& Community Regional Planning Graduate Student Club Constitution
(Revised Spring 2009)
Community and Regional Planning Graduate Student Club The "CRP Grad Club", for short, is an organization established by the graduate students in the Department of Community and Regional Planning. The Community and Regional Planning Graduate Student abides by and supports established Iowa
State University policies, State and Federal Laws.
This organization will be run by elected officers who must be registered graduate students at Iowa State University in the Department Of Community and Regional Planning. However, this organization is open to all registered students at Iowa State University. Registered students may vote on officer positions and the organization's decisions related to activities; non-registered students, faculty, and staff may not vote. Membership Membership is open to all registered students at Iowa State University. Membership will be established via the receipt of annual dues from interested parties. These dues will be collected and will allow ISU registered students voting rights and will allow both registered students and non-registered members to participate in the organization's activities. Upon receipt of membership dues, parties then become official members of the organization. Neither Iowa State University nor the Community and Regional Planning Graduate Student Club discriminates on the basis of race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. Veteran. Inquiries can be directed to the Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, 3680 Beardshear Hall. Officers The officers of this organization must meet the following requirements: (a) Have a minimum cumulative grade point ratio (GPA) as stated below and meet that minimum GPA in the semester immediately prior to the election/appointment, the semester of election/appointment and semesters during the term of office. For graduate students, the minimum GPA is 3.00. In order for this provision to be met, at least four hours (half-time credits) must have been taken for the semester under consideration. (b) Be in good standing with the university and enrolled: at least half time (four or more credits), if a graduate level student (unless fewer credits are required in the final stages of their degree as defined by the Continuous Registration Requirement) during their term of office. (c) Be ineligible to hold an office should the student fail to maintain the requirements as prescribed in (a) and (b). Officers must be registered graduate students of the Department Of Community and Regional Planning at Iowa State University for the duration of their term of office. All offices can be held by any registered graduate student in the Department Of Community and Regional Planning. Duties President: call and run meetings as needed; communicate with administration regarding the club's responsibilities (to include establishment of guidelines for activity participation, requests from accreditation committees, and any other official communications that may arise); attend monthly faculty meetings ensure information is disseminated to the organization members Vice President: assist President with the above responsibilities as needed Treasurer: manage organization's budget, to include tracking of expenditures and deposits
determine and communicate to officers, faculty advisor, and organization members the expected costs of activities collect and deposit membership dues collect monies acquired via fund-raising, donation, or any other method of fund acquisition
Other offices can be added as needed. Additionally, members can volunteer, and thus be assigned, to head the organization and planning of a particular activity without being elected an officer. Likewise, a committee of members can also volunteer, and thus be assigned, to organize and plan an activity. However, the activity itself must be discussed and voted on for approval by members prior to the assignment of activity head or the establishment of a committee. Regular Elections An annual meeting will be held for elections during the first 2 weeks of April for all offices. Candidates for officers will be nominated at this meeting. The candidate must attend this meeting in order to be considered for the position, unless notification is sent to a club officer prior to the meeting establishing the candidates interest in the office. If the candidate cannot attend the voting meeting and notification has been sent to an officer, the officer will inform the attending parties at the meeting of the candidate's interest. The candidate will then considered be during voting for the office. Officers will be elected by a simple majority vote. The method for voting (show of hands or secret ballot) can be determined at the time of vote by those in attendance via a simple majority vote. Voting members must be in attendance at this meeting in order to vote. Officers term of service will last for one year and will begin their term of service on the day after the last day of the Spring Semester and end their term on the last day of the following Spring Semester. There should be a transferring of information from current officers to newly elected officers prior to this date. Replacement Elections Should an elected officer vacate their office during their term of service for whatever reason, a simple majority vote will be held at the next organization meeting after the resignation occurs. Communication from the President or Vice President will be disseminated to all members prior to the next schedules meeting informing them of the vacated office, allowing members time to consider nominations to fill the position. Voting members must be in attendance at the next meeting in order to vote. Removal Procedures Should it be determined that an officer is not fulfilling his or her duties, a meeting will be called to discuss this with the officer. After a discussion is held with the officer in question, a vote will take place using secret ballot regarding whether or not impeachment should be considered, the decision being established by a 2/3 majority. If the votes determine an impeachment should be considered, a second vote via secret ballot will be held to determine whether the officer in question should be impeached. Votes should be counted and reported at the time of the meeting. Impeachment of the officer will be determined by a simple majority vote. Voting members must be in attendance of this meeting in order to vote. Advisor The organization's advisor will be selected at the same meeting in early April as the officers are elected. The president and Vice President should determine which faculty members are interested in this position at least one week prior to the election meeting and will disseminate this information to all members. The advisor will be selected via a simple majority vote. Advisor Duties The Advisor is responsible for aiding the organization in decision-making, activity scheduling, and information gathering in an "advisory" capacity. Actual decisions, scheduling, and information gathering will be made/done by students; the advisor is intended to "advise" the students. The Advisor is also expected to attend organization meetings. Attempts will be made to coordinate meetings and other activities to conform to the Advisor's schedule to allow the advisor ample opportunity to attend. The Advisor is responsible fo...