Constitution (Amended, June 2006, Nov. 2011)
CONSTITUTION OF THE COLUMBUS ARGENTINE TANGO SOCIETY AT
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
Article 1: Name
The name of the organization is the “Columbus Argentine Tango Society at
The Ohio State University," hereafter referred to as the CATS.
Article 2: Mission
A. The mission of the CATS is to promote the appreciation of Argentine Tango as a
social, artistic, and recreational form among all citizens of the Greater Columbus
areas and surrounding communities as well as among the students, faculty, and
staff at The Ohio State University.
B. To achieve its mission, the CATS shall:
1.
Promote instructions and practice of Argentine Tango
2.
Organize and foster programs that assist in the promotion of Argentine
Tango and in the improvement of dancing skills among all those
interested;
3.
Promote amateur Argentine Tango dancing
4.
Provide opportunities for meeting national and international Tango artists;
and
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5.
Organize and foster Tango events.
Article 3: Membership
A. Membership in the CATS shall be open to regularly enrolled students, staff,
alumni, faculty, and spouses of students, staff, alumni, and faculty of The Ohio
State University, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, age,
sex, sexual preference, national origin, political views, veteran status, or
disability, who desire to learn and practice Argentine Tango.
B. Membership Categories: There shall be two (2) categories of membership as
follows:
1. General Members: Any person who is eligible and joins the CATS is
considered a general member of the CATS. A general member is entitled
to certain privileges as determined by the Executive Board. Such
privileges may include, but are not limited to, participation in dance
lessons and special events. Any general member who is a student enrolled
at The Ohio State University ("general student member") and anyone who
has been a general member for at least one quarter shall have the right to
vote in any general or special election.
2.
Instructors: they are the teachers of Argentine Tango. They shall have
the right to vote in any general or special election, one of the instructors
will be elected to serve on the Executive Committee. Instructors design
and conduct Argentine Tango lessons and supervise free practice sessions.
Instructors are invited to teach the lessons by the Executive Board on an
academic quarter schedule. There is no limit on how many times the
instructors can be invited or the number of lessons they teach. Instructors
may receive honorarium for teaching the lessons (see Article 8).
C. Conduct: Members shall abide by the rules and standards of the CATS and shall
conduct themselves in a sportsmanlike, constructive, courteous, and orderly
manner. In addition, student members shall abide at all times by The Ohio State
University Code. Members also have an obligation to keep the President of the
CATS informed of their current permanent contact address for purposes of
correspondence.
D. Resignation or Loss of Membership: Any member who resigns or whose
membership is revoked for failure to abide by the rules and standards, and who, at
a later date, wishes to reapply for membership shall be subject to the rules,
criteria, and procedures specified in this constitution.
E. Participation: Service to the CATS in any capacity shall not preclude an
individual from attending classes or otherwise participating in any event at OSUsanctioned or the CATS-sponsored programs or competitions.
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F. Structure: Executive Board consists of the President, Vice President, Treasurer,
one instructor representative and, one non-student representative (if there is need
for one. See Article 4-D). The Advisor shall serve as an ex officio member. The
Executive Board manages the CATS and ensures that its conduct and activities
are consistent with this constitution.
G. The requirement for the general membership in the CATS is to have signed a
membership agreement and taking Tango classes at OSU.
Article 4: Officers and their Duties
A. The President
The President is the official spokes-person of the CATS.
1. The President
shall preside at all meetings of the club
2.
The President is responsible for quarterly reports to the Advisor if
requested and will perform other activities and duties as pertain to this
office such as attending University meetings.
3.
The President, in consultation with the Executive Board, shall determine
whether or not an individual will be allowed to join the club based on the
constitution.
4.
The President shall re-register the CATS with the OSU Student Affairs
Office after any changes of the officers or advisor including contact
information. As required by OSU, re-registration must be made by the
end of the second week of each autumn quarter.
5.
Delegate responsibilities to other officers and volunteers willing to help.
6.
Convenes meetings.
B. Vice-President
1.
The Vice-president will perform the duties of the President in his/her
absence.
2.
The Vice-president is responsible for all publicity for the club, including
the web-site management,
3.
The Vice-president is responsible for writing the summary of the
meetings.
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4.
The Vice-president is responsible for making all OSU facility requests, for
example reserving the rooms for Tango classes.
C. The Treasurer
1.
The Treasurer will draw all warrants and checks on the treasury.
2.
The Treasurer will receive and be custodian of all funds of the Club.
3.
The Treasurer will deliver to the Executive Committee members a written
report of all receipts and expenditures incurred by the CATS by June 30 or
at the last meeting of the academic year, whichever occurs later.
4.
The Treasurer will make quarterly financial reports and budgets for the
club to be presented at the quarterly meetings.
D. Non-Student Representative
A member the CATS, who does not currently hold an active student status,
could be elected to the Executive Board. This person will act as a link
between the non-student population of the club and the student board
members. Responsibilities will be assigned as deemed necessary by the
President and or Executive Board.
E. Instructor Representative
One of the instructors shall be appointed by President to the Executive Board.
This person will act as a link between the instructors and the student board
members. Responsibilities will be assigned as deemed necessary by the
President/ and or Executive Board.
F. Officers
1.
The Officers of the Club shall be as follows: President, Vice-President,
Treasurer, the non-student representative, the instructor representative and
the advisor, all to be elected annually.
2.
All officers must attend all club meetings, meet together quarterly, and
discuss the financial status of the club and plan for six months in advance.
When an officer cannot attend a meeting, he/she must so notify President
in advance of the meeting.
3.
Officers shall be elected annually and can be re-elected for another year.
The election process will be held during Spring quarter with the term
beginning at the beginning of the Fall quarter.
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4.
Officers shall be elected by a show of hands by the members present at the
quarterly spring meeting (or by an e-mail vote) by general members who
are eligible to vote (see Article 3, B-1) and/or by email sent to the
President or Vice-president. A simple majority vote determines the
election outcome.
5.
When an elected officer loses his/her qualification to serve as an officer,
e.g., through the loss of student status upon graduation, the Executive
Board shall appoint a qualified member to serve out the departing officer’s
remaining term.
G. Advisor
The Advisor to this organization shall be a full-time faculty or staff member at
The Ohio State University. The Advisor shall be an ex officio member of the
Executive Board. An important duty of the advisor shall be to ensure that the
activities of the CATS are in compliance with the rules and policies of The
Ohio State University.
H. Non-Voting Officers Members
There shall be two non-voting members of the Executive Board: the nonstudent representative and the Advisor. However, in the event of a tie vote,
only the Advisor may vote to break the tie.
I. Leave of Absence
1.
In the event that the President shall take a leave of absence for a reason
justified the Vice President shall substitute for the President until the
President returns. If the Vice President is unable to serve, the Executive
Board shall appoint a member to substitute.
2.
If the Vice President takes a leave of absence justified, his or her duties
shall be shared among the remaining officers. If any other member of the
Executive Board takes a leave of absence, the remaining members of the
Executive Board will appoint a member to replace that Executive Board
member’s position for the duration of the absence.
J. Removal and Vacancies
Any member of the Executive Board, including President, Vice President,
Treasurer, and Advisor may be removed from Office for nonfeasance,
malfeasance or other conducts that violate the University’s code of student
conduct. The Executive Board, not including the officer being proposed for
removal, shall conduct the review of the case and present it to those holding
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the general membership for vote. The proposed removal must be approved by
an assenting vote of not less than 2/3 of the membership or body by whom the
person was selected. The Executive Board, not including the officer being
proposed for removal, ultimately makes the decision. It should be noted that
the organization’s non-discrimination policy should protect members from
removal based on those listed statuses. In the case of a person’s failure to
continue to qualify as a general member in good standing, forfeiture of
position shall be automatic upon affirmation by the Executive Board of loss of
good standing. In the event of death, resignation, or removal for any other
reason, the vacancy will be filled for the unexpired term by a member
appointed by the Executive Board. The Special Election must be held within
two weeks of the opening of the vacancy, during which time the Vice
President shall assume the officer’s responsibilities and act as an interim
officer (under the same procedures as outlined under subsection I, above, for
executive Board members’ leaves of absence).
Article 5: Meetings
1.
The annual meeting shall be held in spring quarter.
2.
Meetings may be called at any time as deemed necessary by the President.
3.
A general meeting will be held the third week of autumn quarter for the
purpose of conducting club business and recruitment of new members.
4.
Quarterly meetings are to be held during a convenient week of each
quarter, which will be arranged.
Article 6: Meetings of Members:
General Meetings: Within each calendar year there shall be at least one General Meeting
(the "GM") open to all members of the club. Any Officers of the Club may call a GM for
just cause. Both meeting date and agenda shall be announced to all members at least
three days in advance. A voting majority at each meeting shall be the simple majority of
the members present. Only the “yes” votes and “no” votes count as votes, and
abstentions do not count as votes. All meetings shall be carried out according to the
Parliamentary procedure, except that the chairperson of the meeting shall have a vote.
The President shall be chairperson if he or she so wishes; otherwise, the chairperson shall
be selected by a majority of the members present. The Vice-president shall keep the
minutes of meetings, and the minutes shall be distributed to all members. If the Vice
President is absent, a member of the Executive Board attending the meeting shall assume
this duty.
Article 7: Non-Discriminatory Policy
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All members of the CATS shall abide by the policies and rules of The Ohio State
University on this matter.
Article 8: Honorarium for Instructors
A. Each member that takes a Tango lesson must pay a fee to the instructor at the time
of the lesson. This fee will be determined by Executive Board and announced on
the website.
B. The instructors cannot receive honoraria for teaching that comes from funds
received from Ohio State, except in specific circumstances that have to be
approved by the Executive Board.
Article 9: Procedures for Amendments
A. Any student member in good standing can initiate a campaign for amendments to
the Constitution of the CATS. The amendment(s) must be in its (their) complete
final form to be ratified at any general meeting, including, but not limited to,
General Election and Special Election, providing that at least fifty (50) percent of
the average total members of the CATS are present at such a meeting. Each
member present has one vote per amendment.
B. When members who are in good standing cannot attend the meeting because of
legitimate reasons acknowledged by members of the Executive Board, they may
use absentee ballots to vote either by email Sent to the president or vice-president
or by absentee ballots. Members who use absentee ballots must place their
ballots into envelopes, seal these envelopes themselves, put their full names on
the envelopes, but not on the ballots, for verification purposes. These sealed
envelopes shall be delivered to the meeting by members who are not running for
offices or who are not initiating the amendments. After being verified, the names
on these sealed envelopes must be blackened out entirely for confidential reasons.
Then the envelopes will be opened, and the votes inside will be counted at the
meeting where such votes are called for. Absentee ballots can be used to vote for
officers as well as amendments.
C. Amendment(s) must win at least a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the votes from
members who participate in the voting to be ratified. Once ratified the
amendment(s) shall supersede all pertinent material stated elsewhere in the
Constitution. The copy of ratified amendment(s) must be dated and have the
signatures of all officers of the Executive Board as witnesses. Such a copy shall
be attached to, and become a permanent part of, the constitution of Columbus
Argentine Tango Society at The Ohio State University.
(Revised 11-11-2011)
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THE COLUMBUS ARGENTINE TANGO SOCIETY
AT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
Membership Agreement
Name:
Address:
Phone Number:
Email Address:
Bio Information for Website:
Year of Enrollment:
Field of Specialization (or Major):
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Brief Biography:
(Continued on Next Page)
By coming a member of Columbus Argentine Tango Society at The Ohio State
University (CATS), you agree to abide by all the rules and regulations outline by the
CATS Constitution as well as The Ohio State University’s “Code of Conduct”.
You also agree that any and all practices, meets, trips, or social events are entirely
voluntary and undertaken at your own risk of physical harm and agreeing to these
conditions as and acknowledging that CATS, its officers, advisor, instructors, and
affiliates can not be held liable for any adverse situations that may arise as a result of
your participation. Finally, you agree not to file lawsuits against the CATS or its officers
and the members of the Executive Board.
Signed:-------------------------------------------
Date:--------------------------------
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