The Constitution of the
North East Union of Vietnamese Student Associations
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Article I – The Establishment
The North East Union of Vietnamese Student Associations was founded on February 18, 2012.
The organization shall be recognized as the North East Union of Vietnamese Student. It may be referred to as Tổng Hội Sinh Viên Việt Nam miền Đông Bắc Hoa Kỳ or NEUVSA.
Article II – Mission Statement
To unite the Vietnamese community in the North East region in order to engage our shared culture, to leverage resources for constituent schools, to foster individual professionalism and leadership, and to empower members to advocate social justice and awareness for causes relevant to the Vietnamese community.
Article III – Constitution
A. The constitution of the North East Union of Vietnamese Student Association will be made accessible to all NEUVSA Executive Board Officers, Intercollegiate Council (ICC), the member Vietnamese Student Associations of the region, as well as the public.
B. Amendments to the constitution must be made in accordance with Article X.
Article IV – Members
A. Non-discrimination clause
1. The organization will not restrict membership and/or activity by reason of age, citizenship, disability, gender, race, religion, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or status as a disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam eras.
2. Notwithstanding these requirements, the organization may restrict membership based on an ability to perform the activities related to the organization’s purpose.
B. Requirements
1. Participating in the founding of NEUVSA through 2/3 attendance of the founding meetings:
07.23.11
08.02.11
08.07.11
08.20.11
08.25.11
09.10.11
09.24.11
10.08.11
11.06.11
12.29.11
01.07.12
02.18.12
2. Inducted into NEUVSA through successful completion of the application process, trial period, and approval vote:
Drexel University
New York University
Rutgers University
Temple University3. VSAs within the NEUVSA region (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont) requesting admission into NEUVSA must complete an application process as well as trial period (3 months or 12 weeks).
a. The application will include, but is not limited to:
i. Founding date
ii. List of events
iii. List of Executive Board officers since establishment
iv. List of members
b. The trial period will consist of, but is not limited to:
i. Attendance of and participation in 3 ICC meetings without voting rights<
ii. Attendance of NEUVSA events (50%) and conference/summit
iii. A waiting period (3 months or 12 weeks).
c. Admission into NEUVSA will be granted with:
i. Voting approval of 3/4 of the required ICC voting quorum.
Article V – Executive Board
A. Definition
1. The executive board will consist of five elected officers, namely: President, Internal Vice President, External Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary.
2. All executive board officers must have served as a VSA officer.
3. All executive officers must be at least in their second year of college or is a young professional.
4. All executive officers must reside in the North East region.
5. Executive officers as a collective group share one vote if necessary.
6. Terms shall end on Aug 31st of the following year of election period.
7. Executive officers are limited to two consecutive terms per position.
B. Executive Officers
1. President
a. The president shall oversee all internal and external affairs.
b. The president shall work with the secretary to create meeting agendas.
c. The president shall preside over Executive and ICC meetings.
d. The president shall maintain order and delegate responsibilities.
e. The president shall ensure the organization operates in conformity with the constitution.
f. The president shall be expected to attend all NEUVSA events.
g. The president cannot concurrently be president of any other VSA.
2. Internal Vice President
a. The internal vice president shall assume presidential responsibilities in the event the president is unable to carry out his or her duties.
b. The internal vice president shall manage internal affairs with the executive board.
c. The internal vice president shall maintain relations among the VSAs within NEUVSA.
d. The internal vice president will mediate and resolve conflicts between executive board and ICC members.
e. The internal vice president shall ensure the organization operates in conformity with the constitution.
f. The internal vice president shall compile a master calendar of VSA events throughout the region.
3. External Vice President
a. The external vice president shall assume internal vice president responsibilities in the event that the internal vice president is unable to perform them.
b. The external vice president shall act as a liaison to other organizations.
c. The external vice president shall be responsible for publicizing and advertising on behalf of NEUVSA.
d. The external vice president shall act as a media liaison.
e. The external vice president shall seek out resources for NEUVSA.
f. The external vice president must effectively communicate with the Vietnamese community.
4. Treasurer
a. The treasurer shall assume the responsibilities of the external vice president in the event that the external vice president is unable to carry out his or her duties.
b. The treasurer shall set and balance the budget.
c. The treasurer shall be responsible for reimbursements.
d. The treasurer shall keep detailed and accurate records of receipts.
e. The treasurer shall seek out monetary sponsorships.
f. The treasurer shall be responsible for applying for grants.
g. The treasurer shall be responsible for the management of NEUVSA bank accounts.
5. Secretary
a. The secretary shall assume the responsibilities of the treasurer in the event the treasurer is unable to carry out his or her duties.
b. The secretary shall take meeting minutes and send them to the executive board and ICC within 48 hours of the meeting.
c. The secretary shall be responsible for keeping detailed and accurate records of events.
d. The secretary shall maintain and update members’ contact information.
e. The secretary shall confirm the reservations of meeting rooms and other necessary locations.
f. The secretary shall work with the president to create meeting agendas.
Article VI – Intercollegiate Council (ICC)
A. Definition
1. The ICC is the primary voting body of NEUVSA.
2. The ICC is made up of two members selected by individual VSAs to represent the interests of each VSA.
3. Terms for each ICC shall depend on election timeline of each individual VSA.
B. Responsibilities
1. ICC members shall be a liaison between NEUVSA and individual VSAs.
2. ICC members shall attend NEUVSA meetings.
3. ICC members shall be expected to attend the majority (2/3) of NEUVSA events.
4. ICC members shall be expected to volunteer to organize (1/2) of NEUVSA events.
C. Reinforcements
1. In the case that a school is not in attendance, the absent school is subject to monetary fines totaling no less than fifty dollars.
Article VII – General Staff
General staff coordinators are nominated by the Executive Board when the Board deems necessary.
Positions are only official and permanent upon a vote by the ICC.
The purpose of general staff is to organize and develop programs concurrent to NEUVSA’s overall mission.
Terms of the General Staff members are one year, and can be renewed by recommendation by the Executive Board, and upon ratification by the ICC.
Recommendation and ratification process excludes positions of CPP director(s) and Conference director(s).
Article VIII – General Voting Practices
A quorum of 4/7 (57%) of the ICC members is required to vote.
A majority consists of more than 50% of ICC member schools.
VSAs with no ICC members present at a meeting are not permitted to vote.
Each VSA has one vote.
Article IX – Elections
A. Intercollegiate Council
1. ICC members are elected by their individual VSAs according to the election process set out by their VSA.
2. Current ICC members will be ineligible to be a candidate for Executive Board position(s).
B. Executive Board
1. The executive board will be elected by the ICC serving the previous school year, with one vote per VSA.
2. Absentee voting
a. Schools that cannot provide representation at the election may apply for absentee votes.
b. Applications showing need for absentee voting must be turned into the executive board one month prior to the election.
c. Those permitted absentee voting must vote concurrently with the actual election.
d. Votes not cast concurrently with other schools will not be counted.
3. Election of a new executive board must occur before June 30th of each year, with August 1st being the official inauguration of each new executive board.
C. Executive Board Elections
1. All executive board elections will be open to the public.
2. The ICC will elect an individual not running for an executive board position to preside over the elections.
3. The order of elections will follow the order of officers presented in Article V.
4. For each office, the order of speeches will be randomized.
5. Each candidate will have a maximum of three minutes to present a speech during which all other candidates for the same office will not be present.
6. Each candidate will take questions from the audience for a maximum of five minutes during which all other candidates for the same office will not be present.
7. After all the candidates for a particular office have given a speech and have taken questions, deliberations will be held for a maximum of twenty minutes during which none of the candidates are present.
8. Each member school is permitted one vote.
9. Executive board members are elected with 51% of the required ICC voting quorum.
10. Results of elections must be immediately announced.
11. If no single candidate receives 51% of the vote, the number of votes each candidate received can be made public.
12. A deliberation period with a maximum of ten minutes will occur before each re-vote.
13. There will be a maximum of three re-votes. If a candidate cannot be elected with 51% of the required ICC voting quorum, the election will be tabled until the next summit.
14. A candidate is allowed to apply for a maximum of two positions.
Article X – Revisions to the Constitution
A. Proposed amendments to the constitution must be submitted in writing to the executive board.
B. Proposed amendments must be addressed at the next possible summit.
C. Amendments must be approved by at least 51% of the required ICC voting quorum.
Article XI – Motion of No-Confidence
A. A motion of no-confidence may be brought forth upon members of the executive board by ICC member(s) or other executive board members.
B. A motion of no-confidence may be brought forth as a result of, but not limited to, the following reasons:
1. Lack of attendance
2. Violating the constitution
3. Negligence
C. A motion of no-confidence will keep to the following procedure:
1. All motions of no confidence must be submitted in written form to the president. In the event that the motion is being served upon the president, the motion will be submitted to the internal vice president.
2. The officer whom the motion is served upon will receive a copy of the written motion at least one week prior to the next summit.
3. At the next summit, the motioner has a maximum of ten minutes to present his or her case against the motionee.
4. The motionee will have a maximum of ten minutes to respond.
5. The ICC will have a maximum ten minute question and answer period for the motionee.
6. The ICC and remaining executive board members will have a maximum of ten minutes for deliberation which the motioner and motionee will not be present for.
7. If 51% of the required ICC voting quorum approves the motion, the motionee will officially be asked to resign.