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The Bioethics Society of Boston University
Constitution
Article
1: Name
The name of this undergraduate student organization shall be known
publicly as “The Bioethics Society of Boston University” and thereby
referred to in this document as “The Organization.”
Article
II: Mission Statement
The Organization shall serve as a nonpartisan forum to foster interdisciplinary
discussion and awareness of ethical issues arising from scientific
investigation and the application of consequent discoveries.
Article
III: Membership
Clause
1
Membership in The Organization shall be available to all full-time
undergraduate students at Boston University without regard to race,
ethnicity, religion, political views, sexual orientation, or any other
factors outlined in the Boston University Discrimination Policy.
Clause
2
Membership shall be obtained by attending any organization gathering
and documented by Secretary of The Organization.
Clause
3
Dues may be required for membership.
Clause
4
Members are encouraged to participate in all organizational gatherings
and required to attend the majority of them, excluding Executive Board
meetings.
Clause
5
All members shall be prepared to contribute ideas, questions, and
thoughts as they pertain to bioethical and organizational issues.
Article
IV: Executive Board
Section
1
The Organization will be led by an Executive Board consisting of four
officers and a variable number of supplemental coordinators.
Section
2: Officers
Clause
1
Four officers shall be recognized by the Student Activities Office,
namely: President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary.
Clause
2
Officers are members outlined in Article III.
Clause
3
Officers will abide by the general officer responsibilities as outlined
in Article V Section 1 and corresponding specific responsibilities
as outlined in Article V Section 2.
Section
3: Additional Members
Clause
1
Supplemental coordinators are appointed or elected as seen fit by
the core members.
Clause
2
Additional members are members as outlined in Article III.
Clause
3
Additional members will abide by the general officer responsibilities
as outlined in Article V Section 1.
Article
V: Officer Responsibilities
Section
1: General Officer Responsibilities
Clause
1
Each officer shall either:
a) present to the Executive Board physical copy of correspondence
to be held on file with the Secretary with at least one speaker who
will (not just want to) lecture to the Organization in the current
or coming academic year.
OR
b) Prepare and lead an open discussion about a bioethical topic with
The Organization during an officer’s term.
Section
2: Responsibilities of the President
Clause
1
The President shall prepare an agenda, call, preside over, and adjourn
all organization gatherings, including Executive Board meetings.
Clause
2
The President shall be held accountable for all final decisions made
by the Executive Board.
Clause
3
The President
shall be responsible for the handling of all situations not explicitly
or implicitly mentioned in this document, the Executive Board contact,
or other documents pertaining to The Organization.
Section
3: Responsibilities of the Vice President
Clause
1: The Vice President shall assume the duties and responsibilities
of the President should the President resign.
Clause
2
The Vice President shall preside over meetings if the President is
unable to attend, thus assuming duties and responsibilities of the
President for the duration of that meeting.
Clause
3
The Vice President shall supervise all committees with The Organization
and will settle any disputes among committees.
Section
4: Responsibilities of the Treasurer
Clause
1
The Treasurer shall be responsible for all fiscal matters. This responsibility
includes, but is not limited to, attending Student Activities Office
meetings unless otherwise delegating this responsibility to another
member of the Executive Board.
Clause
2
The Treasurer shall be responsible for signing all necessary paperwork
with the Student Activities Office and is the sole signatory for the
funs of The Organization.
Section
5: Responsibilities of the Secretary
Clause
1
The Secretary shall be responsible for taking minutes at all organizational
gatherings.
Clause
2 The Secretary shall present all members with a copy of the previous
organizational meeting’s minutes at each non-Executive Board meeting
or make these minutes available electronically.
Clause
3
The Secretary shall present all members with a copy of the previous
organizational meeting’s minutes at each Executive Board meeting or
make these minutes available electronically.
Clause
4
The Secretary shall be responsible for maintaining current correspondence
information between parties associated with The Organization.
Clause
5
The Secretary shall be responsible for maintaining a membership list
of all members.
Clause
6
The Secretary shall maintain the website of The Organization or delegate
this responsibility to another member of the Executive Board.
Clause
7
The Secretary shall keep on file the correspondence mentioned in Article
V Section 1 Clause 1a.
Article
VI: Elections
Clause
1
Elections for officers should be held at least one month before the
last day of classes to allow for the Transfer Period as outlined in
Article VI Clause 5.
Clause
2
The candidates receiving the most votes within their category will
be deemed the winner of that category. In the event of a tie, the
core members of the Executive Board will deliberate the outcome of
the particular category until a consensus is reached.
Clause
3
All candidates must be members of The Organization as outlined in
Article III to be nominated and elected.
Clause
4
For an election to be valid, a majority of the members must be present
during the voting. This number will be determined by the Secretary.
Clause
5
The Transfer Period is the month after the election results where
there exist two bodies of officers. During this period, the governing
officers retain full duties and responsibilities as outlined in Article
V. After this period has expired, the newly elected body of officers
will assume these aforementioned duties and responsibilities.
Clause
6
Proposed Additional Clause:
Information regarding the time, date, and location of elections shall
be made available to all members of The Organization.
Article
VIII: Voting
Clause
1
All members of The Organization, including Executive Board members,
are allowed one vote per category. For exceptions in the case of a
tie, see Article VI Clause 2.
Clause
2
Voting results shall be determined the day of the election.
Article
VIII: Meetings
Clause
1
Executive Board meetings are to be attended by all Executive Board
members as further outlined in the Executive contract and may include
the faculty advisor.
Clause
2
The Executive Board shall meet at least once per month.
Clause
3
All forms of organization gathering other than Executive Board meetings
include, but are not exclusive to, forums, conferences, speaking events,
off-campus trips, and other gathering pertaining to bioethical issues
in accordance with Article II.
Clause
4
The Organization shall convene for organization gatherings as outlined
in Article VIII Clause 4 at least twice per semester.
Article
IX: Amendments
Clause
1
At least a two-thirds majority of the Executive Board, as outlined
in Article IV, is required to approve changes to this document.
Clause
2
All amendments made by the Executive Board in compliance with Article
IX Clause 1 must be forwarded for final approval to the Director of
the Student Activities Office.
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