Constitution of the Danish Club at the University of Washington (2010)

                                                                  Article I (Name)
I. The name of this organization shall be the “Danish Club at the University of Washington”. Within this document, it may be referred to simply as “the organization”.

                                                               Article II (Purpose)
I. The purpose of the Danish Club at the University of Washington is to enrich the university community through the celebration of Denmark, Danish culture and people.

                                                         Article III (Membership)
I. Membership shall be open to any University of Washington student who wishes to become a member of the organization. Membership shall be deemed official upon first attendance at a meeting, event, or other function and is seen valid for one year. Only those members who are currently registered University of Washington students have voting privileges.

II. Associate membership shall be open to any and all individuals who are not students at the University of Washington, but wish to be members (as validated by attendance to a meeting, event or other function).  Associate members of the organization may not have voting privileges.

III. The membership of the organization shall always consist of more University of Washington students than non- University of Washington students.

IV. Any questions or disputes over membership or membership qualifications shall be reverted to the current president.

                                                                  Article IV (Officers)
I. The Danish Club of the University of Washington shall be organized by a group of five primary officers, who will be listed as the five officers of the Registered Student Organization (RSO) at the University of Washington’s Student Activities Office (SAO). If any of the five primary officers are not students, the president shall replace their listing at the SAO with a University of Washington student. A single person can hold only one primary officer position at a single time. The five primary officers will consist of the President, Vice President of Internal Affairs, Vice President of Recruitment, Vice President of Event Coordination and the Vice President of Finance and together shall comprise a body synonymous to a board of directors.

II. The President shall be the only member of the organization with the authority to sign contracts, authorize budgets and shall have the power to make executive decisions for the organization. It shall be the president’s responsibility to oversee the registration of the organization as an RSO with the SAO. In meetings the President shall work with the other four primary officers to mediate gatherings, events and functions. The President shall also

III. The Vice President shall bare the responsibility of assisting the President in any or all duties in which the President requires assistance. The Vice President of Event Coordination shall be responsible for securing a venue for regular meetings and the VP of Internal Affairs for communicating the time and location of any and all events to all members or potential members of the organization. The VP of Internal Affairs shall also be responsible for mediating any gathering, event or function in which the President cannot attend.

IV. The VP of Recruitment shall bare the responsibility of increasing membership through the maintenance the website, Face Book page, electronic calendar and overseeing the resources available to the organization.  Should the VP of Internal Affairs be unable to stand in place of the President, the VP of Recruitment shall bare the responsibility for mediating any gathering, event or function.

V. The VP of Finance shall be responsible for overseeing the organization’s budget and shall organize any and all fundraisers with the help of the four other officers. The VP of Finance shall also be held accountable for working with the President and VP of Recruitment and Event Coordination to secure funding from any applicable departments.

VI. The VP of Event Coordination shall be held responsible for planning both internal and external meeting, event or function. The VP of Event Coordination shall communicate all plans to the VP of Internal Affairs who will appropriately inform members of scheduled happenings.

VII. Any registered student at the University of Washington who is a member of the organization may be eligible to hold any of the five primary officer positions.

VIII. The term of office for the five primary officers shall last for one academic year, from the beginning of Fall quarter until the last meeting of Spring quarter. There shall not be a cap placed on the number of years a primary officer may hold office.

IX. A primary officer may only be removed from his/her position at the discretion of the other four primary officers. This decision must be made by a unanimous, anonymous, secret written ballot and can be conducted at any time during the officers tenure.

X. The primary officers shall be held responsible for re-electing a qualified member to take the former officer’s place.

                                                                     Article VI- Elections
I. Selection of officers shall be held in June, during the last meeting of Spring quarter. The VP of Internal Relations shall be responsible for making sure that all members are informed of the time, date and location of elections verbally at meetings, through the use of the organization’s website, and through Facebook (with help from the VP of Recruitment). Elections must occur during a regular meeting and must be concluded before the meeting is over.

II. Vacancies shall be primarily be filled through the annual election, but should a vacancy arrive mid-term, the primary officers shall be held responsible for electing a qualified candidate to fill the vacant seat. A secret, written ballot shall do this and the candidate winning majority will occupy the vacancy.

III. A simple majority will be needed to win an election conducted by secret, written ballot. The President and Vice President shall be responsible for collecting and counting all votes. A decision must be made before the meeting is concluded.

                                                               Article VII- Meetings
I. Regular meeting of this organization shall be held weekly at a time and place confirmed and communicated by the primary officers. The VP of Internal Relations shall be responsible for communicating to all members via the official website and list serve of any future meetings. The VP of Recruitment shall be responsible for communicating the date, time and location of meetings via the organization’s official Facebook page, through fliers, and through publications in the Daily. Regular meetings shall not be held during quarter breaks but special events may be held while school is not in session.

II.  A quorum shall consist of four (4) voting members present at any regular meeting.

                                                       Article VII- Executive Board
I. The five primary officers shall comprise the executive board.

                                                     Constitutional Amendments
I.  The constitution may be amended by a simple majority vote of qualified membership at any regular meeting.

II. Amendments must be proposed and voted on within the same meeting, unless any member qualified to vote desires more research or information on the topic at hand.