Renssealaer UPE Constitution

Article I. Name and Objectives

1. The name of this organization shall be the New York Eta Chapter of Upsilon Pi Epsilon, or the Chapter.

2. The purpose of this organization shall be the promotion of high scholarship and original investigation in the field of Computer Science.

3. The New York Eta Chapter of Upsilon Pi Epsilon shall be located at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (rpi.edu), in Troy, NY 12180.

Article II. Government of the Chapter

1. The Chapter shall be governed by the Executive Council, made up of the Officers, members of the Cabinet, and all faculty members of the chapter. No individual may hold two positions on the Executive Council.

   Section 1. Officers of the Chapter

   1. The 3 Officers of the Chapter shall be the the Upsilon (President), the Pi (Vice President), and the Epsilon (Secretary).

   Section 2. Cabinet members

   1. The 5 members of the Cabinet shall be the the Historian, the Coordinator, the Recruiter, the Treasurer, and the Press Secretary.

   Section 3. Meetings of the Executive Council

   1. The Council shall meet at the request of any member of the Council. All meetings of the Council shall be chaired by the member who called the meeting, or his designee.

   2. Each member of the Council, including Officers, members of the Cabinet, and faculty members, shall have one vote for any ballots taking during a Council meeting. Votes shall pass by simple majority.

   3. All meetings of the Chapter, including meetings of its various Committees and sub-committees, shall have formal minutes taken, which shall include meeting attendance. Complete meeting minutes shall be sent to the faculty advisor within 5 business days of the conclusion of the meeting.

   4. Quorum necessary to conduct Chapter business during a meeting shall be two thirds of the voting student members of that group.

Article III. Membership of the Chapter

1. The Chapter Recruiter shall call for at least one general meeting of the Chapter per semester, to report on the state of the Chapter's recruiting efforts. If there are any candidate members at the time of this meeting, the meeting shall act as a Member Elections meeting, and the Membership Committee shall present all membership candidates to the Chapter. For each candidate, a representative of the Membership Committee shall distribute a single page summary of the candidate's application, and shall speak on the candidate's behalf. A simple majority vote shall elect a candidate to membership.

Article IV. Committees of the Chapter

1. All meetings of the Chapter, including meetings of its various Committees and sub-committees, shall have formal minutes taken, which shall include meeting attendance. Complete meeting minutes shall be sent to the faculty advisor within 5 business days of the conclusion of the meeting.

2. Each Committee shall maintain its own set of by-laws to formally record its adopted procedures. These by-laws will be set by the individual committees, and may be changed by them as deemed necessary. All by-laws must be kept current with the Chapter Historian.

   Section 1. The Rules Committee

   1. The Rules Committee shall be chaired by the Chapter Historian, under the direction of the Upsilon (President).

   2. The Rules Committee's responsibilities will include the formation, maintenance, and upholding of the Constitution and by-laws. This committee will also ensure that the Chapter continues to respect those guidelines enumerated in the National Constitution and by-laws.

   Section 2. The Planning Committee

   1. The Planning Committee shall be chaired by the Chapter Coordinator, under the direction of the Pi (Vice President).

   2. The Planning Committee will be in charge of organizing Chapter events and activities. This committee will organize everything from barbeques to coding competitions, and from ice cream socials to rèsumè book compilations. At times, transient committees will be created for a short time by the Planning Committee proper to take care of one event, and to then dissolve.

   Section 3. The Membership Committee

   1. The Membership Committee shall be chaired by the Chapter Recruiter, under the direction of the Pi (Vice President).

   2. The Recruitment Committee will be in charge of finding and attracting potential members, doing an initial review and summary of the member's strengths and weaknesses, and collecting all documents needed for application to our Chapter of the UPE.

   Section 4. The Finance Committee

   1. The Finance Committee shall be chaired by the Chapter Treasurer, under the direction of the Epsilon (Secretary).

   2. The Finance Committee will be in charge of maintaining a budget, fundraising, collecting dues, and requesting funding from the CS department and various other organizations.

   Section 5. The Public Relations Committee

   1. The Public Relations Committee shall be chaired by the Chapter Press Secretary, under the direction of the Epsilon (Secretary).

   2. The Planning Committee will be in charge of publicizing Chapter events and activities to the RPI and surrounding communities.

Article V. Operating Rules

1. All meetings of the Chapter, including meetings of its various Committees and sub-committees, shall have formal minutes taken, which shall include meeting attendance. Complete meeting minutes shall be sent to the faculty advisor within 5 business days of the conclusion of the meeting.

2. Each Committee shall maintain its own set of by-laws to formally record its adopted procedures. These by-laws will be set by the individual committees, and may be changed by them as deemed necessary. All by-laws must be kept current with the Chapter Historian.

3. Quorum necessary to conduct Chapter business during a meeting shall be two thirds of the voting student members of that group.

4. The Chapter shall maintain one bank account for general disbursement. The faculty advisor shall authorize all withdrawals from the account. The account shall be filled in lump sum at the beginning of each Department budget cycle. The Finance Committee shall maintain formal procedures for requesting a disbursement in its by-laws.

5. All rules of the Chapter shall be subordinate to the rules of this Constitution.

6. For proper consideration, any proposed amendment to this Constitution shall be presented to the Rules Committee for formal framing, then to the Executive Council for discussion and formal adoption. The Rules Committee may not knowingly impede the propogation of a proposed amendment to the Council. However, no time limits shall be established for the framing process. The only exception occurs when the Rules Committee determines that a proposed amendment would be entirely superfluous or otherwise unnecessary for maintenance of the Chapter.

7. The Chapter Recruiter shall call for at least one general meeting of the Chapter per semester, to report on the state of the Chapter's recruiting efforts. If there are any candidate members at the time of this meeting, the meeting shall act as a Member Elections meeting, and the Membership Committee shall present all membership candidates to the Chapter. For each candidate, a representative of the Membership Committee shall distribute a single page summary of the candidate's application, and shall speak on the candidate's behalf. A simple majority vote shall elect a candidate to membership.

8. The Chapter recognizes the National Association's minimum requirements for eligibility, and shall rely upon the Membership Committee's by-laws to list exact eligibility procedures.

9. All active members of the Chapter shall be considered to be voting members for Chapter and Committee business. Any student member who is a member of at least one Committee, and has been present at two of the past four general meetings, shall be considered active. Officers and faculty members are always considered active.

10. All forms of Chapter elections shall be won by simple majority of the voting membership of the Chapter. Officers shall serve a term of one year from the month of that position's last election. The Chapter President shall call for at least one general meeting of the Chapter per year, to report on the state of the Chapter's overall activities. This meeting should occur during the last month of the Upsilon (President)'s term, and Officer Elections should be conducted as part of the Chapter business. Nominations for general membership should be made through the Membership Committee, as outlined in their by-laws. Nominations for an Officer or Cabinet position may be made by any voting member of the Chapter, though the current Upsilon (President) must make and announce his nominations for all current Officer and Cabinet positions at the beginning of the Officer Election meeting. At the conclusion of Officer Elections, the Upsilon (President)-elect shall either reaffirm the existing faculty advisor, or appoint a new one.