The Constitution of the Hellenic Student Association
(as ratified in April 2002)

Article I: Name

The name of this association shall be "Hellenic Student Association," hereinafter also referred to as "HSA."

Article II: Purpose
Section 1: Mission Statement

The Hellenic Student Association aims to represent and showcase Hellenism on the University of Michigan campus; to encourage a diverse student membership (as defined in Article III); and give members the opportunity to be immersed in Hellenic culture. Hellenism is defined as the cultural heritage of Hellenes both in Homeland and Diaspora.

Section 2: Minimum activity commitment

It is the minimum requirement of the HSA Board and its committees (mentioned hereinafter) to organize per year:

• Two social events.
• Two cultural events.
• Maintain an up-to-date HSA website, serving current and prospective members, as well as sponsor(s).

Article III: Membership

HSA shall have two types of members: Associate and Full members. Any person, identifying with the HSA mission statement is eligible for membership.
Anyone who requests to be added to the HSA mailing list shall be considered as an Associate member of the association.
An Associate member who pays the membership fee, as set by the HSA Board, shall be considered as a Full member of the Association.

1. Only Full members can vote for HSA related issues, and participate in the elections.
2. Faculty Advisors or Staff Advisors are automatically considered Full members

Article IV: The HSA Board
Section 1: Definitions and Eligibility

The HSA Board shall be the administrative and executive body of HSA.
It shall consist of eight elected Regular Members and Members At-large. Only Full members are eligible to be Regular Board members.

1. Regular Board members only have the right to vote on board decisions.

The H.S.A. Board will be responsible for maintaining the following Committees:

• Cultural Committee, which shall be led by the Cultural Chair (see Article V, Section 1).
• Social Committee, which shall be led by the Social Chair (see Article V, Section 1).
• Athletics Committee, which shall be led by the Athletics Chair (see Article V, Section 1).
• Networking Committee which shall be led by the Networking Chair (see Article V, Section 1).

Members At-large do not have voting rights on Board decisions. The board may change the number and types of committees when they see fit.

Section 2: Board Meetings

1. Any Board Member can propose to call or cancel a Board Meeting. The President shall call meetings as deemed necessary in order to conduct the activities of the Association, and the meeting's place and time shall be publicized at least two days in advance.
2. The President or Vice-President shall preside over HSA Board meetings and can cast the decisive vote in case of a tie.
3. The quorum of the HSA Board meetings shall be four Regular members for the Fall and Winter Terms and three for Spring and Summer Half-Terms.
4. Any member of HSA shall be able to attend the Board meetings. A Full member shall also be able to ask for a topic to be put on the agenda. The minutes of each Board meeting shall be publicized.
5. Board Meetings shall be held at least triweekly during Fall and Winter Terms and at least once during Spring and once during Summer Half Terms.

Section 3: Responsibilities

1. The HSA Board shall supervise admission of new members and maintain the mailing lists of the Association.
2. The HSA Board shall determine the annual membership fee in the beginning of each academic year.
3. The HSA Board shall be responsible for the planning and organizing of all events of HSA.
4. The HSA Board and HSA Faculty Advisor(s) shall be the "guardians" of this constitution.
5. All HSA Board members shall report to the rest all of the acts they do for the sake or in the name of HSA. All activities, decisions and procedures of the HSA Board shall be clear and every member has the right to question the HSA Board about them.

Article V: Officers
Section 1: Rights and Duties of Officers and Members-at-large

The rights and duties of officers and members-at-large shall be:

1. President: The President shall call, preside and set, in collaboration with the Secretary, the agenda of the Board and General Assembly meetings. He or she shall serve as the contact person for the Association. He or she shall cast the decisive vote in case of a draw. He or she shall act as a chief executive ensuring that the Board's business gets accomplished.
2. Vice-President: The Vice-President shall share the responsibilities of the President and shall take over all duties of the President in case of his or her absence or when there is conflict of interest.
3. Secretary: The Secretary shall keep minutes of all meetings and handle the correspondence of HSA, after HSA Board notification. In addition he or she puts together the agenda of the meetings along with the President, keeps the membership records and cards and the archive of HSA.
4. Treasurer: The Treasurer shall be responsible for the finances of HSA. He or she shall maintain detailed financial records of all HSA financial activity. He or she along with the President can disburse up to $50 without prior Board approval but have to notify the Board afterwards. For amounts higher than $50 a simple majority Board decision is required.
5. Cultural Chair: The Cultural Chair reports to the Board and executes all necessary actions to organize a cultural event.
6. Social Chair: Social Chair reports to the Board and executes all necessary actions to organize a social event.
7. Athletics Chair: Athletics Chair reports to the Board and executes all necessary actions to organize an athletic event.
8. Networking Chair: Networking Chair reports to the Board and maintains an open communication with relevant Organizations.
9. Members-at-large: Members-at-large shall assist in organizing HSA activities. They are appointed by the Board, which also sets their responsibilities. They shall report all of their activities to the Board.

Section 2: Vacancies in Offices

1. Any member of the HSA Board can resign by submitting a written letter of resignation to the Board.
2. Failure of a Board Member to attend three successive Board meetings without an acceptable prior notification or excuse by the board is grounds for an automatic suspension of his/her Board membership for the rest of the Term.
   Term is defined as the period between two successive regular elections (see Article V, Section 3)
3. One third of HSA Full members or one third of HSA Board members can submit a proposal to impeach one other HSA member. The proposal upon simple majority approval of the Board shall state the cause of the impeachment. HSA Board shall bring the proposal to the General Assembly for decision. Two-thirds majority vote of the General Assembly will decide the outcome of the impeachment process. A potential suspension from HSA Board or HSA membership shall be effective immediately after the General Assembly decision.
4. In the event of a vacancy in the office of President, Vice-President, Treasurer or Secretary, the vacancy shall be filled after internal Board election until a new officer is elected (see Article V, Section 3, Paragraph 6).
5. More than 4 vacancies are grounds for automatic suspension of the current Board and call for immediate elections for the vacant positions.

Section 3: Election of Regular Board members

1. The Regular Board Members of the HSA shall serve for one yearterm (defined at Article V, Section 2, Paragraph 2) and shall be elected by the General Assembly. The newly elected HSA Board members shall take office two weeks after their election.
2. The regular elections are held annually. The President shall call the elections at a date specified by the Board.
3. The Elections are presided by the Election Chair who ensures that the elections run according this constitution and is appointed by the Board and shall not have the right to run for office.
4. To be eligible for candidacy for a Board position, the candidate shall be a Full member of HSA for at least one week prior to the elections.
5. Only members established at least one week prior to the election date have the right to vote.
6. Candidates shall be nominated by at least two Full members of HSA. A candidate shall be able to nominate him or herself.
7. To be elected, a candidate must receive the plurality of all votes cast by the Full members present at the General Assembly meeting. In the case that the plurality-winning candidate has got less than two fifths of the votes, there will be a runoff second election between the two front-runners.
8. Voting takes place by a secret ballot procedure and proxy voting is not allowed.
9. Impeachment suspended Board members shall never be eligible to run for a Board position again.
10. The two Elected Board members who got the least votes in the April election shall serve only up to the next Regular election of October.
11. The sequence of the elections is the same as in Article 5 Section 1. The Vice-President must be pursuing a different level of degree than the President. The two levels are defined, as Undergraduate students who are students pursuing a bachelor's degree; and Graduate Students who are defined as students who are pursuing any other post bachelor's degree.

Article VI: General Assembly
Section 1: Regular Assemblies

Upon recommendation of the Board, the President shall call the Regular General Assembly of the HSA at least twice a year.

Section 2: Special Assemblies

Special General Assembly meetings have to be called if requested by five Regular members of the Board or by one fifth of Full members of H.S.A.

Section 3: Conduct of General Assemblies

1. The General Assembly shall be the final decision making body of the Association.
2. Invitations shall be sent to all members of the Association by electronic mail at least one week prior to the meeting.
3. To be in quorum one fifth of all Full members shall be present. In addition at least two thirds of the Full members present have to be University of Michigan students.
4. All Full members present shall have one vote each.
5. Associate members may attend General Meetings.

Article VII: Amendments

The text of a proposed amendment shall be submitted to all Full members of the Hellenic Student Association at least three days prior to a General Assembly and shall be distributed in printed form at the meeting. The amendment shall take effect if it receives at least two thirds of the votes of Full members present.

Article VIII: Application

When common sense dictates that the application of any provision of this constitution would contradict the purpose of the Hellenic Student Association, as stated in Article II, then the spirit, rather than the letter, of this constitution shall govern its interpretation.

Article IX: Ratification

1. This constitution shall be ratified upon acceptance by two thirds of the Full members present and voting at a General Assembly of HSA.
2. Upon ratification, this constitution shall go into effect immediately.

Article X: Final Provision

The Hellenic Student Association at the University of Michigan agrees to abide by the rules and regulations of the Michigan Student Assembly (MSA). This constitution is subject to the MSA, and the bylaws of this Association shall be subject to review by the MSA Executive Committee to insure that they are in accordance with the aforementioned rules and regulations.