Constitution
PREAMBLE
We, the committee members of the Indian Cultural Association, in order to ensure a community atmosphere, support the goals of cooperation, inclusiveness, and diversity within the organization and the University community; maintain open lines of communication with the administration of the University Student Organizations, to pursue policies that serve to create the most productive community for residents, do ordain and establish the Constitution of the Indian Cultural Association.
ARTICLE I: NAME
The name of the organization shall be the Indian Cultural Association. It shall be referred to hereafter as the “ICA”.
ARTICLE II: MISSION STATEMENT
We, the Indian Cultural Association at the University of Texas at Austin, exist to preserve and spread influence of our ethnic identity, to celebrate the traditions of our nation, India, and to nurture the cultural needs and desires of the on-campus Indian Community, regardless of one’s caste, creed and upbringing.
ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP
Section A: Membership
Membership shall be open to any full/part-time graduate and/or undergraduate student enrolled in any of the colleges, schools or divisions of The University of Texas at Austin and any member of the University faculty or Staff.
Section B: Membership Fee
A membership fee as determined by the executive committee shall be paid to the ICA upon application for membership.
Section C: Membership Rights
Each member shall get the opportunity to contest for an executive post. Each member also shall be entitled to contest for any outlined committee.
Section D: Non-members
Non-members can participate in any ICA activity. However, a non-member participation fee may be required as determined by the Executive Committee.
Section E: ICA Representation
Only ICA members reserve the right to represent ICA unless otherwise approved by 2/3 of the Executive Committee.
ARTICLE IV: THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Section A: Executive Power
The executive power of ICA shall be vested with the Executive Committee, comprising the offices of the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Public Relations, Publicity Chair, Technical Consultant, Social Chair and Webmaster. No person shall hold more than one office in ICA during one term.
Section B: Term of Service
* Each officer shall serve for a term of one year unless otherwise specified by the General Body.
* The committee elected for the Fall semester is responsible for the duties pertaining to the summer session.
* An officer will have to re-contest for the post if he/she wishes to serve office for another term.
Section C: Duties of Executive Officers
* Attend all ICA meetings unless otherwise specified by the President and Vice President.
* All executive officers must become members by the twelfth class day.
* The Executive Committee has the power to create/abolish any office, as it deems necessary, with a majority vote by the Executive Committee.
Section D: President
* Assure integrity of the ICA through proper and prudent action.
* Preside over all ICA meetings.
* Responsible to maintain communication with members of the ICA mailing list.
* May implement and enforce an ICA attendance policy.
Section E: Vice-President
* Preside over ICA meetings if the President is unable to attend.
* Conduct recruiting for vacant posts.
* Facilitate internal communication at meetings and resolve conflicts between committee members.
* Conduct the elections, unless he/she wishes to stand for re-election.
* Coordinate meeting agendas, and oversee the proceedings and organization at meetings.
* Overlook the overall activity of the organization.
* Take attendance during the meeting time and maintain decorum during ICA meetings
Section F: Secretary
* Type the agenda and record minutes of all ICA committee meetings.
* Maintain paperwork for ICA, which include, register ICA every semester, and submit food waiver or fire permit if necessary.
* Make all ICA appointments with the input of the Executive Committee. Appointments include room reservations, west mall table registration, and committee registration.
* Ensure that ICA is in compliance with SALD guidelines
Section G: Treasurer
* Keep accurate and permanent records of all financial transactions.
* Maintain copies of all receipts of all earnings and expenditures; and maintain accurate records of all financial proposals and post-program financial statements.
* Maintain the balance of the Student Organization Bank Account.
* Remit sales tax to the Comptroller’s Office after any ticket sales.
* Prepare semester budgets with the input of the Executive Committee.
* Present a treasury report at committee meetings.
* Oversee fundraising efforts.
* Co-sign all checks drawn on the Student Organization Bank Account.
* Maintain the ICA Membership list.
Section H: Social Chair
* Serve as the spokesperson and official liaison to other campus and community organizations for ICA.
* Represent the ICA at major university events.
Section I: Public Relations
* Key figure in organizing and executing respective events.
* Work closely with the Publicity Chair to publicize events.
* Co-ordinate budgets for events with Treasurer and necessary appointments with Secretary.
* Can set up a separate committee for their respective events with consent of the Executive Committee.
Section J: Publicity Chair
* Responsible for publicizing all ICA General Meetings and Events
* Delegate duties to the publicity sub-committee.
* Responsible for preparing advertisements and event packets for ICA events.
* Responsible for organizing a west mall schedule and ensuring that the officers are following that schedule.
*Prepare and maintain a scrapbook to be kept at the West Mall Table.
Section K: Technical Consultant
* Maintain the history of ICA by documenting ICA events.
* In charge of creating ICA general pamphlets.
* Editor of the ICA newsletter and editorials.
* Revive and preserve ICA history.
* Help webmaster in maintaining ICA and Jhalak/ Jashan website.
* Maintain archive of past ICA committees with their name, position held and year.
Section L: Web Master
* Responsible for designing and maintaining the Web Site of the ICA and regularly updating it on advice of the Executive Committee.
* Responsible for maintaining the Email List of members of the ICA.
* Maintaining databases for the ICA, with assistance from the pertinent officer.
Section M: Executive Assistants
*All the executive officers, except president and vice-president, will have one executive assistant.
*Above mentioned duties of Secretary, Treasurer, Public Relations, Publicity Chair, Technical Consultant, Social Chair and web master are valid for the respective executive assistants.
*Help their executive officers in finishing their above mentioned duties and other given task.
Section N: Senior Advisor
*Note: To be considered for this position the candidate have to at least serve as the ICA executive officer for minimum of one year, and should have been involved extensively in planning Jhalak/Jashan. Executive officers need to have majority vote of 2/3rd to elect a person for this position.
*Give ideas from past experiences in ICA.
*Help the present committee to direct
ARTICLE V: QUALIFICATIONS OF OFFICE
All members of the Executive Committee will meet the following qualification:
* Be a member of ICA during the term of office.
* Maintain a cumulative 2.0 GPA during the time of election and term of service.
* Be in good disciplinary standing with the University of Texas at Austin and the Division of Housing and Food Service.
ARTICLE VI: COMMITTEES
Section A: Duties of the Committees
* Committees will be established or removed based on need by the Executive Committee in order to address issues and activities.
* The Executive Committee will designate the duties of an appointed Committee.
* The Executive Committee shall establish attendance policies.
* Upon completion of designated duties, the committees may be dissolved.
Section B: Committee Membership
* Opportunity to apply for committee membership is open to all members of ICA, as established in Article III, Section A.
* Each chair will coordinate the activities of the Committee and act as a liaison between the Committee and the Executive Committee.
ARTICLE VII: VOTING
Section A: General Body Voting Power
* Each member of the general body is entitled to one ballot during general body meetings.
* Members of the preceding term may elect the executive committee for the following term, if they have attended all the ICA events.
Section B: Executive Committee Voting Power
* Executive Committee members appoint committees
* Executive Committee members appoint executive assistants for their respective term as well as other vacant executive posts.
ARTICLE VIII: ELECTIONS
Section A: Election Guidelines
* All electoral voting will be done by a secret ballot;
* If only one candidate is running for an office, a simple majority vote is required for that nominee to receive the office; Voters reserve the right to vote against the candidate. If that nominee does not receive a majority vote, that office will remain open and it will be the responsibility of the new Executive Committee to fill the position as mentioned in Article VII, Section B.
* In a general election for any ICA office, if there are two candidates running, the candidate who receives a majority vote will be appointed.
* If three or more candidates are running and no candidate receives 51% of votes, there will be a run-off election.
* Only ICA members may attend Officer Elections unless the person is a candidate.
* If a candidate is not present for the elections, he/she still has the right to be elected.
Section B: Elections for Vacant Positions
* If the Office of President is or becomes vacant, the Vice-President will serve the position for the remainder of the term unless otherwise decided by the executive committee
* If any other Executive Committee office becomes vacant, the Executive assistant of that position will serve the position for the remainder of the term unless otherwise decided by the executive committee.
ARTICLE IX: REMOVAL OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND RESIGNATIONS
Section A: Removal
* If executive officer loses confidence in the ability of an executive officer/Assistant, that officer holds the right to petition for the initiation of the removal process. The petition must be signed by at least 25% of the executive officers.
* Upon completion of the petition it is submitted to the executive committee for approval. If approved by 2/3 of the executive committee they will place the officer concerned on suspension till such time that they vote for/against removal. This will be done by the secret ballot.
Section B: Resignation
* An officer may resign from his/her post during the term, only under circumstances deemed appropriate by the Executive Committee.
* A resignation letter written by the concerned officer must be handed over during the committee meeting.
* A 10 day notice must be given by the concerned officer.
* The resigning officer must assist the committee in electing a replacement.
ARTICLE X: FUNDING
Section A: SSB Account
All money raised by ICA will be placed in an account at the Student Organization Bank, located within the Campus and Community Involvement Office in the Student Services Building.
Section B: Expenditure of Funds
* The treasurer must approve any expenditure of funds over 10% of the account balance
* The Executive Committee will establish funding and reimbursement standards to which ICA will adhere.
ARTICLE XI: RATIFICATION
* The ICA Constitution shall become effective when ratified by all members of the present Executive Committee.
ARTICLE XII: AMMENDMENTS
* The ICA Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Committee.
* Any ICA member can make amendment proposals.
Constitution Makers
The following people were responsible for the framing of the ICA Constitution as ratified on October 15th, 2000.
* Anuj Timblo (President – Fall 2000)
* Kaushal Raja (Vice President – Fall 2000)
* Prasad Dhond (Treasurer – Fall 2000)
* Sahir Sait (Publicity Coordinator – Fall 2000)
* Akshay Chadha (Junior Officer – Fall 2000)
* Mihir Anandpara (Junior Officer – Fall 2000)
A special thanks to President Pradeep Rathi and Vice President Abraham Thomas of the Fall semester of 1998 for initiating the constitution framing process.
Revision History:
This constitution was revised by Akanksha Gupta (Vice-President, 2009 – 2010) on 13th October, 2009 with 2/3rd vote of the executive committee. The following changes were made:
- Edited the voting power of the ICA members
- Replaced the positions of ICA from Ambassador, Events Coordinators, Publicity Coordinator, Historian and Web Manager to Public Relations, Publicity Chair, Technical Consultant, Social Chair and Webmaster.
- Changed the Term of service from one semester to one year.
- Added sections to describe the positions of publicity chair, public relations, social chair, technical consultant, webmaster, executive assistants and senior advisor.
- Added the section of revision History.