Welcome to HSA

Article I – Name
The name of this organization shall be the Honors Student Association (hereby referred to as HSA).

Article II – Mission and Vision
Mission Statement – A vibrant community of learners dedicated to fostering academic, personal, and social growth while serving each other, the Syracuse University Community, and the greater Syracuse area.

Vision Statement – To become an established association of students dedicated to enhancing the learning experience by linking the Honors Program and Syracuse University to the Syracuse community.

Article III – Members
The HSA is open to any student of Syracuse University and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Article IV – Organizational Structure
Section 1 – Executive Board

A) The Executive Board of HSA shall consist of an Executive Board Chairperson and the Chairpersons of the various committees, to include the Academic, Social, Finance, Community Service, and Administrative Committees.

B) The Executive Board should meet at least bi-weekly.

C) All Executive Board members shall strive to attend all of the Executive Board and plenary meetings, unless 48 hours notice of absence is given to all other Executive Board members.

D) No Chairperson, to include the Executive Board Chairperson, may concurrently serve as the Chairperson of more than one Committee at any given time.

E) Committee Chairpersons may only serve as Subcommittee Chairs for those subcommittees under the umbrella of their own Committee. The Executive Board Chairperson may serve as a Subcommittee Chair under any of the Committees.

F) All Chairpersons shall be responsible to present an itemized statement of expenses to the Executive Board for any and all proposed events under the umbrella of that Chairperson’s Committee.

Section 2 – Description and Responsibilities of Chairpersons

A) Executive Board Chairperson

1. The Executive Board Chairperson shall serve as the official spokesperson and representative of HSA to the Office of Greek and Experiential Learning and all other University and Student organizations.

2. The Executive Board Chairperson shall preside over all Executive Board and plenary meetings, and will provide an agenda for each meeting to all HSA members via the HSA listserv no later than one day prior to that meeting.

3. The Executive Board Chairperson shall meet biweekly with the HSA faculty advisor or designee at least once every week that there is to be any HSA meeting.

4. The Executive Board Chairperson shall keep a running record of active members. Active members are defined as students who have attended at least one meeting (plenary, Executive Board, or Committee) in the last month; or in the sole situation of the first meeting of a new academic year, all attendees of that meeting.

5. The Executive Board Chairperson may exercise his or her own discretion, and shall have final authority in resolving any disputes between the various committees.

B) Academic Committee Chairperson

1. The Academic Committee Chairperson shall be responsible for the management of all issues directly or tangentially related to academics to include, but not limited to:

i. Organizing round table discussions.

ii. Organizing faculty and non-University speakers.

iii. Working with the Honors Program on the creating and scheduling of future Honors courses.

2. The Academic Committee Chairperson shall serve as the Chairperson pro tempore of the Executive Board in the absence of the Executive Board Chairperson.

C) Finance Committee Chairperson

1. The Finance Committee Chairperson shall be responsible for the management of all financial issues, including but not limited to:

i. Preparing a total budget for presentation before the Student Association.

ii. Maintenance of an accurate, up-to-date record of all financial accounts of HSA

2. The Financial Committee Chairperson shall work with the Student Association Comptroller and with the Office of Greek and Experiential Learning to ensure good working relations between HSA and those offices.

3. The Financial Committee Chairperson shall serve as the Chairperson pro tempore of the Executive Board in the absence of the Executive Board Chairperson.

D) Social Committee Chairperson

1. The Social Committee Chairperson shall be responsible for the management of all social, recreational functions of HSA, including but not limited to:

i. Organizing an Open House during Opening Weekend of the Fall Semester for all incoming first year students and any other interested students.

ii. Organizing recreational events for and/or on behalf of HSA.

E) Community Service Committee Chairperson

1. The Community Service Committee Chairperson shall be responsible for the management of all activities directly or tangentially related to community service, including but not limited to:

i. Organizing at least one community service activity per semester on behalf of HSA.

ii. Organizing volunteers for any and all community service activities.

F) Administrative Chairperson

1. The Administrative Chairperson shall be responsible for all secretarial work, including but not limited to:

i. Taking attendance at all Executive Board and plenary meetings.
ii. Taking and keeping a record of minutes from all Executive Board and plenary meetings.

Article V – General Procedure
Section 1 – Executive Board

A) The role of the Executive Board is to carry out aforementioned duties established in Article IV Section 2 as well as the management of all affairs that do not require group consensus.

B) The quorum to hold an Executive Board meeting is a simple majority of Executive Board members.

C) All Executive Board meetings are open to the public, unless stipulated by the Executive Board Chairperson at the preceding plenary meeting and agreed upon by a simple majority (50% +1) of Executive Board members.

Section 2 – Plenary Meetings

A) Plenary meetings will occur once a month.

B) Voting:

a. Methods of voting in plenary meetings will be at the discretion of the Executive Board Chairperson, unless otherwise constitutionally stipulated.

b. All issues voted on in plenary require a simply majority for acceptance, unless otherwise constitutionally stipulated.

c. All active members are allowed to vote in issues in plenary meetings, unless otherwise constitutionally stipulated.

C) All major events and activities will be voted on in plenary meetings.

D) The quorum to hold a plenary meeting is twelve active members.

E) Procedure:

a. Attendees (member and non-member) may only speak when granted permission by the Executive Board Chairperson. A raised hand will represent the desire to speak, and speakers will be selected by the Executive Board Chairperson in the order that he or she sees them.

b. In normal operation, questions are not required to be addressed through the Chair, but respondents shall wait until granted permission by the Executive Board Chairperson before answering.

c. The Executive Board Chairperson may exercise his or her discretion in confronting any inappropriate behavior in meetings. Such behavior shall include, but is not limited to: expletive language; speaking out of turn; rude or disrespectful language; and refusal or unwillingness to acknowledge and abide by the rules stipulated in this Constitution.

d. The Executive Board Chairperson may exercise his or her discretion in issues of debate. If a debate becomes in any way heated, overly time consuming, or confrontational, the Executive Board Chairperson may take such measures as, but not limited to: imposing time limits on speakers; requiring that questions be addressed through the chair; and terminating debate on that issue.

Section 3 – Ad Hoc Subcommittees

A) Committees may create Subcommittees for the achievement of specific goals within the criteria of that Committee’s topical area.

B) Committees are not required to seek plenary or Executive Board consent before forming a Subcommittee.

C) Subcommittee Chair shall be elected by a simple majority of those present at the Committee meeting in which the Subcommittee is created. Method of voting is at the discretion of the Committee Chairperson.

D) Any member may serve on any committee of their choice, pursuant with Article IV §1E.

Article VI – Elections
Section 1 – Eligibility of Candidates

A) An eligible candidate must be a full-time undergraduate student of Syracuse University or SUNY ESF in good standing with the University and has been an active member of HSA during the semester in which the election occurs.

B) Should a candidate be studying away from Syracuse during the semester of election, the candidate shall still be eligible if he or she was an active member of HSA during the semester immediately prior to the time he or she was away from Syracuse.

C) All eligible candidates must intend to spend the fall semester of their term of office in Syracuse. Should the candidate intend to spend the spring semester of the elected term in question away from Syracuse, he or she accepts that he or she must resign that position no later than two weeks prior to the end of classes in the fall semester.

Section 2 – Period of Elections

A) Elections shall occur at a plenary meeting of HSA in the last two weeks of classes during the spring semester.

B) In the sole situation of the first slate of officers, elections shall occur within two weeks of the adoption of this Constitution.

Section 3 – Term of Office

A) The term of office for all Chairpersons shall begin July 1st and will extend to June 30th of the following year.

Section 4 – Nominations

A) Candidates must be nominated by one person (to include him or herself) and supported by at least one other person at the plenary meeting of the election.

Section 5 – Election Procedures

A) Election of candidates will occur during a plenary meeting in the period of election.

B) Candidates will have five minutes to address the attending members of HSA.

C) Voting will be conducted by secret ballot and will be counted by the Executive Board Chairperson or Executive Board Chairperson pro tempore, who will refrain from voting.

D) A candidate is elected if he or she receives a simple majority of ballots cast.

E) Only active members (as defined in Art I § 2A.1) are eligible to vote.

F) Email ballots will be permitted only from those members who are studying away from Syracuse at the time of the election and were active members prior to their studies away from Syracuse, provided that the vote is sent by that member’s Syracuse University (@syr.edu) email address as to ensure that only one vote is cast per member.

Section 6 – Runoff Elections

A) In the event that one candidate does not receive a simple majority of the ballots cast, a runoff election shall be held between the two candidates that received the highest proportions of the vote. Should two candidates be tied for the second highest proportion of the vote there shall be a vote between these two candidates; the candidate with a simple majority in this second election and the original leading candidate shall have a runoff election.

Section 7 – Vacancies and Special Elections

A) All vacancies shall be filled by way of a special election.

B) Special elections shall occur at the next plenary meeting of HSA after the opening of the vacancy following the standard eligibility requirements and voting procedures.

Article VII – Removal of Chairpersons
Section 1 – Grounds for Removal

A) A petition may be begun by any active member of HSA for any action or conduct that he or she feels to be in any way unbecoming of an elected Chairperson.

Section 2 – Procedure for Removal

A) A petition signed by at least one-quarter of active members stating the rationale for removal shall be presented to the Executive Board Chairperson. If the Executive Board Chairperson is the position of protest, the petition shall be presented to the Academic Chairperson.

B) An emergency plenary meeting shall be held within 72 hours of the presentation of the petition. If the Executive Board Chairperson is the position of protest, the Academic Chairperson will serve as Executive Board Chairperson pro tempore for that meeting. At least two-thirds of active members must be present for the meeting.

C) The petition and rationale shall be read aloud by the presiding chairperson. Following this, there will be an open forum.

a. The Chairperson in question will have up to five minutes to explain him or herself to the attending members. This will be followed by up to 15 minutes of questioning by individual members, moderated by the presiding Chairperson.

b. Individual members (to include the Chairperson in question) shall then be afforded three minutes per person to address the attending members. Each person may speak no more than twice, and may not have these two speaking opportunities consecutively. There is no total time limit.

D) A secret ballot vote shall be conducted. The sole question shall be whether or not to remove the Chairperson in question from office. The presiding Chairperson, who will not vote, shall count the ballots.

E) At least two-thirds of the total vote is required to remove the Chairperson in question from his or her office. If at least a two-thirds vote is achieved, standard rules for filling a vacancy shall be implemented.

F) A Chairperson who is forcibly removed from his or her position in this manner is henceforth ineligible from serving as any other Committee Chairperson or Executive Board Chairperson. He or she may still serve as a Subcommittee Chair.

Article VIII – Amendments
Section 1 – Applicability

A) Any part of this Constitution shall be applicable to amendment, pursuant with the procedural rules of amendment.

Section 2 – Procedure

A) Any member of HSA may present, in writing, a proposal for an amendment to the Executive Board.

B) The Executive Board Chairperson will forward the proposed amendment to all active members via the HSA listserv.

C) A plenary meeting shall be held no sooner than 72 hours after the proposed amendment is forwarded to all HSA members. This meeting may be the regularly scheduled meeting, or an emergency meeting.

a. At least two-thirds of active members must be present for the meeting for a vote to be taken on the proposed Amendment.

b. The proposed amendment shall be read aloud to the attending members. The drafter/supporter of the amendment shall then be afforded five minutes to address the attending members as to the reasons for the amendment’s implementation.

c. Individual members (to include the drafter/supporter) shall then be afforded three minutes per person to address the attending members. Each person may speak no more than twice, and may not have these two speaking opportunities consecutively. There is no total time limit.

D) A vote shall be taken of the attending members. The method of voting is to the discretion of the Executive Board Chairperson. The options for voting shall be “Ratify,” “Do not ratify,” or “Amend.” The option that receives the highest percentage of the vote shall be the course of action of HSA.

a. If the vote is in favor of “Ratify,” the amendment shall be immediately effective.

b. If the vote is in favor of “Do not ratify,” the amendment may not be presented in its current form to HSA for a minimum of one semester.

c. If the vote is in favor of “Amend,” an amended form of the proposed amendment may be presented to HSA with no minimum time limit, subject to the discretion of the Executive Board Chairperson.

Article IX – Statement of Non-Discrimination
HSA recognizes that students have the right not to be discriminated against by agent or organization, including recognized student organizations of Syracuse University for reasons of age, race, creed, ethnic or national origin, gender, disability, marital status, political or social affiliation, religion, or sexual orientation. This policy will include, but is not limited to recruiting, membership, organization activities, or opportunities to hold office.

Article X – Effective Date of this Constitution
This Constitution shall take effect upon approval of the Office of Greek Life and Experiential Learning and the selection of officers pursuant with this Constitution. Upon initiation of this Constitution, all persons present at the first sanctioned meeting as well as the founders shall have the status of active members