CSSA

SCSSA Constitution and By-Law

 

 Article I: Name

The name of this organization shall be the Samford Chinese Students and Scholars Association (Samford CSSA, SCSSA).

 

Article II: Purpose

SCSSA is a non-profit, non-religious, and non-political organization registered at Samford University. It is dedicated to the goal of promoting social, intellectual and cultural activities for Chinese students and scholars at Samford and for other interested members of the Samford community. It will act as liaison between its members on the Samford campus by facilitating communication between themselves and with other groups of the Samford community.

 

Article III: Membership

Section 1. Regular Members

Regular membership shall be open to all Chinese students, scholars, faculty members, staff, and alumni of Samford University.

 

Section 2. Guest Members

Guest membership shall be open to all individuals who are interested in the Chinese culture and society.​

 

Article IV: Office Structure

The officers of the SCSSA shall consist of the President, the Vice-president(s), the Secretary, the Treasury, and Committee of Social, Public Relations, Sports, Party Events, Study, and Internet.

 

Each Committee shall consist of one or two Chairs and no more than three committee officers in addition to the Committee Chairs. Additional volunteers are welcome to join various committees, but shall not be recognized as Official SCSSA Officers, therefore, are not subject to the benefits and regulations that apply to SCSSA Officers.

 

Officers are encouraged to participate in more than one committee, except that one person shall not be the Chair for more than one committee.

 

New officers can be elected to SCSSA committees by regular election (see Article Six), or in case of vacancy, by majority voting at SCSSA general meeting following recommendation by at least three SCSSA officers.​

 

New committees can be added and existing committees can be deleted based on the need of the organization. The decision can be made by majority voting at SCSSA general meetings following recommendation by SCSSA president and no less than three other officers.​

 

Article V: Duties of SCSSA Committees and Officers

The President shall be the chief executive officer of Samford CSSA and shall exercise general supervision and provide overall control over its programs as well as prepare meeting agenda and chair its regular business meetings.

 

The Vice-presidents shall assist with the President in coordinating activities of other officers. Should the President leave office prior to completion of term, the VP shall assume office temporarily and schedule an election to appoint new President.​

 

The Secretary shall be responsible for taking minutes for SCSSA meetings and for keeping official documents of the organization.

 

​Committee Chairs shall be responsible for centrally organizing and coordinating activities related to their committee duties. They are also responsible for timely reporting to the Presidents any activities or plans related to their committees. Committee officers are responsible for participating in committee meetings, and for actively participating and initiating activities relevant to their committee's objective.

 

​The Committee for Treasury shall be responsible for maintaining the financial records of the organization and applying for or soliciting funding through various channels. The chair of this Committee as well as the organization president has the authority to write checks on behalf of the organization.

 

The Committee for Internet shall be responsible for maintaining the electronic mailing list of the group, for timely posting relevant messages, as well as maintaining the Internet Homepage for the organization.​

 

The Committee for Party events shall be responsible for organizing no less than two major parties during the semester. It shall also be responsible for safe-keeping any party related SCSSA properties.

 

The Committee for Sports shall be responsible for organizing sports teams, sports events and for safe-keeping any sports related SCSSA equipment.​

 

The Committee for Public Relation shall be responsible for maintaining and promoting public relation efforts for the organization. This include, but not limited to, maintaining contacts with SCSSA alumni, advisors, financial contributors, as well as the news media and other Chinese student organizations in the area. The Committee shall also be responsible for maintaining contact with various Samford offices and administration.

 

The Committee for Study shall be responsible for organizing no less than one major seminar during the semester. It should also be responsible for spreading Chinese culture through Samford Univerisity.

 

The Committee for Social shall be responsible for advertising all events held by CSSA.​

 

Article VI: Elections

Officers shall be elected annually, before the end of the spring semester, by eligible membership of the SCSSA. The new team of officers shall commence duties immediately following the election meeting.

 

Any member is eligible to serve as SCSSA officer under the restriction of any applicable rules and policies of Samford University.

 

​SCSSA president and vice-president must run for candidacy as a team, and one of them must have previously served as an SCSSA officer.​

 

Only the following members of SCSSA are eligible to vote:

(a) members who have attended at least one regular business meetings during the past year (election meeting not included);

(b) major organizers of a SCSSA-organized event during the past year (upon the approval of then-current SCSSA officer board).​

 

Each eligible voter shall be entitled to one secret ballot. Written proxies shall be allowed for eligible voters in case he or she cannot attend the election meeting.​

 

Candidates must obtain a majority of all votes in order to be elected officer. In the event that no candidates receive a majority, a run-off shall be held between the two candidates with the highest number of votes.

 

​Article VII: Meetings

Regular meetings of the SCSSA shall be called by SCSSA president shall be held once a week. Announcements shall be made to all members by e-mail. These regular meetings are open to any members of SCSSA.

 

The President shall preside over all business meetings of the SCSSA. In the absence of the President, Vice-president shall preside.​

 

Officers are required to attend SCSSA regular meetings. If any officer fails to attend meeting for two consecutive times without legitimate reasons, their officer positions are automatically withdrawn and vacancies may be filled in the future.​

 

Special meetings of the SCSSA may be called by at least four SCSSA officers who shall so inform the President or Vice-presidents at least one week before the proposed date of meeting.

 

​Article VIII: Interpretation RightThe interpretation right of this constitution is granted to the then-current officer board.

 

​Article IX: Amendments

At least eight members are needed to propose constitution amendments. Any proposed amendments shall be communicated to the President or the Vice-presidents at least one week prior to the upcoming regular meeting in order to be included in the agenda. A three-quarter majority of all votes is necessary to make any changes to this constitution. The Assistant Dean for Campus Life shall be notified of any amendments made to this constitution.