Echo Club Constitution

Preamble
Whereas, the members of echo at CSB/SJU believing that students should be associated to increase environmental awareness and to protect the environmental integrity of our campuses do adopt the following constitution.

Article I: Name and Purpose

  1. The name of this organization shall be echo.
  2. The objectives of the club are:
    1. Environmental awareness
    2. A forum for all students to express their views
    3. To make our campus a better steward for the environment

Article II: Nondiscrimination
This organization shall not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, national origin, ancestry, disability, veteran’s status, or political affiliation.

Article III: Membership
Echo is open to any CSB/SJU student. Non students can be non-voting, affiliate members.

  1. A student becomes a voting member by attending at least every third meeting and or event, pays dues.
  2. A member is subject to removal if he/she violates school policy.

Article IV: Officers

  1. For a student to be eligible as an officer of echo, the student must meet the following criteria: be a CSB/SJU student, be in good academic standing, complete the officer application.
  2. President; preside at meetings, call special meetings, primary contact with the institutions, appoint committee chairs, run the election process.

Vice- President; assume president’s duties in his/her absence, schedule rooms for meetings, primary contact with the JCB.

Treasurer; keep all financial records, submit monthly audit statements to CFB contact, notify organization of financial issues, prepares budget/allocation requests, present an up to date budget at each meeting, responsible for all reimbursements.

Public Relations Reps.; coordinate an echo campaign, advertise for the club, responsible for organizing the general and special elections.

Secretary; take minutes at the meetings and send minutes out to all club members, be responsible for updating the member list and all appropriate contact information including but not limited to; name, phone number, dorm.

Floor Reps.; represent echo to your living community, be an advocate for environmental awareness and help spread energy conservation ideas on your floor.

  1. In the event that the president resigns, the vice-president will assume the president’s duties until a special election is held.
  2. An officer shall serve for 1 year from his/her election.
  3. A person can run for as many years as he/she wishes.
  4. Each officer must be present at every meeting with the exception of excused absences.
  5. An officer is subject to removal if he/she fails to comply with school policy and or does not fulfill said duties.

Article V: Elections

  1. Types of elections: General elections will be held to replace officers whose terms are due to expire. Special elections shall be held when an office is vacated in midterm. A candidate running for office must have been an active, voting member for at least one semester.
  2. Nomination of candidates: A candidate for office must be nominated by a voting member during the meeting immediately prior to general elections or special elections. A candidate can nominate themselves.
  3. Time of elections: General elections shall be held during a March meeting and special elections shall be held as necessary.
  4. Form of vote: Voting under this Article shall be by secret ballot.
  5. Quorum must be present at voting.
  6. Special elections must follow rules A. through E. and will be held as needed.

Article VI: Advisor

  1. Club members will solicit members of the CSB/SJU faculty or staff who may be interested.
  2. The Advisor(s) shall assist the Treasurer and the President in preparation of requests for funding from the Associated Students of CSB/SJU, and shall sign said requests. The Advisor(s) shall consult with the officers about the organization’s activities in compliance with CSB/SJU Policies.

Article VII: Meetings

  1. To conduct business, thirty percent of the total voting membship and two officers must be present at the meeting.
  2. Motions dealing with constitution amendments and the removal of officers or members will require a 2/3 majority of the voting membership.
  3. This organization shall meet at least once a month. President or a 2/3 majority of the total voting membership may call emergency meetings. Verbal notice of organizational meetings shall be given to all members at least 7 days prior to such meetings.

Article VIII: Committees

  1. The president shall have the authority to appoint any special committees that will meet the needs of the organization.
  2. Chair of the committee can be held by any voting member.
  3. Chairs will be appointed by a 2/3 majority vote.

Article IX: Finances

  1. echo will apply for CFB monies, and if allocated, will follow all CFB and institutional regulations.
  2. No club officer or member will receive an honorarium or a stipend from the organization.
  3. Each member is required to pay $2.00 per year as dues.

Article X

echo considers hazing to be a degrading and destructive activity which is inconsistent with the standards of this student organization. Echo recognizes the dignity of every person and opposes all forms of hazing.

Mission Statement:

Echo seeks to provide an outlet for students who care about environmental issues in a consistently non-political setting. We believe that by doing so, we will spread environmental awareness to a diverse audience throughout the campus. Echo strives to include students who care about the environment regardless of their political interests, outdoor interests, or familiarity with environmental issues.

We seek to incorporate environmental awareness in all different aspects of the institution, including but not limited to; the cafeterias, campus housing, campus organizations, and the St. Joseph/Collegeville communities. Echo will provide every student on the CSB/SJU campus with convenient and thoughtful ways to change their lifestyles to better the environment directly surrounding us.

We will be aligned consciously with the Benedictine tradition of Stewardship as echo sees ourselves as responsible for good stewardship of the natural environment and seeks to take a role in excising this responsibility; because what we do today, echoes into tomorrow.

Side note:

We are aware that our world is becoming more and more environmentally conscious and wish to instill such forward movement right here in our own community. Slowly but surely our government is realizing that environmental issues span the like of political parties and affect all of us. We agree and know that together, with our differences uniting us rather than constraining us, we can and will create positive change.