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Haitian American Students Association

Constitution

Article 1

Statement of Purpose

Section 1: The name of this organization shall be Haitian Students Association

Section 2: To meet the needs of students of Haitian descent at the university of Massachusetts by providing academic support and familiarizing new students of available resources on campus

Section 3: To provide cultural knowledge about Haiti and the Haitian community

Section 4: To hold seminars and lectures as well as coordinate social events and conduct fundraising for educational and social enrichment at the University

Article II

Membership Responsibilities

Section 1: To become a member of the Haitian Student Association one must:

a. attend two consecutive meetings

b. show interest and active participation as well as reliability

c. open to all students enrolled in the five college area

d. all members who comply with all above rules will be issued a membership card for special discounts to all HASA’s events

Section 2: Both old and new members of the Registered Student Organization, as well as elected board officers should uphold all membership requirements and regulations

Section 3: Each member must not miss two consecutive meetings without prior notice

Excessive lateness at two consecutive meetings equals one absence

These rules apply to general body members as well as the board

Section 4: If two consecutive meetings are missed without prior notice, such member shall be considered inactive

Section 5: An inactive member cannot vote and loses the privilege for special discounts at all HASA’s events until said member is reinstated by complying with all rules within 60 days

Article III

Elected Officials and Corresponding Duties

President

· Serves as a representative of HASA to the University community

· Serves as a liaison between the organization, University student government officials and the administration

· Convenes regularly scheduled meetings

· Presides over any and all decisions made in RSO

· Must have signature responsibility

· Has the power to veto any passed motion but that decision can be reversed by a two thirds majority vote by the members with active status present at the general assembly meeting

Vice-President

· Must work alongside the president by assisting s/he in his or her duties (the duties of the president are the same as the duties of the vice-president and should be equally distributed among the two)

· Director of events; directs and coordinates events within the RSO (all committees must meet with the Vice-President for any final decision(s) concerning events)

· Should the president for any reason be unable to fulfill his or her term, the vice-president will assume the position of the president

Treasurer/Business Manager

· Works closely with the president in determining costs of activities and events

· Maintains financial records

· Must have authorized signature responsibility

· Must know and report the most updated balance of both accounts to the board within forty hours from the time requested

· Must write a thorough budget packet submitted by the deadline set forth by the SGA

· Must be present at SGA budget defense meeting

Recording Secretary

· Recordings minutes at general assembly as well as board meetings and makes them available to general assembly members

· Responsible for production of the typed agenda for meetings

· Recordings attendance at all meetings

· Responsible for the voice-mail of all members for all meetings and all events sponsored and supported HASA

Corresponding Secretary

· Maintains all records and files inside and outside of the office (includes picking up mail in our mailbox [#21 in the Campus Activities Office]

· Works closely with the Vice-President, maintaining and typing any paperwork (i.e. program registration forms), business letters and any other correspondence

· Responsible for the upkeep of office and updating of files

Public Relations Officer

· Responsible for keeping students at the University aware of HASA and all its events and activities

· Serves as a liaison between HASA and other organizations on campus

· Responsible for recruiting new members

· Responsible for recruiting HASA members to sit in the ALANA Caucus of the SGA

· Must recruit two members to be 5-college representatives, two members to attend and participate in the Latin American Cultural Center’s meetings and at least one member to attend of the Black Student Union meetings

· Must advertise any and all events including prospective lecturers/speakers

· Must write all proposals to request funds

*Any officer is permitted to form Ad-hoc committees chaired by that officer.

Article IV

General Assembly Meetings

Section 1: Members of general assembly shall meet every other week. Members of executive board shall meet on a biweekly basis

Section 2: Emergency meetings are subject to happen at any point in the semester at the discretion of the president of the organization

Section 3: Voting rights shall be limited to the undergraduate members

Section 4: General assembly members shall be aware of al major financial decisions incurred by officers

Section 5: Members shall have the right to pass or reverse motions by a two thirds majority vote by the members present at the general assembly meeting.

Article V

Election of Officials

Section 1: The Haitian Students Association reserves the right to conduct the facilitate all democratic elections to elect its officials

Section 2: The elections shall be held prior to the annual celebration, of our culture during the spring semester of each year, so as to formally present the future officials to the member so the campus community. All officials take active duty at the beginning of the fall semester.

Current board members conclude all businesses for the remainder of the spring term

Current board members must also train and go over the constitution with all future officers

Section 3: All persons interested attaining an official position shall:

a. need to obtain thirty signatures from Haitians and students of Haitian descent of the organization as well as of the campus community

b. Prospective officials shall formally state their abilities regarding their candidacy.

c. Elections shall then be held through secret ballot unless otherwise agreed upon by general assembly

Article VI

Impeachment of an officer

Section 1: Should at any point and time an elected officer fail to do his or her job and refuse to abide by the provisions of this document, he or she shall be automatically impeached by the unanimous decision of the board

Section 2: Impeachment Process:

a. If an officer fails to do his or her job in a first offense, he or she shall be given a documented warning by the presidents

b. If he or she fails to abide by that warning, he or she would have to go before the board in an official meeting; he or she could then be placed on a temporary probation (this probation term period shall be set at the discretion of the other board members)

c. If he or she fails a third time; he or she would then go before the board in a official meeting, again, the board member shall at that point be relieved of his/her duties and the results of that meeting would be reported to the general assembly

d. An emergency election shall be held for the replacement of the officer for the remainder of the term. (The relieved officer can still be a member of the organization; he or she shall no longer be an officer. He or she shall have to wait until the following year to run for office again if he or she chooses) but he/she is required to inform the general assembly of past behavior as a board member, if not, such person shall not be permitted to run

Article VII

Amendments to the Constitution

Section 1: The constitution, after the approval of Student Government Association and the board members of the 1994-95 term cannot be revised

Article may be added provided proper advising from SGA is sought but none may be removed

Section 2: The name of this organization shall never change