CONSTITUTION & BYLAWS
Coalition for Military Awareness
Constitution of Coalition for Military Awareness (CMA)
Article I: Name
The name of this organization shall be COALITION FOR MILITARY AWARENESS, hereafter
referred to as CMA, of the UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK.
Article II: Purpose of Organization
Coalition for Military Awareness (CMA) will provide an arena within the UNIVERSITY OF
MARYLAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK to discuss issues around serving and working
among military personnel. CMA’s mission is to provide educational opportunities to bridge
the gap of understanding between the military constituency and the individuals within the
School of Social Work, as well as the wider University of Maryland campus. CMA will strive
to address issues around the culture of the military, both for Active Duty service members
as well as Veterans and their families. CMA strives to create a visible and unified presence
for individuals interested in working with service members and their families.
Additionally, CMA strives to develop the relationships between the School of Social Work
and the surrounding military community.
Article III: Membership
Section 1: All students attending the UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL
WORK are eligible for membership in CMA.
Section 2: All interested students will sign up through written notification to any Officer or
by attending a scheduled meeting.
Section 3: Members who are unable to attend scheduled meetings may maintain
membership by showing active participation in CMA through other CMA sponsored, or cosponsored events. Individuals will be informed of events and participatory opportunities
through regular contact from the organization’s leadership.
Article IV: Officers and Duties
Section 1: The officers of the organization shall consist of the following:
A. President – The President shall prepare the agenda and preside at all meetings of
CMA. He/She will be an official representative of CMA of the UNIVERSITY OF
MARYLAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK. The President shall participate in the
collaborative process of the organization. The President shall supervise the
work of the Secretary and Treasurer when applicable. The President shall be the
liaison between CMA and the Student Government Association (hereafter
referred to as SGA) of the School of Social Work.
B. Vice President – The Vice President shall serve when the President is unavailable
to fill the role. The VP shall also be an official representative of CMA for the
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK. The VP will participate
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in meetings as requested by the President. The VP will be responsible for
reserving a room for the meetings.
C. Secretary – The Secretary shall be responsible for recording the minutes of all
CMA meetings and other CMA functions. The Secretary shall be responsible for
distributing minutes to all members of CMA as well as to the SGA. The Secretary
is responsible for passing around and collecting names and contact information
of attendees during CMA related gatherings. The Secretary shall be responsible
for advertising each CMA event and meeting through at least two (2) mediums
on campus (i.e., Bulletin, flier on boards in SSW).
D. Treasurer – The treasurer shall be responsible for coordinating reimbursements
for all members with CMA related activities and events. The Treasurer shall be
responsible for providing the Officers an oral financial update at each meeting.
The Treasurer shall develop a member-approved budget for CMA for the first
SGA General Body Meeting each semester.
Section 2: At a minimum, there must be a President and a Treasurer to serve as the Officer
Board of the CMA. In this situation, the tasks of VP and Secretary will be distributed evenly
between the Officers serving.
Section 3: Eligibility of Elected Officers: CMA officers must attend scheduled CMA meetings,
maintain membership status with a minimum of six (6) credit hours throughout the term.
Officers are required to maintain good standing with the UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK. If an officer is unable to attend a scheduled meeting, the officer
must give the Officer Board at least two (2) days notice.
Section 4: At least one (1) officer of the CMA shall represent the organization at the
monthly SGA General Body Meetings.
Section 5: Removal from Office: Any officer who fails to maintain the qualification for an
officer as stated in Section 4, or their respective duties as outlined in Section 1, or who have
acted in detriment of the CMA or counter to the goals of CMA, the UNIVERSITY OF
MARYLAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK, may be removed from office by completing the
following process:
A. A petition bearing charges against the accused officer and signed by or approved
via email by, no less than one-third of the current CMA members.
B. A Review Board, composed of the SGA officers and three (3) members of CMA
and at least one (1) other Officer of CMA shall review the charges brought
against the accused Officer. That Officer shall have an opportunity to review the
charges brought against him/her and will be given an opportunity to appeal
his/her case before the Review Board.
C. The meeting of the Review Board shall make a recommendation to CMA of their
decision no later than two (2) meetings following the filing of the petition.
D. The accused Officer will have an opportunity to appeal to CMA before an
impeachment vote is taken. A two-thirds ballot vote is required for
impeachment. Any lesser vote shall reject the petition of impeachment.
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Section 6: Should an Officer’s position become vacant during his/her term, the following
will take place. The members of the organization will be notified that the position is vacant.
If interest is shown by the next Officer Board meeting, the Officers currently serving will
motion to either appoint the new Officer or to decline the candidate of the appointment.
Section 7: The term of each of the Officers shall be from the beginning of the summer prior
to the new school year to the end of the Spring semester. The summer shall be a time of
transition between powers, if necessary. Elections for the new Officer Board shall take
place before the end of the Spring semester.
Article V: Advisor
Section 1: The CMA Faculty Advisor shall be a member of the faculty, administration or staff
of the UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK.
Section 2: The duties and responsibilities of the advisor shall be to be present in need of
guidance of assistance to the CMA Officer Board. The Advisor shall advise the group as to
the resources available when appropriate. The Advisor shall be made aware of all activities
taking place concerning CMA.
Section 3: Should the position of Faculty Advisor become vacant, it is the responsibility of
the President and Vice President of the CMA to find another faculty, member of the
administration or staff to fill the position.
Section 4: The Faculty Advisor can request an emergency Officer Board meeting to discuss
issues/concerns with at least two weeks of notice to the Officers.
Article VI: Meetings
Section 1: Officer Board meetings shall be held at least once a month as decided by the
leadership.
Section 2: CMA Member meetings shall take place at least once in two months (or two per
semester). CMA Member decisions shall be made according to the following guidelines:
A. Any member who wishes to talk about an issue shall contact the President and
VP to add the agenda item prior to the meeting.
B. Any member, group of members or Officer may present a proposal for the
group’s consideration.
C. There will be a time allotted for discussion among group members and Officers.
D. Decisions shall be made by majority vote of hands of members and Officers
attending the meeting during which the vote is taken.
Article VII: Finance
Section 1: CMA shall receive funding from the SGA each semester from Student Activity fees
paid by each student attending the School of Social Work. CMA may utilize allocated funds
once a proposed budget and updated constitution has been submitted to SGA and the Office
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of Student Affairs. The members of CMA will be informed of fund usage and a record of
expenses will be maintained by a designee of CMA.
Section 2: Spending funds: Use of all CMA funds must be approved by membership prior to
the use. This may be done through the budget allocation at the beginning of each semester.
Upon the conclusion of the Spring term, funds that have not been used will be credited back
into SGA General Budget.
Section 3: The Treasurer shall keep all records of funds being spent.
Section 4: No member will be reimbursed for items that the member has purchased prior
to gaining approval from the Officer Board or from the CMA membership as according to
Section 2.
Article VIII: Amendments
Section 1: Proposed Amendments: Amendments to this Constitution must be presented in
writing to the Officer Board. Such proposal shall be included in the business of the next
CMA membership meeting for consideration. This Constitution shall be amended by a vote
of two-thirds majority of the membership at the CMA membership meeting.
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By-Laws of the Coalition for Military Awareness (CMA)
Article I: Membership
Section 1: All students who are enrolled in the UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF
SOCIAL WORK are eligible to be a member of the CMA.
Section 2: Members shall be alerted of upcoming meetings and events pertaining to the
CMA. Members will be asked to attend all possible meetings and events in order to
continue participation and the presence of CMA at the School of Social Work.
Section 3: Membership may be terminated if a member is found to be acting against the
goals of CMA. The Officer Board is able to terminate the member by majority vote. The
President shall not be allowed to vote on the matter except for in the case in which there
are only three (3) voting Officers on the Officer Board.
Article II: Selection of Officers
Selection of Officers shall be completed by holding a membership-wide election. Every
participating member shall be part of the voting membership. At the end of each Spring
semester, the membership will be asked to vote on individuals who have identified
themselves as candidates for the above referenced Officer positions.
Article III: Selection of a Faculty Advisor
Section 1: Selection of a Faculty Advisor shall take place each year, at the end of the Spring
semester, once the new leadership has been elected. The outgoing leadership shall meet
with the incoming leadership to discuss selection and appointment of the Faculty Advisor.
The President and Vice President shall reach out to the Faculty Advisor to meet with
him/her to ensure his/her guidance for the coming year.
Section 2: The provisions for removal of an advisor includes a notice in writing be given to
the previous Faculty Advisor to inform him/her of the Officer Board’s decision by the end
of September in the Fall semester.
Article IV: Relationship with the Student Government Association
Section 1: CMA falls under the guidance of the SGA.
Section 2: CMA shall provide the SGA with the organization’s updated constitution and bylaws, budget, Faculty Advisor’s contact information and a current list of officers to be
recognized as SGA affiliated Student Organization. This information will be submitted by
request or by the second SGA General body meeting.
Section 3: CMA shall have an opportunity to amend its Constitution and by-laws each
academic year. Revisions shall be presented to the CMA membership, and after revision
shall be submitted to SGA.
Section 4: CMA shall provide SGA with minutes from each CMA affiliated meeting or
activity, activity plans, and the schedule of planned events.
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Section 5: At least one (1) CMA Officer shall be in attendance at all monthly SGA General
Body Meetings unless prior notice has been given to the SGA two (2) days in advance.
Section 6: All activities shall be advertised to and be open to all registered students of the
School of Social Work. Neither students at the UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF
SOCIAL WORK, nor any interested participant from the other schools within the University
of Maryland or the community at large can be refused from attending a CMA-funded event.
Section 7: All funds shall be spent for activities that are relevant to the mission of the CMA
as well as for the advancement of the UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL
WORK. Funds will not be allocated or spent unless it complies with Sections 1 to 5 of Article
IV as well as the Constitution of CMA.
Article V: Funds
Section 1: Copies of the CMA budgets shall be provided to the Office of Student Affairs,
hereafter referred to as OSA, Faculty Advisor of CMA, and the SGA Executive Body.
Section 2: CMA events that incorporate meals of food may be attended by staff and
administration; however, these non-members shall be prepared to pay a fee of $5 to the
CMA for the food provided. The Faculty Advisor is exempt from paying the fee.
Article VI: Public Relations
Section 1: All events (excluding membership meetings) of CMA shall be publicized at least
two (2) weeks in advance within the School of Social Work utilizing at least two or more of
the following tools.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
SSW Daily Bulletin
CMA and SGA Bulletin Boards – via fliers
E-mails
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK monitors in lobby
The Campus Life Weekly
The Voice (Campus newspaper)
SGA Website on the SSW site online
USGA News
Section 2: CMA shall properly maintain its bulletin board on the second floor of the School
of Social Work throughout the school year.
Section 3: Fliers posted by CMA cannot be posted on the entry doors, in the elevator, or on
painted surfaces of the UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK.
Section 4: Fliers must be removed after the event has taken place.
Section 5: The Secretary shall retain all Public Relations pieces (fliers, bulletin
announcements) for future records and reference.
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Section 6: The CMA Officers shall be responsible for designating an Officer at the beginning
of the academic year to maintain the CMA website to reflect the most up to date documents
and event details.
Article VII: Rules of Order
This organization shall be governed by Robert’s Rule of Order. All decisions must be made
my one member (or Officer) making a motion for the item to be seconded.
Article VIII: Amendments
These by-laws may be amended by a vote of two-thirds of the members in attendance at
the time of the vote.
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