Sangam
CONSTITUTION
Article I. Name
The name of this organization shall be Sangam.
Article II. Purpose
The purpose of this organization shall be to educate the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
community and beyond about South Asian and South Asian-American issues as well as to act as an
open forum for individuals to discuss prominent concerns and to serve the community. South Asia
includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Article III. Affiliation
Section 1: This organization shall not be formally affiliated with any religious or political
partisan organization.
Section 2. This organization shall be the umbrella organization to the Graduate Student South
Asian Awareness Organization, Saagar. Saagar shall have its own governing body. The
purpose of Saagar is to spread South Asian Awareness amongst the graduate students of
UNC.
Article IV. Membership
Section 1. Full membership and participation in this organization shall be open to all
faculty, staff, and registered students of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, disability, age, veteran status,
sexual orientation, and gender.
Section 2. A member will constitute anyone who meets the above criteria of Article IV and
pays dues. The organization shall not be responsible for providing financial aid to any
potential members.
Section 3. A member will have the following, but not limited to, privileges:
A. the right to cast one vote in all non-Executive Board and non-cabinet voting
matters concerning the organization,
B. the right to attend any Executive Board or Cabinet meetings (unless an
emergency situation has been called by the Executive Board) and participate only
if officially recognized by the presiding officer of the meeting,
C. the right to motion to call/initiate a vote on any issue concerning the organization.
The motion must be verbally seconded at the time offered in order for the vote to
be officially recognized,
D. the right to call a meeting with the approval of the President, according to the
general meeting guidelines.
E. to present a petition to create a subgroup. This presentation is to be made at a
meeting of the Cabinet but to be approved by the Executive Board. If approved,
the subgroup shall have one non-voting delegate to the Cabinet.
Article V. Executive Board
Section 1. Only full-time student members may serve as a member of the Executive Board.
Section 2. The Executive Board will consist of seven elected officers. The seven elected
members shall be the President, the Vice President, the Treasurer, the Secretary of
External Affairs, the Secretary of Internal Affairs, the Graduate Student Liaison, and the
First-Year-Student-at-Large.
A. The responsibilities of the officers shall include, but are not limited to, the
following:
1. The President shall officially represent the organization to the best of his/her
ability, shall direct the efforts of the organization, shall provide guidance and
motivation for the organization, and shall preside at Executive Board and General
Body meetings. Additionally, the president shall keep an executive journal
detailing all notes, thoughts, and decisions. This journal is to be presented to the
incoming president upon their installment.
2. The Vice President shall assist the President in any of his/her responsibilities,
shall organize the functions of the organization and the cabinet, shall manage the
organization's equipment and supplies, and shall serve as a direct liaison and
facilitate communication between the President and the chairs of the established
committees and between the executive board and the general body.
3. The Secretary of Internal Affairs shall communicate the functions/activities of
the organization to its members and the University community, shall be
responsible for maintaining the necessary records of the organization, keeping
attendance records for the executive and cabinet meetings, and shall be
responsible for all room reservations for any Sangam related events. Also will be
responsible for keeping records of Sangam’s activities and accomplishments.
4. The Secretary of External Affairs will be responsible for organizing the
selection of cabinet, over seeing all election processes, drafting all legal
documents, maintaining a link between Sangam, Student Government, and the
rest of campus.
5. The Treasurer shall manage the organization's finances and shall represent the
organization in all financial matters, with the President's consent. The Treasurer
shall have the responsibility of presenting a detailed financial report to the
Executive Board every month and to the general body twice a semester.
6. The Graduate Student Liaison shall serve as a liaison between the organization
and the graduate and post-graduate students of the University and shall represent
the views and concerns of the graduate and post-graduate student of the
University
7. The First-Year-Student-at-Large shall serve as a liaison between the
organization and first-year students, shall motivate and encourage the
participation of first-year students in the functions of the organization, and shall
represent the views and concerns of first-year students.
Only the seven elected officers will have the right to vote in matters dealt with by the
Executive Board. Each of the seven elected members will have only one vote concerning any
issue requiring a vote. A vote may be deemed necessary by any of the voting members of the
Executive Board.
A. Voting members of the Executive Board may declare an emergency situation
by a unanimous vote as a result of unusual circumstances that might greatly
affect the security of the organization and may vote to hold a closed Executive
Board meeting.
Section 3. The Executive Board shall have meetings separate from the general body
meeting in order to discuss, organize, and plan for pertinent issues concerning the longrange goals of the organization.
A. These meetings shall be open to all interested individuals, unless the Executive
Board has unanimously voted to declare an emergency situation and to close the
meeting to all non-voting Executive Board members.
1. Members shall have the rights under all circumstances according to Article
IV, Section 3.b.
2. Non-members of the organization shall be able to participate only if officially
recognized by the presiding officer of the meeting, unless otherwise voted
upon by voting members of the Executive Board with 2/3 majority.
B. The Executive Board will meet at least once a week during the academic year,
except as noted below:
1. during the weeks of and post University holidays/breaks
2. during the weeks of prior and post final exams
3. unless the Executive Board has unanimously voted to not hold a
meeting during a particular week.
C. During summer sessions/break, the Executive Board meetings may be called by
the President, who will notify the Executive Board members at least one week
prior to the meeting date and who will send official minutes of the meeting to all
of the Executive Board members within two weeks after the meeting date.
D. The Executive Board shall announce regular Executive Board meeting times at
the beginning of each semester.
E. Any Executive Board member shall be able to call a special Executive Board
meeting for the purpose of taking a vote on a matter concerning the organization.
F. A vote by the Executive Board shall be official only with a quorum, which shall
consist of five Executive Board members.
G. Each elected officer of the Executive Board shall write an end-of-the-year report
evaluating the activities and progress of the organization and the Executive Board
for the past school year.
Article VI. Cabinet
Section 1. Only full-time student members may serve as a member of the Cabinet.
Section 2. The Cabinet shall consist of all committee co-chairs in addition to the
Executive Board.
A. It is the responsibility of the Executive Board to decide which committees will exist
for that year.
1. The committees shall aid in carrying out the functions of the organization.
The chair or co-chairs shall be members of the Cabinet and shall have all
privileges therein, except the right to vote/call a vote during Executive Board
Meetings.
2. The Mahatma Gandhi Fellowship leadership shall be members of the
Cabinet, until the fellowship’s endowment has been fully satisfied. The
leadership staff is to be determined by the Executive Board.
B. Co-chairs shall be appointed by the Executive Board for each committee within the
first 3 weeks of the first day of class.
1. The Co-chair positions of Aaj Ka Dhamaka and Mahatma Gandhi
Fellowship will be exceptions to this rule. The Aaj Ka Dhamaka Co-chair
positions shall be a January to January term. The Mahatma Gandhi
Fellowship Co-chair positions will be an April to April term. All duties
that fall within these terms must be completed before the end of each
term. AKD co-chairs should finalize all budgets, money collections, DVD
production, and thank you’s before the end of their term. MGF co-chairs
should finalize the application process, and selection of fellows before the
end of their term.
C. Co-chairs have the ability to create a committee leadership structure as they see
appropriate in consultation with the Executive Board.
Section 3. The Executive Board has the privilege of selecting which matters to discuss
with the Cabinet. The Cabinet is entitled to a status report from the Executive Board at
every meeting of the Cabinet.
Section 4. The Cabinet shall meet at least once every two weeks during the academic year
pursuant to the restrictions listed in Article V. Section 3.B.
Article VII. Advisor
Section 1. This organization shall have an advisor. The Advisor shall counsel and support
the organization and provide long-range insight to insure the continuity of the
organization.
Section 2. The Executive Board will nominate to the General Body an Advisor after the
Executive Board unanimously decides that he/she is the best candidate, using any
selection process they deem necessary. This nomination will be voted on by the General
Body in General Body meeting. The nomination will become approved if passed by
simple majority of members present.
Section 3. The Advisor will serve in this position as long as he/she remains a member of
the faculty at UNC-CH and fulfills the aforementioned duties.
Section 4. The Executive Board may recommend to the General Body that a current
advisor be replaced if he/she is not fulfilling the responsibilities according to Article VII.
Sec. 1. An advisor may be relieved of his/her duties by a 2/3 vote of the total
membership.
Article VIII. General Body Meetings
Section 1. General Body meetings shall be open to all interested individuals.
Section 2. General Body meeting time and location shall be advertised by a campus-wide
method of mass communication at least three days in advance. This requirement may be
waived under special condition determined by the President, unless the meeting requires
a general body vote, in which case the three-day notice must be observed.
Section 3. The first General Body Meeting shall be held within the first 2 weeks of the
start of classes.
Article IX. Elections
Section 1. No two elected offices and/or appointed positions specified in this Constitution
shall be held by the same member concurrently.
Section 2. The offices of President, Vice-President, two Secretaries, Treasurer, and
Graduate Student Liaison shall be elected through a General Election.
A. General Election shall be held annually as determined by the Executive Board at least
3 weeks but not more than 5 weeks before the last day of classes. The date shall be
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
determined by the voting members of the Executive Board by a majority vote at least
four weeks prior to the date set for elections. The Executive Board shall notify all
members in writing at least two weeks prior to the date of General Elections.
One week prior to the General Elections meeting, the President shall appoint a
member of the general body, who will serve as the Election Chairperson. The
Election Chairperson will not be able to run for any office, and shall preside over the
General Elections meeting. The designated member shall obtain the services of two
additional members, who will also be unable to run for any office, for the purpose of
officially counting the election ballots.
On the date of the General Elections meeting, nominations and voting for each of the
elected offices shall be taken by the Election Chairperson on an office-by-office basis
in the following order: President, Vice-President, two Secretaries, Treasurer, and
Graduate-Student Liaison.
For each elected office, interested members shall nominate themselves. No member
may nominate him/herself for more than one office. No candidate may affiliate
themselves with any other nominee. Each nominee shall have two minutes to address
the voting audience. The members shall have the right to ask questions of the
candidates for each particular office for a period of ten minutes. Each candidate shall
have forty-five seconds to reply to a question. If any member motions for an
extension and is seconded, then an additional five minutes of discussion will be
given.
Voting shall be done by secret ballot on an office-by-office basis, and shall be
counted by the Election Chairperson and his/her staff. The winner for each office
shall be the candidate with the simple majority of the members voting for that office.
The Election Chairperson will announce the official results for each elected office at
the end of each particular position’s election process.. No vote-number totals shall be
announced.
In the event of a tie for any particular office, the Election Chairperson shall reopen
the floor for questions from the General Body for the tying parties for a period not to
exceed ten minutes in length.
The First-Year-Student-at Large shall be a member elected through a Special
Election.
1. The date of the Special Election, which shall be determined by the Executive
Board by a majority vote, shall be announced at the first general body meeting
of the academic year. The date of the Special Edition shall be held no later
than four weeks after the first general body meeting of the academic year.
2. The Executive Board must advertise the Special Edition through a campuswide method of mass communication at least two weeks prior to the date of
the Special Election. The process of nominations and elections shall follow
those specified in Article IX, Section 2, Part B.
Section 3. The Executive Board shall fill a vacant office through an election at the next
general body meeting following the announcement of the vacancy, adhering to the
General Election guidelines as stated above. The term of an officer elected due to a
vacancy shall be effective immediately and shall terminate at the end of the academic
year.
Section 4. All terms of elected officers shall be terminated at the end of the academic
year.
Article X. Voting
Section 1. Voting on all matters concerning the organization and the motions to call a
vote shall be passes by a simple majority of those members present, with the exception of
amendments to the constitution/by-laws which shall take an absolute majority of total
members present at special meeting called by the Executive Board.
Section 2. All voting shall be done by secret ballot unless a motion is made prior to the
vote to use another method of vote. The only exception is voting matters during General
Elections, Special Elections, and Impeachment voting, which shall always be done by
secret ballot.
Article XI. Impeachment Procedure
Section 1. A request for impeachment of an elected official shall be recognized only if
petition signed by at least 1/3 of the total membership has been presented to the
Executive Board. A special meeting to discuss impeachment matters will be held within
two weeks of notifying the Executive Board.
Section 2. At the meeting, presentations by any interested parties shall be heard, followed
by a general body discussion. An affirmative vote by an absolute majority of the total
membership shall impeach elected official.
Article XII. Parliamentary Procedure
Section 1. In case of doubt, refer to Robert Rules of Order, except in those cases
inconsistent with this Constitution.
Section 2. The voting majorities shall be defined as following: An absolute majority
shall consist of at least 50% + 1 of the vote. A simple majority shall consist of the
majority of the votes cast. Abstentions will not contribute to the total number of votes
cast.
Article XIII. Amendments
Amendments to this constitution shall be ratified by an absolute majority vote of the
members present at a meeting called by the Executive Board.
Article XIV. Ratification
This constitution shall become effective when an absolute majority of the members
present have approved it. Upon ratification of this document, any and all previous Bylaws and Constitution shall be null and void.
Last Amended and Ratified: August 2011
University-Prompted Legal Revision: January 2003