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Constitution of the Council for Latin American Student Enrichment
Mission Statement
Article I Name
Article II Goals
Article III Membership
Article IV Executive Board
Article V Conduct of Executive Meetings
Article VI Conduct of CLASE Meetings
Article VII Committees
Article VIII Elections
Article IX Administration Changeover
Article X Amendment Procedure
Mission Statement
In order to promote culture, heritage, and diversity the students of Illinois Wesleyan University unite together with a common purpose. This purpose is to spread and celebrate Latin American Heritage and pride. As well as the enhancement of a Latin American Union.
ARTICLE I. Name
The name of the organization shall be the Council of Latin American Student Enrichment. After this official naming it may be referred to as C.L.A.S.E.
ARTICLE II. Goals
The Council of Latin American Student Enrichment of Illinois Wesleyan University Strives to achieve the following goals and purposes:
1.) To ensure that all Latin American and other minority students are treated fairly and have the same rights and privileges as majority students at Illinois Wesleyan University.
2.) To promote unity within the Latin American and minority community at Illinois Wesleyan University and provide assistance and understanding.
3.) To work together with the Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs, Admissions, the Black Student Union and SASA, to recruit and retain minority students. The ultimate goal is to increase the number of Latin Americans and other minority students enrolled at Illinois Wesleyan University.
4.) To help Illinois Wesleyan increase its number of minorities working as University administrators, faculty, and staff members
5.) To increase university awareness of Latin American culture, achievements, history & presence
6.) To expand CLASE membership to people of all faiths, creeds, races, genders, nationalities, backgrounds and understandings; willing to take on the responsibility of active membership.
7.)
To provide and support a network of Latinos and Hispanics among other
institutions.
8.) To establish and increase Latin American presence in other forms of university government and ways of life.
9.) To serve and represent the Latin American community of Illinois Wesleyan University
ARTICLE III. Membership
All students, administration and staff of IWU who posses a genuine interest and concern for Latin American students, their heritage, their culture and their issues are welcomed into the Council for Latin American Student Enrichment.
Qualities and Responsibilities of CLASE members:
1. must actively participate in at least one standing committee through the course of the year
2. must regularly attend CLASE meetings
3. must have a genuine concern and commitment to the organization
4. must respect ideas presented within the organization
5. must follow the rules of conduct set down by IWU and CLASE
6. must conduct themselves in a manner that reflects leadership, understanding, scholarship and unity
CLASE members have limited voting rights, which include voting on all issues except the Election of officers. They have the right to become full members at anytime.
Full Membership
Full members are expected to meet the qualities and responsibilities of CLASE members. Full membership includes, but it is not limited to full voting rights, free admission to the Mariachi Dinner and formal recognition upon graduation. Full membership is obtained by the payment of $5.00 in membership dues. For full CLASE privileges this payment should be made one month upon joining the organization.
Non-Members
Non-members are welcome to attend and participate with the understanding they are not granted membership rights.
Termination of Membership
Termination or suspension of membership must be made by a two-third vote by all CLASE members present at the meeting, the voting must be announced before-hand. The meeting has to be comprised of the Executive Board plus, at least six (6), non Executive Board Members. Termination and suspension can result but it is not limited to any violation of the guidelines mentioned above.
ARTICLE IV. Executive Board
The governing body of CLASE shall be referred to as the Executive Board. This governing body’s main purpose is to manage CLASE operations, work to achieve the goals of the organization and to serve the members of CLASE. The positions and responsibilities of the Executive Board are as follows:
President:
Shall preside over all general CLASE and Executive Board meetings. The President shall provide leadership and guidance. The President shall serve as the liaison between CLASE and the Illinois Wesleyan University administration as well as among other groups and institutions. In the event the President can not meet a specific appointment or responsibility the Vice-President must temporarily fill in the position. The President shall serve as the main contact person for CLASE and serve as a living representation of the organization. The President’s main duties and responsibilities are to the members of CLASE and to maintain unity, respect, leadership and counsel.
Vice-President:
Shall be the overall head of all committees and report all ideas and actions of these committees to the executive board; shall assist the President and fellow board members with projects and make committee assignments; shall preside in absence of the President.
Secretary:
Shall keep an attendance for all CLASE meetings; shall keep accurate and readily available records of all Executive Board and general meetings; shall keep all members informed of all events in which the organization or its members are involved; shall keep lists of all committees and prepare agendas for all general meetings; and shall be responsible for keeping inventory of CLASE property.
Treasurer:
Shall be in command of the official CLASE financial records; shall review and approve all spending endeavors the organization takes on; shall work with the incumbent government to budget their administrative year.
Student Senate Representative:
Shall attend all Student Senate meetings in accordance with the Student Senate policy; shall provide all information obtained from Student Senate meetings during his report; and shall serve as the liaison between CLASE and the Student Senate.
Parliamentarian:
Shall maintain order and govern over all CLASE general meetings; shall hold the official constitution and take all motions to amend the constitution; shall oversee the Election/Constitution Committee.
Line of Succession
In the event that the office of President becomes vacant the Vice-President shall assume the role of President and the office of Vice-President shall be open to general elections. Current Executive Board members can choose to run in the election. Any offices that subsequently become vacant shall also be open to elections.
ARTICLE V. Conduct of Executive Board Meetings
1.) The Executive Board must establish its meeting times
2.) Attendance is mandatory, two (2) missed meetings is the maximum since it jeopardizes one’s participation in the organization, whether the reason is extenuating or not. In sequence, the same one goes under trial period and after the period is over other Executive Board members meet to make a decision, first without the one, secondly with the one.
3.) Executive Board shall meet twice a month except in cases where the school schedule does not allow
4.) Emergency Executive Board meetings can be called by the president
ARTICLE VI. Conduct of General CLASE Meetings
1.) CLASE meetings shall be lead by the President.
2.) During the meetings each Exec. Board member shall present their report
3.) During the Vice-President’s report the committee heads shall present their reports.
4.) The Parliamentarian shall maintain order and govern over all CLASE general meetings.
5.) At the end of the reports there shall be an Old Business section wherein unresolved issues and concerns from the previous meeting are discussed; followed by a New Business section wherein new issues and concerns shall be discussed.
6.) Emergency meetings can be called by the president. In the absence of the President the Vice-President can call an emergency meeting.
ARTICLE VII. Committees
In an attempt to increase participation, unity and leadership within the community, CLASE has established 6 broad committees. The chair of each committee shall be decided by majority vote of the Exec. Board. Each member shall be actively involved in at least two committees. The committees are as follows:
Publicity Committee:
Shall be responsible for advertising CLASE, its events and programs. Promoting campus awareness of the organization as well as actively participating in student recruitment.
Technology Committee:
Shall be responsible for the maintenance and moderation of the e-group and the website. They shall also be responsible for other technological issues and endeavors.
Social Committee:
The largest committee, it is responsible for organizing CLASE events for its members, such as retreats and dinners, as well as events CLASE puts on for the campus and surrounding community.
ARTICLE VIII. Elections
Elections must be conducted in an orderly manner. It is the responsibility of the Parliamentarian to run the Election. The ballots are to be counted in the presence of the academic advisor three times to ensure honesty and accuracy. The counting of the ballots should be in front of CLASE.
The dates of the Electoral Process are as follows:
1.) Signup for offices is to take place the last meeting of January.
2.) Elections are to be decided in February.
3.) Those running for office should present their reasons for being elected at this appointed time.
4.) The new officers will then serve in a shadow government which will last until the last meeting of April. During this shadow government the roles, obligations and expectations as detailed in Article IX Administration Changeover shall be put into effect.
5.) On the last meeting of April, the shadow government will ceremonially take on the responsibility of their respectful offices from their predecessors. T This shall mark the formal beginning of the new administration.
Qualifications for Office
The qualifications for any Executive office are:
1.) Must be a student of Illinois Wesleyan University and must have and maintain a 2.0 grade point average.
2.) Must have attended Illinois Wesleyan University for at least one semester. This may change in the event no other person is running for the office.
3.) Must have a concern for the Latin American community and its cause.
The qualifications for the Office of President are:
1.) To meet all previously mentioned criteria for eligibility for Executive Office.
2.) Must be of Latin American descent.*
3.) Must have previously held an office within CLASE or some other campus organization; or demonstrated exceptional leadership.
*It is important that the President be of Latin American descent because of the following:
1.) It is a step to ensure that the issues of the Latin American community are personal to the President and as leader of CLASE maintains the direction and focus that the Latin American community demand and deserves. The community needs to be ensured that the President’s issues are their issues.
2.) The President is a symbol of the Latin American community on campus. The President is equated with the whole of the community, a reflection of them. It is important that others see a person of Latin American descent who is strongly representative of that community and represents their power to be leaders.
3.) The President is a symbol to the Latin American community on campus. He is their leader, someone to whom they should look up to and can recognize as a role model for them.
4.) This will also force the community to take responsibility for itself. To encourage and nurture strong leadership, which is the guiding principle upon which CLASE was founded- the enrichment of the Latin American community.
The Qualifications to vote
The qualifications to vote for an Officer are as follows:
1.) Must be a Full member
2.) Those who will not be attending the University the following year are ineligible to vote. One must vote knowing they will live with the consequences of their actions.
3.) All members eligible to vote must have their votes counted on the same day as all other CLASE members. If a member is absent, they must submit their votes to the Election/Constitution committee before the time of counting ballots. The Election/Constitution committee has the responsibility to formulate a system to count absentee ballots and in some cases may need to work with the technology committee.
It is part of your social responsibility to vote for the best candidate rather than let personal bias influence you.
ARTICLE IX. Administration Changeover
The administration changeover will be done with dignity and respect. The old administration will maintain their power until the final minutes of the final meeting in April. The new administration will then take the role of leadership of CLASE. Before this takeover, however, the new administration must go through a period of shadowing.
Shadow Government
This shadow government will serve two main purposes.
1.) First they shall work together to plan for the next year. They will work with the current Treasurer to handle the financial aspects of planning. The current Treasurer will formulate a presentation based on the “shadow” government’s plans to present to the Student Senate.
2.) The second purpose of this shadow government is to give the newly elected officers experience. They will become apprentices to their respected offices. The future officers must attend all Executive Board meetings for the remainder of the year. The old government officials will train their future replacements in the ways of correctly running the organization.
This arrangement allows the old government to maintain control of the organization for most of the year while at the same time groom the future government for correct leadership. In order to prevent confusion and transfer power smoothly, the old government will ceremoniously transfer the burden of office to the future government on the last week of April. This will give the future government the opportunity to run the organization and plan for National Hispanic Heritage Month, which shall be taken on as a project of the Executive Board. This transfer of power should be the last item on the agenda of the old government.
Impeachment Process
Once an officer refuses to serve the members of an organization, whether expressed verbally or through their actions it is the organization’s duty to replace the officer.
1.) If an officer is deemed unfit for office, a full CLASE member may call an impeachment of the officer.
2.) In order to obtain an impeachment of an officer, there must be 2/3 vote from the members of CLASE present at the meeting, the voting has to be announced before-hand. The meeting has to be comprised of the Executive Board Members plus, at least, six (6) non Executive Board members.
3.) Both the officer and the accuser will present their arguments for or against impeachment.
4.) Resignation is allowed for any officer, although it’s frowned up.
ARTICLE X. Amending the Constitution
Since no Constitution can completely stand the test of time there may come moments where the constitution must be revised or extended. Any motions to amend the Constitution must be presented to the Parliamentarian. The Parliamentarian must study each motion very carefully and do everything possible within the office to present a case for or against amending the Constitution to the Executive Board. If amending the Constitution is in order, the Executive Board will then present the amendment and the Parliamentarian report to the CLASE members. The members of CLASE present at the meeting will vote, the voting has to be announced before-hand. The meeting has to be comprised of the Executive Board Members plus, at least, six (6) non Executive Board members. ¾ votes of CLASE members present in the meeting is necessary to pass the amendment.