Preamble
The Pakistani Students Association at the
University
of Michigan, Ann Arbor, is a non-profit student based
organization
committed to promoting cooperation and fellowship among students of
Pakistani origin.
Article I: Name
The name of the organization shall be the Pakistani Students'
Association, the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, Michigan,
hereinafter referred to as the Association, with its office in Ann Arbor,
Michigan.
Article II: Purpose
The purposes of the Association are as follows:
Article III: Membership
Section 1: Membership and participation shall be free of discrimination
based on race, religion, ethnic group, national origin, handicap, or
sex.
Section 2: Regular membership shall be open to all students duly
registered at the University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor.
Section 3: Core
membership shall be open to all students who have paid Association dues
before February 15th of the academic year for which they are
applying membership for.
Section 4: Associate membership shall be open to alumni of the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, and to any person of Pakistani origin
who has previously been duly registered as a student in the United States and is residing in Michigan. Associate
members may not vote or hold office, but may have all other privileges
of a regular member.
Section 5: Dependents of members under Article III sections 2,3, and 4,
shall automatically be eligible for associate membership of the
Association.
Section 6: Honorary membership of the Association may be extended or
conferred on approval by a majority vote of the Association, to any
individual member of the faculty and/or staff of the University,
individual citizens of the Ann Arbor community or any foreign or native
visitor in recognition of his/her services to Pakistan or the
Association or in appreciation of his/her interest in the programs and
activities of the Association. Such members shall not be required to pay
any dues and may not vote or hold office.
Article IV: The Executive Board
Section 1: Composition
The Executive Board of the Association will be elected by the
Association and shall consist of the following:
The Executive Chair, Admin Vice Chair, Finance Vice Chair, Internal
Social Vice Chair, and two External Affairs co-Chairs.
Section 2: Function and Powers
2.1: The executive power shall remain in the Executive Board unless
delegated by the Executive Board to specific officer, officers or
subcommittee(s).
2.2: The function of the Executive Board shall be to discuss and
deliberate on questions of general policy and to vote upon matters of
executive policy to be presented by the President. The Executive Board
shall also, collectively and separately, carry out the policies
formulated and assist the Executive Chair in the fulfillment of his/her
duties.
2.3: The Executive Board shall decide over cases of overlapping
jurisdiction and competence among its members.
2.4: The Executive Board shall appoint such sub-committees or co-op ad
hoc members as are deemed necessary to assist them in the performance of
their duties.
2.5: The Executive
Board shall assign a webmaster to update and maintain the Association’s
website.
Section 3: Voting and Quorum
3.1: Six members of the Executive Board shall constitute a quorum.
3.2: Each member of the Executive Board shall have one vote.
3.3: In case of a tie, the Executive Chair will exercise a casting vote.
3.4: The members of the Executive Board shall comply with and support
actively a majority decision of the Executive Board.
Section 4: Vacancies
If a vacancy occurs in any office of the Executive Board it shall be
filled by election by the Association for the remaining term of the
incumbent.
Section 5: Term of Office
The members of the Executive Board will hold office until the following
elections, which normally should be held not later than twelve months
from the date of the previous elections.
Article V: The Executive Chair
Section 1: Any member of the Association, subject to Article III Section
3, is eligible for election to this office.
Section 2: The Executive Chair will coordinate and designate weekly
board meetings according to the schedules of the board members and will
be responsible for leading these meetings.
Section 3: The Executive Chair shall be responsible for all reports on
the activities of the Association.
Section 4: The Executive Chair shall have all Executive powers that are
not assigned to other office-bearers and will be responsible for dealing
with any instance of disagreement amongst the Executive Board,
especially disagreement regarding the designation of a specific
responsibility.
Section 5: The Executive Chair shall officially represent the
Association in all external matters unless he/she designates another
member of the Executive Board to do so in his/her behalf.
Section 6: The
Executive Chair shall act as the official spokesperson for the
Association.
Section 7: The
Executive Chair shall make sure that the Association is a financially
sound institution.
Article VI: The Internal Social Vice Chair
Section 1: Any member of the Association, subject to Article III is
eligible for election to this office.
Section 2: The Internal Social Vice Chair will organize and manage all
internal social events and logistics.
Section 3: The
Internal Social Vice Chair will arrange cultural, sporting, and
informative events that are both beneficial to the Pakistani community
and student body.
Section 4: The Internal Social Vice Chair will work in collaboration
with the Admin Vice Chair and Finance Vice Chair, to book rooms and
arrange funding respectively.
Section 5: The
Internal Social Vice Chair shall deal with the complaints and wishes of
the members of the Association and serve as a liaison between the
members the Executive Board.
Article VII: External Affairs Co-Chairs
Section 1: Any member of the Association, subject to Article III is
eligible for election to this office.
Section 2: The External Affairs Co-Chairs are responsible for making
sure that this organization is as much for the
University
of Michigan
community as it is for its members.
Section 3: The External Affairs Co-Chairs will be responsible for the
initial planning, correspondence, and organization of any affair of the
Association designated to him/her by the Executive Chair and/or the
Executive Board that deals with exporting Pakistani/Pakistani-American
culture outside the organization.
Section 4: The External Affairs Co-Chairs responsibilities include
affairs that are social, political and cultural in nature.
Section 5: The External Affairs Co-Chairs will be responsible for any
events/affairs that are in collaboration with other organizations.
Article VIII: The Finance Vice Chair
Section 1: Any member of the Association, subject to Article III is
eligible for election to this office.
Section 2: The Vice Chair (Finance) will administer the finances of the
Association and shall have the power to receive and make payments in the
name of the Association.
Section 3: The Vice Chair (Finance) shall maintain satisfactory records
of all financial transactions, and shall make periodic and annual
reports of the finances of the Association to the Executive Board.
Section 4: The Vice Chair (Finance) shall be responsible for seeking
funds from university organizations as well as seeking out alternative
funding resources. This includes seeking out sponsors for both internal
and external events.
Section 5: The Vice Chair (Finance) will be responsible for recruiting
new members and collecting membership fees, as well as recording the
dates that members have paid Association dues.
Article IX: The Administration Vice Chair
Section 1: Any member of the Association, subject to Article III is
eligible for election to this office.
Section 2: The Vice Chair (Admin) will moderate the exchange of emails
for the Association.
Section 3: The Vice Chair (Admin) will take notes during executive board
meetings.
Section 4: The Vice Chair (Admin) must work with the Webmaster and shall
be responsible for maintaining and updating the website.
Section 5: The Vice Chair (Admin) will be responsible for booking rooms
for events.
Section 6: The Vice
Chair (Admin) will be responsible for preparing documents related for
the Association’s events.
Section 7: The Vice
Chair (Admin) will be responsible for updating the Association’s current
directory of members.
Section 8: The Vice
Chair (Admin) will be responsible for updating the Association’s alumni
database.
Section 9: The Vice
Chair (Admin) will keep an up to date record of all University
regulations concerning student organizations, and provide the
Association’s members with this information.
Article X: Elections
Section 1: The outgoing Executive Board will select the Election
Committee who shall supervise the elections.
Section 2: The
Election Committee must comprise of a minimum three members from the
current Executive Board who are not running for office for the following
year. If this criteria cannot be met, MSA election officials will
oversee the election.
Section 3: The
election will be held at the Annual General Meeting called by the
Executive Board not later than twelve months after the previous
election.
Section 4: Only
Core members, as described in Article III, Section 3 are eligible to
vote for the Executive Chair position.
Section 5: Only
Regular and Core members, as described in Article III, Section 2 and 3
respectively, are eligible to vote for the Admin Vice Chair, Finance
Vice Chair, Internal Social Vice Chair, and External Affairs co-Chairs
positions.
Section 6: The election will be by two secret ballots. One will be for
the Executive Chair position, and the other ballot will be used for all
other Executive Board positions.
Section 7: The
election will be held in person.
Section 8: A simple majority will determine election to an office. In
case of a tie for any position, elections will be held again for that
position with only those who have received the same amount of votes for
that position on the ballot.
Section 9: All members with the exception of those described in Article
III section 6, are required to pay a membership fee as determined by the
Executive Board.
Article XII: Amendments
Amendments to the Constitution may be made at a general meeting of the
Association by a two-thirds majority of the members present. Any
proposed amendment should be intimated in writing to the Executive Board
at least one month before any such meeting.
Article XIII: Miscellaneous Provisions
Section 1: Notice of all meetings shall be given at least two days in
advance.
Section 2: Notice for meetings under Article XII, shall be given at
least seven days in advance.
Section 3: Meeting of the Association shall be held at least twice every
semester and ordinary business transactions, if any, shall be taken up.
Section 4: The Admin Vice Chair subject to concurrence of the Executive
Vice Chair shall call emergency meetings at any time with at least
twenty-four hours notice.
Section 5: In case of members desiring to call an extraordinary meeting,
the Vice Chair (Admin) shall summon such a meeting on written
requisition by a majority of members of the Association. Decisions
passed at this meeting shall have the same force as those passed at any
other meeting.
Section 6: At least one-third of the total membership of the Association
shall form a quorum for any business meeting.
Section 7: In case of dissatisfaction with the working of the Executive
Board or any member thereof, a motion of no confidence may be brought
against them/him/her in a special meeting of the Association provided
such motion has been signed by at least one-third of the membership of
the Association and approved by a majority of two-thirds of the total
membership of the Association.
Associated Bylaws
001
If an executive board member is absent from two regularly scheduled
Executive Board meetings in one semester, he/she may be
excused from office by the Executive Chair. For Vacancy see Article IV
Section 4
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