How to Write Your Group Constitution
Chartered: Date of Student Congress Meeting
Last revised: January 25th, 2014
This document is meant to provide a comprehensive guideline for how Student Association chartered
groups should format their Constitution and what information is required or suggested to be included. The
group constitution is one of the main ways to ensure consistency from year to year. Please consider carefully
what information you choose to include (what group must abide by in the future) and what you do not include
(gives the future group more freedom) and how specific you choose to be.
You may edit this guide directly if you wish. Please note: Items that are in bold are to be incorporated
in to the section in which they appear, but you can change the language if you would like. Items that are bold
and underlined are to be included verbatim, exactly as they appear. All student groups must comply with these
standards. This section and items that are italicized are notes for your information that should not be included.
PREAMBLE
Briefly state why this group being created and what it is for. Why is this group necessary?
GROUP PURPOSE:
Clearly state the objectives and goals of your group. Explain what this group hopes to accomplish on campus
and how it will be beneficial for Binghamton Students. Include how you plan to carry out your group’s goals.
Be specific about what this group is and will do. Think about where this group will be five years after your
graduate.
This information must all remain consistent and will be forwarded to our insurance agency for review.
ARTICLE I: Organization Name
1. Official name of the group. Group names are automatically followed by the phrase “at Binghamton
University” but should not include it in the name
2. Acronyms of the group name (not required).
3. Previous names of group and date changed (if applicable)
ARTICLE II: Membership
1. Membership in this organization is open to all undergraduate students at Binghamton University.
Community members cannot be members, but may be “volunteers” approved by the University
volunteer listserv.
2. State requirements to be a voting member. Example: a member needs to attend four consecutive meetings in
order to be eligible to vote in group elections. Don’t make it too hard, but don’t make it too easy
because these are the people who will vote in elections.
3. State requirements for other member privileges, if applicable. (Ex. If you are a performance group, maybe
members are only allowed to perform if they have attended 5+ meetings.)
4. Include the following statement IN VERBATIM: The policy of our chartered organization is not to
engage in policies or practices that serve to discriminate against or give preference to any student
on the basis of their age, color, creed, differently-abled status, marital status, national origin,
political belief, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or veteran status in regards to membership
and participation in an organization’s activities. According to the United States Court of Appeals,
Seventh Circuit decision in CLS v. Walker, Universities may not force organizations to open their
leadership to students who do not share in an organizations purposes, however, general membership
of an organization must continue to remain open to all students and others as outlined in the
constitution of the Student Association at the State University of New York at Binghamton.
5. If your organization has dues, they must be optional and cannot provide any special membership status. If
your organization is exclusionary in membership (major, gpa, application process, etc.) your
organization is not eligible for a Student Association Charter.
ARTICLE III: Executive Board
1. State the make-up of your Executive Board. You can have a maximum of 8 positions on your E-board. You
can create as many other positions as you need outside of the executive board. List and describe each of
their duties and their terms of office. Their terms of office cannot exceed one calendar year. Terms are
usually from when elections are held to the next election.
2. One person may not hold more than one e-board position at a time.
3. President, Vice President, and Treasurer must be undergraduate students and are positions that
cannot be held by more than one person (Co-presidents are not allowed).
4. Choose ONE of the following: “At least 4/5 of the e-board must be undergraduate students” or “Each
e-board member must be an undergraduate student” the latter is suggested.
ARTICLE III, SECTION 1: Executive Board Elections
1. Elections are to be held before May 1st.
2. State guidelines for e-board elections. Describe the process of elections (are they conducted via email? In
person at a meeting? Try to be specific.)
3. Set the percentage of votes needed for a candidate to win (majority or two-thirds is suggested).
4. What happens if there is a tie? When/how are the results announced?
5. State a provision for filling e-board vacancies should they arise. There must be an election. If it follows the
same rules as A III, Section 1, #2, then state that.
6. State a provision for impeaching/removing an e-board member from office. There must be some type of vote
for this. Who votes? Just eboard? Or general body as a whole? Is there a hearing in which said eboard
member can defend their position?
ARTICLE IV: Meetings
1. State the meeting procedures of your group.
2. How often will meetings be held? Specific dates and times are not necessary. (ex. E-board will meet once a
week. General body meetings will be held every two weeks.)
3. Create provisions for calling special meetings. Who calls special meetings?
4. State number for Quorum- the minimum percentage or number of voting members that must be present to do
business or vote
5. Set guidelines for voting at regular meetings (% needed to win a vote)
ARTICLE V: Expectations and Events
This section is optional as groups often find some of the more specific expectations they want to set for their
group don’t have a place elsewhere in the constitution
1. What is expected from the group each year in terms of production? (What events will you have each
year, what things will you publish/ websites you will manage/performances will you have)
2. What else does this group do? What side projects do you have?
3. Use this space to list more specifically what you will do to advance your group in its objective and goals
4. What goals should this group try to achieve in the future
5. What other leadership positions are there outside of the eboard? Do you have a faculty advisor?
ARTICLE VI: Committees
1. List and describe the powers, duties, membership procedure, and quorum for any standing committees your
group may have (not required). Ex. Volunteer Committee, Fundraising Committee, Performance
Committee, Outreach Committee, etc.
2. State provisions for forming new standing committees and ad hoc (temporary) committees, including their
powers, duties, and membership procedures, and quorum. If your group will not have committees, state a
2
provision for forming them anyway.
ARTICLE VII: Grievances
1. Any member has the right to have grievances, or official statements of complaint against the group,
addressed at the next scheduled meeting. How does the person who wants to hold a grievance go
about holding his grievance? Does he/she need to send an email within X days of the next meeting to the
Secretary? Additional provisions are optional.
ARTICLE VIII: Amendment and Ratification
1. State provisions for amending the constitution. Include % of votes needed to approve the constitution. (For
the stability of the group, this should not be easy; however, if it is too difficult, members might be
discouraged from making useful changes.)
2. Any amendments to this Constitution must be approved by the Internal Affairs Committee of the
Student Congress before they come into effect.
3. The front-page of this constitution must always include the date it was last revised.
4. Create a provision for ratifying the constitution including % of votes needed.
Note: After your group has successfully amended your constitution you must send it to the Internal Affairs
Committee (ia@binghamtonsa.org), which will may call you in to present your changed. They will then
approve, disapprove, or offer a suggestion of amendment to your constitution. Their decision is not official
until it is approved by the Student Congress. If they do not approve your changes, that is your chance to appeal
if you feel their decision was unwarranted. After it is approved, you will return to your group at the next
meeting and your group will hold a vote to ratify the Internal Affairs-approved constitution.
3