Constitution
CONSTITUTION
OF THE UNIVERSITY RESIDENCE GOVERNMENT
OF TOWSON UNIVERSITY
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ARTICLE I – Name
The name of this organization shall be the Towson University Residence Government (URG).
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ARTICLE II – Purpose
The object of the Towson University Residence Government shall be:
- A. to serve as the representative governing body and voice of the Towson University residents;
- B. to advocate on behalf of Towson University residents to administration, SGA, and other student and community organizations as an initiator and supporter of change;
- C. to broaden the academic, cultural, and social attitudes of residents through educational, charitable and social programming functions for Towson University residents;
- D. to encourage and assist the development of a healthy community that promotes diversity, student involvement, and respect;
- E. to develop a sense of citizenry among resident students in the Towson University community and subsequently promote good citizenship;
- F. to provide a balance between the educational and social atmospheres within each residence hall;
- G. to organize, fund, and foster the growth of building councils in residence halls in order to promote the purposes and goals of URG;
- H. to provide leadership positions for Towson University residents that serve as avenues for their leadership development;
- I. to directly provide for the betterment of residence life and subsequently and without restriction serve to benefit the entire campus and Towson community;
- J. And to foster campus spirit and pride.
Back to the top ARTICLE III – General Structure
- The University Residence Government shall be a student-run organization composed of: a Building Council for each residence hall or building group; a General Assembly that is composed of elected Building Representatives; and an Executive Board elected by all URG members.
- The following residence halls and building groups will have one URG-recognized and sponsored Building Council as well as elected Building Representatives: Tower A (TA); Tower B (TB); Tower C (TC); Tower D (TD); Residence Tower, Ward, and West (RTWW); Richmond & Newell (Richmond/Newell); Prettyman & Scarborough (Prettyman/Scarborough), and Towson Run (TR).
Back to the top ARTICLE IV – Membership
Section 1 – Membership
Membership of this organization shall consist of all resident students at Towson University.
Section 2 – Honorary Life Membership
Upon the signed recommendation of one Building Representative, seconded by another Building Representative, and by a two-thirds vote at any General Assembly meeting, honorary life membership may be conferred upon a current or former member of the URG or any current or former student, faculty, or staff person of Towson University who shall have rendered notable service to the URG. An honorary life member shall have none of the obligations of membership, but shall be entitled to all the privileges except those of making motions, of voting, and holding office.
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ARTICLE V – Building Councils
Section 1 – Expectations
The purpose of the Towson University Building Councils shall be to:
- Provide social, charity and educational programs to residents;
- Serve as the voice of the residents within their building at URG General Assembly meetings.
- Advance the purpose of URG within the respective building.
Section 2 – Officers
Each Building Council shall consist of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and URG representatives as allocated by 1 representative per complete 100 residents.
Section 3 – Duties
- President
- Serve as presiding officer of and chair weekly Building Council meetings.
- Prepare weekly Building Council meeting agendas.
- Attend, at minimum, monthly meetings with the URG Executive Board president.
- Maintain communication with the Housing and Residence Life Staff
- Maintain responsibility for the overall productivity of his/her Building Council.
- Create building ad hoc committees as necessary.
- Vice President
- Maintain responsibility for URG awareness within the Building Council.
- Coordinate advertising for Building Council programs.
- Attend, at minimum, monthly meetings with the URG Executive Board Vice President.
- Maintain responsibility for the awareness of URG Executive Board programs as communicated by the URG Executive Board Vice President.
- Fulfill presidential duties in the absence of President.
- Assist the President in his/her duties.
- Treasurer
- Maintain overall responsibility for the financial management of the Building Council.
- Preside over the Building Council meetings in the absence of the President & Vice President.
- Attend, at minimum, monthly meetings with the URG Executive Board Treasurer.
- Coordinate, complete, and deliver to the URG Executive Board Treasurer a budget by September 31 for the fall semester, and by February 1 for the spring semester.
- Keep accurate financial records for the Building Council.
- Spend Building Council money in a fiscally responsible manner.
- Secretary
- Take minutes for the Building Council meetings and deliver them to the URG Executive Board Secretary.
- Keep accurate records of Building Council events: event attendance, event evaluation, and other methods as mandated by the Executive Board Secretary.
- Coordinate and distribute weekly Building Council meeting agendas.
- Maintain accurate contact lists for Building Council members.
- Building Representatives
- Serve as voting representatives of their Building Council at URG General Assembly.
- Maintain responsibility for relaying information from the Building Council to the Executive Board and vice versa.
- Serve on one or more URG committees.
- Fulfill any other duties as specified by the URG Executive Board
Section 4 – Elections
- Each Building Council shall be elected by its constituent residents in the third week following the beginning of each academic year.
- The URG Executive Board shall be responsible for running elections.
- An individual running for a Building Council position must live in the building for which council he or she is running.
Section 5 – Impeachment and Removal
- Building Council Executive Board members shall be removed for, but not limited to, the following reasons:
- Failing to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of the office
- Behavior which is detrimental to the organization, inappropriate or unbecoming of an officer or representative.
- Changing residence halls or building groups that result in not fulfilling the requirements to run for a position on the building council for that building group or residence hall.
- The procedure for the impeachment of a Building Council member shall be as follows:
- Any member of the respective Building Council may initiate removal proceedings against any member of his/her Building Council by submitting written charges to the Executive Board President and the Advisor of URG. The President and Advisor will determine whether the claim is appropriate for an impeachment hearing.
- If the President and advisor determine the claim is appropriate, at the next General Assembly meeting, the charges against the Building Council member shall be read. This hearing and the next hearing for a vote of the General Assembly shall be closed to everyone except the voting members of the General Assembly and the Executive Board unless all parties agree otherwise, or unless the appearance of the a witness is necessary.
- At the second General Assembly meeting, the Building Council member shall be removed upon a two-third (2/3) vote. The General Assembly shall vote by secret ballot.
Section 6 - Vacancy
If the office of the Building Council President becomes vacant, the Vice President of that Building Council shall assume the position of President. If any other Building Council position becomes vacant, the Building Council President shall nominate a replacement subject to confirmation by a majority vote of the General Assembly.
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ARTICLE VI – General Assembly
Section 1 – Structure
The voting membership of the General Assembly shall consist of all URG Building Council representatives. URG Executive Board members and Building Council officers shall serve as ex-officio, non-voting members of the General Assembly.
Section 2 – Duties
The General Assembly shall:
- Approve the URG budget by a two-thirds (2/3) vote by October 15;
- Approve the Special Projects Proposal by a majority vote of the General Assembly by October 15;
- Approve changes to the budget and the Special Projects Proposal throughout the year.
- Approve any and all co-sponsorships by the URG;
- Approve any debate resolutions pertaining to on-campus living;
- Approve Executive Board appointments of Director positions by a majority vote;
- Approve the Executive Board election rules and date at least one month in advance of the defined election date by majority vote.
Section 3 – Meetings
The General Assembly shall have weekly meetings. The President can call special sessions of the General Assembly with prior notice.
Section 4 – Quorum
The quorum for the General Assembly shall be fifty percent (50%) of the voting representatives. Upon not fulfilling the quorum, the presiding member of the meeting will reschedule a General Assembly meeting for that week.
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ARTICLE VII – Executive Board
Section 1 – Executive Officers
The Executive Board of the University Residence Government shall consist of a President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, National Communications Coordinator, Director of Resident Advocacy, Director of Special Projects, Director of Recognition, and a(n) Advisor(s).
Section 2 – Powers
The Executive Board shall have the following duties and powers:
- All duties and powers conferred to it by this Constitution.
- All duties, powers, and privileges assigned by the Parliamentary Authority so long as they are not in conflict with this Constitution or any other governing document.
- The powers of the General Assembly after the last General Assembly meeting of each academic year and before the inauguration of the new members of the General Assembly in the Fall semester, except for the power to amend this Constitution and the power to remove officers.
Section 3 – Duties
- President
- Prepare and distribute weekly Executive Board agendas.
- Chair weekly Executive Board meetings.
- Attend biweekly meetings with the Advisor, and monthly meetings with the Director of Housing and Residence Life.
- Serve on University committees, or designate other Executive Board members to serve on these committees.
- Serve as the official spokesperson of all resident students at Towson University.
- Maintain responsibility for the overall productivity of URG.
- Approve all appointments to URG committees and create ad hoc committees as necessary.
- Execute and uphold all provisions of the URG Constitution.
- Serve as the University Residence Government Representative in the Student Government Association.
- Meet monthly with the Building Council Presidents.
- Vice President
- Serve as chair and voting tiebreaker at General Assembly meetings.
- Increase awareness of URG and its programs to incoming first-year resident students, current resident students, and the community.
- Coordinate advertising of URG and its programs.
- Preside over the General Assembly meeting in the absence of the President.
- Serve as public representative, in conjunction with the President, of URG in public and inter-organizational meetings and forums.
- Assist Building Councils in solving internal problems and concerns.
- Coordinate a monthly Building Council programming calendar.
- Promote positive and collaborative relationships between Building Councils, and between Building Councils and the Executive board.
- Encourage collaborative programming between Building Councils.
- Assist the President in his or her duties.
- Meet monthly with the Building Council Vice Presidents.
- Treasurer
- Preside over the General Assembly meetings in the absence of the President & Vice President.
- Maintain overall responsibility for the financial management of both URG and Building Councils.
- Approve all transactions of Building Councils.
- Keep in regular contact with the Student Government Association Director of Funds and Treasurer.
- Propose an annual URG budget by October 1, which must be approved by the General Assembly by the second week of October.
- Keep accurate financial records for URG and Building Councils.
- Spend URG monies in a fiscally responsible manner.
- Mandate and approve Building Council budgets each semester.
- Meet monthly with the Building Council treasurers.
- Secretary
- Take minutes of General Assembly and Executive Board meetings.
- Keep accurate attendance records of General Assembly and Executive Board meetings.
- Coordinate room reservations for General Assembly and Executive Board meetings.
- Check the URG mailbox weekly.
- Coordinate and distribute weekly General Assembly meeting agendas.
- Maintain current and accurate contact information lists for all Executive Board and General Assembly members.
- Meet monthly with the Building Council secretaries.
- Maintain responsibility for archiving pictures, updating a website, and organizing presentations.
- National Communications Coordinator
- Serve as the URG liaison to NACURH and CAACURH.
- Lead delegations to NACURH, CAACURH, and CAACURH No-Frills conferences.
- Re-affiliate URG with NACURH at the annual NACURH conference.
- Maintain good standing of URG with NACURH.
- Utilize NACURH services and educate Executive Board and General Assembly members about NACURH and its services.
- Director of Resident Advocacy
- Encourage resident and URG communication.
- Follow up with concerns expressed by the resident community.
- Analyze the concerns of resident students and facilitate their solution.
- Increase communication channels at General Assembly meeting between residents and URG.
- Express the opinion of URG to the University Administration.
- Director of Special Projects
- Coordinate all campus-wide URG programming, including at least one (1) community service event per month.
- Serve as chair of the Special Projects committee.
- Use programs as an opportunity to increase URG awareness.
- Work with other organizations at Towson University to plan joint-events.
- Propose a tentative program proposal that details tentative events for the entire year to the General Assembly by October 1.
- On a semester basis, create and distribute to the campus the program proposal detailing URG-sponsored events for that semester.
- Director of Recognition
- Serve as liaison between the Towson University Chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH) and the University Residence Government.
- Implement the NRHH Of-the-Month Program into the University Residence Government.
- Coordinate Regional and National award bids with the National Communications Coordinator and the NRHH President.
- Coordinate and/or collaborate Resident Assistant Appreciation Day, Building Supervisor Appreciation Week, and Maintenance Appreciation Day.
- Complete monthly Building Council recognition activities in conjunction with the Director of Building Council Relations.
- Plan the URG end-of-the-year banquet.
- Fulfill duties as outlined in the National Residence Hall Honorary Constitution.
- Advisor
- Attend Executive Board and General Assembly meeting regularly.
- Meet regularly with President and Treasurer.
- Provide guidance and advice to URG members and Executive Board.
- Serve as a resource in communicating with the University Administration.
Section 4 - Elections and Appointments
- The President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, National Communications Coordinator, Director of Resident Advocacy, and Director of Special Projects shall be elected to office in a campus-wide election in March in which all URG members are eligible to stand for election and vote.
- The Director of Recognition shall be the URG liaison elected by the National Residence Hall Honorary. The President-elect shall appoint this individual as Director of Recognition for the next academic year following the National Residence Hall Honorary Executive Board elections. The Director of Recognition shall serve a one-year term.
- All elected officials and the Director of Recognition shall be sworn into office at the end-of-the-year banquet for a one year term.
Section 5 – Impeachment and Removal
- URG Executive Board officers and representatives may be removed for but not limited to the following reasons:
- Failing to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of the office
- Behavior which is detrimental to the organization, inappropriate or unbecoming of an officer.
- The procedure for the impeachment of an Executive Board member shall be as follows:
- Any voting member of the General Assembly or Building Council member may initiate removal proceedings against any URG Executive Board member by submitting written charges to the President and the Advisor of URG. In the case that the President is the member to be impeached, the Vice President should receive the written charges.
- At the next General Assembly meeting, the charges against the Executive Board member shall be read. This hearing and the next hearing for a vote of the General Assembly shall be closed to everyone except the voting members of the General Assembly and the Executive Board unless all parties agree otherwise, or unless the appearance of the a witness is necessary.
- At the second General Assembly meeting, the Executive Board member shall be removed upon a two-third (2/3) vote. The General Assembly shall vote by secret ballot.
Section 6 - Vacancy
If the office of the President becomes vacant, the Vice President shall assume the position of President. If any other Executive Board position becomes vacant, the President shall nominate a replacement subject to confirmation by a majority vote of the General Assembly.
Section 7 – Officer Requirements
Individuals running for an executive board position must:
- Have lived on campus for at least two (2) semesters;
- Intend to live on campus for the following academic year if elected;
- Maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.5.
Section 8 – Compensation
- The President shall receive a stipend of $200 per month.
- The Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, National Communications Coordinator, Director of Resident Advocacy, Director of Special Projects, and Director of Recognition shall receive a stipend of $150 per month.
Back to the top ARTICLE VIII – Committees
Section 1 – Permanent Committees
The following committees are established permanently and are created to advance the responsibilities of the Executive Board member chairing the committee:
- Leadership Council
The Executive Board President shall chair this committee and the Building Council Presidents shall serve as members on this committee.
- Public Relations Committee
The Executive Board Vice President shall chair this committee and the Building Council Vice Presidents shall serve as members on this committee.
- Finance Committee
The Executive Board Treasurer shall chair this committee and the Building Council Treasurers shall serve as members on this committee.
- Special Projects Committee
The Director of Special Projects shall chair this committee and at least one Building Representative from each Building Council shall serve on this committee. Any URG member can serve as a member of this committee.
- Resident Advocacy Committee
The Director of Resident Advocacy shall chair this committee and at least one Building Representative from each Building Council shall serve on this committee. Any URG member can serve as a member of this committee.
- Recognition Committee
The Director of Recognition shall chair this committee and at least one Building Representative from each Building Council shall serve on this committee. Any URG member can serve a member of this committee.
Section 2 – Ad Hoc Committees
The President has authority to establish committees as necessary to more effectively promote URG and its purpose.
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ARTICLE IX – Affiliation
The Towson URG shall be affiliated with the following organizations:
- the Towson University Chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary, referred to as NRHH;
- the Central Atlantic Association of College and University Residence Halls, referred to CAACURH;
- the National Association of College and University Residence Halls, referred to as NACURH.
- the Student Government Association, referred to as SGA.
Back to the top ARTICLE X – Parliamentary Authority
The rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern URG in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws and any special rules of order URG may adopt.
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ARTICLE XI – Ratification and Amendments
Section 1 - Ratification
This constitution shall be presented to the General Assembly one (1) week prior to ratification. The constitution shall be ratified and adopted by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the General Assembly.
Section 2 – Amendments
- All amendments must be presented in writing to the General Assembly at least one week prior to consideration.
- Any amendment must be approved by a 2/3 majority vote.
Section 3 - Review of Constitution
The URG constitution shall be reviewed by an appointed committee every three years. An appointed member of the URG Executive Board shall chair this committee and appointed Building Council Members and Representatives will serve on this committee. Any URG member can serve as a member of this committee. The members of this committee shall be appointed for one year terms every three years.
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