Constitution

Last updated: November 23rd, 2023.

1. Definitions

In this constitution,

  • “MUN” means Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador;
  • “Society” means the MUN Computer Science Society;
  • “CompSci” means Computer Science;
  • “CompSci students” refers to the MUN Computer Science undergraduates;
  • “Academic year” means an academic school year starting in September and ending in August;
  • “MUNSU” means the Memorial University Students Union;
  • “Executive” refers to an executive member of the society in accordance with §5;
  • “Majority” means 50% plus 1 of the votes;
  • “Voting Role” means an executive who has the power to cast votes during an executive meeting;

2. Name

The name of the organization shall be the MUN Computer Science Society.

3. Purpose

The objectives of the society is to:

  • Act as a voice for the general population of CompSci students;
  • Promote interest in all areas of CompSci;
  • Host social events and activities for CompSci students and society members.

4. Membership

Membership shall be open to all interested students (undergraduate or graduate) and alumni of MUN.

Membership shall be granted to:

  • Any student presently enrolled in a CompSci course at MUN.
  • Any alumni of MUN who has graduated with a CompSci degree.
  • Members shall be entitled to attend all meetings of the society, vote at elections, and submit proposals for the society.

5. Executive Positions

The executive positions in the society are as follows:

  • President
  • Vice President
  • Executive Assistant
  • Treasurer
  • Event Coordinator
  • Outreach Coordinator
  • Marketing Officer
  • International Student Representative
  • Technology Officer
  • Executive Alumni (multiple)
  • Computer Science Undergraduate Committee (CSUGC) Representative
  • Science Society Representative
  • Society Volunteer (multiple)

At minimum, the positions of President and Vice-President must be occupied.

5.1. Executive Member Duties

All executive members are required to:

  • Attend at least 75% of the society meetings;
  • Adhere to the the society constitution;
  • Have or plan to have CompSci declared as either their major or minor;
  • Hold no more than one executive position, unless secondary positions or interim.
  • Adhere to the same role description as Society Volunteer (§5.14);

5.2. Presidential Duties

The President shall:

  • Represent the society in its relations with members and outside organizations;
  • Call meetings of the executive and society;
  • Manage the everyday running of the society;
  • Manage the society financial matters, including serving as a co-signing authority for all society financial transactions;
  • Call an election in accordance with §6, to ensure that the society continues to run in the following year;
  • Must live or reside in St. John’s, Newfoundland or the Avalon Peninsula;
  • Must have previously held a role on the executive.

5.3. Vice Presidential Duties

The Vice President shall:

  • Call meetings of the executive and the society;
  • Manage everyday running of the society;
  • Handle society financial matters, and serve as a co-signing authority for all society financial transactions.
  • Assume the duties of President in their absence or at their request.
  • Must live or reside in St. John’s, Newfoundland or the Avalon Peninsula
  • Must have previously held a role on the executive

5.4. Duties of the Executive Assistant

The Executive Assistant shall:

  • Be responsible for taking meeting minutes;
  • Assist the society with general administrative tasks;
  • Must have previously held a role on the executive.

5.5. Duties of the Treasurer

The Treasurer shall:

  • Handle society financial matters, and serve as a co-signing authority for all society financial transactions;
  • Be accountable to the society and MUNSU for the finances of the society. This includes accounting for all income and expenses on a permanent record.
  • Must live or reside in St. John’s, Newfoundland or the Avalon Peninsula;

5.6. Duties of the Event Coordinator

The Event Coordinator shall:

  • Organize social events;
  • Select bartenders and ensure that they are licensed with Student Affairs and Services.

5.7. Duties of the Marketing Representative

The Social Representative shall:

  • Manage our social media accounts;
  • Produce posters and other graphics to advertise the society and events;

5.8. Duties of the Outreach Coordinator

The Outreach Coordinator shall:

  • Put up posters;
  • Interact with and assist other students both online (Discord etc.) and in-person;
  • Advertise the society to other students;

5.9. Duties of the International Student Representative

The International Student Representative executive shall:

  • Represent primarily international CompSci students of any year;
  • Ensure the inclusivity of society events / executive decisions;

5.10. Duties of the Technology Officer

The Technology Officer shall:

  • Assist with setting up necessary equipment for society events;
  • Assist with managing the society’s technological infrastructure, such as site hosting, Discord bot management, and ensuring that appropriate records of passwords etc. are kept;
  • Be responsible, along with the president and vice president, for the management of the society’s Discord server, with the necessary access or privileges required to do so;

5.11. Duties of the Executive Alumni

The Executive Alumni shall:

  • Be a previous executive member who is unable to perform regular executive duties but still wishes to support the society;
  • Serve as an advisor to current executive members;

This is a NON-VOTING role. This role is open to any previous executive member with a Voting Role who still wishes to assist in the running of the society.

5.12. Duties of the Computer Science Undergraduate Committee Representative

The CSUGC Representative shall:

  • Attend all meetings of the Computer Science Undergraduate Committee;
  • Take accurate minutes to relay information to the society;
  • Application based only;
  • May be a secondary role.

5.13. Duties of the Science Society Representative

The Science Society Representative shall:

  • Attend all meetings of the Science Society;
  • Take accurate minutes to relay information to the society;
  • May be a secondary role.

5.14. Duties of the Society Volunteer

Society Volunteers shall:

  • Represent CompSci students of any year;
  • Be available to speak to students about their issues with the CompSci program and department;
  • Ensure that any issues referred to above are brought to the attention of the society;
  • Assist with the day-to-day operations of the society.

This is a NON-VOTING role. This role is open to any CompSci student who wishes to assist in the running of the society.

Society Volunteer shall be a role appointed at the discretion of the president and vice-president.

6. Executive Elections

The election of a new society Executive must take place no later than the final day of each Winter semester.

6.1. Chief Election Officer

Prior to the election, the Executive shall appoint a Chief Election Officer for the upcoming election.

6.2. Chief Election Officer Duties

The Chief Election Officer shall:

  • Must be a person who is not running in the upcoming election;
  • Must not vote in the upcoming election;
  • Shall be responsible for all duties associated with the upcoming election;
  • Shall ensure proper notice of the upcoming election has been given to all society members;
  • Shall ensure the election is held in accordance with §6.3.

6.3. Election Procedure

  • Nominations must be open for a minimum of one week;
  • Votes shall be cast using a secret ballot;
  • If there is only one nominee (incumbent or incoming) for a position, then that nominee shall be acclaimed for that position;
  • If there are more than three nominees for any one position, a preferential ballot voting system shall be used;
  • All elected members shall be placed to a vote of confidence, voted on by the Vice President and Executive Assistant. In the event of a tie the President shall have final say;
  • Each member may cast one ballot for each position in the election.

6.4. Transition of the Executive

It is the responsibility of the departing executive to orient the newly elected executive officers to their jobs. This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Teaching the incoming executive about MUNSU policies and procedures;
  • Transitioning custodianship of society records, passwords, email accounts and other materials;
  • Preparing the new executive to be effective in their roles for the next year’s work;
  • Transfering signing authority of banking to new members.

Note that from the period of the general election until the beginning of the academic year, the newly elected executives shall be non-voting members of the executive.

7. Executive Resignation

An Executive may resign from office at any time by delivering a written resignation to the Executive

Unless otherwise specified in the notice, the resignation shall take effect upon receipt thereof by the society.

8. Executive Removal

Any Executive Member of the Society may be removed from office for impropriety, violation of the provisions of this Constitution or its Bylaws, delinquency of duties or misappropriation of Society funds:

  • A motion to remove an executive member must be signed by at least 2/3 of the executive;
  • The motion, once signed, shall then be inscribed on the agenda of the next regular meeting of the executive;
  • During the meeting:
    • A quorum shall be the entire executive;
    • The person against whom a motion to remove is directed shall be given an opportunity to respond to the allegations made;
    • A vote of all executive members, excluding the person at which the motion is being directed shall occur. A unanimous result of all voting executive members is required for the removal.

9. Executive Vacancy

In the event that a position is vacant either:

  • A by-election may be held for the position;
  • The executive may appoint an active member of the society to fill the position.
  • If an executive cannot be found for any position, the remaining executives shall take on the responsibilities of the vacant position until a new executive can be found.

10. Meetings

10.1. Date and Time

  • Only the President or Vice President may call an executive meeting;
  • Notice of time and place of each meeting of the Executive shall be sent to each executive, not less than seventy-two hours before the time of the meeting, or twenty-four hours in case of an emergency;
  • The Executive shall strive for bi-weekly Executive meetings except during the months of April - August and December. Meetings during these months shall be called as necessary;
  • Between August 1st, and September 30th there shall be an annual general meeting, which must be open to the public;
  • Any executive may participate in a meeting remotely, so long as:
    • The executive was unable to attend the meeting otherwise;
    • Other executive members in the meeting are able to hear or see the remote participates comments;
    • The discussion is broadcasted, either as text or audio, to the remote participant.

10.2. Quorum

A meeting of a majority of the executive shall constitute a quorum, unless:

  • A motion to remove an executive member has been brought forward as described in §8;
  • A motion to amend the constitution has been brought forward as described in §12.1.

10.3. Rescheduling

A majority of the executive present, whether or not a quorum is present, may adjourn a meeting to another time and place.

11. Finance

11.1 Signing Authority

There should be three (3) signing authorities at all time. President, Vice President and Treasurer.

  • Two (2) signing authorities shall sign each cheque;
  • Two (2) or more of the signing authorities can not be siblings, common law, married, or have at any point had or currently have a romantic relationship, or can not have a conflict of interest;
  • If two or more of the President, Vice President and Treasurer are any of those things, they must decide amongst themselves who gets to be signing authority;
  • If they can not decide, neither will be allowed to sign. Another member of the executive will be chosen to replace them by the executive;
  • All signing authorities must be living in St. John’s or the Avalon Peninsula;
  • A member can’t sign a cheque for themselves and the remaining two (2) authorities must sign it instead.

12. Amendments

12.1. Constitution

This constitution shall comprise the operating basis of the society:

  • A motion to initiating a referendum for constitutional amendments must be passed by a two-thirds majority vote;
  • Quorum for these motions shall be all eligible voting executive members;
  • Any amendments to the constitution require the unanimous approval of all voting executives.

12.2. By-laws

  • Amendments to the society by-laws can be made at any executive meeting, as long a quorum is present;
  • Ratification of each amendment requires majority approval of the executive.