Constitution

1. Membership
1. Non-Members
1. Eligibility
1. All persons who do not have at least Basic Membership are considered non-members.
2. Privileges
1. Non-members may attend the general meetings.
2. Non-members may go with the club on trips, provided they pay for all expenses incurred, and there is officer approval to allow them to join the trip.
3. Non-members may attend non-trip SEDS events with officer approval.
4. Non-members may have access to the SEDS office unless a majority of keyholders vote to ban them from the office.
5. Non-members may be added to the listserv.
2. Basic Membership
1. Eligibility
1. Basic membership is granted to all interested parties in good academic standing who attend at least one club meeting, special project meeting, or non-event trip per semester.
2. Basic membership may alternatively be granted by a majority vote of officers.
2. Privileges
1. All basic members are granted all privileges afforded to non-members.
2. Basic members may accompany the club on any club trip (at a cost to be determined by the Trip Coordinator.)
3. Basic members may have access to the SEDS office during times when a key-holder is present.
4. Basic members may work on SEDS projects.
5. Basic members may attend any non-trip SEDS event.
6. Basic members may attend SEDS officer meetings.
7. Basic members may run for SEDS National positions, and may receive SEDS National benefits.
3. Full Membership
1. Eligibility
1. All basic members are eligible for full membership provided they pay club dues as described in section 7.1.
2. At the beginning of each semester, all members who were full members the previous semester retain their position as full members until the second general meeting of the semester. Any members who are not current on their dues by the that time will be considered basic members.
2. Privileges
1. Full members are granted all privileges afforded to basic members.
2. Full members may vote in officer elections.
3. Full members may vote for constitution changes.
4. Full members may run for officer positions.
5. Full members are eligible for full or partial discounts on SEDS-related items.
6. Full members may go on trips at reduced cost.
7. Full members may store items in the SEDS office as per the current office policy.
8. Full members may hold a project leader position.
9. Full members may become a telescope operator.
4. Officers
1. Eligibility
1. All full members are eligible for officer positions.
2. All officers must at all times fulfill the duties of their office. Failure to do so will result in an initiation of recall procedures as described in section 4.2.
3. All officers must at all times fulfill the requirements of full members. Failure to do so will result in an initiation of recall procedures as described in section 4.2.
4. The President, Treasurer, and Technology Officer must accept keyholder responsibilities.
2. Privileges
1. Officers may attend officer meetings.
2. Officers may participate in officer votes.
3. Officers may send messages to the general and officer listservs.
4. Officers may be granted additional privileges as described in section 2.1.
5. Officers may hold keys to the SEDS office given advisor approval.
2. Officers
1. Main Officers
1. General
1. The term for all officers is one year.
2. There are no term limits for officers.
3. All officers must at all times fulfill the requirements of full members. Failure to do so will result in an initiation of recall procedures as described in section 4.2.
4. The hierarchy of officers is as follows: President, Trip Coordinator, Communications Officer, Technology Officer, Treasurer, National Chapter Representative.
5. If an officer is temporarily unable to perform a required function (for example, holding a scheduled meeting,) that task is given to the highest ranking officer.
6. Each officer is responsible for their respective duties, however it is not required (though it is recommended) that all duties are performed by that officer.
2. President
1. Duties
1. The president will act as a liaison between the club and university administration.
2. The president will organize new SEDS events and opportunities, with the exception of trips.
3. The president will plan, organize, and run all general meetings.
4. The president will take attendance at all general meetings.
5. The president will organize and run all officer meetings.
6. The president shall send to the appropriate listserv email reminders for both officer and general meetings between 24 and 72 hours prior to the meeting.
7. The president shall insure all officers and specialty managers are fulfilling their duties.
8. In the event of a vacant officer position, the president is responsible for ensuring that officer's duties are carried out, either directly or through delegation.
9. In the absence of a national chapter representative, the president shall assume those duties.
3. Trip Coordinator
1. Duties
1. With the support of the other officers the trip coordinator shall plan the number, location, and cost of SEDS trips throughout the semester.
2. The trip coordinator shall make all arrangements necessary for the execution of the trip.
3. During a planned trip, the trip coordinator is responsible for all trip-related decisions. If the trip coordinator is unable to participate in a planned trip, trip based decisions made mid-trip shall fall to the highest ranking attending officer. If no officers are capable of attending the trip, it must be cancelled or rescheduled.
4. The trip coordinator shall send out an email reminder 24 to 72 hours prior to any day trip. Additionally, the trip coordinator must send another email reminder between one and one and a half weeks prior to any trip requiring at least a one night stay.
4. Communications Officer
1. Duties
1. The communications officer is responsible for recruiting new members through the use of advertising and promotional materials.
2. The communications officer is responsible for producing all required SEDS media (brochures, fliers, webpage content, calendar of events, etc.)
3. The communications officer shall take minutes of both officer and general meetings and post them to the SEDS website within 72 hours.
5. Technology Officer
1. Duties
1. The technology officer shall maintain the SEDS website including the forums.
2. The technology officer shall maintain the proper working condition of all computers and computer related hardware in the SEDS office.
3. The technology officer is required to maintain all SEDS listservs and ensure all officers have appropriate access to them.
4. The technology officer shall explore avenues of hardware and software upgrades for the office including surplus auctions and donations.
6. Treasurer
1. Duties
1. The treasurer is responsible for maintaining all SEDS accounts.
2. The treasurer is responsible for maintaining paper records of these accounts and making them available to officers at all times, as well as members as appropriate.
3. The treasurer is responsible for collecting dues and maintaining records of members who have paid dues.
4. The treasurer shall via listserv email apprise all other officers of the financial state of the club on a bi-monthly basis.
5. The treasurer must organize at least two unique fundraising events each semester as agreed upon by the officers (percentage nights, tournaments, sales, etc). These fundraising events must be completed to a level agreed upon by the officers before the fundraiser is fully organized. If the fundraising event fails to meet this level of completion, it does not count towards the two required fundraising events.
6. The treasurer is required to send out reminder emails to the listservs 24 to 72 hours prior to fundraising events.
7. The treasurer is required to abide by any additional financial requirements as defined in the bylaws.
7. National Chapter Representative
1. Duties
1. The chapter representative must attend Council of Chapter meetings as required by SEDS-USA.
2. The chapter representative must act as a liaison between SEDS officers and national exec board by reporting national activities to the officers on a bi-monthly basis.
3. The chapter representative must keep the club informed of opportunities from the national board as they present themselves.
4. The chapter representative must actively lobby the national executive board on our behalf.
2. Specialty Managers
1. General
1. Specialty managers must be full members.
2. Specialty managers must have at least 75% of officer support to be appointed.
3. A specialty manager may be removed from their position by an officer vote of at least 75%.
4. Officers are allowed to hold specialty manager positions.
2. Project Managers
1. At any time throughout the semester the president may call for a project manager to oversee particular projects as they arise (cansat, creation of club t-shirts, etc.)
2. Each project manager is assigned an officer advisor to whom the project manager shall report progress and problems.
3. Each project manager is responsible for the reporting the progress of their project at either general or officer meeting on a bi-monthly basis.
4. Project managers are responsible for the successful completion of the project on time, as defined by the parameters set before the start of the project.
3. Election Official
1. By default the club's advisor acts as the election official as needed.
2. If the club's advisor is not available for this task, then at least three weeks before an officer election, an election official or officials shall be appointed by a unanimous vote of the officers. An ex club officer (who will not be running for office in the next election) is recommended for this roll.
3. If a unanimous vote cannot be reached, then the election official will be appointed by the club advisor.
4. The election official manages the election listserv and tallies the votes at the election.
5. The election official has power of arbitration over election disputes. In the case of an election committee, the arbitration shall be the result of a unanimous agreement of the committee.
4. Educational Outreach
1. Will organize all educational outreach opportunities for the club. Specific duties to be defined by the officers as needed.
3. Elections
1. Election Procedure
1. Timing
1. Officer elections must be held during an official general meeting in the month of April.
2. Additional officer elections may be held at the second meeting of either the Fall or Spring semesters, as per section 3.3.
2. Who may vote
1. Only full members who have attended at least two club meetings and/or special project meetings in the current semester are eligible to vote.
2. Candidates are allowed to vote for themselves.
3. Starting the Election
1. At least three weeks before an officer election, an election official(s) shall be appointed, as described in section 2.2.4.
2. At least three weeks prior to the election, announcements shall be made both via email as well as at a general meeting detailing the requirements for running for office.
3. Candidates may declare intent to run for any office by sending an email to the election official by a date two weeks prior to the election. After all declarations are received, the election official will send the list of candidates to the general listserv.
4. If a candidate is unable to attend the declaration meeting, he may email the election official his intent to run at least one hour prior to the start of the declaration meeting. These absentee declarations are to be publicly read by the election official at the start of the declaration meeting.
5. Candidates may run for no more than two positions per election cycle.
6. Candidates for office may write a statement to be distributed to all voters. These must be received by the election official within one week after declarations, at which time the election official will distribute all statements.
7. Other campaigning methods, as approved by the election official, may be used.
4. Holding the Election
1. On the day of elections, a general meeting will be held, at the beginning of which an anonymous checkbox ballet will be given to all eligible members present.
2. For each position, by order of ascending position rank, a question session of fifteen minutes shall be allotted in which the field of candidates may answer questions asked by the members of the club.
3. At the conclusion of each speech, there will be three minutes for the candidate to entertain questions.
4. After all question sessions are completed, ten minutes will be allowed for the completion of ballots at which time they will be turned into the election official(s).
5. Determining Election Results
1. Once all ballots are received, they will be added to any absentee ballots and will be immediately counted before the club.
2. Once all results are tallied, any ties will immediately be broken through runoff votes between those tied.
3. If a runoff vote does not break the tie, an alternative election will be held between the tied applicants, wherein each member will vote yea or nay for each candidate. Members can vote yea or nay for as many candidates as they wish. The candidate with the most yea votes will be considered the winner of the tie.
4. In the event the tie still cannot be broken, a meeting with the club advisor will be held, and he will cast the deciding vote.
6. Filling officer positions
1. Once all ties are broken, the positions are filled in the order of descending rank.
2. The candidate with the most votes for a given position is given the option of filling that position. They may choose to accept the position, or to cede the option to the candidate with the next highest votes.
3. Once a candidate has accepted an officer position through this process, they are not allowed to accept a second one.
4. If a candidate who has already accepted an officer position has the highest votes for another position, he must cede the option to the candidate with the next highest votes.
5. Once a candidate accepts a position, or all candidates for a position cede the position, the officer for the next position is determined.
6. Newly elected officers assume their roles after the conclusion of spring finals.
2. Absentee Voting
1. Members who are unable to attend the election meeting but who still want to vote may submit absentee ballots to the election official between the time when candidate platforms are distributed up until 1 hour before the start of the election meeting.
2. Absentee ballots will be counted as regular votes during the first round of voting.
3. If subsequent rounds are needed due to ties, only the votes of those members at the meeting in person shall be counted in these subsequent rounds.
3. Empty Positions
1. If no one successfully declares intent to run for a particular officer position as described in section 3.1.3, or if all candidates for a position cede the position during the election, the position will remain open until the fall semester at which time a special election will be held.
2. During the time that a position is not filled, the other officers will assume the duties of the empty position.
3. If, at the start of a semester an officer position is not filled, at the first meeting of that semester, an announcement will be made to the club about a special election to fill the vacant position.
4. This election will follow the rules for a regular officer election, excepting the time it will be held, as well as the number of positions to be filled.
5. This special election will be held at the second general meeting of the semester.
4. ASUA Requirements
1. President
1. ASUA requires that the club have a president. If the position of president is at any time not filled, the highest ranking officer will be considered president in name for purposes of satisfying ASUA.
2. Treasurer
1. ASUA requires that the club have a treasurer, and that the treasurer be someone other than the president. If the position of treasurer is at any time not filled, the highest ranking officer other than the president will be considered treasurer in name for purposes of satisfying ASUA.
4. Removal
1. Removal of Members
1. The club advisor is the only party with the authority to revoke club membership.
2. If a member has his membership revoked, any dues already paid for the current or future semesters shall be refunded.
2. Removal of Officers
1. The club advisor has the authority to remove any officer from their position if he sees fit.
2. Any member may bring to the attention of an officer a request for an officer recall.
3. Once a request is made, the officers must discuss the request at the next officer meeting.
4. If the request is seconded by any officer, then a vote will be held at the next general meeting by full members in attendance whether to recall the officer in question.
5. Each member in attendance (including the officer in question) may take up to 5 minutes to voice the reasons they think that the officer in question should or should not be recalled.
6. A vote will be proctored by an election official as described in section 2.2.3.4.
7. For the vote, members and officers present at the meeting (except the one at risk of recall) will vote yea or nay on secret ballots for recalling the officer.
8. The result for removal is considered successful if 2MY/3(MY+MN)+3OY/4(OY+ON) >= 1, where MY is the number of non-officer members who vote yea, MN is the number of non-officer members who vote nay, OY is the number of officers who vote yea, and ON is the number of officers who vote nay.
9. Once an officer has been recalled, he loses all privileges granted by his position immediately
5. Office Policy
1. Purpose
1. The SEDS office is to be used for the general benefit of the club. It is not to be used for personal gain (including but not limited to storage, meetings, living quarters, borrowing of equipment, etc).
2. Room Privileges
1. Any full member of the club may request unsupervised office privileges from the current officer keyholders. People granted office privileges must abide by rules and responsibilities as posted in the office.
3. Key Privileges
1. Any officer is granted the privilege of holding a room key, subject to advisor approval
2. Special managers may be granted key privileges upon request and subsequent approval of a majority of key-holding officers, subject to advisor approval.
4. Keyholder Responsibilities
1. Anyone who accepts a room key must abide by the rules and responsibilities as posted in the office.
2. Keyholders must hold at least two regular non-overlapping office hours per week to allow members without unsupervised room privileges access to the office.
3. Keyholders are responsible for maintaining the office. This includes, but is not limited to, picking up trash, cleaning surfaces as needed, and replacing/fixing objects as they become damaged.
4. Keyholders are responsible for ensuring that members abide by the rules posted in the office.
6. Financial Policy
1. General Purchases
1. All purchases on behalf of SEDS must be authorized by the president and one other officer or by three other (non presidential) officers.
2. Funds spent by SEDS officers shall be limited to $100 in each month or $50 in one week, except when approved by at least 75% approval by the officers.
3. All purchases must be for the benefit of the club and not for personal gain in any way.
4. Once purchases have been authorized, the transaction from the SEDS accounts for the purchase must be made by either the president or the treasurer.
2. Special Projects
1. For funds that have been set aside for a special project, the designated project manager assumes responsibility for decisions regarding the expenditure of those funds.
2. The project manager must make all purchases related to the special project.
3. Keeping of Funds
1. No club funds shall be stored in the SEDS office. The treasurer must deposit any money to the appropriate account within a time prime of no longer than a week.
7. Miscellaneous
1. Dues
1. Dues for full membership are to be uniform, set by agreement of the officers, and not to exceed $10 per member per semester.
2. The dues amount agreed upon by the officers must be posted in the constitutional bylaws.
3. Dues may be paid for future semesters. For example, a member may pay twice the semester dues at the beginning of each school year.
4. Dues for the current semester may not be refunded unless the member is forcibly removed from the club. Dues for future semesters may be refunded at the member's request.
2. Listservs
1. The following listservs must be maintained at all times: a general member listserv (comprising all current members and advisors) as well as an officer listserv (comprising all officers).
2. Officers may post any directly SEDS related material to the listservs (meeting announcements, trip announcements, etc).
3. The ability to send unmoderated messages to the listserv may be revoked should the technology officer or president feel that it is being abused.
4. Any club member or faculty member may request a non-SEDS related message to be sent to the general listserv, subject to approval by the president.
3. Advisor Role
1. The advisor's primary role is to assist the officers in their duties by providing contact and resource information to the officers.
2. It is up to the officers to utilize the advisor and the resources he provides.
3. In the event that there is an irresolvable disagreement between officers, the advisor is to be the final arbiter.
4. It is the officers' responsibility to set up a meeting with the advisor once per semester to provide updates to them on the status of the club.
6. A unanimous vote of officers is required to change faculty club advisors. Before such a change is made, a new faculty advisor must be found and unanimously agreed upon by the officers.
4. Date of Adoption
1. This constitution was officially adopted by the club on October 24, 2007 CE.
5. Statement of Club Objectives
1. The objectives of this organization are to promote the exploration and development of space by educating people about the benefits of space, inspiring people through our involvement in space-related projects and trips, providing an opportunity for members to develop their leadership skills while networking with space industry leaders, and volunteering at space and science related activities.
6. Statement of University Basing
1. This is a campus based and student controlled group.
7. Non-Discrimination Statement
1. This organization shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, disability or handicap, religion, sexual orientation, disabled veteran's status or Vietnam era veteran's status in any of its policies, procedures, and practices. This policy will include, but is not limited to recruiting, membership, organization activities, or opportunity to hold office.
2. This organization recognizes the grammatical inconsistencies in the above statement, and wishes that ASUA allowed editing of it.
8. Statement of Non-Hazing
1. This organization will not conspire to engage in hazing, participate in hazing, or commit any act that causes or is likely to cause bodily danger, physical harm or personal degradation, or disgrace resulting in physical or metal harm to any fellow student or person attending the institution."
2. In addition to not committing acts that are likely to cause metal harm to a fellow student or person attending the institution, as required by ASUA, this organization will also take the additional step of not committing any act that is likely to cause mental harm to a fellow student or person attending the institution.
9. Statement of Compliance
1. This organization shall comply with all University and campus policies and regulations, in addition to all local, state, and federal laws.
10. Not for Profit Statement
1. This organization is a non-profit organization.
2. All funds and resources gained by the club will remain club property, and are not to be distributed among the officers or members.
11. Statement of Financial Responsibility
1. The treasurer (or treasurer in name as per section 3.4) shall be responsible for payment in full of all debts accumulated by the organization not covered by funds on deposit.
12. Statement of Cooperation
1. This organization is willing to work in a democratic manner within the framework of the University of Arizona policies and procedures.
8. Changing of the Constitution
1. Changing the Constitution
1. Any member who wishes to make changes to the constitution must first write the proposed changes in the form of a new document.
2. The member should bring their request to the attention of the officers.
3. At the next general meeting the officers must hold a special vote to approve the new constitution.
4. A vote will be proctored by an election official as described in section 2.2.3.4.
5. The vote will be considered successful if 2MY/3(MY+MN)+3OY/4(OY+ON) >= 1 where MY is the number of non-officer members who vote yea, MN is the number of non-officer members who vote nay, OY is the number of officers who vote yea, and ON is the number of officers who vote nay.
6. If the vote is successful, the new constitution will take effect immediately. If the vote fails, the current constitution remains in effect.
7. The president must file the new constitution with ASUA within a week of adoption.
8. The constitution may not be changed during such time that it would conflict with an officer election.
9. After any change to the constitution, such changes must be presented to the general membership at the next general meeting as well as via a listserv email.
2. Changing Bylaws
1. The bylaws may be changed at any time, in whole or in part, by a 2/3 majority of officers.
2. After any change to the bylaws, such changes must be presented to he general membership at the next general meeting as well as via a listserv email.