This organization shall be called the North Dakota State University Student Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), hereinafter referred to as the Chapter.
The Chapter is organized and will be operated exclusively for educational and scientific purposes and, in furtherance thereof, specific objectives are:
Voting privileges shall be extended to all student Chapter and Affiliate members as per article IV.
Membership in the Chapter shall be open to all Members of the National Association for Computing Machinery who are associated with North Dakota State University (NDSU). Membership shall also be open to all students, faculty and staff of North Dakota State University who are either directly or indirectly associated with computing hardware and software upon the payment of dues.
The Chapter body shall be defined as all members of the Chapter with the exclusion of the Elected Officials and the chapter sponsor, defined elsewhere in this Constitution.
Members may at any time resign from the Chapter by filing an official resignation with the Chapter Secretary. Upon receipt of said resignation, all properties of the Chapter that the former member held shall be returned to the Chapter, and all references to the former member in any Chapter databases or mailing lists shall be removed.
A member may at any time be placed on probation for an indeterminate amount of time for the reasons listed below. Probation periods and terms will be determined on a per case basis by the Executive Council. The probate has the right to be heard before the Executive Council after probation only within the first two weeks after the probation begins. Probation can occur only after a majority vote of the Executive Council, defined in Section 1 of Article V of this Constitution, at a Probation and Review Meeting.
Membership may be suspended by the Executive Council as deemed necessary at any time or following probation. Membership may be suspended only after a two thirds (2/3) majority vote of the Executive Council at a Suspension and Review Meeting. Members under suspension may not participate in any Chapter functions, activities or meetings; may not make use of any physical or electronic Chapter properties; and any Chapter properties held must be returned to the Chapter. Suspended members have the right to be heard before the Executive Council only within two weeks of suspension.
Membership may be revoked by the Executive Council following suspension. The Executive Council reserves the right and duty to revoke membership of any member at a special Review Meeting, after a unanimous vote of the Executive Council. Members who have their memberships revoked have the right to appeal to the Executive Council one time only, within one week after revocation.
The elected officials of the Chapter shall be Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer, and Member at Large, hereinafter referred to as the Executive Council. Elected officials must be students who are members of the National ACM, members of the Chapter, and meet NDSU Congress of Student Organization’s requirements.
The Elected Officials shall be elected at the Annual Election Meeting, defined below. They shall take office immediately after the Election Meeting, and serve until the next Annual Election Meeting, where their successor will assume the office. Any changes in the Elected Officials must be submitted to the North Dakota State University Commissioner of Student Organizations.
Anyone member may not serve in the office of Chairperson or Vice Chairperson for more than two (2) consecutive terms.
Persons ineligible for election to any office are those who will graduate before their term completes.
Elected Officials are required to become National members of ACM within two (2) weeks of the election.
Vacancies in any office other than Chairperson caused by resignation, membership suspension/revocation, removal as defined in 7, or disability shall be filled by majority vote of the Executive Council. If the office of Chairperson is so vacated, the Vice-Chairperson shall immediately assume that office, and the Executive Council shall then fill the vacant office of Vice-Chairperson.
Removal of an officer shall take place by unanimous vote of the elected officials, excluding the party in question.
The Chairperson shall act as manager of all Chapter affairs, shall preside at all meetings of the Executive Council and of the body of the Chapter, and shall appoint all managers of all projects and committees unless otherwise specified in this Constitution.
The Chairperson shall plan the agenda for all meetings of the Executive Council. Executive Council members may ask that items be placed on the agenda; said items will be placed on the agenda at the final discretion of the Chairperson.
The Chairperson shall reserve the right to delegate responsibilities to any Chapter officer.
The Chairperson shall act as liaison between the Executive Council and any Temporary Committee created per Article IX of this Constitution. Temporary Committees shall be directly responsible to the Chairperson.
The Chairperson shall have voting privileges at meetings of the Chapter body only in the case of a tie. The Chairperson shall have full voting privileges at all meetings of the Executive Council.
The Chairperson shall serve as a point of contact to the Chapter for non-members.
The Vice-Chairperson shall preside at all meetings of the Executive Council and of the body of the Chapter in the absence of the Chairperson. The Vice-Chairperson shall act as liaison between all project and standing committee managers and the Executive Council, with managers of said projects and committees directly responsible to the Vice-Chairperson, unless otherwise specified in this Constitution.
The Vice-Chairperson is ultimately responsible for all special events that the Executive Council wishes to plan. Responsibilities for duties related to special events may be delegated to the Program Committee, defined in Article VI Section 1, as deemed necessary.
The Vice-Chairperson shall have full voting privileges in all matters relating to the Executive Council and the body of the Chapter.
The Vice-Chairperson shall plan the agenda for all Chapter body meetings. These duties include, but are not limited to, scheduling speakers and reserving rooms.
The Treasurer shall manage all monetary affairs of the Chapter, unless otherwise specified.
The Treasurer shall be responsible for managing properties of the Chapter held by members of the Chapter.
The Treasurer shall make the Annual Report of the Chapter’s Finances as required by the Treasurer of National ACM.
The Treasurer shall have full voting privileges in all matters relating to the Council and the body of the Chapter.
The Secretary shall maintain the official minutes of all meetings of the Executive Council and of the body of the Chapter where a vote is undertaken.
The Secretary shall prepare the Annual Chapter Report for presentation to National ACM.
The newly elected Secretary shall update the list of the chapter’s elected officials directly following the Annual Election Meeting.
The Secretary shall send three copies of official notification of changes in the Chapter’s Bylaws to the National ACM Executive Director prior to dissemination of said changes to the Chapter body.
The Secretary shall have full voting privileges in all matters relating to the Executive Council and the body of the Chapter.
The Secretary shall inform the Members of upcoming meetings by electronic mail.
The Member at Large shall be the liaison between the Chapter body and the Executive Council. The Member at Large is responsible for making Chapter body opinions known to the Executive Council and for relaying Executive Council decisions to the body.
The Member at Large shall have full voting privileges in all matters relating to the Executive Council and the body of the Chapter.
The Member at Large shall purchase refreshments and stock the appropriate refreshment receptacles with said refreshments on a regular basis.
The chapter sponsor shall be nominated by the Executive Council immediately following the Annual Election Meeting and the nomination submitted to the Chairman of the Student Chapters Committee for appointment and shall serve until a successor is appointed.
The chapter sponsor shall be generally responsible for the activities of the Chapter.
The chapter sponsor shall be a Member in good standing of ACM.
The Executive Council shall consist of the Officers, the immediate past Chairperson, and the chapter sponsor. Members of the Council must be members in good standing of ACM. The new Executive Council shall take office immediately following the Annual Election Meeting.
The Executive Council shall act on behalf of the Chapter in all matters except the election of Officers.
Minutes of all Executive Council meetings shall be available for inspection by any member of the Chapter and shall be filed in the Chapter records by the Chapter Secretary.
A meeting of the Executive Council shall be called by the Chairperson upon request of any member of the Executive Councilor the Chairperson.
The Election Committee, consisting of three members of the Chapter, none of whom are running for any office, shall be appointed by the Executive Council, by April 1 of each year, prior to the Annual Election Meeting.
The Election Committee shall be responsible for organizing the Annual Election Meeting. It shall be responsible for the printing, distribution, and counting of the ballots, and shall have the ultimate authority in decisions involving questionable election results.
One meeting prior to the Annual Election Meeting the Election Committee shall present at least one nominee for each office, and at the Annual Election Meeting the Election Committee shall entertain all other nominations from the floor.
The Executive Council may create any Temporary Committee as deemed appropriate, which may exist for an indeterminate amount of time. The Chairperson shall appoint the manager of any Temporary Committee created, and reserves the power to revoke said appointment and reappoint a new manager at any time and for any reason.
Temporary Committees shall be directly responsible to the Chairperson, with the Chairperson acting as liaison between the Executive Council and the Temporary Committees.
The Chapter body meetings shall be held at the location arranged by the Vice Chair. Robert’s Rules shall be used as a guideline by the presiding officer for conducting a meeting requiring a member body vote. Notices shall be distributed to all members of the Chapter at least one week prior to any meeting by the Secretary and Minister of Propaganda. There shall be at least six meetings each academic school year.
The Annual Election Meeting shall be held no later than two weeks prior to the end of the spring term of the academic school year. The election of Executive Council members shall be held as arranged by the Election Committee.
Disbursements from the Treasury for the Chapter expenditures shall be made under authorization of the Executive Council and shall be included in the minutes of the meeting.
Actual disbursements can be made only by the Chair, Vice Chair, and Treasurer of the Chapter.
Chapter dues shall be determined by the Council each year and shall not be greater than five dollars ($5.00) more than the amount of Chapter dues from the previous year.
Amendments to this Constitution shall be made in the following manner:
Rulings made on any point or procedure not included in this Constitution shall be made by the Executive Councilor Executive Council members with approval of the chapter sponsor.
The Chapter body shall retain veto power over any ruling made by the Council. Veto power by the Chapter body is exercisable at any meeting of the Chapter body within the first six (6) weeks or two meetings after the ruling is made, whichever is longer. A two-thirds (2/3) vote of those present is necessary in order for the Chapter body to veto any ruling made by the Council.
A Bylaw is defined as an addendum to the Constitution. A bylaw is much like an amendment, but addresses concerns which are not part of the original Constitution. Bylaws are, by nature, local to the Chapter and are intended to apply to local Chapter matters.
After the bylaw has been read before the Chapter body at a regular meeting of the Chapter, and all discussion related to the bylaw has been mitigated, the bylaw may be approved. A bylaw shall be approved only after a two-thirds (2/3) affirmative vote of the Chapter body.
A bylaw may be revoked after a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Chapter body. Bylaws may be revoked for any reason as deemed necessary by the Chapter body.
A copy of the Constitution shall be mailed to the National ACM for their approval. Only after the National ACM approves the Constitution is it considered eligible for approval by the Chapter body.
The Constitution shall be approved at a special meeting of the body of the Chapter for this purpose. A quorum of one half (50%) of the Chapter membership must be present at this meeting, and a majority of two-thirds (2/3) of those present and voting shall be required to carry the approval.
In the event of the dissolution of the Chapter, all the assets of the Chapter shall be transferred to the National Association for Computing Machinery.