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CONSTITUTION OF THE ACACIA GROUP
ARTICLE I: NAME AND PURPOSE OF THE ORGANIZATION
Section 1 The
name of this organization shall be The Acacia Group.
Section 2 The purposes of this
organization are to provide opportunities for association and interaction with
faculty and fellow students in the English and Comparative Literature
Department, to provide and open forum for discussions of literature and
literary criticism, and to prepare graduate and undergraduate students in
English and Comparative Literature for the M.A. exam, doctoral studies, and
professional careers.
ARTICLE II: REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMBERSHIP AND SELECTION OF MEMBERS
Section 1 Membership in this
organization shall not be denied to any student at California State University,
Fullerton on the basis of race, creed, religion, gender, political affiliation,
sexual orientation or physical handicap.
Section 2 There shall be two types
of membership in the organization:
voting and honorary.
Section 3: Voting membership is limited
to regularly enrolled (non-extended
education)
students.
Section 4: Any eligible CSU, Fullerton
student who completes and signs a membership application and pays membership
shall be deemed a voting member upon filing of the application.
Section 5: All faculty members of the
Department of English and Comparative Literature shall be deemed honorary
members of the organization. Honorary
membership may also be conferred upon individuals who have rendered outstanding
service to the organization, contingent upon a majority vote of the voting
membership.
Section 6: Any member may be suspended
or expelled from the organization for conduct obviously contrary to the
constitution of the organization or for conduct that grossly impairs the rights
of the members to enjoy the benefits of the organization.
Any alleged
offense must be documented in writing and submitted to the officers by a
member. After the offense is submitted
to the organization, the offending member shall have the right to a 24 hour
notice of a hearing before his/her peers at a meeting of the organization and
may be suspended or expelled only upon the consenting vote of two-thirds of the
voting members present.
Section 1: The elected officers of the
organization shall be the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, and
others as deemed necessary. The term of
office will be one year, beginning July 1st.
Section 2: Powers and Duties of
Officers:
a.
a. The President shall preside
at all meetings of the organization.
(S)he shall be the official spokesperson of the organization,
representing the policies, views, and opinions of the organization in its
relations with the campus community at large and shall have such further powers
and duties as may be prescribed by the organization.
b.
b. The Vice-President shall preside
at organization meetings in the absence of the President. (S)he shall perform such duties as assigned
by the President. (S)he shall coordinate
the organization’s representation at all DAC meetings.
c.
c. The Treasurer shall handle
all financial affairs and budgeting of the organization. (S)he shall maintain bank accounts in the
organization’s name, requiring signatures of authorized members for
disbursements.
d.
d. The Secretary shall take minutes
at all officer’s meetings, keep those on file, and maintain copies. (S)he shall make copies of the minutes
available to members of the organization upon request. (S)he shall be responsible for mailing lists
and all correspondence through the mail.
(S)he shall notify all members of meetings of the organization and, in
the name of the President, extend invitations to guest speakers.
Section 3: Officer
qualifications:
a.
a.
Must be a regularly enrolled (non-extended education) student in good
standing at CSU, Fullerton.
b.
b.
Must be carrying a minimum of three units per semester at CSU,
Fullerton and have a cumulative
grade point average of no less than 2.5.
Section 4: Officers
may be dismissed for cause. Petition by
one-third of the total
number of voting members is cause
for a recall election. The alleged
offense must be documented in writing and submitted to the organization by a
member. After the officer has been
notified of the petition, a minimum of 48 hours must elapse before the
hearing. A recall election shall be
conducted as a special election. Recall
requires an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the voting membership.
Section 5: In the event that an elected officer is
unable to fulfill his/her term of officer, there will be a special election to
fill the vacancy. Any eligible graduate
student, including those already holding office, may be nominated for a vacant
office.
Section 1: Regular meetings are scheduled at least
once a month during the academic year, with the exception of January.
Section 2: Special
meetings are called by an officer. All
members must be given
a minimum of 24 hours
notice, weekends and holidays excluded., prior to the meeting time.
Section 3: Business cannot be conducted unless a
quorum of the membership is present.
Quorum for the organization is defined as 51% of the voting membership.
Section 1: Officers
are elected once a year. Elections are
held in the month of May.
Section 2: At
least one week’s notice shall be provided prior to any election.
Section 3: Votes
will be cast by secret ballot and counted by an unbiased committee.
Section 4: A candidate must receive 51% of the
votes of if necessary run off elections must be held.
Section 1: Any faculty member in the Department of
English and Comparative Literature who is employed on a more than half-time
basis at CSU,
Fullerton, may serve as
advisor to this organization.
Section 2: The advisor shall serve a term of one
year and will be selected at the same time as the officers. Although re-election is required annually,
there shall be no limit on the number of terms that may be served.
Section 3: The advisor may be removed from office
by a two-thirds vote of the voting membership at a regular or special meeting.
Section 4: A staff member from the Dean of
Students Office or a School Based Assistant Dean may be assigned to work with
this organization to assist the faculty advisor and organization.
Section 1: The officers of the organization have
the authority to assess dues from the
membership. Dues may be assessed on either an annual or
semester-by-semester basis. The amount
of dues shall be based on the needs of the organization. Dues shall be
collected by the Treasurer.
Section 2: All money must be deposited into an
Associated Students, Incorporated Accounting Office agency account.
Section 1: Proposed constitutional amendments and
changes shall be presented to the organization, in writing, one meeting
before this amendment is voted on.
Section 2: Approval by two-thirds of the voting
members present at a meeting or responding by email shall pass a proposed
change. The change shall be put into
effect immediately unless otherwise stipulated in the amendment.
Section 3: A copy of this constitution/by-laws
and/or amendments to this constitution must be filed in the Dean of Students
Office at CSU Fullerton.
Section 1: In the event the Acacia Group should become defunct, all assets will be turned over to the CSU, Fullerton Arboretum and Camp Titan.
Section 1: The Acacia Group is not affiliated with
any other organization at CSU, Fullerton nor with any national council or
association.
Section 1: The
Acacia Group accepts Roberts Rules of Order (newly revised) as its
Rules
of Order.
Section 2: Any issue not directly written in this
document will be resolved by referring to the Rules of Order.
Section 1.
This constitution was approved on September 26, 2005.
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