Table of Contents: The University of South Florida Hall Council Constitution For the member organizations of the Residence Hall Association Last Updated 12/21/2010 Article I: Name and Purpose 1.01 Name 1.02 Purpose Article II: Jurisdiction 2.01 RHA Constitution jurisdiction. 2.02 Hall Council Constitution jurisdiction. 2.03 Staff members. Article III: Membership 3.01: General Membership. 3.02: Advisors. Article IV: Definition of Terms 4.01: An eligible candidate of Hall Council. 4.02: Hall Council executive board. 4.03: Hall Council voting membership. Article V: Elections and Qualifications of Officers 5.01: Voting rights. 5.02: Executive board elections. 5.03: Mayor elections. 5.04: Senator elections. 5.05: Election notification. 5.06: Qualifications for the Executive Board. 5.07: Qualifications for Senators and Mayors. Article VI: Duties of Officers 6.01: Duties of the Governor. 6.02: Duties of the Lt. Governor. 6.03: Duties of the Senators. 6.04: Duties of the Mayors. Article VII: Meetings and attendance 7.01: Regular Meetings. 7.02: Special Meetings. 7.03: Attendance records 7.04: Executive Board Absences. 7.05: Senator Absences.
7.06: Proxy voting. Article VIII: Vacancies 8.01: Executive board and senator vacancies. 8.02: RHA notification. 8.03: Mayor Vacancies. Article IX: Impeachment and Removal 10.01: Grounds for Impeachment. 10.02: Process for Impeachment. 10.03: Impeachment Hearings. 10.04: Officer Removal. Article X: Anti-Hazing Policy 10.01: Definition of Hazing 10.02: Punishment for Hazing Article XI: Parliamentary Procedures 11.01: Voting percentages. 11.02: General votes. 11.03: Quorum. 11.04: Special votes. 11.05: Roberts Rules of Order. Article XII: Amendments 12.01: General amendment procedure. 12.02: Additional amendment procedure. 12.03: Voting procedure for amendments. 12.04: Amendment specifications. Article I: Name and Purpose 1.01: Member organizations of Residence Hall Association (RHA) shall be known as Hall councils. 2.01: Hall Councils have been established for the purpose of representing and helping residents of their particular area to address issues and concerns pertinent to the area. In addition, it will also serve to generate and support activities and programs with the goal of uniting the area as a community. Article II: Jurisdiction 2.01: The Constitution of the Residence Hall Association shall be the mother constitution. The policy of the RHA Constitution will take precedence over the Hall Council Constitution.
2.02: Every Hall Council recognized by RHA will abide by the current Hall Council Constitution, unless the constitution was amended by that Hall Council as described in 11.02. 2.03: At no time will Hall Councils have jurisdiction over any staff or staff member including but not limited to Resident Assistants (RA), Assistant Residence Life Coordinators (ARLC), Housing and Residential Education Staff, House Keeping and Maintenance Staff. Article III: Membership 3.01: The membership of the Hall Councils shall consist of registered students of the University of South Florida living in their respective residence hall area. A student becomes a member of the Hall Council automatically, when and during the time the student resides in the USF residence halls. 3.02: The Assistant Residence Life Coordinator or Residence Life Coordinator of the respective area, or his/her designate shall be a non-voting member and the advisor of the Hall Council. Article IV: Definition of Terms 4.01: An eligible candidate of Hall Council is a person who: a) Resides in the respective Hall Council area b) Has and maintains at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. c) Is registered as student as defined by the Registrar and is in good standing with the University and the Department of Housing and Residential Education. Good standing defined as not being on probation, suspended, or declared persona non grata. d) Does not hold a Resident Assistant or Assistant Residence Life Coordinator position with the Department of Housing and Residential Education during his/her term of office. e) Does not hold an RHA executive board position during his/her term of office 4.02: The Hall Council Executive Board will consist of the Governor, and the Lt Governor. 4.03: The voting membership of the Hall Councils shall be defined as Senators, Mayors, and the Executive Board. Article V: Elections and Qualifications of Officers 5.01: All residents of the respective area, except those that have accepted a nomination for the office being voted upon, will have voting rights. 5.02: Officers to be elected at the beginning of the fall semester or the end of the spring semester are Governor and Lt. Governors. 5.03: Mayors will be elected during the first hall meeting called by the Resident Assistant. There shall be one Mayor elected per Resident Assistant.
5.04: Senators will be selected by election during the first area mass meeting during the Fall Semester. The number of Senators for each Hall Council Area will be calculated by the formula listed in the RHA constitution, Article 7, Section 5. These numbers will be determined and communicated to each Hall Council s Advisor by the Fall semester s Drop/Add day. 5.05: RHA executive board or RHA advisor must be informed of the time and place of Governor, Lt. Governor or Senators elections at least 24hr in advance. 5.06: Qualifications for the Executive Board are: Must be an eligible candidate of the Hall Council 5.07: Qualifications for Senators and Mayors are: Must be an eligible candidate of the Hall Council Cannot hold a Hall Council executive board position during his/her term of service. Article VI: Duties of Officers 6.01: The duties of the Governor shall be: to organize and preside at the regular meetings, provide agendas for said meetings, oversee all Hall Council programming, create and oversee committees when necessary, appoint committee chairs and members, attend the Board of Governors, meet regularly with the Hall Council advisor, and act as the representative of the interest of the students in their area. The Governor shall be an ex-officio member of all committees. 6.02: The duties of the Lt. Governor shall be: to act as the official representative in the absence of the governor, assuming all powers therein oversee all Hall Council members, recruit new Hall Council members, collect feedback and concerns from the residents and communicate them to the residence concerns chair, keep accurate records of all financial transactions, prepare annual budgets with the assistance of the Governor and Hall Council advisor, coordinate fundraising with the RHA Director of Finance, act as the parliamentarian and sergeant at arms, keep minutes and records of all meetings and to report them to members at the following meeting, advertise council events and issues, serve as public relations representative to the campus and outside community, meet regularly with the Hall Council advisor. 6.03: The duties of the Senators are to attend all council and RHA regular and special meetings, to attend RHA committee meetings and to act as a representative of both their area and the RHA, and to inform both organizations of important issues. A senator will sign up for an RHA committee upon election or appointment into the office. 6.04: The duties of the Mayors are to attend all council meetings, to act as a representative of both their community and their council, to assist the Resident Assistant in organizing and executing, hall meetings, community activities, promote the involvement of their residents to make a self-sufficient community, and inform their community of important issues. Article VII: Meetings and Attendance
7.01: Regular meetings shall be held at the time and place designated by the Governor with the concurrence of the executive board. These meetings shall be held at least twice a month during the academic year. 7.02: Special meetings may be called by the Governor or by one third of the membership after a written notification is given to all members at least 24 hours in advance. 7.03: Attendance must be taken, by the Lt. Governor or in the Lt. Governors absence an officer designated by the Governor, at every meeting, special meetings. The attendance sheet should include date and location of the meeting, the name, room number, mailbox number, and phone number of the attendees and the name of the person collecting the attendance sheet. 7.04: Executive Board members cannot miss any general body meeting unless excused by the board because of academic, extreme, or unexpected circumstances. 7.05: Senators or Mayors that miss two (2) consecutive council or RHA meetings or four (4) total in a semester without a documented excuse will be automatically removed. 7.06: Senators have the ability to proxy their vote at any meeting (council or RHA), but must inform the Governor, and attendance taker of that meeting, of who the proxy voter will be, before the said meeting. Mayors have the ability to proxy their vote to either the Lt. Mayor or any resident of their community, but must inform the Governor and the attendance taker as well. Article VIII: Vacancies 8.01: Any executive or senator position that becomes vacant may be filled by the nomination of a candidate by the Governor (or highest sitting officer in the case of a Governor vacancy) and confirmed by a two-thirds vote of quorum in favor of the appointment. 8.02: RHA Director of Public Relations and Records must be notified of any executive or senator appointments within 48 hours of the vote. 8.03: Mayor Vacancies must be reported to the Resident Assistant, and will be filled at a meeting called by the RA with the assistance of the Lt. Governor. Article IX: Impeachment and Removal 9.01: Grounds for impeachment of the officers of the council shall be misfeasance (improper or unlawful execution of an act), malfeasance (misconduct or wrongdoing) and nonfeasance (failure to perform duties). 9.02: Any member of the council may file impeachment charges against an officer by filing a statement of the charges, signed by one-half of the voting members, submitted to the Advisor, to be placed on the Agenda for the next meeting.
9.03: The court for trying an impeachment shall consist of a quorum of members, chaired by the highest-ranking officer of the council not directly involved with the proceedings. A two-thirds vote in favor of removal is required. 9.04: An officer will be removed from office upon confirmation by the Advisor of nonqualification for office. Article X: Anti-Hazing Policy 10.01: The Residence Hall Association., or its members acting on behalf of the RHA, shall not haze any prospective member for the purpose of admission into or affiliation with the organization. This organization prohibits its members both individually and collectively from committing any acts of hazing as defined herein: Hazing" as defined by 1006.63, Florida Statutes, means any action or situation that recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student for purposes including, but not limited to, initiation or admission into or affiliation with any organization operating under the sanction of a postsecondary institution, regardless of a person s willingness to participate. "Hazing" includes, but is not limited to, pressuring or coercing the student into violating state or federal law; any brutality of a physical nature, such as whipping, beating, branding, exposure to the elements, forced consumption of any food, liquor, drug, or other substance; or other forced physical activity that could adversely affect the physical health or safety of the student; and also includes any activity that would subject the student to extreme mental stress, such as sleep deprivation, forced exclusion from social contact, forced conduct that could result in extreme embarrassment, or other forced activity that could adversely affect the mental health or dignity of the student. Hazing does not include customary athletic events or other similar contests or competitions or any activity or conduct that furthers a legal and legitimate objective. In addition to Florida Statutes 1006.63, hazing as defined by the USF system also includes, but is not limited to, the forced use of alcohol; morally degrading or humiliating games and activities; physical and psychological shocks; deception; verbal abuse; personal servitude; kidnapping; deprivation of privileges granted to others in the organization by use of force or duress; and any other activities which are contrary to academic achievement, the stated purpose of the local and/or (inter)national organization, and/or the mission, policies or regulations of the USF system or applicable state law. (USF Anti-Hazing Policy, How to Start an Organization Packet, Office of Student Activities) 10.02: Any type of hazing or discrimination will be considered abuse of power. Article XI: Parliamentary and Voting Procedures 11.01: The voting percentages will be determined based on the number of affirmative and negative votes cast, providing a quorum is met.
11.02: General business may be conducted with a simple vote of all council members present. The Governor will determine the method of voting. 11.03: A quorum shall consist of a simple majority, 50% plus 1 of the Senators, Mayors and the executive board (excluding the Governor). 11.04: A quorum shall be necessary to conduct all special business. Appointment of vacant positions, impeachment proceedings, constitutional amendments, and expenditures equal to or over $100 require a quorum to be passed. 11.05: All points of procedure not specifically covered in this Constitution or the RHA Constitution shall be the presiding officer s interpretation of the latest edition of Robert s Rules of Order. Article XII: Amendments 12.01 A procedure to amend the Hall Council constitution will be outlined in the RHA constitution. 12.02: In addition to the procedure outlined in 12.01. Individual Hall Councils may amend the Hall Council constitution. Their amendments will only be valid for their particular council for the current year. For an amendment to be proposed for approval by the council, a typed proposal must be submitted to the Governor to be placed on the agenda for the next two meetings. All proposed amendments to this Constitution must be read at two consecutive regular meetings of the council 12.03: A proposed amendment to this Constitution shall be voted on by the voting membership of the council. For passage, an amendment requires a majority two-thirds quorum vote in favor of amending on the second reading. 12.04: All proposed amendments must not conflict with any policies put forth by the Department of Housing and Residential Education or the Residence Hall Association. All amendments to this Constitution are subject to review and concurrent approval by the Center for Student Involvement and the Department of Housing and Residential Education.