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CONSTITUTION

OF

UNITED LATINO ASSOCIATION

Revised October 4th 2004

 

ARTICLE I - NAME

            The name of this Organization is United Latino Association.

 

ARTICLE II - PURPOSE

The main function of this organization is to unite Latino and other interested students of Rowan University, in an effort to stimulate and organize any form of intellectual and social activity among the students interested in the Latino culture and welfare of the students here at Rowan University.

 

ARTICLE III - SPONSOR AND ADVISOR

            SECTION I - SPONSOR

This organization is under the sponsorship of the Bureau Of Cultural Organizations (B.O.C.O.).  In turn, BOCO is under the sponsorship of the Student Government Association (S.G.A.).  This organization is subject to both B.O.C.O. and S.G.A. rules, regulations and/or restrictions found in their constitutions will be kept on file by the secretary of the organization for further reference.

            SECTION II - ADVISOR(S)

To comply with university regulations this organization is required to have a faculty /staff advisor(s).  The organization reserves the right to choose an advisor.  The advisor will serve as a mentor to the executive board in which the advisor(s) guide the executive board for the benefit of this organization.  If the advisor does not fulfill his/her duties or responsibilities he/she will be subject to impeachment procedures.

 

ARTICLE IV - MEMBERSHIP

            SECTION I - MEMBERSHIP

Membership into the organization will be with disregard to race, sex, religion, or creed and will consist of Rowan University students who have an interest in the Latino culture.

            SECTION II - QUALIFICATION

 To become a member of the United Latino Association an individual must attend 3 consecutive meetings.  The individual must attend 2 programs and a community service per semester, however, if the individual does not attend 2 meetings and 1 community service he/she will lose their voting privileges.  For those individuals who have an excused absence during the meeting he/she must provide a note or some type of written documentation to the E-board members.

            SECTION III - HONOR MEMBERSHIP

An Honoring member shall be a graduate of Rowan University formerly Rowan College, (Glassboro State College).  This member must have participated as a member of the organization while attending this University.  The honored member has the exact privileges of an active member, except the holding of office and voting.

 

ARTICLE V - OFFICERS

            SECTION I - OFFICERS OF THE ORGANIZATION

The officers shall consist of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and one or two sergeant of arms/parliamentarian.  These officers constitute the Executive board The term of office for all the officers will be one year or two semesters.  Whereas, Executive Board members may serve on other Executive Boards, but will be restricted to two excused absences to Executive board meetings and general meetings and two non-attendance to programs as far as a letter of absence si typed out and distributed to the chain of command: President, Vice President, Secretary.  These will be non-negotiable but may be appealed through the Executive Board to the advisor(s).

DUTIES TO THE OFFICERS ARE NOT RESTRICTED TO THOSE LISTED IN ARTICLE V - SECTION II.  All officers are to assist one another on an effort to make Executive board a stronger unit: therefore, giving them the strength to lead the organization effectively.

            SECTION II - DUTIES

The duties of the officers are as follows:

A.  The President will preside at all special and regular weekly meetings of the organization and executive board.  He/she will respond to the general affairs of the organization and work I cooperation with the sponsor and advisor for the census of the members.  The President will delegate responsibilities as needed.  He/she is responsible for coordinating Latin Heritage Month in the month of November and Latin week the first week of April.

B.  The Vice President will assist the president in all affairs.  He/she will conduct the meetings upon the absence of the president or the inability of the president to perform his/her duties.  The Vice president will also be in charge of the high school conference in April, publication, historian, and programming committees and will be delegating responsibilities to members of these committees.  He/she is also in charge of Homecoming, which will be optional according to member vote.

C.  The Secretary will maintain a record of all members of the organization during the school year.  He/she will take minutes of all regular meetings, type, and duplicate them and make them available to SGA, BOCO, the United Latino Association general/executive board, and the advisor(s).  He/she is also responsible for incoming and outgoing correspondence.

D.  The Treasurer will be the official custodian of any and all funds coming into the organization; whether they are from gifts or donations.  He/she must keep a record of all money dealing with the organization.  He/she will be in charge of distributing equally any and all information concerning the following year’s budget.  He/she must be accountable for the handling of such funds or money of the organization with the consent and approval of the president.  He/she will be in charge of creating fundraisers that will benefit the organization.  He/she is also present and/or states the treasurer’s report at the appropriate time at all regular meetings.  He/she will work closely with the other officers and assist them in all affairs.  He/she is responsible for at least two fundraisers per semester and is allowed to have a fundraiser committee if needed.

E.  The Sergeant of Arms/Parliamentarian will be member(s) of the executive board.  They have the responsibility of keeping order and quiet at all meetings as well as at practices, rehearsals or activities where the organization is assembled for a legitimate purpose.  In addition, they will assist in the distribution of any paper work given by the Executive Board.  They will also be in charge of regulating Parliamentary procedures.  Two programs, one in the fall on Parliamentary procedures and a community service program in the spring will be held by the Sergeant of Arms/Parliamentarian.

F.  The Student Advisor must have been on the Executive Board and general member for at least one year.  The responsibilities of the student advisor will to the discretion of the Executive Board.  Student Advisor must come to the first and last Executive Board meeting.  All other meetings will be per invitation.

G.  The Executive Board reserves the right to expand its positions with the approval of the general members.

            SECTION III - ELECTIONS

A.  ULA elections will take place three weeks before the end of the semester, nominations will occur five weeks before the end.  The person who is president up to date will give an advance notice.

B.  All members of the organization, including freshmen from the recent year, are eligible to run for any office.  Officers of that completed year, who wish to run for the same office, may place themselves on the ballot.  But, if the same officer wants to run for a different position, they must go through the procedure of nominations for officers.

C.  PROCEDURES OF ELECTIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

            The president is elected first, then the vice president, treasurer, secretary, and then the sergeant of arms/parliamentarian.  A motion is put on the floor to open nominations for the office.  It is seconded, passed and nominations are accepted.  If an officer of the recent year wishes to run again for the same office he/she is automatically put on the ballot.  He/she does not have to be nominated unless he/she is running for a different office.  When all nominations are in, a motion to close nominations for the office is put forth.  It must be seconded and passed.

            Three weeks will be reserved for election proceedings.  The first week, nominations will take place.  Second week, campaigning will take place.  This involves the making of speeches and a question/answer period.  Members will be allowed to pose questions to candidates in advance over the ULA website.  In the third week, elections will take place following the procedures laid out in the constitution.  Elections are held by secret ballot for all offices.  The ballots are collected and tallied by the executive board and recorded.  The results are announced and the new officers will take over the next meeting after all the elections are finished.

            SECTION IV - B.O.C.O. REPRESENTATIVES

The president will assign two members to be representatives of the United Latino Association at all BOCO meetings.  After the members volunteer, the executive board will assign a BOCO representative and an alternate.  The BOCO representative, or the alternate must report at the general meeting the occurrences that took place within the BOCO meeting.

 

ARTICLE VI - MEETINGS

            SECTION I - PLACE AND TIME

Any annual or special meeting, including weekly membership meetings, will be given a notice by the executive board as to the time, place, and the date of such meetings.

            SECTION II - EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETINGS

An executive board meeting will be held anytime before the regular weekly meeting.  The purpose of this board meeting is to organize and prepare for the weekly meeting.  The president shall be the presiding officer at the meeting and the secretary of the organization will take down notes of this meeting.

            SECTION III - PROCEDURE OF THE MEETING

The following shall be the order of business unless it is suspended by two-thirds of the members present at the meeting.  The reading of the minutes may be bypassed if voted on by a majority of the members. 

CALL TO ORDER

ROLE CALL

MINUTES APPROVED

TREASURER’S REPORT OF FUNDS

CORRESPONDENCE

PRESIDENTS REPORT

VICE PRESIDENTS REPORT

SECRETARY’S REPORT

TREASURER’S REPORT

SPECIAL ORDER (OPTIONAL)

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

NEW BUSINESS

ANNOUNCEMENTS

MEETING ADJOURNED

            SECTION IV - MINUTES

Minutes of the meeting are to be kept by the secretary.  The purpose of the minutes is to keep track of what has been done.  The secretary will write them out, secondly, they are then to be typed out, third, duplicate, and fourth, distribute to the appropriate organization and officers.

            SECTION V - ROBERT RULE OF ORDER

Robert rules of order, or a similar recognized standard, shall be the authority on parliamentary procedure on all matters not covered by this constitution and by-laws of the organization.

            SECTION VI - A QUORUM FOR ALL MEETINGS

A quorum for all meetings of this organization shall consist of 1 over ½ the Voting Membership present and, a quorum for committee meetings shall consist of a majority of the committee.

 

ARTICLE VII - COMMITTEES

            SECTION I - STANDING COMMITTEE

The following are the regular standing committees of the organization, which will be headed by the Vice-President.

A.  The Programming Committee will be in charge of getting in contact with booking agencies for bands, musicians, concerts and speakers for lectures on topics dealing with the Latino culture.  The E-board will negotiate contracts for the groups that they decide on and for the activities and dates given by the president.  In addition, this committee will acquire films and/or exhibits that deal with the Latino culture and the dates given by the president.  The contracts will have to be approved and signed by the advisor.

B.  The Publications Committee will be responsible for getting public announcement in reference to dances and other activities to radio stations, newspapers and other media, either on their own or with the help of the organizations who cosponsor.

C.  The Historian Committee is in charge of keeping records of the activities through picture taking and writing of articles to keep for organizational work in an album and for publication in campus newspapers or newsletters.  They are also in charge of creating a newsletter containing current events, historical information and any other information pertaining to the organization.

            SECTION II - OTHER COMMITTEES

As situations arise the president may appoint additional committees, as he/she may deem necessary such as, the Alumni Dinner committee, the annual picnic committee, etc.  The president will serve as a facilitator to all special committees.

 

ARTICLE VIII - AMENDMENTS

            SECTION I - AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION

A.  ALL AMENDMENTS, BY-LAWS AND/OR CHANGES TO THIS CONSTITUTION WILL HAVE TO BE presented in writing to the Executive board.  After following the amending procedures, the final resolution must be written as it was agreed upon and passed.

B.  ALL AMENDMENTS, BY LAWS AND/OR CHANGES TO THIS CONSTITUTION MUST BE placed into body of the constitution after 1 academic year

C.  MEMBERS, PARTICULARLY THE EXECUTIVE BOARD, MUST REVIEW the constitution to ensure any necessary alterations are made

            SECTION II - PROCEDURE

The procedure of amending, or changing this constitution is as follows: A motion will be presented to the floor and explained.  It will be seconded, and voted on.  If 2/3 of the majority votes on it, it is amended.  If it is defeated, a discussion will take place over the pros and cons of it.  If a decision is reached, a motion is made for that resolution.  It will then be voted on, and 2/3 of the majority will be needed to amend this constitution.

            SECTION III - AMENDMENTS AND BY-LAWS

A.  A RESIGNATION OF AN OFFICER from the executive board must be presented in writing, either at a regular weekly meeting or executive board meeting.  An announcement of the resignation must be made one week before the resignation is presented.  An election will be held to fill that positon within one month after that vacancy occurs.

B.  AN IMPEACHMENT OF AN OFFICER will result when and only that officer disregards the duties and responsibilities of his/her office.

C.  CO-SPONSORSHIP

Any organization that would like to co-sponsor with the United Latino Association will have to write a proposal to the executive board at least 2 weeks in advance.  The E-board members will vote on the proposal and will notify the organization within a week of submission of the proposal.

D.  SPONSORSHIP

Any individual who would like the sponsorship of ULA for a program/event must submit a proposal 2 weeks prior to the program/event.  He/she must be an active member of ULA.  The individual will be notified a week after submitting the proposal.  It will be voted on by the members and E-board.

 

IMPEACHMENT PROCEDURE

Th person or persons presenting the accusation will make an announcement of an impeachment to the executive board and members at the weekly meeting.  The notification of the impeachment must be presented to the organizations advisor and he/she will be asked to review the impeachment as well.  The accuser or accusers will present or state their reason and/or evidence for an impeachment to take place.  The officer being impeached will have a chance to explain or defend him/herself if he/she wishes; after all reasons and evidence have been presented.  A voting session will take place.  All members present at the meeting will vote.  The voting will be done by a secret ballot.