Resident Student Organization Constitution
State University of New York College at Oneonta
Mission Statement
The Resident Student Organization’s mission is to work towards improving every aspect
of on-campus living by providing and sharing information and programs in an
environment conducive to learning and growing. The organization will also provide a
voice for the residents of the Residential Community Life Office and Student
Development Office.
Article I.
Membership
A. All students at the State University of New York College at Oneonta who reside
in residence halls shall be considered members.
a. Active Members are defined as
i. Members who have attended 75% or more Delegation Meetings
B. The Resident Student Organization (RSO) shall not discriminate against any
member on any basis including but not limited to real or perceived age, race, sex,
gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, sexual history, religious
orientation, physical or mental disability, veteran status, alienage, citizenship,
marital or parental status, legally recognized domestic partnership status, national
origin, ancestry, creed, political belief, arrest and/or conviction record, or any
other criterion prohibited by federal, state, or local law.
Article II.
Organization
A. The RSO delegation shall consist of student representatives from each Residence
Hall Government. All Residence Hall Governments shall be accorded voting
privileges in the delegation according to the following:
a. Shall consist of two elected delegation members from each residence hall
government whose term will run from the date of his/her election until the
next hall election. The exception shall be Hulbert Hall, which will be
allowed four delegation members due to its residential population.
b. A member may gain the voting privileges of their specific hall if no other
representative from their hall is in attendance. A member may also gain
privileges if they have supplied documentation from the RD of their hall
and or hall government.
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B. The Resident Student Organization shall have a President, Vice President, Treasurer,
Secretary, one National Communication Coordinator (NCC), and one Internal
Communication Coordinator (ICC) appointed by both the president of National
Residence Hall Honorary and the president of the Resident Student Organization.
C. Non-voting members of the college community may attend meetings unless otherwise
stated for that specific meeting.
Article III.
Executive Board
A. The executive board shall have the following powers and duties:
a. Must submit a detailed end of the year report to the general advisor by the
last meeting of his/her term. This report must contain the officer’s general
duties, positions, specific duties, and summaries of all programs and
projects.
b. Shall have three office hours in the RSO office every week classes are in
session.
c. Shall sign a waiver, prior to accepting the position, giving permission to
the advisors of RSO to make sure that he/she is in good academic and
judicial standing throughout his/her term.
i. Good academic standing is defined as a 2.25 cumulative GPA or
better, starting in the 2011-2012 academic year
ii. Poor judicial standing is defined as being on a level 2 probation
d. With the exception of the Ex-Officio Executive Board Members, the
executive board shall receive a per semester stipend.
e. Set time and place for delegation meetings.
f. Suggest policy and make proposals for actions to the delegation as he/she
deems necessary.
g. Appoint general advisor(s) pending approval from the delegation.
h. None of the Executive Board members will have a vote, with exception of
the President who shall vote in the event of a tie. In the event of an
impeachment and/or removal, the Executive Board members may then
cast a vote.
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B. The President shall have the following powers and duties:
a. Preside over executive board and delegation meetings and act as
parliamentarian.
b. Cast a ballot at meetings only in order to break a tie vote.
c. Shall act as a liaison between the Office of Residential Community Life
and the Office of Student Development.
d. Have the power to appoint someone as a temporary executive board
member up to one meeting after the position has been vacated.
e. Shall establish an agenda for all executive board meetings.
f. Shall be responsible for logistics which include: booking rooms, catering,
and setting up goals for Hall Government Retreat.
g. Shall attend national, regional and/or mini no-frill conferences when
possible.
h. Shall determine the validity of any excuse by the delegation as it pertains
to attendance.
i. Shall be the Co-Chair of the Residential Advocacy Committee. Shall also
appoint a Co-Chair and Secretary from the RSO delegation.
j. Shall appoint the Internal Communication Coordinator with the assistance
of the president of National Resident Hall Honorary
C. The Vice President shall have the following powers and duties:
a. Chair the delegation meetings if the President is unable, and succeed to the
office of President in the event of a vacancy.
b. Shall be designated the historian of RSO whose duties include: making a
binder every year of the programs for the Executive Board, including
visualizations such as pictures of the events, and keeping records of
residence hall events.
c. Shall receive, distribute and act as a liaison for all program proposals.
d. Shall be the Co-Chair of the Programming Committee. Shall appoint a CoChair and Secretary from the RSO delegation.
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D. The Treasurer shall have the following powers and duties:
a. Keep and maintain any and all financial records of the Resident Student
Organization.
b. Shall co-sign all vouchers.
c. Present an annual budget to the delegation at the second RSO meeting of
the Fall semester.
d. Shall be in charge of all updates on the RSO Website.
e. Oversee ordering of RSO t-shirts and other give-away items at the
discretion of the executive board.
f. Shall be designated the RSO office manager whose duties include:
keeping the office organized, keeping an inventory of and maintaining
adequate supplies, and shall be in charge of cleaning the office excluding
personal messes.
g. Shall verify all forms of advertisement submitted to the Resident Student
Organization by anyone who has been approved funding. If Treasurer is
unable to verify advertisements then they must temporarily delegate this
power to a fellow executive board member.
E. The Secretary shall have the following powers and duties:
a. Record the minutes of all delegation meetings and have said minutes ready
for distribution before the following delegation meeting.
b. Record the minutes of all executive board meetings and have said minutes
ready for distribution before the following executive board meeting.
c. Keep records of attendance and enforce all rules in this Constitution
pertaining to attendance.
d. Shall be responsible for staff development which includes: creating one
program every other month for community development, and helping
organize the end of the semester dinner.
e. Shall be the Co-Chair of the Internal Affairs Committee. Shall appoint a
Co-Chair and Secretary from the RSO delegation.
F. The National Communications Coordinator shall have the following powers and
duties:
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a. To keep in contact with the National Association of College and
University Residence Halls (NACURH) and the Northeast Affiliates of
College and University Residence Halls (NEACURH).
b. Shall attend national, regional and/or mini no-frill conferences when
possible.
c. Select and organize a delegation for Regional NEACURH conference that
Oneonta is attending & co-organize with the advisors attendance at the
NACURH conference.
d. All duties assigned as per the NCC manual.
e. Organize and submit an NIC report annually.
G. The Internal Communications Coordinator shall have the following powers and
duties:
a. Shall attend RSO E-board and General Body Meetings
b. Shall attend NRHH E-Board and General Body Meetings
c. Will communicate between the two organizations (RSO and NRHH)
d. Will communicate to other clubs and organizations at the discretion of the
president
e. Shall promote NEACURH conferences at NRHH meetings/events
f. Will hold two office hours each week in the RSO office
H. Students hosted by the State University of New York College at Oneonta serving
on the Regional Board of Directors (RBD) of the North East Affiliate of College
and University Residence Halls (NEACURH) or the National Board of Directors
(NBD) of the National Association of College and University Residence Halls
(NACURH) shall be considered ex-officio members of the RSO Executive Board.
Ex-Officio Executive Board Members shall have the following powers and duties:
a. Will be non-voting members of the RSO Executive Board.
b. Responsible for attending both RSO Executive Board Meetings and other
meetings as decided by the RSO Executive Board at the start of term.
c. Fulfill their RBD/NBD position in accordance with Regional and National
policy.
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d. Responsible for holding a minimum of two office hours per week.
e. Must write a signed letter of commitment outlining and agreeing to their
responsibilities to the Resident Student Organization and the Department
of Residential Community Life as agreed upon with the RSO Executive
Board prior to the start of their term on either the RBD or NBD. A copy
of this letter must go to the RSO Advisor, RSO President, and the Director
of Residential Community Life.
f. Will be decided on at the discretion of both the RSO and NRHH
Presidents.
g. Failure to fulfill these duties will result in the revocation of any privileges
and support given by the Resident Student Organization and the
Department of Residential and Community Life.
Article IV.
Impeachment and Removal Process for the Executive Board
A. Grounds for impeachment:
a. One unexcused absence at RSO delegation and executive board meetings.
b. Excessive lateness to RSO delegation and executive board meetings.
Excessive lateness will be determined by the executive board.
c. Failure to perform duties of the respective office as defined by this
constitution.
d. Abuse of the powers of the office.
B. Impeachment of the Executive Board.
a. RSO shall have the right to begin an impeachment process on an executive
board member upon presentation of a petition of a majority of members of
the delegation with specific charges stated.
b. In the event of an impeachment, the general advisor shall preside over
impeachment hearings.
c. The RSO delegation and the RSO executive board shall hear the charges
and then vote on the case. A majority of the voting members is required to
impeach an RSO executive board member from office. The member being
charged cannot vote.
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C. Removal Process
a. Must state charges for removal.
b. Must have a discussion led by advisor.
c. A two-thirds vote from voting members will result in removal. The
member being charged cannot vote.
Article V.
Delegation
A. Approve or deny appropriations and expenditures as permitted by the constitution.
B. Meet regularly, at least once a week while classes are in session.
a. In order to hold a vote, more than one half of the voting delegation
members must be present at the meeting.
b. All meetings shall be open.
c. All meetings shall be conducted under modified parliamentary procedure
specific to RSO.
C. For every meeting a delegation member has an unexcused absence they shall have
their voting rights taken away for one regular meeting directly after the missed
meeting(s).
D. All delegation members of the Resident Student Organization shall have one vote.
Article VI
Advisors
A. The Resident Student Organization shall have two advisors.
a. One of the advisors shall be a member of the central staff of the Office of
Residential Community Life.
b. The other advisor may be any other professional staff member of
Residential Community Life with support of the Director of the Office of
Residential Community Life.
c. An advisor will cosign all vouchers.
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Article VII
Allotment of funds
A. All requests must be filled out via the interactive form at the Resident Student
Organization’s web site. In the event that the website is not available requests
must be submitted in written form.
B. The person or group must then attend the meeting in which the proposal is
presented to the delegation. If the person or group is not present, the proposal will
be tabled for a maximum of two meetings. The delegation members will be
provided a copy of the proposal.
C. The delegation members will discuss the proposal with their hall governments and
will vote on the proposal at the next scheduled meeting.
D. The person or group requesting money shall be informed of the decision made by
the Resident Student Organization after voting.
E. All program proposals must be submitted seventy-two hours prior to the next
scheduled delegation meeting.
F. If the requested funds are granted, then the Resident Student Organization shall
receive appropriate recognition on all subsequent advertisement media. All
printed advertisements and other forms of advertisement shall be verified for
recognition by the Treasurer.
a. If recognition is not granted, funds shall be returned in full to RSO.
b. In the event that money cannot be returned, no further money shall be
granted to that group for the remainder of the academic year.
Article VIII
Constitution
A. The constitution shall be ratified or amended upon approval of two-thirds of the
voting members of the Resident Student Organization.
B. The constitution may be broken at any time with the approval of three-fourths of
the delegation.
C. The constitution is required to be distributed annually to the Residence Life
Office, The RSO/NRHH office, Student Association, and all Residence Halls.
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Revised (March 25, 2011)
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