Organizational Constitution
Name:
The name of the organization shall be known as Adopt-A-Heart
Purpose:
The purpose of this organization is to award a financial donation of
set amount to a critically ill candidate who is affiliated with a Sam
Houston State University Student, while gathering awareness about
the illness and alerting others.
Membership: Membership is based on
a volunteer basis. It is open to all Sam
Houston
State University who want to
participate. Dues will be $5.00 in the fall, covering 1 year of membership dues. Dues will be $2.50 for members that join in the Spring. All members will pay again in the Fall semester.
Meetings:
Meetings shall be held every Tuesday at 5:30.
Executive board meets
every 1st and 3rd Tuesday directly following general body meetings.
Officers
President:
Shall preside over meetings and organization, checks all e-board
reports, primary liaison
for Adopt-A-Heart (AAH), check organizational mailbox and e-mails, update calendar and provide members with agendas for body
meetings.
Vice
President: Assists
the President, oversees committees, assume presidential responsibilities in lieu of Presidential absence or inability to attend
meeting, secondary liaison.
Treasurer:
The Treasurer is responsible for all monies (deposits
included), keeps balanced
books, keeps body informed of financial standings at least bi-monthly, work with fundraising chair, keeps an accurate list
of paid members by semester (President and Vice President should have a copy)
Secretary
:
Responsible for taking minutes at all meetings, responsible for obtaining copies of the minutes to be distributed at
every meeting, writes the correspondence of the organization, assisting with newsletter (with public relations and membership
chair),compiles an accurate roster of members.
Assistant
Secretary: All responsibilities will be the same as the
secretary. (This post will be appointed by the Executive Board.)
Historian:
Takes pictures at meetings and other organizational/outside events
for physical reference or record keeping, maintains the web-page
and updates , responsible for making a scrap book, Custodian of
guestbook,
Keeping an accurate history of Adopt- A- Heart’s year,
present a fact each
week of Adopt-A-Heart history and/or illness awareness to the body at the body meetings
Support Service Chair (Reports to Vice President)
Responsible for programs
(Illness Awareness)
Responsible for support gifts
for the candidate throughout the year
Thank you to supporters and
sponsors
Checking on candidate and
reporting back to the body with updates on the candidate
Correspondence Chair (Reports to Vice President)
Responsible for writing and/or
supervising letters to companies for sponsorship
Keep a detailed file of all
incoming and out-coming correspondence
Report fact findings to the
body
Utilizes a mandatory committee
for assistance
End of the Year (EOY) (Reports to Vice President)
Facilitate the organization
and implementation of the end of the year awards banquet
Utilizes a committee for
assistance
Facilitates the raising of
funds to implement the banquet
Public Relations Chair (Reports to President)
Facilitate the publicizing
of meetings and organizational events
Create E-newsletters to post
on the Adopt-A-Heart website once a month a minimum, flyers and other forms of media for promotional purposes
Work with the secretary and
the membership chair on newsletters and other related services to the organization
Membership Chair (Reports to Vice President)
Responsible for the recruitment
and retention of members
Responsible for bringing
new and exciting ice breakers to the body
Utilizes a committee for
assistance
Responsible for organizational
membership socials
Tracks attendance
Responsible for membership
cards
Fundraising Chair (Reports to Vice President)
Coordinate all fundraisers
Keep a file/record on every
fundraiser implemented
Utilizes a committee for
assistance
Keep the body informed of
fundraisers
Sergeant-At-Arms (Reports to Vice President)
Handles collection of fines
Will distribute and collect
ballots during voting (appointed by Executive Board)
Officer
Accountability:
The
Adopt-A-Heart Executive Board makes important decisions that shape the future of the organization, and whether or not the
goals set for the academic year are met. Therefore, the Adopt-A-Heart Executive
Board is required to be in every meeting. The Executive Board will also be placed
on a point system for the length of their term (one academic year). Points will
be deducted based on absences and/or tardiness from mandatory meetings. The Executive
Board will also have a noise making (i.e. cellular phone) fine of $1.00 during body meetings.
The Executive Board holds the right to begin the process of replacement of an Executive Board member when that member
has accumulated a total of 35 points. When that Board member has reached 50 points,
the Executive Board member is then relieved from their position, and replaced with the designated replacement.
Candidate
Process:
Time
Span:
The organization will run for the academic year. The members will choose one candidate per academic year.
Organization
Goals:
Establish
Fundraising Goals
Coordinate community service events in conjunction with that
particular candidate and his/her situation
Raise awareness within the Sam Houston and Huntsville
communities
Choosing a Candidate:
The person nominated
must be a Sam Houston
State University student, or
affiliated with a SHSU Student either by family relation or close ties. That person must also have a verifiable critical illness,
which would establish a need for assistance.
The Selection Process:
A current
SHSU Student will complete an Adopt-A-Heart candidate nomination application as well as write a 300-500 word essay explaining
why we should choose his or her candidate. The essay should specify which illness the candidate has and include any important
information about the candidate’s situation. Any essays exceeding the specified
word count of 300-500 words or submitted after the specified deadline will not be considered.
Essays can be submitted before the start of or after the close of Adopt-A-Heart
general body meetings to the Correspondence Chair only.
The Adopt-A-Heart Executive Board will then narrow the essays
down to three choices and bring them before the body for a vote.
Membership
Responsibilities:
All
members of Adopt-A-Heart should be in attendance at all meetings. Meetings will
last for approximately 1 hour and will be held every Tuesday, unless otherwise instructed.
Members should not have noise making devises during meeting times (i.e. cellular telephones, etc.) Should a noise making devise disturb the meeting, the member will be subject to a cell phone fine. The fine would be $0.50. The monies made
from the fine would be placed into the ‘Change of Heart’ jar, and subsequently spent on fundraising activities. All members will be issued membership cards, which will be required to be shown for
special membership privileges (i.e. voting, entrance in to functions, etc.) Members
should be able to furnish the card with prior notice.
Voting:
Elections
for Adopt-A-Heart Executive Board are held every Spring semester. To participate
in elections, members must have paid dues two weeks prior to elections. To run
for an office, members would have to have at least one semester of paid membership in Adopt-A-Heart. Members must also bring their membership cards to be eligible to vote.
Notice to bring membership cards will be issued at least one week in advance to the voting procedures.
University Registration/
Recognition:
At the beginning of each
Fall and Spring semester, this organization shall submit an update report with the names and addresses of its officers and
advisor (s). This report shall be summated to the Student Activities Offices (Suite
328 of the Lowman Student
Center) no later than the twelfth class day. Changes in officers that
occur during the semester must be reported promptly. If this organization fails to abide by this policy, this organization
must resubmit the “Student Organization Registration Application” to the Student Activities Office and subsequently
go before the Student Organizations’ Board for the consideration to once again become an officially recognized organization.
Amendments: 1. This constitution
shall be amended by 75 percent vote of the
active membership.
2. A copy of all constitutional changes and amendments will be
submitted to the Student Activities Office as described above.