As amended through March 30, 2009

Article I – Name of Organization

Section 1 The name of the organization shall be the Honors College Student Council at East Tennessee State University.

Article II – Purpose and Objectives

Section 1 The purpose of the Honors College Student Council shall be to act on behalf of all Honors College students in advancing projects, goals, and concerns of the Honors Students. Primary objectives will include:

• The formation of an annual newsletter/website
• The completion of an annual Honors Community Service Project
• The advancement of the Honors College
• Working to improve ETSU to benefit all students
• The Honors Council shall work to increase the awareness of the Honors College in the region and among the Tennessee Board of Regents System.

Article III – Membership

Section 1 Membership in this organization shall be open to all Honors College Students.

Section 2 Membership shall be for (1) academic year; however, each member is eligible to be on the Council for up to 4 academic years provided re- election. Furthermore, International Students shall be members of the Council for only the terms in which they are studying at ETSU. ETSU students participating in study abroad programs will be ineligible to become members of the Council for the one academic year while studying abroad in the spring and/or fall semester.

Section 3 Structure of the Organization (Leadership Board)

University Honors Scholars - 4 representatives
Midway Honors Scholars - 2 representatives
Honors-in-Discipline Programs - 3 representatives
Fine & Performing Arts Honors Scholars - 4 representatives
International Students - 2 representatives
Member at Large* - 1 representative

Total Representatives: 16 representatives

*The Member at Large will be any member of the Honors College who will be allowed to serve on the Leadership Board, and shall be appointed by the Dean of the Honors College.

Section 4 Member responsibilities are, but not limited to, attendance of all Honors College Student Council meetings and active participation in all Honors College Student Council functions, unless special dispensation is granted from the President. Furthermore, during the course of their first semester in office, each member will submit to the Council an idea or suggestion to improve the Honors College to be discussed and voted on by all members.

Section 5 This organization shall not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, national origin, ancestry, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, or political affiliation.

Article IV-Election of Members

Section 1 The University Honors Scholars, Midway Scholars, and Art Scholars shall be elected by members of their respective programs. Honors-in-Discipline Students, International Students, and the Member at Large shall be appointed by the President, Vice-President, and Honors program director.

Section 2 Elections shall take place during the last session of the spring semester of Honors Colloquium. Incoming freshman Honors Scholars and Arts Scholars and incoming junior Midway Scholars shall be elected during the first week of the following academic year.

Section 3 A simple majority of the votes is needed for a member-elect to take office. In the case of a tie between members, a run-off election shall be held.

Section 4 The Vice-President of the Council shall be the Administrator of Elections.

Section 5 The Administrator of Elections will work with the advisor and shall have the following responsibilities:

• Deciding upon a proper method of balloting and executing this method.
• Designing and implementing a ballot that is representative of the candidate field and is easily used.
• Overseeing the elections in such a way as to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.

Section 6 The advisor will be responsible for tallying votes after the election.

Article V – Removal of Members

Section 1 Both of the following are grounds for dismissal of any Honors College Student Council Member by approval of the Council Review Committee and Honors College Dean:

• Violation of the Honors Code of Conduct
• Non-fulfillment of duties described in Article III, Section 4 of this Constitution.

Section 2 Each member of the Honors College Student Council is allowed to be absent from one (1) meeting per semester. Any other absences must be approved in advance by the President.

Section 3 All vacant seats on the Honors College Student Council that arise during the school year for whatever reason shall be filled immediately, and any member of the same Honors College program shall be eligible to hold these seats.

Section 4 The President shall advertise all vacant seats to the vacant seat’s Honors College program members, and shall take applications for these seats. The President shall review applications and make appointments to any vacant seats. All appointments made by the President for vacant seats must be approved by a 2/3 majority vote of the Honors College Student Council.

Article VI – Officers and Leadership

Section 1 The officers of this organization shall consist of the following:

• President
• Vice-President
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Parliamentarian
• Liaison to Director of the University Honors Programs
• Liaison to the Dean of the Honors College
• Liaison to the Director of International Programs
• Liaison to the Director of the Midway Scholars Program
• Liaison to the Director of the Art Scholars Program
• Liaison to the Director of Undergraduate Research

Section 2 The election of President and Vice-President shall be held during the last meeting of the spring semester prior to the academic year that the officers are scheduled to serve. The election of the remaining officers shall be held during the first meeting of the fall semester during the academic year that the officers are scheduled to serve.

Section 3 The term of office shall be for one year, and members of the Council are only eligible to hold the same office for a maximum of two academic years.

Section 4 An officer may be removed from office by a 2/3 vote of the Council members for not fulfilling his or her duties, or for violation of Article V, Section 1 of this Constitution.

Section 5 In the event that the President is no longer able to fulfill his or her duties, the Vice-President shall become President and the Secretary shall become Vice-President. A new Secretary shall be elected by the Honors College Student Council.

Section 6 In the event that the Vice-President is no longer able to fulfill his or her duties, the Secretary shall become Vice-President, and a new Secretary shall be elected by the Honors College Student Council.

Section 7 In the event of any other officer vacancy, except for the President and Vice-President, the Honors College Student Council shall elect a member to serve in that position.

Section 8 An advisor will be appointed by the Dean of the Honors College for an indefinite length of time.

Article VII – Duties of Officers

Section 1 The President shall serve as head of the organization and be responsible for acting as the Honors Council Liaison to the SGA and for representing the Honors College Student Council whenever needed.

Section 2 The Vice-President shall fulfill the duties of the President in the President’s absence, shall be the Administrator of Elections, and shall be the Presiding Officer of all Honors College Student Council meetings.

Section 3 The Secretary shall check rol1 at each meeting, shall be responsible for the minutes of all meetings, updates concerning the Honors College Student Council website, and all correspondence of the Council.

Section 4 The Treasurer shall oversee funds and expenditures.

Section 5 The Parliamentarian shall ensure that all meetings follow Robert’s Rules of Order, and shall be Chair of the Council Review Committee.

Section 6 The various Liaisons shall be in charge of making sure that their respective Directors/Coordinators knows the events, happenings, and objectives of the Honors College Student Council, and shall serve as their representatives at such meetings.

Article VIII – Organization Meetings

Section 1 There shall be a minimum of five meetings per semester. Additional meetings may be called as necessary by the President or Honors College Student Council Advisor.

Section 2 The business of these meetings shall be conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order.

Section 3 This organization is subject to the policies and procedures of ETSU and the Tennessee Board of Regents.

Section 4 A quorum for conducting business shall be considered to be the majority of the members of the organization.

Section 5 The faculty advisor should attend all meetings of this organization to oversee the meetings and provide general input.

Section 6 All general meetings shall be open to everyone in the Honors College.

Article IX – Honors College Social

Section 1 It shall be the responsibility of the Honors College Student Council to organize and produce an Honors College Social each academic year.

Section 2 This social shall take place in the spring semester of the academic year.

Section 3 For planning purposes, the following committees shall be formed by the President at the first meeting of the spring semester in support of the Honors College Social: Decorations Committee, Publicity Committee, and Special Support Committee.

Section 4 The Decorations Committee shall hold the following responsibilities:

• Development of a theme for the Social
• Planning for decorations
• The formation of a reasonable budget for said decorations
• The setting up of decorations for the Social

Section 5 Publicity Committee shall hold the following responsibilities:

• Promotion of the Social to Honors College faculty and students
• Development of fliers and other publications to advertise the social
• The formation of a reasonable budget for any advertisements
• The setting up of decorations for the Social

Section 6 The Special Support Committee shall hold the following responsibilities:

• Reservations for a site for the Social
• Development and procurement of a menu and catering for the Social
• Reserving entertainment (i.e. D.J.) to perform at Social
• The development of a final budget for the entire Social
• Any other responsibilities that may arise during planning of the Honors College Social not delegated to any other committee

Section 7 The President of the Council shall be a member of and serve as Chair of the Special Support Committee.

Section 8 The Vice-President of the Council shall be a member of and serve as Chair of both the Decorations and Publicity Committees.

Article X – Standing and Ad-Hoc Committees

Section 1 The President shall have the power to form ad-hoc committees for the purposes of carrying out the business of the Honors College Student Council. He or she shall be responsible for selecting a Chair and members for these committees and assigning said committees with responsibilities not in conflict with this Constitution.

Section 2 The ad-hoc committees described in Section 1 of this article shall only have authority for the school year in which they are formed.

Section 3 Standing committees, committees which are formed to become a permanent part of the Honors College Student Council, may be formed by the President or Vice-President by an amendment to the Honors College Student Council Constitution. All duties and responsibilities of these permanent committees shall be added as an attachment to this Constitution and must be approved by the Honors College Student Council by a 2/3 majority vote.

Section 4 The following permanent standing committees shall be formed: Council Review and Special Events.

Section 5 The Council Review Committee shall have the following duties:

• Enforcement of all member requirements on participation, attendance, and legislation as defined in the Honors College Student Council Constitution
• Review of the Honors College Student Council Constitution
• Make recommendations and amendments to the President and the Council on ways to improve the Honors College Student Council Constitution Reservations for a site for the Social
• Review and make recommendations to improve the internal operations of the Honors College Student Council
• This committee shall have sole power to remove members from office in accordance with the Honors College Student Council Constitution

Section 6 The Special Events Committee shall have the following duties:

• Investigate potential guest lecturers to bring to ETSU and report these findings to the President and Council Review of the Honors College Student Council Constitution
• Setting up and planning all public lectures sponsored by the Honors College Student Council
• Seek co-sponsors for said event, and draw up a plan for publicizing it
• In the Spring, the Special Events Committee shall serve as the Decorations Committee for the Honors College Social, as described in the Article IX
• Other duties as ascribed by the President that pertain to special events within the Honors College

Section 7 All committee meetings shall follow Robert’s Rules of Order, and the President shall appoint members to serve on individual committees, in consultation with the Vice-President.

Article XI – B.U.C. Fund Application

Section 1 In order to submit a BUC Fund application to the Student Government Association on behalf of the Honors College Student Council for an event to be sponsored or co-sponsored by the Honors College Student Council, this action must first be approved by a 2/3 majority vote of the Honors College Student Council.

Article XII – Resolution and Referendum

Section 1 For the purposes of this Act, a resolution shall be defined as a formal statement of opinion and/or support from the Honors College Student Council.

Section 2 The Honors College Student Council shall submit all suggestions for the Honors College to the Dean and/or Directors of various programs in the form of a resolution.

Section 3 Any member of the Honors College Student Council may submit a resolution to the Council for consideration during any regular meeting. Such resolutions will have a first reading, and then shall be referred to the Council Review committee. The Council Review Committee shall then review the resolution and make recommendations to the Honors College Student Council (pass, defeat, no opinion, etc.). The resolution shall then be voted upon at the Honors College Student Council meeting immediately following the meeting in which the resolution was first proposed to the Honors College Student Council.

Section 4 All resolutions shall require a simple majority vote of members present and voting for passage.

Section 5 For the purposes of this Act, a referendum shall be defined as a polling of opinion of all of the students of the Honors College on a particular subject or issue.

Section 6 In all decisions or actions taken by the Honors College Student Council that directly affect a majority of the students of the Honors College, the Council may elect to pose a question on whether or not the action in question should be taken to all of the students of the Honors College.

Section 7 A 2/3 majority vote of the Honors College Student Council is required to institute a referendum on a particular subject.

Section 8 The Honors College Student Council President shall decide upon a proper method of balloting for the referendum.

Section 9 The results of all referendums shall be non-binding.

Article XIII – Amendments

Section 1 This constitution may be amended during any regular meeting by any member submitting a proposal change and being passed by a 2/3 majority vote.