VIETNAMESE STUDENT ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION
(February 2008)
ARTICLE I:
Name: Western Washington University's Vietnamese Student Association will be referred to in short by the WWU – VSA
ARTICLE II:
Purpose and Mission Statement:
To strengthen the awareness of the Vietnamese Culture at Western Washington University as well as the Bellingham Community and to promote academic achievement and success within the VSA of WWU’s members.
ARTICLE III:
Section I: Membership is open to all Western students, faculty and staff regardless of race, sex gender, color, physical disability, and sexual orientated.
Section II: Each member shall be entitled to one vote on decisions during general and officer’s meetings.
Section III: To be considered a member of VSA, one must register with the secretary, providing their name and contact information. Active VSA membership requires that one also attend a minimum of 50% of VSA meetings.
ARTICLE IV:
Officers
Section I: New officers will be elected at the beginning of Spring Quarter. At that time the newly elected officers will obtain guidance and training for the position during Spring Quarter in preparation for the start of the new academic year. New officers officially start their positions at the beginning of Fall quarter. The term is one academic year. Each officer must be a full-time student at Western Washington University and must perform the duties and responsibilities of their elected office with dedication and enthusiasm.
Section II: Officers and Duties
- President: Acts as the official spokesperson for the WWU - VSA. Makes final decisions with the advice of the other officers. Acts as the primary chairperson at meetings. Holds the election at the appropriate time as stated previously. Responsible to ensure all activities and operations are achieved to mission. President has the power to appoint new Secretary and Budget Authority. Audit VSA financial account every 4 weeks with the Vice- President of Internal Affairs and Budget Authority. To assist Activity Coordinator in managing the organization and activities carried by the organization.
- Vice President of Internal Affairs: Acts as an interface on campus contact representative. Takes the place as the President in case the President is absent. The Vice- President of Internal Affairs shall carry out activities, meetings, programs, and special events.
- Vice President of External Affairs: Acts as the public relations officer and a primary contact person to persons outside of Western. Takes temporarily position of the President and VP Internal in case both are absent.
- Secretary: Serves as the organizational contact representative inside the Ethnic Student Center. Keeps records of VSA members, attendance, and discussions or announcements during meetings. In charge of contacting and notifying VSA members of all meetings and activities.
- Budget Authority: Manages the VSA's funds. Accepts donations and is in charge of fund raising. Notify President and other officers of the VSA financial status. Propose a budget request to the Ethnic Student Center for activities funding. Will have to attend a mandatory AS training. Needs to audit the financial account with President every four weeks, and manage the budget.
- Steering Committee Representative: Represent VSA interests and establish relations with other ESC clubs. Attend every Student Council meetings and report back to VSA. VSA as a club will then vote on the matters and report the results back to Steering. Will have to attend a mandatory ESC Steering Committee training.
- Activity Coordinator: Arranges cultural activities and events put on by the VSA with the assistance of VSA members and officers. Coordinator and Organizer of activities in VSA to promote social interaction, network, friendship, and unity among members.
- Historian: Shall keep all non-financial records not handled by the Secretary. Take pictures and give them to webmaster to post on website and create scrapbook with all past activities and social events.
- Webmaster: Constructs and maintains VSA website. Responsible for updating news, events, meetings, and activities. Must be in contact with Activity Coordinator and Secretary.
Section III: Officers are required to attend every Officer’s Meetings. Each officers are limited to two excused absences per quarter. All officer’s meetings should be held no later than two days prior to the General Meeting.
Section IV: General meetings will hold six times per quarter unless advised for additional meetings under the President’s request.
Section V: In the event that an officer resigns from their position, a new officer will be elected to replace the position. Refer to Article V for elections voting. The new officer will have to go through a series of training before they could take full responsibility of their position.
Section VI: In the event that an officer failed to perform the functions described in their duties, they can be removed from office by a two-third majority vote of all active VSA members. This action will have to be presented by the majority of officers in the form of a written statement. The written statement should contain a list of all the allegations against the defending officer with the signatures of all parties involved. When all conditions are met, officers shall call for a vote in the next general meeting. Refer to Article V for the voting process.
ARTICLE V:
Elections Voting:
Section I: Nominations are limited to active VSA members. They will take place on the first week of Spring Quarter, two weeks prior to the general election.
Section II: One legal vote will be given to each active VSA member. Those who do not meet the requirements of an active VSA member may not participate in the elections voting.
Section III: Elections shall be held on the third week of Spring Quarter via paper ballot. The ballots shall be counted by the VSA President and a witness or adviser from outside the club. The president will not be allowed to cast their votes for the candidates. It is the president’s responsibility to provide a printout of the election results to all members including the number of voters and percentage of votes at the following meeting.
General Voting:
Section I: General voting shall take place on the basis of majority wins.
Section II: In regards to general voting on issues regarding the VSA budget and amendments to the VSA Constitution, only active VSA members are given a legal vote. On all other matters, all members registered with VSA are entitled to one legal vote.
ARTICLE VI:
Amendments
Any five active VSA members may propose an amendment to the VSA Constitution at any Officer’s meeting. All members shall be informed of the proposal at the next VSA general meeting. At the following meeting, a discussion and vote on the proposed amendment shall take place. A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote of all present active VSA members.