East Carolina University

East Carolina University Democracy Matters Chapter Constitution

Founding Date: August 30, 2001

ARTICLE I. Name

The name of this organization shall be Democracy Matters Chapter of East Carolina University.

ARTICLE II. Purpose

The purpose of this organization shall be to represent East Carolina University students who stand against political corruption. Democracy Matters is a non-profit, bi-partisan organization established to promote worthwhile curricular and extracurricular activities related to the issues concerning the strengthening of our democracy. Our goal is to make politicians accountable to the people by getting big money out of politics. We strive to accomplish our goal by concentrating on the core underlying issues of money and politics, and how wealthy interests undermine the development of justifiably democratic institutions. We want to redirect the energies of officeholders to the duties of public office-to serve the people.

ARTICLE III. Members

Section 1. The membership of this organization shall be open to members of East Carolina University students, faculty, and staff. There will be no discrimination of race, gender, ethnicity, faith, age, veteran status, sexual preference, political affiliation or disabilities with consideration to the mission of the organization.

Section 2. The organization will consist of three forms of membership: Student Membership, Faculty Membership, and Honorary Membership.

Section 3. Student Membership will be open to all persons currently enrolled at East Carolina University. Eligible students must be in good standing with East Carolina University to be members of the organization.

Section 4. Faculty Membership shall be open to any faculty member of East Carolina University. Faculty members shall benefit from the equal privileges of membership.

Section 5. Honorary Membership shall remain open to any person who has devoted his/her time to promoting the goals of the organization. This member shall be actively involved within the community with efforts to promote coalition building with local organizations.

ARTICLE IV. Officers

Section 1. The officers of the organization shall be a President, Vice President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and an Advisor. It is the responsibility of elected officers to perform the duties outlined below:

A. President

•           The President is official spokesperson for the organization.

•           The President presides over all meetings and is responsible for:

preparing the agenda for each meeting;

opening and closing the meeting;

calling on members to speak;

keeping order and keeping the meeting topic being discussed;

acting as a mediator when necessary;

making the final decision in the case of a tie vote.

•           The President is responsible for keeping the Advisor informed of all upcoming events.

•           The President helps the organization to set goals.

•           The President encourages the members to achieve their goals.

•           The President recognizes the accomplishments and contributions of members.

B.        Vice President

•           The Vice President takes over in the absence of the President.

•           The Vice President is responsible for creating and updating the organizational calendar.

•           The Vice President ensures that the organization is properly registered with the Student Leadership Development Programs Office.

•           The Vice President presides over all committees and is responsible for:

appointing committees needed to carry our functions;

appointing committee chairpersons;

assisting committee chairpersons when necessary.

•           The Vice President may be assigned other responsibilities by the President.

C. Secretary

•           The Secretary takes accurate and complete minutes to all meetings.

•           The Secretary notifies all members of the place and time of meetings.

•           The Secretary works with the President to determine the agenda and ensure that the agenda is followed during meetings.

•           The Secretary maintains accurate records and files of all organization business.

D. Treasurer

•           The Treasurer is responsible for regular treasury reports:

a statement of how much was spent at each program since the last meeting

a statement of the bills paid and unpaid

an accurate record of how much money is in the account

•           The Treasurer is responsible for keeping an accurate record of income and debts in the ledger.

•           The Treasurer is responsible for the checkbook and all deposits and withdrawals.

•           The Treasurer is responsible for balancing the checkbook each time a bank statement is received.

•           The Treasurer acts as chairperson of fundraising activities.

•           The Treasurer is responsible for debt collection.

•           The Treasurer helps the officers develop the organization budget.

E. Advisor

•           The organization will elect a member of the East Carolina University faculty or staff to serve as an adviser.

•           The Adviser will conduct monthly reviews of organization finances.

•           The Adviser will supervise officer elections, transition, and training.

•           The Advisor will attend meetings of a regular basis.

•           The Advisor will assist officers in general operations and procedures.

•           The advisor will supervise initiation of new members.

Section 2. The officers shall be elected by ballot to serve for one year or until their successors are elected, and their term shall begin at the close of the annual meeting at which they are elected.

Section 3. No member shall hold more than one office at a time, and no member shall be eligible to serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office.

Section 4. If any vacancy shall occur, a special election will be held at the next meeting to fill the open position.

ARTICLE V. Meetings

The regular meetings of Democracy Matters shall take place every Monday from five thirty to six thirty.

ARTICLE VI. Committees

Committees will be formed to construct each of our activities. Committees will change as each activity is concluded.

ARTICLE VII. Parliamentary Authority

Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised is the basic handbook of operation that will apply to the Democracy Matters Chapter of East Carolina University. These rules shall govern our organization in all applicable situations.

ARTICLE VIII. Amendments

This constitution may be amended after the following procedures have occurred:

(a) the amendment must be submitted in writing at the previous meeting to which the member would like the amendment to be discussed (b) three-fourths of the members must be present to vote on the proposed amendment and (c) the amendment will be added to the current constitution upon the approval of a two-thirds vote.

!!! If an organization’s constitution is amended in any form the Student Government Association of East Carolina University requests four revised copies of the constitution immediately after the changes have been made.