Constitution and Bylaws of the Association for Computing Machinery at Texas A&M University-Kingsville

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1 Constitution and Bylaws of the Association for Computing Machinery at Texas A&M University-Kingsville Article I: Name of Organization The name of this organization shall be the Association for Computing Machinery at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. For the sake of brevity, the name Association for Computing Machinery shall be used when appropriate. The name of this organization shall be abbreviated ACM or ACM-TAMUK. Article II: Article III: Purpose The purpose of this organization is to promote the professional development of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering students of Texas A&M University-Kingsville by providing opportunities for learning and growth through competition and collaboration, and by providing opportunities to establish lasting relationships with computing professionals within academia and the industry. Membership Any student of Texas A&M University-Kingsville is eligible to join this organization, as long as he/she is committed to furthering the goals of this organization. This organization will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, or veteran status. A student will not be considered a member of ACM-TAMUK until he/she has successfully registered for an ACM Student Membership and has been added to the CollegiateLink roster. Section 2. There shall be three categories of membership within this organization: member, officer, advisor. A member shall be a student of the organization who has met the General Requirements. Members have the right to vote in polls, vote in elections for officers, and participate in discussion during general meetings. Members are eligible to participate in any private activity within the organization (excluding officer-only activities). Certain activities, such as competitions, may have additional restrictions on who may participate. An officer shall be a member who has been elected to a position of office within the organization. The officer positions are as follows: Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, PR Officer. An advisor shall be a faculty member within the organization. There shall be one advisor in this organization at all times. The advisor may not vote in polls or elections, but may be involved in certain activities. 1

2 Section 3. Section 4. Article IV: Section 2. There shall be no GPA requirements or any other academic requirements to join this organization. To become a member of this organization, a student must meet only the General Requirements. A member shall be automatically removed from this organization if he/she has failed to attend at least one meeting for 60 consecutive days (not including weekends and holidays) within an academic year. An automatic removal may be vetoed by a unanimous vote by the officers. Special considerations shall be given to students who cannot attend meetings due to extenuating circumstances. Additionally, a member may be removed from the organization by a majority vote of the organization s members. A manual removal may be vetoed by a unanimous vote by the officers. Removal from this organization shall entail removal of the member-in-question from the official roster on CollegiateLink. Meetings General meetings shall be held irregularly, approximately every 3-4 weeks. The date/time of the meeting shall depend on the availability of the guest speaker who will be presenting during the meeting. Special meetings, which are smaller, one-off events, are held approximately every 2 weeks. For parliamentary procedures during its general meetings, this organization adheres to Democracy 2.0: Rules of Order for Everyday Democrats, a lightweight alternative to Robert s Rules of Order, appropriate for medium-sized democratic organizations. The core principles and ancillary principles are listed below. The full text can be found online ( er-for-everyday-democrats-the-voting-members-handbook-v1.1.pdf ). 1. The Democratic Contract All voting members are given a fair chance to present their ideas, and then the group as a whole chooses the most popular option by formal vote. In exchange for a fair process that enforces democratic freedoms of speech, thought and association, those of a minority view agree to abide by and support the majority will until such time as they can persuade enough of their peers to change their minds and hold a new vote. 2. Majority Rule Actions taken on behalf of the organization as a whole are decided by the formal support of the majority, defined as "more than half of those voting." Tie votes fail, since half is not more than half. The will of the general membership of the organization, as expressed at a General Meeting by majority vote, is the final sovereign authority for all actions of the organization, constrained only by higher legal authorities that bind the organization (ie. the courts, federal, provincial, state or common law). 3. Order The organization can only function if there is order. Anything that causes disorder is an affront to the rights of the majority and the purpose of the organization itself. The Chair should immediately block actions of members that cause disorder. If the Chair 2

3 fails to act to prevent disorder then individual members have an obligation to raise a Point of Order and demand that order be restored before the business of the meeting can proceed. 4. Equality All voting members have equal rights, privileges and obligations, subject only to the additional rights, privileges and obligations bestowed upon individual members through the proper election or appointment of portfolios, offices, or positions within the organization. 5. Simplicity Pointless formality and procedural complexity is harmful to the functioning of the organization on many levels. It is a barrier to participation (especially for new members), it clogs the effectiveness of meetings and generates frustration that undermines democracy itself. All democratic organizations should operate with the minimum complexity or formality consistent with the fair, efficient and legal transaction of business. 6. Germaneness All meeting business must be germane, that is: closely or significantly relevant to the most proximal topic of deliberation." All discussion, amendments, motions or other business must be germane to the motion on the floor. Only a properly formulated Main Motion, by definition, need not be germane to anything else. It is important to note that germane entails neither support nor opposition; one may advance any position one wishes relative to a particular topic, so long as the position is relevant in some significant way, as determined by the Chair, or ultimately by the whole assembly if the Chair s decision is subject to Appeal. 7. Specific Supersedes General When a specific rule conflicts with a General Principle, the specific rule takes force. Exceptions to general principles require a specific rule, and in the absence of a specific rule the General Principle is in force. 8. Silence Equals Consent All members have the obligation to attend, participate and voice dissenting views. Failure to do so constitutes binding consent to the decisions of those who do. In accordance with this principle the Chair should always ask for unanimous consent on uncontroversial topics instead of calling a formal vote. Seeing no disagreement the Chair may then declare the resolution to have passed unanimously. If a member disagrees with the proposal such that they would vote against it the member is obliged to note their opposition to the Chair, thereby triggering a formal vote. In this way much otherwise routine business can be dispensed with quickly and efficiently. 9. Agenda Transparency Under the Agenda Transparency Rules meetings require a formal advanced call that includes a proposed agenda made available to all voting members. Motions require notice of motion with draft wording in the proposed agenda. Only topics germane to the draft wording included in the proposed agenda may be deliberated upon at the meeting. 3

4 Any two voting members may give notice of motion by submitting draft wording for inclusion in the proposed agenda. Only an emergency with unanimous consent of all voting members present can allow a main motion to be moved at a meeting without advance notice in the meeting call. 10. One Speaker Only one person at a time may speak. Only the person who has been granted the floor by the Chair has the right to speak. 11. One Topic Only one topic, in the form of a motion, may be on the floor for deliberation at a time. Some motions have the power to interrupt deliberation of the current motion on the floor. When this happens the motion on the floor is temporarily suspended until the new motion is resolved, then the previous motion is immediately resumed at the exact place where deliberations were halted. It is possible for multiple such motions to arise, leading to a nested chain of embedded motions. Such nested motions are simply resolved in reverse order, one at a time. In this way no more than one motion at a time is ever under deliberation by the assembly. 12. No Discussion Without a Motion Closely related to the principle of Germaneness, no discussion should occur at a General or Board meeting if there is no motion on the floor. All discussion must be germane to the proximal topic, and if there is no topic then nothing can be germane. From a pragmatic point of view, without a motion to focus debate a meeting could talk all night and get nowhere. The exception to this rule is at Committee meetings, where such free-ranging discussions are intended to take place. 13. Speaking Rights All voting members have the default right to speak twice to every motion, for a maximum of five minutes each time. No member may speak a second time to a motion so long as a member who has not yet spoken to the same motion is seeking the floor or on the speakers list. Exceptions to this principle may be permitted on a case-by-case basis by majority vote. If a member feels that an exception would serve the greater interest they may move to Permit Exception by stating the specific exception they propose to make to General Principle #13. Only exceptions to Principle #13 are permitted. The motion is in order when moved by the member who has the floor, must be seconded, and may not be amended or debated. 14. Polite Decorum 2500 years of democratic trial and error reveal that certain pragmatic rules of human psychology produce the best outcomes when disagreements arise All comments by the speaker must be directed to the Chair; members are never allowed to address each other directly or argue back and forth directly at one another Reference to the motivations of others is strictly forbidden. You may speak 4

5 about why you are taking a certain action, but you may never lay claims about why someone else is doing something; such claims are almost always veiled insults Foul language, name calling, insults, threats or other obvious impolite behaviour should prompt the Chair to immediately eject the offending party from the meeting. If the chair fails to eject the offending member than any other member has a right to raise a Point of Order demanding that the offending party be expelled from the meeting under General Principle #3: Order. The Chair should not resume the meeting until the offending party has been removed and order is restored. 15. Quorum Democratic meetings are means to make decisions on behalf of the entire group. For such decisions to be legally valid and binding the meeting must have a minimum number of voting members present and accounted for. It would be abusive and illegitimate, for example, to allow a meeting consisting of only two members to vote and enact decisions on behalf of an organization comprised of hundreds of members. The minimum threshold number of members needed to make decisions valid and binding is referred to as a quorum. A meeting that does not have quorum may not legally conduct business The specific threshold that constitutes quorum for a particular meeting may be set in the organization s bylaws or other governing documents. In the absence of any such specification the default quorum for all assemblies is a majority (more than half) of the total current voting members of the assembly. Great care should be exercised when determining the quorum threshold; a quorum set too low may permit abuse by a small cabal of rogue members, whereas a quorum set too high may paralyze the organization by preventing the conduct of legitimate business. 16. Advance Preparation It is expected that members should have proposals developed into a cohesive plan prior to presenting it before a General or Board meeting for deliberation. Meetings are neither the time nor the place for brainstorming, research, proposal development or fleshing-out of details. All members cannot be well versed in the details of all topics. If the meeting feels that more development is needed before a decision can be made the normal course of action should be to Refer the matter to a committee by use of the motion of that name. A committee comprised of voting members representing a cross-section of the organization should do the job of researching and developing a proposal on behalf of the group. The committee s duty is to produce a detailed proposal for reintroduction and final consideration at a future meeting. 17. Chair Impartiality The Chair only votes to make or break a tie. The Chair never gets a second vote to break a tie (as in Bournoit s Rules, a glaring violation of the Equality principle). The Chair does not move, second or speak to motions except if the assembly has 7 or fewer voting members. If the Chair is a member and wishes to 5

6 exercise their membership rights to debate motions (under the Equality principle) then they need to temporarily pass the Chair to another for the duration of the matter in question. They may only retake the Chair after the matter for which they have declared partisanship has been concluded. These Chair Impartiality restrictions are not in force in a deliberative assembly composed of 7 or fewer total members. In such small assemblies the Chair may move, second and speak to motions, but must still use caution to fulfill their duties in an impartial manner in light of Chair Subordination. 18. Chair Subordination The Chair is a servant of the assembly delegated the task of maintaining order and exercises all authority at the discretion of the assembly. All rulings or other actions of the Chair require majority support. The Chair should be able to justify all rulings by reference to the organization's approved Parliamentary Authority or other legal authority binding upon the organization. Any ruling or action of the Chair can be Appealed to a vote of the assembly and overturned by a majority. The Chair may preemptively put controversial rulings to vote in order to preserve the impartiality of their position (Principle #17 above.) 19. Dilatory Tactics Forbidden Democratic rules are designed to facilitate and simplify the group decision-making process. Legitimate procedures can, in certain circumstances, be used to obstruct, delay or disrupt proceedings. When legitimate procedures are used this way it is the duty of the Chair, acting in their delegated role, to protect the proper function of the organization by barring such abuse. The Chair (or individual members through a Point of Order) may block such actions as a special instance of General Principle #3: Order Dilatory is defined as any otherwise legitimate procedural action that is frivolous, absurd, or devoid of rational content. Extreme care should be taken when suppressing legitimate procedures. It is possible for the majority to suppress legitimate dissent under the pretext of limiting dilatory actions, which would constitute a fatal violation of the Democratic Contract. This Principle should only be invoked in circumstances that are obviously absurd or irrational, such as when one or two rogue members repeatedly raise the same or similar points of order or motions It is important to distinguish between dilatory actions and a filibuster action, which is one of the few legitimate tools of a minority to express strong objection to a proposal. A filibuster involves minority members exercising their legitimate rights as a means of symbolic opposition. The majority always has recourse against a filibuster through use of the motion to Call the Vote, and should never invoke Principle #19 merely to suppress coherent forms of legitimate democratic dissent. The assembly itself is the final judge of what constitutes a dilatory action, in accordance with the above definition, although careful attention must be paid to preserve the Democratic Contract. 6

7 20. Conflict of Interest No member may move, second, debate or vote on a motion for which they stand to make a financial gain different from all other members of the assembly. By general standards of ethical behaviour it is expected that members who stand to make a financial gain from the outcome of a proposal not common to other members will declare themselves in a conflict of interest and either abstain from all forms of participation (speaking, moving, seconding, voting, etc.) or physically absent themselves if information of a sensitive nature is being discussed (as when sensitive details of legal or financial negotiations are being discussed.) 21. Distance Meetings To be a valid meeting all members must be able to engage in real-time two-way communication with the meeting Chair (or facilitator) at all times, and all members must be able to hear the individual who currently has the floor in real-time. Any medium of communication that meets these criteria may be considered a valid meeting, including but not limited to web- or tele-conferencing. Any member who is denied these rights is entitled to raise a Point of Order and the Chair is obliged to rectify the situation or declare a recess until the above requirements are met. If these requirements cannot be met at a particular meeting due to circumstances beyond the control of the meeting organizers that meeting may not be considered a legally binding meeting and must be treated as though the meeting lost quorum. Section 3. Section 4. Article V: Section 2. Article VI: The quorum of this organization shall be 60% of its members. A voting majority of this organization shall be defined as 50% + 1 of its quorum. Dues The members of this organization shall be required to pay a membership fee to the international parent organization of this local chapter. Members are individually responsible for paying this fee. This local chapter does not collect any dues for itself. No dues shall be collected by this organization. Officers There shall be five electable offices in this organization: Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Public Relations Officer, Secretary. The Chair is the leader of the organization and is responsible, along with the Vice Chair, for ensuring the general welfare of the organization. The Chair must be aware of the general state of the organization at any given time. The roles and responsibilities of the Chair include: Serves as representative and spokesperson for organization, Crafts agenda of each general meeting with Secretary, Leads all general organization meetings and officer meetings, Develops and maintains organization programs, Appoints leaders to events/teams/activities, Keeps officers aware of the general state of the organization at all times, Ensures that the organization fulfills its obligations to the parent organization and to 7

8 the university, Works with the Vice Chair to craft the organization s agenda, Works with the Vice Chair and Treasurer to craft the organization s budget, Makes executive decisions when a deadlock occurs, Assists all officers in their normal duties, Facilitates transition of officers, Signs organization forms, Attends mandatory university events with Vice Chair. The Vice Chair is the Chair s right-hand man, assisting the Chair in whatever work needs to be completed, and assuming the role of the Chair in the absence of the Chair. The Vice Chair must be aware of the general state of the organization at any given time and must maintain constant communication with the Chair at all times. Roles and responsibilities include: Assists the Chair in developing and maintaining organization programs, Works with the Chair to craft the organization s agenda, Works with the Chair and Treasurer to craft the organization s budget, Fulfills all the duties and responsibilities of the Chair in the Chair s absence, Takes the place of the Chair if the Chair leaves the organization, Works with the Public Relations Officer to recruit new members to the organization, Leads elections, Attends mandatory university events with Chair. The Treasurer is responsible for the organization s finances and is tasked with managing and maximizing the amount of funds available for use by the organization. The Treasurer must be aware of the exact financial status of the organization at any given time. Roles and responsibilities include: Allocates funds to organization events, Reimburses individual members who incurred debts to pay for organization events, Fills out all financial documents, including Financial Reimbursement forms, Keeps track of all financial records of the organization, Receives donations, Seeks out, manages, and communicates with sponsors, Plans and executes fundraising events for the organization, Assesses success of fundraising events, determines how it could be improved, and makes adjustments to future fundraising events, Works with the Chair and Vice Chair to craft the organization budget. The Public Relations Officer is the organization s interface to the general public. The Public Relations Officer works to promote the organization and increase the organization s presence on campus. Roles and responsibilities include: Seeks out, plans, and executes volunteer/community service opportunities for the organization, Assesses success of volunteer/community service events, determines how it could be improved, and makes adjustments to future volunteer/community service events, Reaches out to other organizations on campus for collaboration opportunities, Advertises and promotes the organization using flyers, word-of-mouth, or events, Maintains a favorable public image of the organization, Maintains, and is active on, social media accounts (Website, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc.), Works with the Vice Chair to recruit new members to the organization. The Secretary maintains documentation for every organization event, activity, and meeting. The Secretary is also responsible for keeping the membership list up-to-date, and facilitating officer meetings. Roles and responsibilities include: Takes role and takes notes at each general meeting and officers meeting, Crafts agenda of each general meeting with Chair, Maintains the organization s calendar of events, Ensures that every document submitted to the online directory is clearly worded, easy-to-understand, and contains all relevant information about the topic, Ensures membership list in the organization s directory and the parent organization s website is up-to-date, and that every member is a 8

9 member of the parent organization, Gathers monthly progress reports from each team/activity/program of the organization, compiles it together, presents it to the Chair and Vice Chair for evaluation, Notifies members and officers of upcoming meetings, Serves as facilitator for all officer meetings, Leads general meetings in the Chair and Vice Chair s absence. Section 2. Section 3. A member of this organization must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.8 in order to run for office. General elections for all five offices shall be held in early April, during a general meeting. The Vice Chair shall be responsible for conducting elections. Before the election, the Vice Chair shall verify that the candidates running for office meet the minimum GPA requirements to hold office. The election procedure is as follows: 1) Candidates shall be asked to leave the room in which the meeting is taking place, and the door shall be closed, 2) Candidates shall then re-enter the room, one-by-one, in random order, to give a brief speech on why he/she is qualified to hold that particular office, 3) After hearing from all the candidates, the candidates shall be allowed to re-take their seats in the room, 4) Members shall vote for their choice of candidate for each office using an anonymous ballot, 5) Each member shall fold their ballot in half and hand it to an officer, 6) The Chair and the Vice Chair shall separately tally the votes, 7) After the Chair and Vice Chair have confirmed their tallies are the same, the winner for each office shall be announced immediately. The transition period shall occur from the time of the election to the end of the Spring semester (approximately 1 month). During this time, the previous Chair shall hand over administrator control of CollegiateLink and this organization s Google Drive directory to the newly elected Chair. Furthermore, the assets of the organization shall be transferred from the previous Treasurer to the newly elected Treasurer, including this organization s business account. Each of the previous officers shall serve as advisors to the respectively newly elected officer until the end of the transition period. Section 4. An officer shall be removed from the organization through the unanimous consent of the other officers and with the approval of the advisor. Upon removal, a special election for that office shall be held during the next general meeting. The reasons for removal of an officer may be any of the following: a) complete neglect of duties over a period of 30 days or longer, b) causing reckless and intentional harm to the organization, its members, or its activities, c) violating local, state, or national law, d) long-term sickness or injury that prevents the officer from fulfilling his/her duties, or e) death. Article VII: Advisor The Advisor provides advice to officers and serves as the interface to the university for the organization. Roles and responsibilities include: Maintains continuity of organization, Promotes organization among students and faculty, Provides general advice to officers regarding the state of the organization or organization activities, Ensures the organization is in good standing with the university, Obtains special permission for events, Signs organization forms. The advisor shall work with the organization to coordinate activities to 9

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