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SISTER of Columbia University
Constitution I. Name The name of this organization shall be Sister. II. Goal The goal of this organization shall to publish a journal dealing with feminism, women's and gender issues, and women's experiences at least once during the academic year. III. Membership Section 1. Membership shall not be restricted to women; although the subject matter concerns women, men are welcome to participate and contribute work. Section 2. The requirements of membership are: a. attendance at two or more meetings of the general membership. b. submission of work to the magazine, editorial contributions, assistance with Sister's finances (i.e., attracting advertisers to Sister) or any combination of the three. Section 3. Members will be encouraged to offer article ideas but final decisions pertaining to the acceptance of submissions will be made by the editorial board (see Art. V Sec. 2a). Section 4. a. Amendments may be suggested by any general member and are subject to a one week waiting period or until the next general meeting, at which time it will be voted on. b. Amendments to the constitution will be decided upon by a majority vote of the members present. At least two-thirds of the general membership must vote. Section 5. Membership may be withdrawn by verbal resignation to the editorial board. Section 6. General meetings will be held every two weeks. The editorial board has the privilege of adjusting the frequency if necessary. IV. Editorial Board Section 1. a. The editorial board (hereafter referred to as the board) will be concerned with the acceptance, editing, and publishing of submissions. b. The board will consist of the editor-in-chief, the business manager, the non-fiction editor, and the art and fiction editor. c. In the event that vacancies are left on the board after election, board members will divide up the remaining responsibilities among themselves, subject to the general membership's agreement and future changes in board makeup. Section 2. a. Collective responsibilities of the board: 1. Final decisions concerning the acceptance of editorial changes and submissions. Decisions will be carried by a majority vote of those present; in the event of a tie, the editor-in-chief has final say. 2. Compliance with requests by the business manager for help obtaining advertisements for Sister. 3. General recruitment of submissions to Sister. 4. Members must submit a (verbal weekly report at each board meeting and at general meetings when necessary. b. The editor-in-chief will preside over general and board meetings, supervise the editors and business manager, and consult with authors and artists concerning deadlines and editorial changes in the event that the specific editor is unable to do so. She can make the final decision if there is a tie within the board and consensus cannot be reached. Unless a member volunteers, the editor-in-chief will be in charge of publicity for Sister. She also will coordinate the transfer of articles to the computer and oversee the layout of the magazine. c. The business manager will keep Sister's administrative records' including all pertinent forms and account updates. All expenditure requests must be made through her and are subject to her approval. She is in charge of updating and retaining all financial records and is responsible for any duties placed upon her position by the USO and the FBH accounting office. Furthermore, she is also responsible for obtaining advertisements to be included in Sister. She will obtain bids from publishers and recommend to the editorial board the most efficient and financially wise choice. d. The non-fiction editor will supervise non-fiction submissions to sister. She will consult with authors about their articles whenever she or the author deems it necessary. If the editor is temporarily unable to fulfill her duties to a particular author, the editor-in-chief will take over those duties. The non-fiction editorials are responsible for informing her authors of Sister's editorial policy (see Art. V). The editor also has the responsibility of entering her authors' submissions into the computer and saving it on a common Sister disk. e. The art and fiction editor will supervise fiction Sister. She will consult with authors and artists about their work whenever she or the author deems it necessary. If the editor is temporarily unable to fulfill her duties to a particular author, the editor-in-chief will take over those duties and fiction editor is responsible for informing authors and artists of Sister's editorial policy (see Art. V.) She also has the responsibility of entering her authors' submissions into the computer and saving it on a common Editorial meetings will be held every week. V. Editorial Policy Section 1. Any editorial changes decided upon more than two weeks before must be submitted to the author for prompt approval. If the changes are suggested less than two weeks before the deadline or the author does respond before that time to an editor's questions, Sister reserves the right make any editorial changes the board sees fit. Section 2. Whether or not an editor is working on a submission that submission _ not officially accepted until it is in its final form and is evaluated a by the editorial board (see Art. IV, Sec. 2a). VI. Terms of office Section 1. a. The terms of each position on the editorial beginning of the school term in the fall to the end of the following year. b. The period between election and the beginning of the new school year will be used to train new board members in the procedures and responsibilities of each position. Section 2. Board members will be elected by majority vote of the general membership at the last meeting of the year, to be held directly after publication. Section 3 General members will be informed in the event of a mid-Year vacancy in the editorial board. A special meeting will be held, at which time general members will have the opportunity to run for any vacant positions. Candidates will be voted upon during the meeting. VII. Adoption of the constitution Any member of Sister may cast a ratification vote. Ratification will require approval from a majority of those present. |