Constitution and By-Laws

By Laws PDF Version

The Youngstown State University
Women's Club Constitution

Revised July 6, 2016

ARTICLE – Name

The name of this Club shall be:

THE YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY WOMEN’S CLUB

ARTICLE – Purpose

The Purpose shall be to promote the Youngstown State University consciousness, support scholarships for qualifying YSU students, identify YSU community needs and design programs to meet those needs, cultivate social relations, afford opportunity for intellectual improvement, and identify such other activities as the organization may desire.

 

BY-LAWS

  • ARTICLE I – Membership
    1. Membership is open to women employed by Youngstown State University, current or retired.
    2. Wives, female life/domestic partners or widows of YSU employees, current or retired.
    3. Part-time female employees and wives or female life/domestic partners of current part-time employees. Employment must be maintained to be eligible for membership.
    4. Honorary Membership
      1. Woman President or wife or female life/domestic partner of the President of the University.
      2. Women Presidents, wives or female life/domestic partners of the past Presidents of the University.
      3. Women members on the Board of Trustees of YSU (current & past).
      4. Wives, or female life/domestic partners of the members of the Board of Trustees of YSU (current & past).
  • ARTICLE II – Officers
    1. Elected Officers shall serve 1 or 2 year terms: President, President-Elect, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, and Treasurer.
    2. The Board shall consist of Elected Officers, the Honorary President and the Chairs of the Standing Committees.
    3. The Standing Committees shall be Interest Groups, Membership, Nominating, Program, Publicity/Historian, Scholarship, Volunteers/Service, Yearbook, Budget & Fundraising. The Chairs are to be appointed according to the directives stated in Article III.
    4. Other committees may be created or deleted at the discretion of the Board.
  • ARTICLE III – Duties of Officers
    1. It shall be the duty of the President to preside at all meetings of the Club and of the Board. She shall appoint all Chairs of Committees, serve as ex-officio member thereon, co-chair the budget committee with the Treasurer, chair the Program Committee, hold backup signature authority on the checking account, and perform such other duties as commonly pertain to the office of President. She shall make all telephone calls when polling the Board of emergency action. She shall select one member from the general membership to audit the books.
    2. The President-Elect shall serve in the absence of the President and shall assist her as requested by the President. The President-Elect shall serve as co-chair of the Publicity/Historian Committee with regard to the web site. She shall assist the Program Chair as necessary.
    3. The Recording Secretary shall record the minutes of the Club and of the Board and perform such other duties as commonly pertain to the office of Recording Secretary.
    4. The Corresponding Secretary shall be responsible for all correspondence and shall mail all notices to the Membership. The Corresponding Secretary shall chair the Membership Committee.
    5. The Treasurer shall have charge of the funds of the Club; shall collect the dues and scholarship contributions from the Membership Chair, pay all bills upon approval of the elected officers; keep an accurate record of all transactions and, when required, report the condition of the treasury; and notify the Membership Committee of all paid members. She shall see that the books of the academic year shall be ready for the auditor in June. The Treasurer shall co-chair the Budget Committee with the President and in conjunction with the President prepare an annual budget for the Club.
  • ARTICLE IV – Standing Committees and Duties
    1. Each Committee Chair shall appoint her own committee.
    2. The Interest Groups Committee shall seek to offer various opportunities to bring the members together to cultivate service and social relations, afford opportunity for intellectual and physical improvement and other such activities as the need arises.
    3. The Membership Committee shall be chaired by one General Member. The Membership Committee shall seek to increase the active membership in the Association and make membership lists available to any committee upon request.
    4. Duties of the Nominating Committee:
      1. The Nominating Committee’s report shall be made at a spring meeting followed by election of officers.
      2. The Nominating Committee shall turn over to the newly elected officers’ names of all persons suggested or considered for executive office to assist them in making appointments to Standing Committees.
      3. The Nominating Committee shall fill any vacancy among the elected officers except that in the office of President, the President-Elect shall assume the Presidency.
      4. The Nominating Committee shall be chaired by the Past President.
    5. The Program Committee shall be responsible for the program for the year. The Program Committee shall be chaired by the President.
    6. The Publicity/Historian Committee shall place adequate notices in the school paper and local newspapers regarding the organization’s activities and shall have charge of such other publicity as may be feasible. The Publicity Chair shall serve as Historian. The Publicity/Historian Committee shall be co-chaired by the President-Elect and one General Member.
    7. The Scholarship Committee is responsible for the selection of the scholarship recipient(s) for the year. The Scholarship Committee shall be chaired by one General Member.
    8. The Volunteers/Service Committee is responsible for setting up the volunteer service for the year and assigning duties to committee members. The Volunteers/Service Committee shall be chaired by one General Member.
    9. The Yearbook Committee shall arrange for the publication of the membership book to be completed by October 1 of each year. The Yearbook Committee shall be chaired by one General Member.
    10.  The Fundraising Committee is responsible for coordinating events to raise money to go toward the scholarships and to solicit items to be given away at social events. 
  • ARTICLE V – Election of Officers
    1. There shall be a Nominating Committee consisting of seven members.
      1. The past President who shall serve as chair.
      2. One appointed by the President from the Honorary Membership (usually the Honorary President).
      3. The current President-Elect.
      4. Four members to be nominated from the general membership by the Nominating Committee. Prior consent must be obtained before nomination is made.
    2. The election of officers shall be held at a spring meeting. Nominations may be made from the floor, providing prior consent has been obtained. Where there is more than one candidate for the same office, the election shall be by ballot. A majority of the votes cast shall constitute an election. The new Board shall assume office after the spring meeting.
    3. The President-Elect shall assume the office of President at the end of the previous President’s term, a one or two year term.
  • ARTICLE VI – Meetings
    1. There shall be no less than four events during the academic year, including The Traditional Fall Tea and the Annual Spring Luncheon/Business Meeting.
    2. The time and number of meetings shall be left to the discretion of the Executive Board.
    3. Meetings shall be held on campus when convenient.
    4. Board meetings shall be called at the discretion of the President.
  • ARTICLE VII – Dues
    1. After receiving prior notice of the needs of the organization through the annual budget and proposed programs, any changes in the annual dues will be determined by the Executive Committee prior to the distribution of invitations to the Fall Membership Event. In order to be included in the printed directory, members must pay on or before the annual membership campaign closing date, the middle of October. A Membership supplement will be printed and distributed after the December Event.
    2. Honorary Members shall have all the privileges of active membership but shall pay no dues.
    3. Retired YSU employees and widows and wives of retired YSU employees shall pay one half the annual assessment.
  • ARTICLE VIII – Transaction of Business
    1. The Board shall have the authority to transact all business between annual meetings.
  • ARTICLE IX – Quorum
    1. A meeting of interested members of the Club shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
    2. A majority of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
  • ARTICLE X – Parliamentary Procedure
    • Robert’s Rules of Order, Revised, shall govern the Club on all points not herein provided for.
  • ARTICLE XI – Amendments
    • These By-Laws may be amended by a majority vote at any regular Board meeting where a quorum of the Board is present, provided the membership has been informed of the impending action.