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Albert Dorman Honors College Student Council Constitution

Article I: Name 

The organization shall be known as the NJIT Albert Dorman Honors College Student Council.

 Article II: Purpose

The Albert Dorman Honors Council represents the student body of the Honors College; carries out projects and actions with the aim of improving the Honors experience; serves as a means for the honors students to voice their opinions and offer suggestions to the administration for the betterment of the college; and acts as a liaison between the student body and the administration of the Albert Dorman Honors College.

The Constitution of the Honors Student Council defines the responsibilities of those elected by the students of the Albert Dorman Honors College and those officers appointed by the Council and/or higher administration. The Constitution provides guidelines to ensure the smooth running of the Council in order to enable it to perform services for the college and the student body.

Article III: The Officers and the Members

A. The officers of the Council are:

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer

B. The voting members of the Council are:

1) Committee heads:

• Social Committee head(s)
• Community Service Committee head(s)
• Lounge Committee head(s)
• Computer Committee head(s)
• Recruitment Committee head(s)
• Website Committee head(s)
• Honors Newsletter editor(s)

2) Class and Architecture Representatives:

• Freshman class representative
• Sophomore class representative
• Junior class representative
• Senior class representative
• School of Architecture representative

3) The Honors College representative on the NJIT Student Senate:

• Senator at Large Honors College Representative

Article IV: The Duties of the Officers

All officers of the council must attend the Annual Honors Freshman Retreat.

President

1.      Oversees the running of the Council and all committees associated wit the Council.

2.      Possesses hard copies of every event, meeting, proposal, fund-raiser, and all activities associated with the Council.

3.      Acts as a liaison between the Council and the administration.

4.      Calls meeting together.

5.      Ensures that the responsibilities of everyone involved on a Council project are met.

6.      Prepares and distributes an agenda before the meeting.

Vice President

1.      Maintains contact with all of the representatives and the committee heads.

2.      Relays any information regarding the activities of the representatives and the heads of the committees to the President.

3.      Assists the committees when necessary.

4.      Governs meetings when the President is unable to perform his/her duties.

Secretary

1.      Transcribes minutes of every meeting and records attendance at the meetings.

2.      Has minutes available.

3.      Keeps records of meetings, proposals, and committee events.

4.      assists other officers in written transactions , when necessary.

Treasurer

1.      Maintains an accurate, up-to-date assessment of the Council's monetary situation, including those of the committees.

2.      Provides a means with which the Council and the committees can access funds.

3.      Keeps a running record of all transactions, proposals, and approvals for funds.

Article V: The Duties of the Members

All members of the council must attend the general meetings, held once every two weeks or when the President calls for one, and the Annual Honors Freshman Retreat.

Class and Architecture Representatives:

1.      Acts as a liaison between the Council and the respective student body.

2.      Inform the respective student body of any Council developments.

3.      Obtain feedback from the students regarding the college.

4.      Relay information to the Vice President.

5.      Plan events for the respective student body (including fund-raising of necessary)

Recruitment Committee Chair(s):

1.      Escorts visiting high school students around campus and to classes.

2.      Contact interested high schools students regarding the Honors College.

3.      Participates in special recruitment events (e.g., Open House, Dean's Day, Summer Visit Day).

Social Committee Chair(s):

1.      Organize events that promote participation among Honors College student body and foster a spirit of community via social events.

2.      Keep the Vice President abreast of committee activities.

3.      Maintain an accurate committee balance to be given to the Treasurer.

4.      Have a maximum of three events per semester (not including fund-raisers).

5.      Provide a minimum of three days notice when requested assistance from the Vice President (except in case of emergencies such as illness, injury, or personal tragedy).

Community Service Committee Chair(s):

1.      To organize and conduct community service projects for individual and/or groups of Honors scholars.

2.      Maintain an accurate committee balance to be given to the Treasurer.

3.      Keep the Vice President abreast of committee activities.

4.      Provide a minimum of three days notice when requested assistance from the Vice President (except in case of emergencies such as illness, injury, or personal tragedy).

Lounge Committee Chair(s):

1.      Be a trouble shooter for the Honors lounge.

2.      Relay complaints and information to the Vice President and/or Computer Committee.

3.      Suggest improvements for the Honors Lounge.

4.      Maintain an accurate committee balance to be given to the Treasurer.

Computer Committee Chair(s):

1.      Relay any computer hardware problems to the Honors College administrators.

2.      Assist in maintaining the Honors College Computer Resource Center.

3.      Suggest improvements for the Honors College Computer Resource Center (a.k.a. Honors Computer Lab)

Website Committee Chair(s):

1.      Address the ever demanding need and want for a new, dynamic look for the existing website.

2.      Re-work the underlying mechanisms of the site to make it run smoother.

3.      Act in the light of the fact that the website serves for two prominent purposes:

(1)   To grab the interest of prospective students and to provide them with an easy and clean but unique web experience, and

(2)   To serve current NJIT Honors students by also giving them a unique and very responsive service.

Newsletter Editor(s):

1.      Produce, in paper format, a newsletter to be distributed to Honors students, faculty, and other interested parties.

2.      Inform students of current events, provide a literary and artistic venue for Honors students, and keep honors students in touch with other aspects of college life. 

NOTE:  All committee chairs must call a meeting within the first three weeks of each semester. Committee members are allowed to miss only three meetings every year. Any more will result in expulsion from the committee.

Article VI: The Election Procedures

 1.      Officers and representatives of the Council are to be elected into office.

2.      Elections will be held once every school year, during the Spring semester.

3.      Freshman representative elections will be held at the beginning of every fall semester.

4.      Students who wish to run for a position must have a minimum GPA of 3.2 and will be, at least, a sophomore at the start of the next semester.

5.      Students who wish to run for the position of President of Council must have previous experience as a member of the Council of at lest one year.

6.      Student must have at least one nomination from an Honors student to be eligible to run for office.

7.      A student cannot be placed on the ballot unless his/her consent in obtained, regardless of the nominations he/she has received.

8.      If a new position or committee is added to the Council, the administration and the current Council officers and member will choose three student to run for office.

9.      Each student participating in the election must prepare a speech to be delivered the day of the election.

10.  Ballots will be distributed the day of the election.

11.  All students of the Honors College are eligible to vote.

12.  Elections will be run by the administration.

13.  Committee heads appoint a successor.

Article VII:  Attendance

The officers and the members are required to attend every meeting of the Council. Only two non-excusable absences are permitted (absences due to emergences are excused).  Subsequent absences will be penalized by the Council (punishment will vary by Council judgment). 

Article VIII:  Resignations

Any Council member wishing to resign must notify the Council two weeks prior to date of resignation. Temporary replacements should be found within those two weeks by the resigning officer, or member, with the aid of the Council pending permanent appointment by the Council.

Article IX:  Amendments

Proposals for amendments may be brought forward by any voting member of the body.

Proposals may not be voted upon at the same meeting at which they are brought up.
Amendments proposed and approved as above take effect when approved by a 2/3 vote of all members of the Honors Council. The change(s) shall be promptly posted to the Honors Council web site.