Constitution
CONSTITUTION OF THE FRESHMEN LEADERS ON CAMPUS
OF
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON
Ratified March, 2003
Revision I, March 28, 2003
Revision II, May 2, 2004
Revision III, July 23, 2004
Revision IV, April 13, 2005
Revision V, August 25, 2005
SECTION I: Name
This organization shall be known as
Freshmen Leaders On Campus (FLOC).
SECTION II: Purpose
Freshmen Leaders On Campus strives to
promote freshmen involvement, community service, and campus
pride and represent freshmen in Student Governance at the
University of Texas at Arlington
(UTA).
SECTION III: Membership
Article 3-1: The total membership
of FLOC shall not exceed 50 members.
Article 3-2: Membership admittance
to FLOC shall be determined through the following steps:
A.
An application must be completed by the applicant and
returned by the listed due date.
B. The application shall be reviewed by FLOC
advisors, and if selected, a subsequent interview will be set up
with the applicant.
C.
During and/or following the interview process, the
interview committee shall rate the applicants objectively on a
standardized form.
D.
Pending the committee’s decision for admittance
following the interview, the applicant may be admitted as a
full-fledged member of FLOC after signing the FLOC contract.
Article 3-3: Applicants to FLOC
shall be considered eligible for membership if and only if they
are first year students, excluding transfer students, at the
time of their application.
Article 3-4: All members of FLOC
must maintain a minimum enrollment of six (6) credit-hours.
Article 3-5: Membership in
FLOC shall last for no longer than one (1) complete school year
or two (2) semesters.
Article 3-6: A voting member is
defined as a student accepted and approved for membership in
FLOC (Freshmen Leaders On Campus).
Article 3-7: Any request from a
member of the Freshmen Leaders On Campus to remove a member or
officer shall be forwarded to the executive board and shall be
accompanied by a petition bearing the signatures of twenty-five
(25) percent of the voting members of the Freshmen Leaders On
Campus. It shall be the responsibility of the executive board
to determine the validity of the claim, and, if necessary,
forward the claim to the general body. The member being
impeached shall be presented with a letter of notice from the
President of the Freshmen Leaders On Campus one week prior to
the vote of impeachment. The letter shall state all of the
reasons for impeachment. The member shall have the right to
defend his or her position before the general body of FLOC.
Removal shall occur through a two-thirds affirmative vote of the
voting members present.
SECTION VI: The
Executive Board
Article 4-1: All officers must be
in good standing with the University.
Article 4-2: The President shall:
A.
Serve as FLOC’s representative to the University
Community.
B.
Preside over all general body and officer meetings.
1.
Prepare agendas for each general body and officer
meeting. Review with Staff Advisors prior to meeting.
C.
Provide an end of the year report to Student Congress
D.
Be active in all of FLOC’s events and activities,
unless extenuating circumstances dictate otherwise.
E.
Serve on University Committees.
Article 4-3: The Vice-President
shall:
A.
Assume the roles and responsibilities of the
president in his or her absence.
B.
Directly oversee each of the committees.
C.
Be active in all of FLOC’s events and activities,
unless extenuating circumstances dictate otherwise.
D.
Serve on University Committees.
Article 4-4: The
Secretary/Treasurer shall:
A.
Maintain the attendance and voting records for each
general body meeting.
B.
Record event attendance and maintain a log of
participation hours for each member.
C.
Record the minutes of each general body meeting and
provide them to the general body of FLOC.
D.
Conduct official correspondences for FLOC.
E.
Be responsible for maintaining accurate records of
FLOC’s income and expenses.
F.
Provide an estimate of FLOC’s remaining budget as
needed, especially for the organization’s reference when
planning new events.
G.
Be active in all of FLOC’s events and activities,
unless extenuating circumstances dictate otherwise.
H.
Serve on University Committees.
Article 4-5: The Historian shall:
A.
Be responsible for the creation and upkeep of the scrapbook,
which shall
highlight the organization’s activities of the year.
B. Have each
event photographed or video taped.
C. Be
responsible for the update of the web page.
D. Serve as parliamentarian.
E. Be active
in all FLOC events and activities, unless extenuating
circumstances
dictate
otherwise.
F. Serve on
University Committees.
Article 4-6: Each officer of the
Freshmen Leaders On Campus shall maintain an average of three
(3) office hours a week during the Fall and Spring semesters.
These office hours shall be:
A. Established within two weeks of the beginning of
each new semester.
B. Posted within the office of Student Governance for
general reference.
C. Maintained consistently by the officers.
1.
If an officer must be absent, he or she must request an
excused absence from the Staff Advisor at least one hour
prior to that officer’s stated office hours.
2.
If an officer is absent from his or her office hours, he
or she shall fulfill the number of hours missed at a later time
during the same week.
SECTION V: Committees
Article 5-1: The Freshmen Leaders
On Campus shall have three committees to which each
non-executive member shall belong. Any other needed committees
shall be of a temporary nature, and shall exist only for as long
as necessary.
A.
The Special Events Committee:
1.
Shall be responsible for planning, organizing, and
publicizing special events and programs for the FLOC
organization and
UTA freshmen.
B.
The Community Service Committee:
1.
Shall be responsible for organizing events to aid and
benefit the community.
C. The
Academic and Cultural Committee:
1. Shall be responsible for coordinating and facilitating FLOC
academic and cultural events.
D. Ad Hoc
Committees:
1. Shall be established by the President if a project or need
arises that
does not fall under the
jurisdiction of an existing committee.
2.
Shall be composed of members from other committees who
have signed up on a volunteer basis or who have been assigned to
the ad hoc committee by the President.
3.
Shall be assigned a chair by the President (and a
co-chair if he or she so chooses) to temporarily head the
committee.
4.
Shall last for as long as is necessary, after which time
it shall be disbanded.
Article 5-2: Each committee shall
have a Chair and Co-Chair, with the exception of an ad hoc
committee, which may not necessarily by co-chaired. The
managerial duties and tasks shall be split between the Chair and
Co-Chair.
A.
Chairs are responsible for:
1.
Maintaining and running their committee.
2.
Coordinating Committee activities.
3.
Scheduling, organizing and conducting committee meetings.
4.
Preparing and submitting a report to the Executive board
with committee updates following each committee meeting.
5.
Distributing tasks to committee members and keeping each
committee member involved.
6.
Provide a Committee Report to the full membership of
FLOC.
B.
Co-Chairs shall:
1.
Take meeting attendance at each meeting.
2.
Compile minutes of Committee meetings and maintain them
in the Committee binder.
3.
Coordinate publicity for Committee sponsored events.
4.
Report to the full FLOC membership in the Committee
Chair’s absence.
Article 5-3: Committees shall work
in conjunction with each other when necessary in order to
promote and bolster the organization as a whole.
SECTION VI: Voting and Election Processes
Article 6-1:
All members shall have one vote
each during any general voting process. Unless directly
specified otherwise, each vote shall pass with a simple majority
of members voting. The President shall only vote to break a
tie. Methods and types of voting are as follows:
A.
A secret ballot shall be
employed to elect new officers, chairs, and co-chairs.
B.
An open ballot shall be employed to approve events as
well as for all other instances of general approval votes.
Article 6-2: Officers shall be
elected at any general body meeting according to the following
steps:
A.
Any member wishing to run for an Executive position
must file for office in accordance with the approved filing
procedure.
B.
Each candidate shall prepare a speech, which he or
she shall deliver to those in attendance at the general body
meeting.
C.
After having heard each candidate’s speech, the
general body shall vote via secret ballot.
Article 6-3: Committee Chairs and
Co-Chairs shall be elected at committee meetings according to
the following steps:
D.
Any member wishing to run for Chair or Co-Chair
position must file for office in accordance with the approved
filing procedure.
E.
Each candidate shall prepare a speech, which he or
she shall deliver to those in attendance at the committee
meeting.
F.
After having heard each candidate’s speech, committee
members shall vote via secret ballot.
Article 6-4: Should a vacancy occur
in the office of President, Vice President, Secretary/ Treasurer
or Historian, officer nominations and election will be held at
the next general body meeting. If a vacancy occurs in the office
of President, the Vice President shall act as President until a
new President is elected. Should a vacancy occur in the
positions of Chair or Co-Chair, a temporary Chair will be
appointed by the President in consultation with Advisors until a
replacement can be elected. Special elections will follow the
stipulated procedure in Article 6-2
SECTION VII: Meetings
Article 7-1: The Freshmen Leaders
on Campus will hold general body meetings once every two weeks
and committee meetings on alternate weeks during the Fall and
Spring semesters of each year. FLOC Advisors will determine the
actual dates and times of each semester’s general meetings.
Article 7-2: Officers shall convene
on the alternate weeks between general body meetings, barring
extenuating circumstances. All committee chairs are required to
attend, and co-chairs are
strongly urged to attend. FLOC advisors and the current
executive board shall determine the actual dates and times of
each semester’s officer meetings.
Article 7-3: Each committee shall
convene at least once every two weeks, barring extenuating
circumstances. The committee chair and the committee’s advisor
shall determine the actual frequency and times of the committee
meetings.
Article 7-4: Any member of the
advisory or executive boards may call an unscheduled general
meeting or officer’s meeting, provided that those members who
are to attend are notified in a timely manner. Members who
cannot attend these meetings must notify the executive board.
Article 7-5: Meeting protocol shall
be based on and conducted under Robert’s Rules of Order,
unless the presider of the meeting decides otherwise.
SECTION VIII: Attendance and Participation
Article 8-1: Meeting attendance
policies and rules shall be executed in accordance with the
following:
A.
Officers, chairs, co-chairs, and members may not
acquire more than three (3) meeting absences (general body or
committee) per semester.
B.
Two (2) tardies shall be equivalent to one (1)
absence. A member is considered tardy if he or she is not
present when the member’s name is read at roll call.
C.
If a member has reached (2) absences, he or she shall
be sent a letter of warning by the Secretary.
D.
If a member reaches three (3) absences his or her
membership shall be suspended. The Secretary shall send a
letter notifying suspension of membership.
E.
Committee Chairs shall notify the Secretary of
committee meeting absences requiring warning or suspension of
membership.
F. Members will be given consideration for
extenuating circumstances, such as protracted absence from UTA.
In this case, the suspended member shall submit a written
request to the Executive Board and Advisors for consideration of
reinstatement.
Article 8-3: All members shall be
obligated to maintain at least three (3) participation hours per
month. The Secretary shall maintain all participation hours.
A.
Participation hours may be accumulated through:
1.
Attendance and participation in events sponsored by
Academic & Cultural, Special Events and Community Service
Committees.
2.
The active creation and distribution of marketing
materials, which shall be reported through Committee Chairs to
the Secretary.
3.
Participation hours may also be accrued by participation
in other events and activities approved by the Faculty and Staff
Advisors.
B.
Participation hours may not be accumulated through:
1.
Attending general meetings.
2.
Attending committee meetings.
C.
If a member does not meet the required participation
hours during a given month, then his or her membership may be
suspended, and
1.
The secretary shall send the suspendee a letter stating
that within seven (7) days of receiving the letter they may
either:
a.
Appeal for readmission to FLOC through a formal written
request to the executive board.
b.
Formally or informally forfeit their membership to FLOC.
2. If the said suspendee fails to respond within the
allotted time, he or she shall be assumed to have forfeited
their membership to FLOC.
SECTION IX: Advisors
B. Student advisors responsibilities include:
1. Serve as Coordinator of selected FLOC leadership
sessions/programs
2. Assist in
recruitment at Freshmen Orientation sessions
SECTION X: Rules and Regulations
This constitution may be amended by introducing proposed
amendments at least one regularly scheduled general meeting
prior to voting. A two-thirds vote of approval by the voting
members in attendance shall be required for the proposed
amendment to become a pending addendum to the constitution. The
amendment must then be approved by the Director of the Office of
Student Governance in order to become an official part of the
constitution.