Economics Club Constitution

Article I: Name and Purpose

Section 1: Name
The official title of the organization shall be “The Economics Club of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University”.

Section 2: Purpose/Mission
The purpose of the Economics Club shall be:

  1. To foster the advancement of the social sciences and serve the community by informing them of events on economic issues.
  2. To organize events of interest to the membership.
  3. To provide students with information and literature concerning work in the field of economics.
  4. To fund other events not otherwise organized by the membership that provide opportunities for keeping abreast of development in the social sciences.

Article II: Membership

Section 1: Eligibility for Membership

Economics Club membership shall be:

  1. Open to all of the students of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University.
  2. Independent of anyone’s ability to contribute to the club’s funds.
  3. Including advisors who shall be non-voting and represent the club on an advisor affiliation.
  4. Non-students shall also be non-voting affiliate members.
  5. Membership status is not determined by attendance at meetings and events.
  6. Officers reserve the right to dismiss a member from the club with that member’s consent.

Section 2: Voting Member Criteria

  1. All official members shall be eligible to vote at all Economics Club meetings.
  2. If there is an amendment, impeachment, election or other official matter known to be voted on at the meeting, the voting will be announced beforehand to all members.
  3. All voting shall be conducted through top-secret ballot.
  4. All ballots shall be collected in a Kemps One Gallon Ice Cream Bucket; flavor may vary although it must have the President’s approval.
  5. Ballots will be tallied and announced by the Vice-President and Administrative Assistant (if the position currently exists)

Section 3: Removal of Members
If a member is not in good standing with the club, due process must be followed to remove that member from the Club. The member will receive two warnings before removal procedures begin. On the third warning against the member, the member will be contacted immediately and notified that they are being removed from the club. Within one week a special meeting will be called in which all Club members will hear the member defend their position. A top-secret vote will then take place (run and overseen by the President) in which each member will vote whether or not to keep the member in the Club. Every member is given one vote and each vote has the same weight. The member will be allowed to stay in the club if a majority of club members vote accordingly.

Article III: Officers

Section 1: Officer Qualifications
To qualify to be an officer of the Economics Club, students must have a cumulative GPA above 2.5 and have been involved in the club for at least one semester. If there are no other possible officer candidates who have been in the club for more than 1 semester, than that person is allowed to be an officer, but only under this condition. All officers must be current CSB/SJU students.

Section 2: Elected Officers

The following is a list of all officer positions in descending order. This is the so-called chain-of-command.

  1. President
  2. Vice-President
  3. Treasurer
  4. Administrative Assistant

Section 3: Duties of Officers

President
The President shall preside at all Economics Club meetings. The President will oversee all club operations and assure that all other officers fulfill their duties. The President will be held accountable for all official club activities. It will be the responsibility of the President to interpret the Constitution. The President can call special meetings, appoint committee chairs (if the Club decides to have committees at some future point), and runs the election process. The President is also the primary contact for the Club.

Vice President
The Vice-President shall preside at all Economics Club meetings the President is unable to attend. If the President is assassinated, and no foul play on the part of the Vice-President is suspected, the Vice-President will assume the duties of the President. The Vice-President shall assist the President in coordinating in the day-to-day club events and activities.

Treasurer
The Treasurer is responsible for all club finances and accounting of club events and fund raisers. The Treasurer will maintain all financial records, notify the Club of financial issues and prepares budget/allocation requests and provide monthly audits to the Co-Funding Board.

Administrative Assistant
The Administrative Assistant (AA) is responsible for taking minutes at meetings and maintaining all records and files from past and current members. The AA is also responsible to serve as the liaison between the club, the advisor and other Economics faculty. The AA is allowed to change the name of their job title to something similar, but much more impressive for their resume.

Section 4: Vacancy in Office
In the event a vacancy should occur by resignation, removal, death, etc. provisions must be made to fill the vacancy. In the event that the President leaves office, the Vice-President will assume those duties until a special election is held. If the Vice-President leaves office, the Treasurer will assume those duties until a special election is held. If the Administrative Assistant leaves office, the remaining Vice President will assume those duties until a special election is held. Please refer to the special election section of Article IV.

Section 5: Removal of Officers
A petition to remove the officer in question must be submitted to another officer i.e. the President, Vice-President, Treasurer or Administrative Assistant. The officer in question will be contacted immediately and notified that they may possibly be removed from the club. This petition must contain the signatures of 30% of voting members. When such petition is received, within one week the officer (President, Vice-President, Treasurer or Administrative Assistant) shall call a special meeting of the club to determine whether or not the offending officer should be removed. At this same meeting, all Club members will hear the officer defend their position. A top-secret vote will then take place run and overseen by the (President, Vice-President, Treasurer or Administrative Assistant, whoever the petition was originally given to). In this top-secret vote, each member will vote whether or not to keep the officer in the Club. Every member is given one vote and each vote has the same weight. The officer will be removed from their position if 60% of the Club votes in favor of their removal.

Section 6: Appeal of Removal of Officers
The officer will be able to appeal a removal decision to the advisor of the Club. This advisor will work together with two other current CSB/SJU economics professors to determine if the club made the correct decision about the removal of the officer. The advisor and two other economics professors will hear both sides of the argument, the officer’s side and the side of the petitioner(s). The advisor and two other economics professors will then rule whether or not the club made the correct decision about whether to remove the officer. If the advisor and two other economics professors determine that the officer was wrongly removed, the officer will be regain their officer position. If the advisor and two other economics professors determine that the officer was justly removed, the officer will be removed their officer position.

Article IV: Elections

Section 1: Nomination Process
Officer candidates can be nominated by themselves, another member of the club, or an elected officer of the club. Once the candidates are nominated, a popular vote will take place within an amount of time deemed fitting (at least before the end of the spring semester).

Section 2: Elected Officers
The Co-Funding Board mandates that by April 1, officer elections take place and that they and the Department of Student Activities are notified of the new officers, so therefore, officers will be elected in the spring, at a time deemed fitting before April 1. This vote will be determined by popular vote of secret ballot from all present student membership. A person can serve two total semesters in one particular officer position. If that person can serve in other officer roles as long as one position does not last more than two total semesters.

Section 3: Special Elections
If an officer leaves or is removed from office, a special meeting will be called in order to elect a new officer. In the absence of the highest official at this meeting, the next highest official will preside over the voting process. At the special meeting, a popular vote will determine the person to fill that position. The only requirement is that the new officer fulfills all of the qualifications. A new officer must be elected within one month of another officer leaving or being removed from office.

Article V: Advisor

Section 1: Selection
The Economics Club will choose an advisor by voting. All members will vote in a top-secret vote, where the advisor will be determined by a majority of the votes. The club advisor must be a faculty member of the Economics department at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University.

Section 2: Duties
The role of the advisor is to serve as a resource to the Club and to serve as a liaison between the Club and the administration.

Article VI: Meetings

Section 1: Regular Meeting/Club Activities
Business meetings will occur as often as is deemed fit. At the minimum, meetings must occur at least 2 times per semester. Club activities will also occur as often as is deemed fit. Members of the club will be notified of the meetings and/or activities through various campus media.

Section 2: Special Meetings

These meetings will be called if

  1. There is a petition to remove a member from the club.
  2. There is a petition to remove an officer from the club.
  3. There is a petition to amend the Economics Club constitution.
  4. There is another other official matter that requires a special meeting.
  5. A special meeting may be called by an official, the advisor or five club members.

Section 3: Parliamentary Authority
The meetings will be run on casual basis, lead by the President. If the absence of the highest official at meetings the next highest official will preside.

Section 4: Quorum
A total of 40% of the club membership must be present for official club business to occur. The number of voting members required to be present during a vote is 60%.

Article VII: Committees

Section 1: Committee Structure
Committees may be created as the club deems necessary. There are no permanent committees in the club.

Section 2: Special/Ad-Hoc Committees
Special and ad-hoc committees may be formed if needed.

Article VIII: Finances

Section 1: Co-Funding Board
The Economics Club will apply for Co-Funding Board monies on an annual basis. If the club is allocated resources, the club will follow all Co-Funding Board and institutional regulations. The Economic Club may not have an off-campus account, even if it is from club generated funds. This is an institutional policy.

Section 2: Honorariums
No member of official shall receive an honarium.

Section 3: Dues
There will be no dues, monetary or otherwise, that need to be paid by any member, officer or advisor of the club.

Article IX: Amendments

Section 1: Ratification
If an amendment to the constitutional is proposed, a special meeting will be called. At this meeting a top-secret vote will take place run and overseen by the President. If the President is absent, the next highest ranking official will preside. In this top-secret vote, each member will vote whether or not amend the constitution. Every member is given one vote and each vote has the same weight. The Constitution will be amended, as the proposal states it should be, if 60% of the Club votes in favor of the amendment.

Section 2: Submittal to Department of Student Activities and Joint Club Board
Any changes made to this constitution must be submitted to the Department of Student Activities and the Co-Funding Board.

Article X:
The Economics Club admits students without regard to their race, religion, color, sex, age, sexual orientation or national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and other activities, generally accorded or made available to members of the organization.

Article XI:
The Economics Club considers hazing to be a degrading and destructive activity which is inconsistent with the standards of this student organization. The Economics Club recognizes the dignity of every person and opposes all forms of hazing.

Article XII

The Economics Club agrees that its activities, mission statement and goals are consistent with the Benedictine Values.

Date of recognition/revision: April 8, 2008