Constitution

Constitution of the Republic of China Student Association June 2, 1998

ARTICLE I – NAME

The name of the association shall be “The Republic of China Student Association of M.I.T.”, hereinafter referred to “ROCSA”.

ARTICLE II – GOAL

The goal of the ROCSA shall be:

a. To welcome and assist all newly arrived students from ROC.

b. To maintain and update a communication system among all members, including present students at MIT, and alumni members all over the world.

c. To provide formal means of communication with the general MIT community and other organizations.

d. To promote social activities and professional development among all members.

ARTICLE III – MEMBERSHIP

Section 1. All members must be duly registered with the Secretary any of the Execom officers of the ROCSA and have paid their membership fees.

Section 2. There shall be two classes of membership: Active and Associate.

a. Active members shall be registered students of MIT and of ROC origin. Their privileges as active members shall commence the day the requirements listed in Section 1 are fulfilled and shall continue until the first day of September of the following year.

b. Associate members shall be persons who are associated with MIT and/or MIT Chinese alumni. Their privileges shall be the same as those of active members, except that they shall not be eligible to run for office, that and they shall have no right to vote on electing officers, and that they shall have no right to vote on amendments of ROCSA Constitution.

Section 3. Membership fee shall be fixed at the beginning of each September by the Executive Committee, and shall not be changed during the year.

ARTICLE IV – OFFICES

Upon accepting offices, each officer shall agree to abide by and to uphold the provisions of this Constitution.

Section 1. The Executive Committee of ROCSA, hereinafter referred to as the Execom, shall formulate policies and programs that fulfill the objectives of this Constitution.

This committee alone is empowered to call all meeting of the ROCSA, and to interpret this Constitution.

Section 2. The Execom of ROCSA shall be composed of the following elected members:

President, Vice President, Treasurer and the following appointed (by the President) members: Secretary, Activity Officer, Academic Officer and Public Relations Officer.

a. The President shall be responsible for overseeing each Execom member in the execution of his/her office. He/She shall be responsible for initiating and executing programs and activities that will help unify the group.

b. The Vice President shall assist the President, execute and discharge the duties of the President in the event of the President’s absence. He/She shall also maintain and update the information on all the present active and associate members of ROCSA.

c. The Treasurer shall collect all dues, be responsible for all bills under the direction of the Execom, keep an account of all receipts and disbursements, and present a summary of the group’s balance sheet to the Execom before the last meeting of his/her term.

d. The Secretary shall record the minutes provide the record of the minutes of every General Meeting and Execom meeting upon request, prepare a directory of all members at the beginning of September by the end of fall term, and provide copies of this Constitution to all members of ROCSA upon request. He/She shall also keep records of meetings, documentation, and copies of communication with other organizations for at least three years.

e. The Activity officer shall organize all activities within ROCSA.

f. The Academic officer shall organize all cultural, musical and athletic events. He/She shall be the coordinator for all ROCSA publications.

g. The Public Relations officer shall facilitate communication between ROCSA and other clubs and associations both on and off campus. He/She shall also accurately represent the concerns of our community to a wider audience in attaining for our members’ procedural, educational, financial and cultural integration within the college community.

h. Should any office responsibility, for some reason, fail to be carried out, the Execom thus has the right to reassign an appropriate alternate to carry out the responsibility.

Section 3. The term of office for all officers shall begin on May 1. In the event of a delay of election beyond May 1, the Execom shall remain in office until the new Execom has been elected.

Section 4. No member shall hold two posts in the Execom simultaneously. No members shall hold the same post as President or Vice President for two consecutive years.

ARTICLE V – MEETINGS

Section 1. General Meetings are open to all active members and associate members.

a. General meeting must be held at least once a term year.

b. The decisions of this meeting shall possess a higher authority than any Execom decision.

c. Unless a quorum (defined as at least 40% 1/3 of the total active membership) is present, no issue is to be voted upon.

d. Notices for general meetings must be sent out one week before the date of the meeting.

e. The Execom shall call a General Meeting within two weeks upon receiving a petition signed by at least 25 % of the active members of ROCSA to the above effect.

Section 2. The Election Meeting is a General Meeting for the purpose of electing officers according to the rules specified in Article VI.

Section 3. Execom Meetings are open to all members.

a. They shall be held at least twice every term.

b. Unless four of the seven members in the Execom are present, no issue is to be voted upon.

c. Special meetings may be requested by a signed petition of at least 10 % of the active members.

Section 4. Agendas and Minutes. Agendas of general meetings must be sent and/or telephoned to all members of ROCSA one week in advance of the meeting. Agendas for all Execom meetings must be posted two days in advance of the meeting. Minutes of all meetings of ROCSA are to be made available to members of ROCSA upon request within two weeks.

ARTICLE VI – ELECTIONS AND APPOINMENTS Section 1. President, Vice President and Treasurer shall be elected at an Election Meeting, as defined below, which shall be held during April unless and Election Meeting is necessitated by the resignation of the President and/or the Vice President and/or the Treasurer.

Section 2. The announcement of election day shall be made no later than two weeks before the actual date of the election.

Section 3. Only active members who have joined ROCSA at least one week prior to the announced election date shall be eligible to run for office or to vote.

Section 4. Candidates for the elected posts shall submit a petition endorsed by at least two active members of ROCSA at least one week before election day.

Section 5. If there is no petition for any elected post, the incumbent President should decide the election procedures.

Section 6. Secretary, Activity officer, Academic officer and Public Relations officer shall be appointed by the elected President within one week month after the Election Meeting.

Section 7. All members should be notified of the newly elected and appointed Execom members within two weeks after the Election Meeting completion of appointments.

Section 8. The President has the right to discharge any appointed Execom member. But he/she must notify all members of his/her decision within one week.

Section 9. Officers shall be elected by a secret ballot.

a. If there is only one candidate for the presidency, he/she must still submit to an election and must receive a majority of votes cast (greater than 50 percent) in order to achieve the position of President. Otherwise, another election must be called, in which new candidates participate.

b. If there is more than one candidate, one the successful candidate must receive a plurality of votes (more than any other single candidate) in an election, in order to achieve the position of President. In the event of a tie, a second election must be held.

c. A second election, called in case of a tie (see paragraph “j” above) can only involve those candidates who were tied for the most votes in the first election. In this election,

the winner only needs to receive a plurality of votes to win. If there is another tie, this process of further elections must be repeated until one candidate achieves a plurality.

d. There shall be no voting by proxy.

Section 10. Voting Procedure

a. The President shall be elected first, then the Vice President, then the Treasurer.

b. Should there exist a vacant Execom position at any time, that position must be filled as soon as possible either by open election in the case of President, Vice President, and Treasurer or by appointment from the President in the case of appointed officers.

Section 11. In case a quorum is not present in such a matter and thus results in a meeting abortion, the reelection can therefore is to be conducted either by calling a second Election Meeting or by electronic mail (email) within seven days immediately after the

announced date of voting. The results of voting by mail shall be recognized one week after the announced date of email voting Election Meeting if a quorum has been reached within that time, or as soon as the number of mail returns constitutes a quorum, whichever is later.

ARTICLE VII – RESIGNATION

Any Execom member who wishes to resign his/her post must submit his/her resignation, one week prior to his/her proposed effective date, to the Execom. Should the President and/or Vice President and/or Treasurer submit resignation, a new election must be called immediately upon receipt of the resignation by the Execom. Replacement for the Secretary and/or Activity officer and/or Academic officer and/or Public Relations officer should be appointed by the President.

ARTICLE VIII – CENSURE

Any member, elected officer and any action of the Execom is subject to censure by a twothird majority of the General Meeting. Any member so censured may have some or all of his privileges as a member revoked. Any officer so censured is immediately removed from office and must be replaced as soon as possible. He/She may also have some or all of his/her privileges as a member removed.

ARTICLE IX – PROCEDURE

Section 1. All voting at General Meeting shall be official if passed by a simple majority of those active members present at the meeting except for decisions affecting the amendment of this Constitution.

Section 2. All voting at Execom Meeting shall be official if passed by a simple majority of those Execom members present (or in the case of a par, the President shall decide), except for decisions affecting the amendment of this Constitution, or contrary to decisions of the General Meeting.

Section 3. Any regulation concerning the conduct of ROCSA meetings not specified by this Constitution shall follow Roberts’ Rules of Order.

ARTICLE X – AMENDMENTS

Amendments to this Constitution shall require a two-third majority of the active members, obtained either by vote at a General Meeting or by mail ballot. All amendments shall be submitted to any organization within MIT whose transactions with ROCSA are affected by these amendments.

ROCSA agrees to abide by the rules and regulations of the Graduate Student Council, it Executive Committee, and its Activity Committee. This Constitution, amendments to it, and the by-laws of this organization shall be subject to review by the Activity Committee of the GSC to insure that they are in accordance with the rules and regulations mentioned above.