S.E.E.D.: Students for Environmental and Energy Development Constitution

Transcription

1 S.E.E.D.: Students for Environmental and Energy Development Constitution Step 1: Statement of Purpose (tbd after individual statements) First develop a Statement of purpose that will serve as the underlying foundation for your group. Consider the following: What do we hope to accomplish? SEED looks to provide students with knowledge, experience and connections within the environmental/energy field they would otherwise have difficulty obtaining. How will we serve Rutgers University and its students? Rutgers University will benefit from the projects put forth by SEED that focus on sustainability and carbon footprint reduction (most projects will focus on these). Through our innovation driven by local concerns, competitions, and knowledge given to us by professors/professionals, we also hope to gain recognition that will reflect positively for Rutgers. SEED will serve students by increasing their communication, critical thinking, and problem solving skills. By bringing companies and professors in to give talks as well as sponsoring a career fair, SEED hopes to shed light on the career opportunities within the environmental/energy sectors. How are we distinctly different from other organizations? SEED s focus is to explore, learn, and apply sustainable scientific and technological solutions to the environmental problems that society faces today. We plan to not only recognize these environmental issues but also learn about and develop practical solutions in a team setting. These solutions will always take into account practicality and recognize all parties that will be affected. What do we value, hope for, believe in, and support? SEED values going beyond awareness by bringing together the environmentally concerned to learn, explore, and innovate about technologies that will create a more sustainable future for our planet. We hope to strengthen the skills and knowledge of our members, help them get jobs and to create a better image for our university. We believe that by bringing together the environmentally passionate yet hard working, we can make a positive influence on our members, Rutgers, and whomever else we might effect. We ultimately hope to shape members into leaders of tomorrow, people that will make a great impact on our environment and generations to come. We support creativity, passion, and solutions that keep in mind all affected parties. We recognize that current environmental problems are often not solved because one party will not recognize another party s values. In every project we strive for, SEED will always keep in mind the values of parties that may oppose our idea, in order to work with and not against groups that want to provide different solutions.

2 Are we part of a larger organization or cause? Not yet but, we hope to construct a Board that will help in the networking of Green clubs and/or Engineering clubs(?) Step 2: Develop a Constitution The Constitution provides the operating framework of the group. The following components must be included in your organization s constitution: ARTICLE I: Name of your organization: The name of the organization shall be: Students for Environmental & Energy Development (SEED, for short) ARTICLE II: Statement of purpose: Explore, learn, and apply technologies and scientific principles that are changing the way society impacts the environment and creates/uses energy. ARTICLE III: Active membership: Requirements to join SEED: 1) Members must have an interest in the environmental and energy sciences. They must be willing to to work together in group situations on identified problems (i.e. Solar Power in Cities, Littering, excess food waste) and they must give their respective students equal voice and opinion in said group situations. 2) Members are not required to be in SEBS, but the club is based out of the SEBS disciplines., It is expected that there will be an abundance of people ranging various majors with different focuses regarding the environmental and energy sciences. 3) Membership shall be open to all Rutgers University students and must comply with federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, marital status, civil union status, domestic partnership status, military service, and veteran status, and any other category protected by law. *** ARTICLE IV : Title and role description for Executive Board officers SECTION I: The President The PRESIDENT shall represent the organization and be held in charge of overseeing all of the organization s meetings and operations. He or she will be in charge of planning out meeting agendas for both general and Executive board meetings. The president shall also be the final word for decisions on the organization s actions, alongside the Faculty

3 Advisor, and he or she will meet regularly with the Faculty Advisor, the schedule of which shall be decided by both himself/herself and with the advisor. SECTION II: The Vice President The VICE PRESIDENT will assist the president in their duties, filling in for the president whenever needed. The duties outside of the president s aid is to help in the formulating of locations, times, and guest presenters for the industry presentations the club will have. He or she will work under the President s approval and will be able to settle financial details by working alongside the Treasurer. They will also ensure that the project(s) are being done in a timely manner, giving moderate deadlines if needed to help keep the groups on track with the project. SECTION III: Treasurer The TREASURER shall be responsible for all financial transactions of the organization and will be the main user of the organization s online SABO account. The treasurer will jointly work with the President to discuss the organization s financial matters and assets, and he or she will be able to discuss with other Executive members their financial limitations for events and projects. He or she will keep accurate and detailed reports of the organization s financial status/operations that will be shared with the rest of the Executive Board and he or she will be responsible for making the necessary trips to the Student Activities Business Office on his/her own time. SECTION IV: Secretary The SECRETARY shall be the official bookkeeper of the organization. He or she will be responsible for recording minutes during Executive Board meetings and sharing them with the other Executive Board members. Official correspondence will fall mostly under their responsibility, and the secretary will be responsible for sending out the regular listserv s informing members of our events and relevant news. He or she is also in charge of evaluations and counting ballots alongside the President during elections. SECTION V: Quartermaster The QUARTERMASTER will be in charge of coordinating with the project manager(s), the treasurer, and the locations manager to bring the necessary materials to the meetings, specifically workshop meetings. He or She will go out or order the parts needed for the project(s) being undertaken and make sure the projects have a few spare parts. When the club has a more

4 permanent location, the quartermaster will also ensure we have the right tools for the jobs at the location. SECTION VI: Locations Manager The LOCATIONS MANAGER will aid in the finding of locations to meet at for regular, presentation, and workshop meetings. They will talk to the Department of Scheduling and Space Management or whoever may be the one to contact in order to get a certain space reserved for us to partake in meetings and getting a room or lecture hall for the guest speakers. SECTION VII: Networking Manager(s) The NETWORKING MANAGER will be in charge of professional, academic, and interclub relations. They will maintain such connections through the SEED account and will update the shared list of such connections on the SEED Google Drive folder. I If the Network Manager gets overwhelmed, they may ask for a co-manager to help them in splitting the duties in such a way as to distribute it evenly(i.e. One is InterClub and Academic, the other is Professional relations,etc.) as to make sure nothing gets forgotten. SECTION VIII: Health/Safety Officer The HEALTH/SAFETY OFFICER will maintain a tidy and safe workspace in the locations for workshop meetings. They will also make sure safety protocol is followed during field trips. Due to the risks present whenever working on projects, they will be required to complete first aid training to ensure that we will be safe given an accident does occur. They are also in charge of the first aid kit. SECTION IX: Project Manager(s) The PROJECT MANAGER(S) will be the head of each project. They will report to the president and the vice president on the progress of the project they are working on. They will make sure that whoever is working ARTICLE V : Method of election/selection for officers and related eligibility requirements: The officers will preside over the election, and the President and Secretary will tabulate the results unless incumbent officer is a candidate and in such cases he/she shall not tabulate the results. Nominations shall be made either from the floor or by self -nomination. Elections will be made by secret ballot, with a majority vote for election.

5 For the position(s) of Project Manager(s), the election will be held at the beginning of the project while it is still in a planning stage. The decision will be done by majority vote within the group doing the project. To be eligible for elections, members must have a strong interest in the values of SEED, must have their schedule free during meeting times, must have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5, and must have attended at least 7 meetings previously. However, during the first year of the organization, the first Executive Board can implement any necessary exceptions for the proper operation of the organization. SECTION I Nominations shall precede elections by at least one week. SECTION II If no valid candidates are elected for a particular office, the Executive board shall vote upon an individual to fill the vacancy within three weeks. If at that time no candidate can be found for the vacancy, one of the continuing executive board members shall serve in the vacancy duty until a valid candidate can be elected by the executive board. SECTION III Elections shall take place every year, and Executive Board members may serve more than one term (one year) of office if and only if they are re elected. SECTION IV In the event of a sudden vacancy in any executive office, the remaining executive board shall appoint an interim officer until such time as a proper official election may be held for the office. SECTION V Nominations shall occur during one full length meeting. If specific members are not at the meeting, there will be no accommodations.

6 ARTICLE VI : Statement on member voting privileges SECTION I A member must be present at the meeting the day of voting, be present for the candidates speeches, and must have attended at least one meeting prior to the day of the election. SECTION II If a member is running for a position, he or she is forbidden from voting for the officer to be elected into said position or to directly influence others votes. Amendment method ARTICLE VII : Method for removal of officers An officer can be removed from office, through the process of impeachment. Impeachment proceedings may be brought against any executive officer of the organization by any 3 members of the organization. Grounds for impeachment include negligence or abandonment of duty to the organization, severe infraction of University policy while acting under the authority or representation of the organization, or any action which intentionally and maliciously harms the organization and/or any of its members. Such claims must be submitted in writing to the executive board no later than one week prior to a hearing in which all charges will be discussed and decided upon by the executive board. The executive board shall inform the officer of any such charges immediately or as soon as possible of any such claims. The impeachment vote shall be taken at this meeting. The individual being considered for expulsion shall not have a vote and shall not be counted amongst the number of voting members present. A two thirds vote of the voting members is required to remove a member from office. If the President is the member being considered for expulsion, the Vice President shall run the proceedings. ARTICLE VIII This organization shall abide by all applicable laws of the State of New Jersey and the United States. ***

7 ARTICLE IX This organization shall abide by all applicable rules and regulations of the University and under the privileges as granted by the Division of Student Affairs and by the rules and regulations of the Board of Governors.***