Article VII - RHA Elections

Article VII - RHA Elections

Section 1: Elections

The VP/NCC shall announce a date at which applications for Executive Officer positions will be available, and the date at which elections shall take place. Elections must be held during a regularly scheduled meeting of the RHA body. The VP/NCC shall also state the eligibility requirements for the Executive Officer positions. The VP/NCC shall also chair Executive elections. During the election meeting, all candidates shall be given the opportunity to make a speech concerning their qualifications for the specific Executive Officer position, followed by a question and answer period from the RHA general body. The candidates will be asked to leave the room for the general body discussion. Time limits on speech and discussion will be established by the Executive Board. The VP/NCC, in consultation with the Executive Board, is encouraged to elaborate on these requirements and present details for approval to the RHA general body.

Section 4: Letter of Recommendation

The letter of intent must be accompanied by two letters of recommendation which may be written by any of the following:

A) A CWU faculty and/or staff

B) A UH&NSP professional or student staff member

C) An officer or advisor of another club or organization affiliated with CWU

Section 5: Timeline

A specific election timeline shall be established by the VP/NCC, in consultation with the Executive Board, and presented to the RHA general body. This timeline should include date of nominations, date and time that letters of intent are due, date that letters of intent and recommendation are to be made available, and the date of the elections meeting. Once presented to the general body, the timeline shall not be changed without the consent of the general body.

Section 6: Quorum

A quorum of 75% of the total number of all residence halls must be represented for elections to take place. The candidate with the majority (over 50%) of the votes cast shall be awarded the office. The Method of voting will be Single Transferable Ballot. Voting rights rest with student RHLC representatives and other non-staff hall residents. The Single Transferable Vote Method must be used during elections (see Article X, Section 3).

Article VII - RHA Elections

Section 7: Special Elections If an Executive Board position becomes vacant at some point throughout the year, a special election will occur in accordance with Article VII of the RHA Constitution.

Section 8: Special Appointments

In the event an elected RHA officer cannot fulfill their duties or can no longer hold the position, and in the event that a special election has failed or is impractical, then the remaining RHA officers, with the consideration of the RHA advisors, hold the right to appoint an RHA member to fill the vacant position and perform all duties of said position discussed in Article VI. At the general body meeting before the position is officially filled, there must be a motion from a hall to appoint the member to the position, followed by a second. The RHA body will then be given the opportunity to discuss the appointment before a moving into a single transferable vote to appoint the member. There must be a majority vote in order for the position to be filled.

Article VIII - Vacancies on the RHA Executive Board

Section 1 - Resignations: In the case of resignation, the Executive Officer resigning, or a person designated by that Officer as a representative, must present the resignation to the Executive Board at least two days prior to the general body meeting before it shall become effective. See Article VII for election procedure. Ultimately, the decision to hold a new election will be decided upon by the Executive Board in conjunction with the RHA general body.

Section 2: Special Elections

A vacant position on the Executive Board shall be filled by a special election, which shall follow the election procedure outlined in Article VII of the RHA Constitution.

Section 3: Special Appointments

If a special election has failed to fill a vacancy, or is impractical, the remaining RHA officers, with the consideration of the RHA advisors, shall appoint an RHA member to fill the vacant position. The appointment must be confirmed by the RHA body following the voting procedure given in Article VII Section 6. The confirmation process shall include time for discussion.

Article IX - Removal of RHA Executive Officers

Section 7: The speaking order during the meeting shall be as follows:

a. For opening statements, the RHLC Officer instituting the removal procedure shall speak first, and the person being recalled shall speak second.

b. Each hall shall be yielded the floor in alphabetical order to speak on issues pertaining to the removal procedure on the table. RHLC Advisors are to remain neutral, and may speak for points of clarification and information.

c. For closing statements, the RHLC Officer instituting the removal procedure shall speak first, and the person being recalled shall speak second.

Article X - Legislative Procedure

Section 3: Voting: Each occupied Residence Hall shall be allocated a total number of votes equal to the number of residents within the hall at the start of the academic year divided by 50, rounded to the nearest whole number, with a minimum of 2 votes.

NRHH shall be allotted 2 votes as well. Voting members are NRHH and RHLC Officers, excluding Advisor(s).

At the discretion of the President or as required by this Constitution, votes shall be taken following one of the following three processes.

A.) Roll Call Vote: RHLC Officers will confer with each other and any residents present from respective halls, to determine how their hall’s votes shall be allocated. A hall’s votes do not need to be unanimous, as a hall can split their votes. This voting procedure is must be executed when the motion is monetarily based.

B.) Confidential Hall Vote: Secret ballots that are based on the number of votes per residence hall. For voting regarding funding and constitutional issues, the allocated hall votes must be used.

C.) Single Transferable Vote

a)Each RHLC will receive the number of ballots in regards to the allocated number of votes, where they rank the candidates in order of preference, with first being the most desired candidate.

b)Each candidate needs a majority (above 50%) to be elected.

c)If, after all the votes have been transferred, a candidate achieves a clear majority, the candidate is then selected.

d)If, after all the votes have been transferred, no candidate achieves a clear majority, each candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated, and shall be ineligible to receive any additional votes. In the event that all remaining candidates receive the lowest number of votes (a tie), no candidate shall be dropped and the members revote for a second round. If a tie still exists for the lowest number of votes, the presiding chair will select the candidate to be eliminated.

e)Each vote that belonged to the eliminated candidate(s) is/are transferred to the voter’s next preference at full value. f. If this candidate is one who was previously eliminated, step “e” is repeated.

f)If the voter has not listed any additional preference or was unable to do so, his/her their vote is exhausted. h. Steps “a” through “g” are repeated until a candidate receives quota and is elected.

Article X - Legislative Procedure

Section 4: Amendment process

1. The desire or need for a constitutional change must be brought to the RHA Executive Board. The board will discuss the proposed change or changes and decide whether to form a Constitution Committee. The committee may also be called for the purpose of reviewing the Constitution to determine if changes are necessary. A majority vote of the Executive Board shall be required to form a Constitution Committee. The committee must be chaired by an Executive Board member.

2. The committee shall draw up a proposed revision to the Constitution and present it to the RHA body during an open forum at a regularly scheduled meeting. The procedure outlined in this section shall be followed to make changes to the Constitution.

1. A motion must be made to open changes to the Constitution. This motion requires only a second.
2. A motion shall be made to bring specific proposed changes to Constitution to the table.
3. The person proposing the change shall then have 5 minutes to present on the proposed changes.
4. There shall be a 5 minute period for questions from the body. This may be extended by a motion from the body; the maximum length shall be at the chair’s discretion.
5. There shall be a one minute caucus, which may be waived either at the chair’s discretion or by a motion from the body.
6. There shall be a 5 minute period for discussion of the proposed change(s) by the body. This may be extended by a motion from the body; the maximum length shall be at the chair’s discretion.
7. A motion shall be made to make the proposed changes on the table. An effective date should be given. If an effective date is not given or recorded the changes shall, by default, take effect at the beginning of the following Fall Quarter. A standard roll call vote shall be taken. Acclimation may be called on this motion.
8. This procedure shall be repeated until all proposed changes have been heard.
9. Once all changes have been brought to the table or tabled to a later meeting, there must be a motion made to close changes to the Constitution before any more business can be carried out.

Article X - Legislative Procedure

Section 6: In the event that the desire or need for a change to the RHA logo arises, all proposed changes to the logo must be reviewed by a logo committee of RHA general body members. The Committee will be presided over by an RHA executive board member. The proposed changes will be presented to the RHA body at a designated RHA meeting. A quorum of 75% of the total number of RHLC Officers shall be required to bring a logo change to a vote. A 90% majority vote shall be required for the change to become effective.

Article XI - Meetings and Conferences

Section 1: Meetings

The RHA shall hold meetings of the general body on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. in a designated location determined by the RHA Executive Board during the academic year. A quorum (>= 75%) of occupied residence halls must be present for business to be heard.

The Executive Officers shall hold a Board meeting at least once each week, to take place before the general body meeting on Wednesday.

Section 2: Conferences

The NCC, following consultation with the Executive Board, and while exercising careful consideration of the budget, shall make reasonable efforts to organize delegations to regional, national, and/or any other conferences that would serve as a benefit to CWU UHNSP Organizations.

In addition, the NCC shall establish a process for selecting, organizing, and holding accountable all conference delegates accountable. For each conference, the NCC shall establish requirements for each delegate. A delegate is to be defined as must be an on-campus resident the quarter following the conference who is active in RHA and their hall’s RHLC. This student is to be an ambassador of CWU, as well as RHA. These requirements may include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Fundraising

2. Meeting Attendance

3. Presentation(s) before and/or after the conference

4. Written and/or verbal report(s)

Funding for the conference must be brought to the attention of the RHA body no less than thirty days before the conference. An outline of the estimated total funds to be requested for a conference, including all funds already allocated for that conference, will be given to the general body as part of the funding request.

Article XII – Hall Funding

Section 1: Hall Funding If an RHLC, staff team, or other group wishes to receive funding from RHA, a Funding Request Form must be filled out, and will be reviewed by the RHA Executive Officers. Applications are due on or before a predetermined day set by the Executive Board. The funding request will then be presented by the applicant at the next general meeting. The funding request presentation shall follow the following procedure:

A) The requesting person or group shall be given five (5) minutes to speak on the nature of the request. This time may be extended by a motion which is seconded and not dissented.

B) At the end of the question and answer period a motion must be made to allot funds to the requestor and seconded. Following the motion the RHA Treasurer shall read the Executive Board's recommendation (also known as the 'Board Rec').

C) Following the requestor's presentation the body shall be given five (5) minutes to ask questions of the requestor. This shall be followed by a one (1) minute caucus, which may be extended or waived by a motion which is seconded and not dissented.

D) Five (5) minutes shall be given for the body to discuss the funding request. RHLC Advisors must remain neutral and shall not be allowed to speak.

E) Following the discussion period there shall be a one (1) minute caucus, which may be extended or waived by a motion which is seconded and not dissented.

F) Following caucus the motion will be voted on by roll-call vote. Acclamation may not be called on a funding request.

Section 3: Reserves Right of Refusal of Funds

RHA reserves the right to refuse a request for funds by any person or organization due to fraudulent, discriminatory, or inappropriate use of the funds. Any person or organization found in violation of set guidelines must return the allotted funds to RHA. Should the person or organization requesting money not complete the given stipulations by the set date, the consequences shall be as follows:

A. After the first offense the Executive Board shall give a board recommendation of no when the person or organization returns to request more RHA funds.

B. After the second offense the Executive Board will henceforth deny funding requests submitted by the person or organization requesting money.