Preamble
The Societa Italiana of Columbia University shall be an organization
uniting Italian-Americans, Italians attending the university and others
who share a
love of Italian culture, literature and society. It will allow members
opportunities to experience Italian art, literature, film, cuisine and
entertainment with
other students, outside of an academic environment.
Article I - Name
Section 1. The name of this organization shall be Societa Italiana
hereafter referred to as S.I.
Section 2. The officers of S.I. shall make up the Executive Board of
S.I.,
hereafter referred to as the 'Board.'
Article II - Purpose
Section 1. The purpose of this organization shall be to expose members
as
well as the entire University community to Italian culture presented and
enjoyed by students.
Section 2. The Executive Board shall preside over the planning,
funding
and execution of club events. They shall organize the club meetings, shall
be
responsible for notifying members about upcoming meetings and events and
act as a liason with the rest of the university organizations.
Article III - Membership
Section 1: The requirements of membership shall be a love of Italian
or Italian-American culture. A member must attend S.I. meetings at least
once a month.
Section 2: Only members who are undergraduate students in Barnard
College, Columbia College, or the School of Engineering and Applied
Science may vote or hold office.
Section 3: The privileges and responsibilities of membership are the
opportunities to participate or run S.I. events as well as vote on
organization
decisions regarding finances and who will reside on the Executive
Board.
Section 4: Membership may be revoked by the Board with a majority vote
due
to a lack of attendance at a minimum of three S.I. meetings a
semester.
Article IV - Meetings and Procedures
Section 1: Meetings will be held twice a month. The Executive Board
shall
call the meetings to order and dismiss them.
Section 2: Proposals shall be presented to the Board and brought to a
vote
at an open meeting. All decisions shall be based on a majority vote of
those
present at the meeting.
Article V - Officers
Section 1: The organization shall have the following officers.
President,
Vice-president, Treasurer, and Corresponding Secretary.
Section 2: The duties of these officers shall be that the President
and
Vice-president shall call and preside over meetings, they shall call a
proposal up
for a vote and they shall be liasons between the S.I. and other University
authorities or organizations. The Treasurer shall handle all of the
financial
matters of the S.I. and keep a current record. The Corresponding Secretary
shall keep track of attendance at general meetings, keep minutes at
meetings, perform all clerical work of the S.I. and inform members of
upcoming events and meetings.
Section 3: Officers shall hold office for one term. A term shall be
equal
to one semester.
Article VI - Electing Appointing, and Removing Officers
Section 1. An officer on the Board must be nominated by a member of
S.I.
and can assume a position if a majority vote is reached. The officer will
hold the position for at least one semester when at the end they can
nominate themself for re-election.
Section 2. The members of the Board may be impeached and removed by
the
membership if the officer is not fulfilling the duties assigned to them in
Article V Section 2. A majority vote of the membership must be reached in
order to impeach an officer.
Section 3. In the event of a mid-term vacancy of an elected officer,
the
members may nominate another member to take over the position and a
majority
votes must be reached.
Article VII - Committees
Section 1. The standing committees of this organization shall be a
Social
Committee, a Literature, Art and Film Committee and a Musical Events
Committee.
Section 2. The duties of each of these standing committees shall be
that
the Social Committee shall plan and supervise events outside of the
jurisdiction
of the other committees, such as excursions to restaurants, off-campus and
also to plan times for italophone students to come together and speak
Italian. They must also provide refreshments at each event. The
Literature, Art and Film Committee shall plan all events of related
topics, supervise
them and provide refreshments at every event. The Musical Committee shall
plan and supervise musical events and provise refreshments at every event.
All three committees are responsible for advertising their event around
the campus.
Section 3. Additional committees may be formed and dissolved by the
organization based upon need and adequate participation by the
members.
Article VIII - By-Laws
Section 1. By-laws of the organization shall be established and
altered by
a majority vote of the Board and general membership.
Section 2. By-laws of the Board shall be established and altered by a
majority vote of the general members.
Article IX - Amendments to the Constitution
Amendments to the constitution shall be proposed by a member and
require a
majority vote of the members at a general meeting to be passed.
Article X - Ratification
This constitution shall be established by a majority vote of the
membership of the organization.
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