Preamble

 

We are an organization of like-minded students united to promote mutually supportive relationships among all students and members of the surrounding community in the interest of advancing campus and community diversity. Furthermore, we believe that Auburn and Auburn University are strengthened by the diversity of people and ideas and that each person has worth and should be treated with dignity and respect.

 

In order to promote these ideas, we strive to create a safe meeting space in which to issues related to gender, sexuality, romantic minorities and their allies (abbreviated as GSRM) and host activities that educate the general public to increase awareness and acceptance on campus and in the broader community.

 

Article I: The Organization

 

Section 1: Non-Profit Status

 

Spectrum is a non-profit organization. All proceeds gathered will only be used to fulfill the goals of the organization, directly or indirectly. Any donations or contributions from businesses or individuals are tax-deductible.

 

Section 2: Purpose and Goals

 

The purpose of the organization is as follows:

 

a. To provide support for the GSRM community.

 

b. To educate the campus and community about GSRM community issues.

 

c. To establish a campus and community environment free of prejudice based on sexual orientation and gender expression or identity.

 

d. To actively encourage student activities which foster a positive, supportive, respectful, and thoughtful community outlook towards the GSRM community.

 

e. To provide a safe and friendly environment for the GSRM community.

 

Article II: Membership

 

Section 1: Definition and Requirements

 

a. A member is defined as an individual who has paid their membership dues for the current semester. The amount to be collected from each individual for membership dues shall be left up to the discretion of officers, but can only be changed before the start of the academic year.

 

b. Membership in this organization shall be open to all persons regardless of sexual orientation, race, color, nationality, sex, gender or expression, religion, age, handicap, marital status, military status, veteran status, and any other discriminatory factor that is prohibited by law.

 

Section 2: Termination

 

a. Participation in the organization can be denied or limited if an individual’s actions or intentions are in any way harmful to the goals of the organization.

 

b. If any member feels threatened by a participating individual's actions or believes them not to be upholding to the goals of Spectrum, they should approach any officer with the problem. The officers will then meet to discuss the issue and determine by a majority vote if the offending individual is believed to be at fault. If fault is determined to have occurred, the officers will decide by majority vote to either put the individual on a probationary period of four weeks or to ban the individual permanently.

 

c. Each individual has the right to bring an appeal to the membership if they are a member. If a member appeals the officers' decision, a special meeting shall be held before or after a regularly scheduled meeting with the membership to discuss the matter. An officer will state the offending actions and then the appealing member will state their case to the membership. Following this, the membership will decide by majority vote whether to uphold the officers' ruling or overturn it, or to put the individual under probation if the officers issued a permanent ban.

 

d. Every person is allowed only one chance of probation; any subsequent guilty ruling will result in a permanent ban.

 

Section 3: Voting

 

a. Voting privileges are granted only to those members that meet all of the following criteria:

 

1. Member must have attended two consecutive meetings.

 

2. Member must have paid their membership dues for the current semester.

 

3. Member must register their name and email address with the officers.

 

b. Voting members are allowed to vote in officer elections and removals, constitutional changes, discussion topics, meeting activities, meeting time or location changes, event options, activism options, social options, after meeting dinner location options, and any other question or decision that is brought before the general group to decide upon.

 

c. All votes will be determined based on a simple majority of all membership present, unless otherwise specified.

 

Section 4: Privacy Policy

 

a. In order to protect each participating individual’s right to privacy, any formal or informal membership lists are to be kept in the strictest confidence. Any individuals who are found to have released the name or contact information of any participating individuals without their expressed consent will be immediately denied participation in the organization.

 

b. At the beginning and/or end of every meeting the Privacy Policy will be verbally stated in a paraphrased fashion.

 

c. No pictures shall be taken at any Spectrum meeting. Pictures of events run or sponsored by Spectrum are allowed, but cannot be made publicly viewable without the expressed consent of all participating individuals in the picture. This includes posting said pictures on any Internet website.

 

d. Officers do not fall under the Privacy Policy during their term of office in that pictures of the officers may be posted or shared publicly and anyone may openly talk to an officer about Spectrum. The officers are expected to follow the Privacy Policy and respect the privacy of every participating individual.

 

Section 5: Online Presence

 

a. The organization has several online presences, including AUInvolve, an official website, and social media pages.

 

b. All active officers will serve as administrators on social media pages.

 

c. While Spectrum officers serve as administrators of social media pages, some websites used are not under the immediate control of Spectrum or Auburn University, therefore it may not be possible to keep the privacy of members that choose to associate with the social media presence. Member activity in social media is fully voluntary, and in participating members acknowledge that they are associating themselves with Spectrum and exempting themselves from section a. of the Privacy Policy.

 

Section 6: Responsibility

 

It is each member’s responsibility to read and abide by the Constitution.

 

Article III: Elections, Committees, and Officers

 

Section 1: Elections

 

a. Election of officers for each academic year will be held on the second to last general meeting of the Spring semester.

 

b. Nominations will be accepted for a period of two weeks prior to the election. Nominations are to be submitted to the current director of political affairs.

 

c. Voting will be by secret paper ballot, or by any method as determined by a general hand vote of the members.

 

d. The Advisor to Spectrum will preside over elections. If the Advisor is unable to do so, a non-voting member or participating individual will be selected to preside over the election.

 

e. A simple majority of the voting members present shall determine the winner.

 

f. Officers assume duties at the closure of the meeting in which they are elected. It is the responsibility of the former officers to ensure a successful transition.

 

g. To run for office, an individual must have been a voting member for a minimum of one full semester.

 

h. In the instance that no voting member of one full semester is willing to fill a vacant officer’s position, a non-voting member who has been in regular attendance may pay their dues at the time of the election to become a voting member and be elected for office.

 

Section 2: Term Limits and Meeting Attendance Requirements

 

a. A term is two consecutive Fall or Spring semesters.

 

b. An officer can hold a particular office for a maximum of two terms.

 

c. An officer is expected to attend most, if not all, meetings held throughout the year. This includes, but is not limited to, general meetings, officer meetings, and any other special meetings. Failure to meet these attendance requirements can be cause to initiate officer removal procedures.

 

Section 3: Officers

 

a. Director of Political Affairs

The Director of Political Affairs will be responsible for:

• Enforcing Campus Politics

• Proposing and getting GSRM related legislation passed in the SGA senate.

• Maintaining the Constitution.

• Planning Elections

 

b. Director of Social Affairs

The Director of Social Affairs will be responsible for:

• Updating Spectrum’s various online accounts including the official website

• Responding to general  emails sent to the officers but not specifically addressed to any officer

• Organizing classroom panels

• General organization of information, including keeping an updated calendar

 

c. Director of Event Planning

The Director of Event Planning will be responsible for:

• Booking the rooms for all meetings

• Booking the rooms/locations for all events

• Organization and running of events

 

d. President

The President will be selected from among the three directors by the officers solely to act as an official point of contact for the University as the University system requires a single individual to be designated as such. The President will not have any higher authority than the other officers.

 

e. Assistant to Directorship

The Assistant to Directorship is to help the Directors as needed. In the event of any Director vacating their position the Assistant to Directorship has the option to take on the vacant director position, or a new Director can be elected. In the event of the Executive Communications Officer or Financial Officer vacating their position, the Assistant to Directorship will take over those responsibilities until a new officer is elected.

 

f. Executive Communications Officer

The Executive Communications Officer, also referred to as Secretary, will be responsible for:

• Keeping an account of all organization meetings, general and executive

• Taking an estimated head-count of the number of participants at any given meeting

• Keeping an account of all non-financial records

• Informing the group about upcoming events and meetings

 

g. Financial Officer

The Financial Officer, also referred to as Treasurer, will be responsible for:

• Handling Spectrum’s general finances

• Dealing with the bank and keeping track of all banking information

• Taking dues and issuing receipts for dues

• Keeping track of due-paying members

• Keeping an accurate record of all the organization’s financial activity, including fundraisers

• Keeping track of and checking mailbox

 

Note: Disbursement of funds can only be authorized with the signatures of any two of the following: the Advisor, the Financial Officer, or any Director, all five of which will be included as primary account holders for the bank account.

 

h. If a Director so desires, they may form a committee to take on some responsibilities as they see fit. However, the as the officer in charge of the committee the director is still ultimately responsible for their duties as described in this document.

 

Section 4: Discrepancies

 

If a question over the delegation of the responsibilities given to each officer arises or a question of policy cannot be agreed upon by the separate committees, the question should be decided by a majority vote by the membership.

 

Section 5: Midterm Officer Replacement

 

a. If an officer abandons their position during their term and there is a member willing to replace them, then a midterm election shall be held.

 

b. The procedure for a midterm election shall be the same as the general officer election procedures defined in Article III: Section 1.

 

c. Serving the remainder of an abandoned term shall not count towards the elected's term limit as defined in Article III: Section 2.

 

d. Once elected via a midterm election, a member is ineligible to run in another midterm election.

 

Section 6: Delegation of Power for Vacant Positions

 

a. In the event of the vacancy of the Secretary, Treasurer, or Media Technician, then the Assistant Committee Directors of each committee shall evenly divide up the responsibilities given to the vacant position and assume these responsibilities thereafter.

 

b. In the event of the vacancy of the Assistant to Directorship of a committee, then the Committee Directors shall reclaim all the responsibilities given to the assistant until a new Assistant to Directorship is elected.

 

c. In the event of the vacancy of Committee Director of a committee, then the Assistant Committee Director of that committee will have the option to be promoted to director. Therein, they shall assume all responsibilites given to the Committee Director and they shall be able to share these responsibilities with any remaining committee members. If the assistant chooses to be promoted to director, a midterm election may be held for the vacant assistant position. If the assistant chooses not to be promoted to director, a midterm election may be held for the vacant director position.

 

Section 7: Officer Removal/Probation

 

a. If an officer, or member, feels that another officer is mishandling their duties, they may initiate officer removal/probation procedures by calling for a majority vote of all officers excluding the accused officer. The officers must then decide by majority vote whether to recommend removal of the officer or put them on a probationary period.

 

b. The probationary period shall be conducted as follows:

 

1. The probationary period shall be decided upon by the officers but it shall not exceed one semester.

 

2. During the probationary period, the officer shall not have the ability to vote or make executive decisions, but will still be responsible for their assigned responsibilities.

 

3. At the end of the probationary period, all officers excluding the one on probation shall determine by majority vote whether to initiate removal procedures or lift the probation.

 

c. The removal procedures shall be conducted as follows:

 

1. A special meeting shall be held before or after a general meeting with the membership.

 

2. During this meeting, the officers will present the reasons for removal to the membership.

 

3. The membership will decide by majority vote whether to remove the officer or not.

 

4. If the membership decides to remove the officer, their duties and responsibilities will immediately cease.

 

5. If an officer if removed from their position, they may still be a voting member and take part in a committee, but must wait one full election cycle before running for an officer position.

 

Article IV: Meetings

 

Meetings shall be held during Fall and Spring semesters as determined by the Officers. Special meetings can be called by any of the Officers or the Advisor.

 

Article V: Constitution Amendment or Revision

 

This constitution may be revised with the approval of the majority of the voting membership present. Such a vote must be announced to the general membership fourteen days prior to the actual vote and must be held during a general meeting. All voting members must have access to the current version and the proposed version(s) for seven days prior to the vote. The proposed version(s) shall be voted on by all of the officers prior to being put up for approval by the membership. A copy of the constitution, signed by all officers, must be available to view at each general meeting. A copy of signed constitution must be on the website.