Article One: Name
The name of this organization shall be the Harvard Chinese Students
and Scholars Association (Harvard CSSA, HCSSA).
Article Two: Purpose
HCSSA is dedicated to the goal of promoting social, intellectual
and cultural activities for Chinese students and scholars at
Harvard and for other interested members of the Harvard community.
It will act as liaison between its members on the Harvard campus
by facilitating communication between themselves and with other
groups of the Harvard community. It will also strive to provide
opportunities and benefits for its members by facilitating the
exchange of information between China and Chinese students studying
abroad and by defending the rights of its members on campus
as well as in the United States.
Article Three: Membership
Membership of the HCSSA is automatically approved for any interested
students and scholars in various GSAS departments.
Membership of the HCSSA shall also be open to all students and
scholars currently enrolled at Harvard.
Membership shall continue until a student or scholar leaves
the Harvard community.
Any member may also formally withdraw by so informing in writing
one of the HCSSA officers.
Article Four: Office Structure
The officers of the HCSSA shall consist of the President,
the Vice-president(s), the Secretary, the Committee for Treasury
and Fund Raising, the Committee for Network Communication, the
Committee for Party events, the Committee for Informal events,
the Committee for Sports, the Committee for Public Relation,
and the Committee for Seminars.
Each Committee shall consist of one Chair person and no more
than seven committee officers in addition to the Committee Chair.
Additional volunteers are welcome to join various committees,
but shall not be recognized as Official HCSSA Officers, therefore,
are not subject to the benefits and regulations that apply to
HCSSA Officers.
Officers are encouraged to participate in more than one committee,
except that one person shall not be the Chair for more than
one committee.
New officers can be elected to HCSSA committees by regular election
(see Article Six), or in case of vacancy, by majority voting
at HCSSA general meeting following recommendation by at least
three HCSSA officers.
New committees can be added and existing committees can be deleted
based on the need of the organization. The decision can be made
by majority voting at HCSSA general meetings following recommendation
by HCSSA president and no less than three other officers.
Article Five: Duties of HCSSA Committees
and Officers
The President shall be the chief executive officer of Harvard
CSSA and shall exercise general supervision and provide overall
control over its programs as well as prepare meeting agenda
and chair its regular business meetings.
The Vice-presidents shall assist with the President in coordinating
activities of other officers. Should the President leave office
prior to completion of term, the VP shall assume office temporarily
and schedule an election to appoint new President.
The Secretary shall be responsible for taking minutes for HCSSA
meetings and for keeping official documents of the organization.
Committee Chairs shall be responsible for centrally organizing
and coordinating activities related to their committee duties.
They are also responsible for timely reporting to the Presidents
any activities or plans related to their committees. Committee
officers are responsible for participating in committee meetings,
and for actively participating and initiating activities relevant
to their committee's objective.
The Committee for Treasury and Fund Raising shall be responsible
for maintaining the financial records of the organization, and
for applying for or soliciting funding through various channels.
Officers of this Committee as well as the organization president
has the authority to write checks on behalf of the organization.
The Committee for Network Communication shall be responsible
for maintaining the electronic mailing list of the group, for
timely posting relevant messages, as well as maintaining the
Internet Homepage for the organization.
The Committee for Party events shall be responsible for organizing
no less than two major parties during the year. It shall also
be responsible for safe-keeping any party related HCSSA properties,
such as music and stereo systems.
The Committee for Informal events shall be responsible for organizing
various small-scale, regular, social activities, such as video
series, informal gathering, and outings.
The Committee for Sports shall be responsible for organizing
sports teams, sports events and for safe-keeping any sports
related HCSSA equipment.
The Committee for Public Relation shall be responsible for maintaining
and promoting public relation efforts for the organization.
This include, but not limited to, maintaining contacts with
HCSSA alumni, advisors, financial contributors, seminar speakers,
as well as the news media and other Chinese student organizations
in the area. The Committee shall also be responsible for maintaining
contact with various Harvard offices and administration.
The Committee for Seminars shall be responsible for organizing
series of seminars that are of interest or are beneficial to
HCSSA members.
Article Six: Elections
Officers shall be elected annually, before the end of the spring
semester, by eligible membership of the HCSSA. The new team
of officers shall commence duties immediately following the
election meeting.
Any member is eligible to serve as HCSSA officer under the restriction
of any applicable rules and policies of Harvard University.
HCSSA president and vice-president must run for candidacy as
a team, and one of them must have previously served as an HCSSA
officer.
Only the following members of HCSSA are eligible to vote:
(a) members who have attended at least one regular business
meetings during the past year (election meeting not included);
(b) major organizers of a HCSSA-organized event during the past
year (upon the approval of then-current HCSSA officer board).
Each eligible voter shall be entitled to one secret ballot.
Written proxies shall be allowed for eligible voters in case
he or she can not attend the election meeting.
Candidates must obtain a majority of all votes in order to be
elected officer. In the event that no candidates receives a
majority, a run-off shall be held between the two candidates
with the highest number of votes.
Article Seven: Meetings
Regular meetings of the HCSSA shall be called by HCSSA president
shall be held no less than once every three months. Announcements
shall be made to all members by e-mail. These regular meetings
are open to any members of HCSSA.
The President shall preside over all business meetings of the
HCSSA. In the absence of the President, Vice-president shall
preside.
Officers are required to attend HCSSA regular meetings. If any
officer fail to attend meeting for two consecutive times without
legitimate reasons, their officer positions are automatically
withdrawn and vacancies may be filled in the future.
Special meetings of the HCSSA may be called by at least four
HCSSA officers who shall so inform the President or Vice-presidents
at least one week before the proposed date of meeting.
Article Eight: Interpretation Right
The interpretation right of this constitution is granted to
the then-current officer board.
Article Nine: Amendments
At least eight members (including no less than four HCSSA officers)
are needed to propose constitution amendments. Any proposed
amendments shall be communicated to the President or the Vice-presidents
at least one week prior to the upcoming regular meeting in order
to be included in the agenda. A three-quarter majority of all
votes is necessary to make any changes to this constitution.
The Dudley House office shall be notified of any amendments
made to this constitution.
April, 1999
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