University of Louisville

Honors Student Council

Constitution

 23 October 2007

Article I:

Name

1. The name of this organization shall be Honors Student Council (HSC).

Article II:

Mission Statement/Purpose

1. The Honors Student Council (HSC) of the University of Louisville seeks to:

1. foster academic growth

2. provide greater opportunities to honors students within the university

3. create a cohesive student community

4. establish a forum through which students, faculty, administration, and staff of  the Honors Program may communicate openly and effectively.

Article III:

Membership

1. All active honors students are considered members of the HSC and are welcome and encouraged to attend meetings as often as possible and to participate actively in HSC.
2. All members of HSC must be students in good standing in the University of Louisville student body and in the Honors Program.
3. All members of HSC are considered voting members.
4. Active members of HSC are those students who attend at least one-half of the general meetings and attend two (2) of the functions of HSC as a contributor or volunteer per year.
5. All members of HSC meeting the requirements herein after enumerated, are eligible and encouraged to seek, obtain, and hold office without discrimination or abridgment because of race, color, religion, marital status, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or physical abilities.

Article IV:

Organization of Officers

The HSC Executive Council shall consist of the five officers, the webmaster and the four chairs of the committees.

Elected Offices

1. The authority of the Executive Council shall be distributed as follows:
1. The President shall:

a.       Oversee the entire Executive Council.

b.      Officially present the agenda at all HSC meetings.

c.       Have the power to appoint and oversee ad-hoc committees.

d.      Directly oversee and manage the officers.

2. The Vice-President shall:

a.       Assist the President in any of his/her executive functions.

b.      Take on the President’s responsibility in his/her absence.

c.       Oversee and manage the committee chairs.

3. The Treasurer shall:

a.       Keep accurate and specified records of all HSC funds.

b.      Provide a budget summary twice annually, preferably at the end of each semester.

c.       Report on the financial affairs of the HSC at the discretion of the Executive Council.

4. The Secretary shall:

a.       Keep detailed and accurate minutes of all HSC proceedings.

b.      Maintain an active member list and keep attendance records.

c.       Be responsible for all correspondence.

d.      Maintain a current and accurate copy of the HSC Constitution.

e.       Assist the webmaster with minutes and events calendar for the HSC website.

5.  The Sergeant-At-Arms shall:

a. Be present at every meeting; if Sergeant cannot attend, s/he must provide a substitute.

               b. Maintain order and focus of meetings.

               c. Physically remove unruly or rude persons from meetings.

Appointed Offices

The Appointed Offices shall be appointed by the Executive Council upon request by an active member to be a chairperson.  If two active members desire the post, they shall be appointed co-chairs upon agreement by both members and the Executive Council. If more than two members desire the post, elections shall be held, and the two members with the highest vote count shall be appointed.

B.  The Webmaster shall:

1.      Maintain the HSC website.

2.      Work with the Secretary regarding HSC minutes and the HSC calendar.

C.  The Committee Chairs shall be comprised of: 

1. The Service & Volunteer Committee Chair shall:

a.       Organize and coordinate community service or volunteer events.

b.      Maintain contact with community leaders and students in the Honors Program.

c.       Publicize all community service events.

d.      Coordinate the Honors Volunteer Program in general.

2. The Social Chair shall:

a.       Organize and coordinate a monthly social event in the Honors Program.

b.      Organize and coordinate the beginning- and end-of-semester picnic lunches.

c.       Establish and maintain the Freshman Guides Program.

3. The Academic Chair shall:

a.       Organize and coordinate all events which target and specifically foster the academic education of students and enhance learning, e.g. the Honors lecture series, other special topics, guest speakers, film series, special functions, academic mentoring.

b.      Maintain an active Academic Escort Directory.

4.   Publicity/Recruitment Chair shall:

a. Be responsible for publicizing all HSC events.

b. Be in charge of the conducting and publicizing of all elections.

c. Conduct outreach campaigns to eligible students on campus who are not yet part of Honors.

d. Co-chair shall be the webmaster.  These two chairpersons together will coordinate the upkeep of the website and the timeliness of the online calendar.

                  5.   Fundraising Chair shall:

                                 a. Be responsible for the organization of fundraising events

                                 b. Work closely with the Treasurer, Publicity Chair

                                 c. Coordinate 2-3 fundraising events per year

                                 d. Helping executive board in ancillary ways

                  6.   Freshman Representative shall:

                                 a. Research the needs of the Honors freshmen community

                                 b. Report findings from (a) to Executive Council

                                 c. Provide ideas for improvement regarding Honors involvement in                                                freshman class

                                 d. Advertise events for freshmen and organize events for Freshman

                                    Guides events

                                 e. Help with newsletter in a freshmen perspective

                                 f. Reach out to fellow freshmen and try to engage as many

                                    classmates as possible

                  7.   Freshman Guides manager shall:

                                 a. Aid the President in the following:

                                                i. Actively seeking mentors

                                                ii. Actively seeking mentees

                                                iii. Pairing mentees with appropriate mentors

                                                iv. Manage Freshman Guides-related activities, in                                                                           conjunction with Publicity Chair

Article V:

Elections

A. All active members of HSC are eligible to run for election in the following posts: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Sergeant-At-Arms.

B. Candidates for any elected office of the HSC shall be nominated by at least one member of the voting body or shall self-nominate. Each candidate will be given the opportunity to present their credentials at the general meeting preceding the election.  They will also be given the opportunity to post their credentials on the HSC website and outside the Honors classrooms in Etscorn Honors Center and Overseers Honors House.

C. Voting shall take place the last Thursday and Friday before classes end in the spring semester.  Voting shall take place online through ULink web-balloting.

D. Candidates will win by a simple majority vote.

E.  In the event of a tie, the faculty or staff advisor shall cast the deciding vote.

F.  If there is only one candidate for an office, he/she shall take the office by default.

G. Officers shall be re-elected without limitation.

H. No person shall occupy two offices simultaneously.

I.   Inauguration of officers shall occur at the first meeting of the Fall semester.

Article VI:

Meetings

A. The Honors Student Council shall meet no less than once per month throughout the academic year (August – April). The general date and time of the meeting shall be set by the Executive Council during the first meeting of the Fall semester.

B. Executive Council members are required to attend monthly meetings.

C. Any voting member of the HSC may attend the monthly meetings.

D. Special meetings shall be called at the discretion of the President or upon request by a member of the Executive Council.

Article VII:

Amendments

A. One or more voting members of the HSC may author an amendment to this constitution.

B. The amendment shall be submitted in writing to the Executive Council for review and recommendation concerning legality, punctuation, placement, and word order.

C. The Executive Council shall present the amendment at the next meeting of the HSC and a copy of the amendment will be posted on the organization’s website for review.

D. Amendment is approved by a simple majority vote of the members in attendance at the meeting.

E. At the next meeting following the acceptance of an amendment, updated copies of this constitution shall be given to each voting member in attendance.

Article VIII:

Attendance

A.     Attendance to Executive Meetings are mandatory. Three unexcused absences from Executive Meetings will result in expulsion from the HSC Executive Council.

Article IX:

Effective Date

A. This constitution shall go into effect on April 13, 2006.