Constitution of the Maryville College Democrats

Preamble

In order to promote a better America with equality, opportunity, and freedom within a just and strong society, we dedicate ourselves to organizing the participation of Democratic college students at Maryville College. In this mission, we call for full participation of all Maryville College students regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, physical handicap, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, or political beliefs.

Understanding the importance of participation in the Democratic Party to the preservation of our values and principles, we, Democratic college students, do hereby associate ourselves and adopt this Constitution as the Maryville College Democrats.

Article 1: Name and Purpose

A: Name: The name of this organization shall be the Maryville College Democrats, hereafter referred to in this document as the “College Democrats”.

B: Purpose: The College Democrats pledges itself to support the philosophy and candidates of the Democratic Party. Furthermore, the College Democrats declares its intention to support all efforts to increase the participation of college students in Democratic affairs. To these ends, the College Democrats will educate and train its members so that they may be better able to:

1. Educate students about the philosophy of the Democratic Party;

2. Assist in the election of local, state, and national Democratic candidates;

3. Affect political change on the local, state, and national level.

Article 2: Membership

A: Members: Membership in the College Democrats will be open to any college student currently enrolled in Maryville College who wishes to be known as a College Democrat and who has the best interests of the College Democrats and the Democratic Party at heart regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, physical handicap, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, or political beliefs.

Article 3: The Executive Board
A: Composition: The Executive Board shall be composed of the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Director, Activities Coordinator, and Communications Director. All positions will be elected at least three (3) academic weeks prior to the Maryville College Student Government Budgetary meeting during the spring term.

B: The Executive Board shall determine the agenda and policy of the College Democrats.

C. Additional Executive Board members maybe nominated by the President and confirmed by two–third (2/3) vote of the Executive Board as necessary.

Article 4: Duties of the Executive Board Positions
A: All Executive Board members must maintain active involvement in all of the College Democrats activities.

B: Duties of the President. The President shall:

1: Be the Chief Executive Officer of the College Democrats;

2: Act as the official representative of the College Democrats to other groups and the media;

3: Carry out the mandates, policies, and directives of the Executive Board;

4: Approve expenditures with Treasurer and Faculty advisor after discussion with executive board;

5: Attend meetings and functions of the Maryville College Democrats;
6: Preside over all meetings of the College Democrats and Executive Board.

C: Duties of the Vice President. The Vice President shall:
1: Assist the President in the performance of his or her duties, including brainstorming ideas and evaluating the progress of the Executive Board and organization as a whole;
2: Act as President when the President is unable to perform his or her duties;
3: Assume the office of the President upon the President’s death, resignation, removal, or inability to perform duties with approval of two–third (2/3) vote by the Executive Board;

4: Attend meetings and functions of the Maryville College Democrats;
5: Take on projects of his or her choosing.

D: Duties of the Secretary. The Secretary shall:

1: Record minutes at executive and general meetings and have them available in a week’s time;

2: Produce updates on club activities in a timely manor;

3: Attend meetings and functions of the Maryville College Democrats;

4: Perform such duties as the Executive Board may appropriate;
5: Take on projects of his or her choosing.

E: Duties of the Treasurer. The Treasurer shall:

1: Direct fundraising activities and prepare all grants;

2: Manage the bank account and budget;

3: Report balance and payments at executive and general meetings;

4: Approve expenditures with President and Faculty advisor after discussion with executive board;

5: Attend meetings and functions of the Maryville College Democrats;

6: Perform such duties as the Executive Board may appropriate;
7: Take on projects of his or her choosing.

F: Duties of the Membership Director. The Membership Director shall:

1: Keep a current listing of contact information of all members;

2: Promote membership for the College Democrats;

3: Make a strong effort to recruit a diverse membership that accurately reflects the Maryville College population;

4: Responsible for securing volunteers when need;

5: Attend meetings and functions of the Maryville College Democrats;

6: Perform such duties as the Executive Board may appropriate;
7: Take on projects of his or her choosing.

G: Duties of the Activities Coordinator. The Activities Coordinator shall:

1: Ensure the College Democrats maintains a full schedule for members and the greater campus community;

2: Responsible for securing venues for various events;

3: Manage events with other organizations in hopes to promote a sense of community;

4: Attend meetings and functions of the Maryville College Democrats;

5: Performs such duties as the Executive Board may appropriate;
6: Take on projects of his or her choosing.

H: Duties of the Communications Director. The Communications Director shall:

1: Coordinate all publicity activities;

2: Notify media of all events of the College Democrats in an attempt to ensure media coverage;

3: Attend meetings and functions of the Maryville College Democrats;

4: Perform such duties as the Executive Board may appropriate
5: Take on projects of his or her choosing.

Article 5: Elections

A: Elections shall occur at least three (3) academic weeks prior to the Maryville College Student Government Budgetary meeting during the spring term.

B: Eligibility to run for a position:

1. Must be a current College Democrat member;
2. Have a semester worth of membership;

C: Ballots: One vote per person per election.

D: Procedure: Candidates are nominated directly before their election by a College Democrats Member one (1) meeting before the election. The Election will be held at the next meeting with the following guidelines:

1. Speech length: President – Four (4) minutes; Vice President – Three (3) minutes; Other – Two (2) minutes;

2. Question & Answer: President – Seven (7) minutes; Other – Five (5) minutes;

3. Candidates statement: Candidates will have the option of submitting a written statement to the Communications Director. The Communications Director will be in charge of sending the submitted statements 5 days prior to the election meeting;

4. Voting shall occur by three (3) forms:

a. Members will have the option to vote in person following the election meeting by secret ballot;

b. An electronic ballot maybe be requested from the Faculty Advisor(s) in the likelihood a College Democrats member will not be able to attend the election meeting one academic week prior to the election meeting. The College Democrat member will have the opportunity to submit theirballot via email over a twenty-four (24) hour time frame;

c. In the event that a College Democrat’s member can not attend the election meeting and does not feel comfortable submitting an electronic ballot, that member may then request to vote in person by secret ballot one academic week prior to the election meeting by Faculty Advisor(s);

d. In the event that a College Democrat member is unable to vote, they shall vote within a forty-eight (48) hour period from the election meeting with approval from the Membership Director.

5. All vote counting will be done by the Faculty Advisor(s) and two members of the Executive Board;

6. Declaration of the results must be done within a week of the vote in the form of a meeting or through email.

Article 6: Removal

A: Cause for removal: Cause for removal shall be defined as inability or unwillingness to perform such duties assigned by the Executive Board, or as ineligibility for Executive Board membership pursuant to Article 3. Cause for removal shall also include grounds found by two–third (2/3) members of the Executive Board to constitute good and sufficient cause.

B: Process for removal: To begin the process for removal, another member of the Executive Board must charge the officer with the reasons for his or her removal publicly at a meeting of the Executive Board. The officer in question must be offered an opportunity to defend himself or herself at that meeting. After a period of two weeks the issue shall be put to a vote. Two-third (2/3) of the members of the Executive Board must vote for removal for an officer to be removed.

Article 7: Vacancies

A: Declaration of vacancy: A vacancy shall be declared when a member of the Executive Board dies, resigns, or is removed from office. If the vacancy occurs in an Executive Board position other than the President, a special members meeting will be called for an election as described in Article 5 for the vacancy. If the vacancy is the President, then the Vice-President shall automatically be the replacement.

Article 8: Amendments

A: Procedure: The Constitution can be amended by a two–third (2/3) majority vote of the Executive Board with two–third (2/3) approval by College Democrats members as described in Article 2. Amendments must be submitted to Executive Board and College Democrat members fifteen (15) days before the Amendment meeting. At the Amendment meeting, copies must be provided for all College Democrat members for final review.

B: Voting: All voting will occur by secret ballot by only those members present at the Amendment meeting. All vote counting will be done by the Faculty Advisor(s) and two (2) members of the Executive Board. Declaration of the results must be done within a week of the vote in the form of a meeting or through email.

[Adopted February 22, 2005]