Second-Draught Constitution

[Marshall Buchanan]

The Constitution of TEAgether


ARTICLE I

Section 1. Name

The name of the organization shall be TEAgether.

Section 2. Purpose

It is the purpose of TEAgether to promote the understanding and
appreciation of tea, its consumption, its history, and its culture,
with an emphasis on East Asian tea culture, and to make available the
opportunity to pursue this understanding and appreciation, while also
providing a courteous forum for discussion and for intellectual and
material contribution to the organization’s aims.


ARTICLE II

Section 1. Voting Membership

Voting membership shall be open to all currently enrolled students –
full-time or part-time, graduate or undergraduate – of The Ohio State
University. Potential members must exhibit a genuine willingness to
further the organization’s purpose.

Section 2. Non-Voting Membership

Faculty, alumni, professionals, prospective graduate students, and
others who are not currently enrolled students at the Ohio State
University, may become members. However, the status of any such
individual shall be limited to that of a non-voting associate or
honorary member.

Section 3. Non-Discrimination on Bases of Age, Sex, &c.

This organization and its members shall not discriminate against any
individual or individuals for the reasons of age, creed, sex, sexual
orientation or expression, religion, race, national origin, handicap,
or veteran status.


ARTICLE III

Section 1. Office

TEAgether shall have the offices of President, Secretary, and
Treasurer, each to be occupied by one officer at any given time. The
officers holding these positions are collectively the Executive
Committee of the organization.

Section 2. Qualification of Officers

All officers must be members of TEAgether.

Section 3. Term of Office

Offices shall be held for a term of one year.

Section 4. Elections

Elections shall be held once per year. Upon the completion of the
election, the previous term of office is considered expired, and the
new term is begun.


Section 5. Removal of Officers

Any officer felt by the members of the organization not to be
fulfilling his duties as an officer, must first be warned by the
Advisor before proceedings of removal are enacted. If the perceived
neglect of duty continues, then a special meeting is to be appointed
in which, by absolute two-thirds majority, the members present may
remove the negligent or offending officer and, removing him, must
appoint a meeting for special election to replace him. The special
election must occur within one month of the office’s vacancy.

Section 5. Limitation on Removal of Officers

Officers may under no circumstance be removed on account of age,
creed, sex, sexual orientation or expression, religion, race, national
origin, handicap, or veteran status.

Section 6. Vacancy of Office

Any vacancy of office, originating from purposes other than removal,
must be filled within one month of vacancy by a special election
appointed at least two weeks in advance of its occurrence.


ARTICLE IV

Section 1. The Office of the President

The President shall be the chief executive officer and shall serve as
the organization’s spokesman and chair for all meetings at which he is
present. In conjunction with the Advisor, the President is charged
with recruitment of members and the disposition of the organization’s
budget.

Section 2. The Office of the Secretary

The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping minutes of all meetings
and shall provide a copy of the minutes to each officer while also
keeping a master file. The secretary shall also maintain a complete
and accurate account of attendance and membership status.

Section 4. The Office of the Treasurer

The Treasurer shall keep a current record of all financial
transactions. He shall develop quarterly reports containing a list of
all receipts and disbursements and distribute them among the
membership. Furthermore, the Treasurer will be responsible for
checking the accuracy of all bills and invoices and paying them
correctly and on time. He may also be called upon to perform other
duties as directed by the President.

Section 5. The Advisor

The Advisors must be a member of University faculty or Administrative
& Professional staff. As a voting member of the organization, the
Advisor shall facilitate the organization’s fulfillment of its Purpose
and collaborate with officers in the execution of their duties. The
advisor is a resource: in this capacity, he is expected openly to
share relevant knowledge and experience and to volunteer advice where
he sees fit and where it is requested.


ARTICLE V

Section 1. General Meetings

General meetings shall be held at least twice per academic term,
excepting the Summer term. At least seven days notice is to be given
for each general meeting.

Section 2. Meetings of the Executive Committee

Meetings of the Executive Committee shall be held at least once per
academic term, excepting the Summer term. At least three days’ notice
is to be given for each meeting of the Executive Committee.

ARTICLE VI

Section 1. Proposal of Amendment

Proposed amendments to the by-laws of this constitution from the
general membership shall be submitted in writing to the President,
whose duty it is to notify the membership before or at the next
general meeting. Proposals from the Executive Committee shall be
submitted in writing to the President, whose duty it shall be to
notify the membership before or at the next general meeting.

Section 2. Voting on Amendment

Proposed amendments must be discussed in one general meeting before
they are eligible for vote. The proposal shall be read again in the
next general meeting and voted on by secret ballot.

Section 3. Passage of Amendment

Passage of proposed amendments shall require that an absolute two-
thirds majority of those present at the meeting be in favor, and
requires that a quorum be present.


ARTICLE VII

Section 1. Dissolution

TEAgether may, by unanimous consent of its members at a general
meeting, and with the consent of the Advisor, dissolve itself.

Section 2. Disposal of Assets

In the event of dissolution, all assets belonging to the organization
will be disposed of with consideration to the manner in which they
were received or acquired: all remaining operating funds shall be
proportionately divided and refunded to the appropriate individuals or
organizations; inventories shall be dealt with in a similar manner,
except for particular items obtained by purchase, which shall be
donated, in accordance with the opinion of the general membership, to
an organization or individual consistent with the Purpose of
TEAgether.

Section 3. Repayment of Debts

It shall be the responsibility of the general membership, including
officers, to repay all remaining debts incurred during the fiscal year
in which the organization is to be dissolved. Furthermore, the
Executive Committee is expected to formulate the means of raising the
necessary funds to meet all fiscal obligations.





By-Laws:
ARTICLE VIII

The rules contained in Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern the
organization in all cases to which they are applicable, and in which
they are not inconsistent with the by-laws of this organization.

ARTICLE IX

Section 1. Admission of Members

Membership, both voting and non-voting, is granted by joint invitation
of the Advisor and President with the unanimous approval of the
Treasurer and Secretary.

Section 2. Petition for Membership

The organization may entertain petitions for membership from the
classes of individuals described in Article II of this constitution.


ARTICLE X

Section 1. Election of Officers

Election of officers shall be held annually in May, the precise date
being appointed by the Advisor upon consultation with the President.
At least two weeks’ notice must be given before the election meeting.
Elections are conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order.

Section 2. Limit of Office

A member may not hold more than one office at a time.

Section 3. Resignation from Office

Should an officer find himself unable to fulfill the duties of his
office and intend to resign, he must voice his request to the
President at least two weeks in advance of his intended resignation,
so that a meeting to decide his replacement can be arranged.

ARTICLE XI

Section 1. Proposal of Amendment

Proposed amendments to the by-laws of this constitution from the
general membership shall be submitted in writing to the President,
whose duty it is to notify the membership before or at the next
general meeting. Proposals from the Executive Committee shall be
submitted in writing to the President, whose duty it shall be to
notify the membership before or at the next general meeting.

Section 2. Voting on Amendment

Proposed amendments must be discussed in one general meeting before
they are eligible for vote. The proposal shall be read again in the
next general meeting and voted on by secret ballot.

Section 3. Passage of Amendment

Passage of proposed amendments shall require an absolute two-thirds
majority in favor, without necessity of a quorum.

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[Qian Du]

Hi Marshall,

I think the constitution looks good. Thanks for your efforts.

Qian

2010/5/23 Marshall Buchanan <marshall...@gmail.com>

[sherab]

The 2nd draft looks good to me. Marshall, maybe you can replace the
one in Documentation. So that people don't get two versions. Thank
you.

Others, what do you think?

Sherab

[Chen, Kenzen]

spokesman --> spokesperson
he --> s/he; he or she

If you guys would like to elliminate gender-biased words. As a matter of
fact,
our treasurer and secrectary are both ladies, right? ;-p

Kenzen

[Marshall Buchanan]

I tend to doubt that that accomplishes anything. It just seems like
rather empty 'political correctness' to me.

The English language lacks neuter personal pronouns, but,
historically, the variants of 'he' have always sufficed.

[Hsiao-Feng Cai]

Dear Marshall,

 

 

Thank you for the draught, I think that's excellent.

 

Kenzen and I sometimes are very sensitive to those kinds of terms because of our academic background. Please don'g mind. Just do what you want.

 

Thanks for your effort.

 

HsiaoFeng

 

 

 

2010/5/24 Marshall Buchanan <marshall...@gmail.com>

[Anson Yang]

Hi Marshall, the constitution is good and thanks for your great job on it.

[Marshall Buchanan]

All right, if there are no objections by Wednesday evening, I will
move the constitution to the 'Documentations' section (NOT 'Google
Documents'), and on Thursday I'll turn it in to the Union.

I'll take the gender bias suggestion under consideration. It's a valid
point, but I guess I really didn't think about it, considering that
the Constitution of the United States only uses 'he' when referring to
the President &c., and that hasn't caused any problems. If it bothers
anyone else, though, I'll change it. Please let me know.

[Ming Fang]

Great effort! Thanks, Marshall.
As for the gender bias, I would like to see it addressed though. It may not cause any problem, but that's not to say it's not problematic.