The Constitution of the Roth Pond Regatta

  1. NAME
    1. The name of this organization shall be the Roth Pond Regatta ("Regatta").
  2. PURPOSE
    1. The purpose of the Roth Pond Regatta is to promote student unity and ingenuity by holding a Regatta each year in Roth Pond.
    2. This regatta will consist of boats made of cardboard, duct tape, and other materials as approved of in The Rules.
  3. MEMBERSHIP
    1. Membership requirements:
      1. Membership shall be open to students, faculty, staff and alumni of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, students, faculty, staff and alumni of Brookhaven National Laboratories, and members of the surrounding community.
      2. Membership is obtained by registration with the Regatta secretary.
    2. Volunteers
      1. Assist the Event Coordinator and other Officers in running the event smoothly.
    3. Responsibilities
      1. The Roth Pond Regatta is not responsible for any individual and/or unauthorized activities by any of its members.
      2. All members of the Roth Pond Regatta shall act responsibly for the safety of all persons at the Roth Pond Regatta and Regatta property.

IV. OFFICERS

  1. Titles and Eligibility
    1. The officers of the Roth Pond Regatta shall be, order of the chain of command from highest to lowest: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Event Coordinator.
    2. The above officers shall form the Executive Board.
    3. Only students who have paid the undergraduate student activities fee are eligible for the USG signatory positions of President, Vice-President, Treasurer or Secretary.
    4. No person may hold more than one signatory position.
  2. Duties
    1. The President
      1. Shall run both the Executive Board and general meetings.
      2. Will promote order, smooth operation and continuity of the Roth Pond Regatta.
      3. Shall assist the Treasurer in drawing up the annual budget,
      4. Shall act as sole spokesperson for the Regatta in matters involving other organizations, and all administrative functions/personnel.
      5. May appoint spokespersons to act on his/her behalf.
      6. Has signatory powers as described by USG.
    2. The Vice-President
      1. Shall fulfill, in the absence of the President, the duties of the President.
      2. Shall fulfill those powers and duties delegated to her/him by the President, which may include assisting the other officers with their duties when necessary.
      3. Shall be responsible for maintaining order during General and Executive Board meetings. 
      4. Has the ability to substitute for another signatory officer acknowledge by USG.
      5. The Vice-President will be required to choose a pet project which they will focus on.
    3. The Treasurer
      1. Shall keep an accurate record of all Regatta expenditures and income.
      2. Shall draw up the annual budget with the assistance of the President and present it for approval by the membership.
      3. Shall be prepared to make a financial report at least once a month and when requested by the membership (within one week of said request).
      4. Shall be responsible for proper completion and submission of all financial paperwork and ensuring that USG's financial guidelines are followed.
      5. Has signatory powers as described by USG.
    4. The Secretary
      1. Shall take minutes at all meetings.
      2. Shall be responsible for keeping updated membership/address lists and all Regatta correspondence.
      3. Shall publicly post all minutes from Executive Board, General, and Emergency meetings.
      4. Has signatory powers as described by USG.
    5. The Event Coordinator
      1. Shall arrange the concert, catering, staging, and equipment for the event.
      2. Shall encourage students, faculty, staff and alumni of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, students, faculty, staff and alumni of Brookhaven National Laboratories, and members of the surrounding community to actively participate in the event.
      3. Shall coordinate volunteer efforts at the Regatta.
  1. ELECTIONS AND TERMS OF OFFICE
    1.  Time and Terms of Office
      1. Nominations shall be held at the regular meetings in the first and second weeks of February each year.
      2. Elections shall be held immediately following nominations in the meeting for the second week of February each year.
      3. The elected candidate shall take office as of the end of that meeting, and shall retain that position for one year, or until removal or replacement is necessary.
    2. Elections
      1. The candidate with the highest percentage of the vote shall be the newly elected officer.
      2. The elections shall be held in order from highest to lowest in the chain of command.
  2. REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT
    1. Removal
      1. If the membership feels that an officer has not been doing his/her job properly, they may remove that officer from office with a two-thirds majority vote by secret ballot.
      2. The officer under impeachment has two meetings to defend him/herself after being notified that she/he is under impeachment, before a vote is taken on this issue.
    2. Replacement
      1. Nominations for replacement shall be taken at the first meeting in recognition of a need for that officer, and the meeting of the week thereafter. (With respect to impeachments, this takes place after the impeachment has been voted on.)
      2. Elections shall be held directly after the nominations at the meeting of the second week of nominations.
      3. The replacement officer will serve out the term of the original officer.
    3. MEETINGS
      1. General Meetings
        1. The Roth Pond Regatta shall meet once a week in the Spring term.
        2. The meeting place and time shall be decided on by the membership.
        3. Meetings may be cancelled in event of emergencies, holidays, or other similar events.
        4. Cancellations will be announced in advance when possible.
      2. Executive Board Meetings
        1. The purpose of Executive Board meetings is to conduct business which would disrupt or unnecessarily lengthen the general meetings, such as organization, planning, and brainstorming.
        2. The Executive Board is strictly advisory in that it may propose solutions and decisions, but may not implement them without the consent of a simple majority of the membership.
        3. Shall be called by the President or upon request by another officer.
        4. Shall be open to all members of the Regatta.
        5. Shall be held in advance of General meeting.
      3. Emergency Meetings
        1. The purpose of Emergency Meetings shall be to discuss matters of dire importance to the Regatta, which must be handled prior to the next general meeting.
        2. May be called by the President.
        3. Must be called by the President upon petition of 8 members or a simple majority of the remaining officers.
        4. Must be called within 24 hours of said petition.
      4. Quorums
        1. An official General meeting shall consist of at least six active members, two of which must be signatory officers.
        2. A Quorum for the Executive Board meetings shall consist of a simple majority of Executive Board members and any number of non-officer members of the Regatta.
        3. A Quorum for Emergency Meetings shall consist of 6 members and 2 signatory officers.
      5. Operation
        1. Both the Executive Board and general meetings shall be run by the highest ranked officer (as ranked in Article IV; usually the President), who shall determine the rules of order for such meetings, unless he/she is under impeachment. In such a case, the next-highest ranked officer will officiate.
  3. COMMITTEES
    1. The President may make proposals to form committees and suggest a Chairperson for each
    2. Committees require approval of the purpose and Chairperson by a simple majority of the Regatta membership.
    3. These committees will be open to all interested Regatta members, and will report to the membership at General meetings.
    4. Committees will be dissolved when their goal(s) have been reached or a simple majority of the membership favors dissolving it.
  4. THE BUDGET
    1. The annual budget shall be drawn up by the Treasurer (with the assistance of the President), presented for approval by the membership, and must be submitted before the deadline set by USG.
    2. Every effort should be made to ensure that the Regatta receives full funding.
    3. Budget Referenda shall be applied for in the semester before expiration.
  5. STATEMENT OF NON-DISCRIMINATION
    1. This organization fully endorses the principle of equal opportunity, and believes that every member of the Roth Pond Regatta shall have equal protection under the laws as guaranteed them by the Constitution of the United States of America.
    2. No member of the Roth Pond Regatta shall, on the grounds of race, religion, sex, sexual preference, creed, age, skin color, handicap or national origin; discriminate, be excluded from participation in, or be denied the benefits of this organization.
    3. To ensure that all members of the Roth Pond Regatta have equal opportunity, the Roth Pond Regatta shall be obligated to:
      1. Keep the recruitment practices of the Roth Pond Regatta on file, which shall be open to public inspection at regular hours.
      2. Hold General and Executive Board meetings in locations accessible to all students and give due notice of said meetings.
  6. AMENDMENTS
    1. The membership may amend this charter at any meeting by a two-thirds majority vote.
    2. An announcement of specific proposed changes has been made at the two previous meetings and has been posted publicly for those two weeks.
  7. Mandatory Statement
    1. As members of our organization we fully understand that we are not authorized to enter in any contractual agreements.
    2. We are a organization of Student Polity Inc., The Trustees of the Roth Pond Regatta, and USG. Therefore, only the appropriate organization's designees are authorized to sign and execute contracts on their own behalf.

    This charter was ratified at a regular meting of the Roth Pond Regatta on February 25, 2004; it completly replaces all previous versions.