ISA has discretionary veto power over Co-Events Coordinators and Co-Public Relations Directors appointments. Section 7: Officer Removal Failure to uphold the duties espoused in Art. IV by any member of the Executive Cabinet will result in a confidential discussion between the ISA, the President and Co-President, and the member in question in which the member in question will be informed of his or her failure to abide constitutional requirements as well as the potential consequences for that member should he or she fail to do so in the future. Further lack of compliance with the rules of Art. IV will lead to impeachment of the officer in question by the ISA and the Executive Cabinet at a time and location to be announced to all Executive Cabinet members, including the officer in question, at least one week in advance. The impeachment proceedings shall be held on-campus and in a location accessible to all attending parties. The impeachment proceedings shall consist of an open discussion of the conduct of the impeached officer and a vote by all parties present, including the officer in question, as to whether or not the offending officer shall be removed from his or her official position. A two-thirds majority vote of all parties present shall be necessary to remove an impeached officer. No party shall receive more than one vote. The ISA has discretionary veto power solely over a vote to remove an officer from his or her position. The ISA may not veto a vote to not remove an officer from his or her position.
Section 1: Executive Meetings Executive meetings shall be open to all members of the Executive Cabinet as well as to all non-executive IC members who wish to attend, subject to the discretion of the Executive Cabinet. Executive meetings must be held at least twice per month, immediately preceding and following general meetings. The Meetings Director shall preside over all executive meetings and shall be responsible to take and promptly distribute minutes to all IC members. Section 2: General Meetings General meetings shall be open to all members of the IC, ISO faculty and staff, and any other interested parties. General meetings must be held at least once per month, and must be announced with time and location to the general IC membership and to the greater Trinity University community at least one week in advance. The Meetings Director shall preside over all general meetings and shall be responsible to take and promptly distribute minutes to all IC members. Section 3: Attendance Policy At the beginning of each term, an attendance policy for executive meetings shall be decided upon by majority vote of the Executive Cabinet. The attendance policy decided upon shall be pertinent to one term only and may be amended by majority vote of the Executive Cabinet at any time during that term. The attendance policy must contain a provision for exceptional circumstances pertaining to any member, such as extended illness, family emergencies, etc.
Ratification of the Constitution shall be presented at the first meeting of the Executive Cabinet following Executive Cabinet elections in the spring. A simple majority vote by all officers present shall suffice to ratify the constitution for the following term.
Any proposals to amend the constitution shall be made at any meetings of the Executive Cabinet and must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the members present in order to be presented for approval by the general membership at the next general meeting. A vote to approve a proposed amendment may not be held at an executive meeting in which at least one-half of all Executive Cabinet members are not in attendance.
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TU International Club is a recognized student
organization. |