Fall 2010

Constitution of the Omicron Gamma Chapter

of Kappa Omicron Nu, Incorporated

Article I

Name

The name of this organization shall be Kappa Omicron Nu, Omicron Gamma Chapter at Iowa StateUniversity, Incorporated, hereinafter referred to as the Chapter and the National Society. The principal and registered office of Kappa Omicron Nu shall be located at 4990 Northwind Drive, Suite 140, East Lansing, Michigan 48823-5031. Kappa Omicron Nu is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies.

Kappa Omicron Nu, Omicron Gamma Chapter, shall abide by Iowa State University rules and regulations, state and federal laws.

Article II

Purpose and Goals

Kappa Omicron Nu is a national honor society dedicated to recognizing and encouraging excellence in scholarship, research, and leadership development. To accomplish this mission, Omicron Gamma Chapter shall

  • promote scholarship and encourage intellectual development,
  • promote research and foster the spirit of inquiry,
  • confer distinction of high achievement,
  • promote leadership development,
  • stimulate student and faculty dialogue,
  • enrich the intellectual environment of higher education institutions,
  • encourage high standards of practice and ethical behavior, and
  • promote attitudes of professional responsibility for the public good.

Article III

Membership

Section 1. Active Members. Collegiate and professional members whose financial obligations to the chapter and to the national society are paid and current are active members, with all privileges of active membership, including the right to vote, hold office, serve on committees, and be elected a delegate to Conclave.

  1. Collegiate members shall be students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs at the time of initiation.
  2. Undergraduate students shall be enrolled in Iowa State University, have declared a major in apparel merchandising, design and production; child, adult and family services; diet and exercise; dietetics; early childhood education; family and consumer sciences education and studies; family finance, housing and policy; food science; hotel, restaurant, and institution management; nutritional science, rank in the top 25% of their class in the unit, and have completed 45 semester credit hours.
  3. Graduate students shall be enrolled in a graduate program in diet and exercise; family and consumer sciences; family and consumer sciences education; food science and technology; foodservice and lodging management; human development and family studies; nutrition; textiles and clothing, have completed 12 semester hours of graduate work or equivalent, and have a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.
  1. Professional members: Alumni of collegiate chapters shall be professional members. Others meeting the following criteria may be elected to professional membership: (a) earned one or more degrees in family and consumer sciences with a rank in the top 25% of the class as undergraduates or 3.5 as a graduate students not have been initiated into Kappa Omicron Nu or its predecessor societies, or (b) have earned one or more degrees qualifying them to work in the field and rank in the top 25% of the class as undergraduates or 3.5 as graduate students.

Article IV

Officers

Section 1: The officers of this chapter shall be the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Initiation chair, Publicity chair/Editor, Historian, College of Human Sciences Student Council Representative, and Webmaster.

Section 2: The officers of this organization must meet the following requirements:

  1. Have a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) as stated below and meet that minimum GPA in the semester immediately prior to the election/appointment, the semester of election/appointment and semesters during the term of office. For undergraduate students, the minimum GPA is 2.00. For this provision to be met, at least six hours (half-time credits) must have been taken for the semester under consideration.
  2. Be in good standing with the university and enrolled: at least half time (six or more credit hours), if an undergraduate student (unless fewer credits are required to graduate in the spring and fall semesters) during the term of office, and at least half time (four or more credits), if a graduate level student (unless fewer credits are required in the final stages of his/her degree as defined by the Continuous Registration Requirement) during their term of office.
  3. Be ineligible to hold office should the student fail to maintain the requirements as prescribed in (A) and (B).

Section 3: Removal of officer or adviser:

  1. Any elected officer of the Chapter may be removed for just cause. Sufficient cause for

such removal may be violation of the Chapter Bylaws or Society Constitution or any

lawful rule, practice, or procedure adopted by the Chapter or other conduct deemed to be

prejudicial to the best interest of the Chapter.

  1. For removal of an elected officer for cause, it shall be necessary for the Chapter executive Committee to hold a formal hearing. A statement of the charges shall be sent by registered mail to the last recorded address of the officer, accompanied by notice of the time and place of the meeting at which the charges are to be considered. At least thirty days notice shall be given, and the officer shall have the opportunity to appear in person or to be represented by counsel and to present any defense to such charges before action is taken.
  2. The Chapter Executive Committee shall adopt such rules as may be necessary to assure due process to the officer.
  3. Upon a two-thirds affirmation vote, the Chapter Executive Committee shall recommend removal to the National Society Board of Directors.
  4. The Society Board of Directors shall, by majority vote, approve or reject the recommendation of the Chapter Executive Committee either at the next meeting or through an electronic meeting.

Article V

Finances

Section 1: All monies belonging to this organization shall be deposited and disbursed through a bank account established for this organization at the Campus Organizations Accounting Office and/or approved institution/office (must receive authorization via Campus Organizations Accounting Office). All funds must be deposited within 24 hours after collection. The adviser to this organization must approve and sign each expenditure before payment.

Section 2: All monies belonging to the scholarship fund of this organization shall be deposited and disbursed through an account established with the Development Fund, College of Human Sciences.

Section 3: In the event this organization is dissolved, all monies belonging to this organization held in the account at the Campus Organizations Accounting Office will be transferred to the National Society. The scholarship funds will remain with the Development Fund, College of Human Sciences, to continue disbursement as long as there are funds available. Artifacts and historical documents of the society will be transferred to the archives at the Iowa State University Library.

Article VI

Executive Committee

Section 1. The Executive Committee shall consist of the officers of the chapter.

Section 2. The Executive Committee shall have general supervision of the chapter between its business meetings, fix the hour and place of meetings, make recommendations to the chapter, cause all reports required by the National Society to be submitted in a timely manner, and shall perform such other duties as are specified in this Constitution and the Constitution and rulings of the National Society.

Section 3. Meetings of the Executive Committee shall be called by the President or by any two (2) members of the committee.

Article VII

Chapter Advisory Council

Section 1. The Chapter Advisory Council shall consist of three or more professional members, at least one of whom shall be a member of the family and consumer sciences faculty.

Section 2. The Chapter Advisory Council shall assist the Chapter in fulfilling its Mission and Purposes and shall perform such other duties as are specified in this Constitution and Bylaws and the Constitution and rulings of the National Society.

Article VIII

Parliamentary Authority

The rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern the Chapter in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with this Constitution, the Constitution of the National Society, and any special rules of order the Chapter may adopt.

Article IX

Amendments and Ratification

This Constitution may be amended at any meeting of the Chapter by a two-thirds vote, provided the amendment has been submitted in writing at the previous regular meeting or has been submitted in writing to all active members of the Chapter at least two weeks prior to the meeting at which it is to be considered. No amendment shall become effective until approved by the National Society.

This Constitution shall not be in conflict with the Constitution of the National Society. Any amendment of the National Society Constitution affecting this Constitution shall cause this document to be amended automatically to concur with such amendment.

Should the document be amended, a copy of the updated Constitution shall be promptly submitted to the Iowa State University Student Activities Center.

By-Laws of the Omicron Gamma Chapter

of Kappa Omicron Nu, Incorporated

Article I

Membership

Section 1. Nomination for membership

  1. Nominations of collegiate members shall be made by the Chapter Advisory Council. Chapter Advisor Council will use information provided by the Office of the Registrar in the selection process. Nomination of professional members may be made by the Chapter with the approval of the Chapter Advisory Council.
  2. Chapters are eligible to nominate for National Honorary Membership persons outside the field, excluding those who are employed in the field, who have made distinctive scholarly and research contributions to the field.

Section 2. The membership process shall include an informational meeting, orientation session, and initiation activities.

Section 3. Membership in Omicron Gamma Chapter is open to qualified candidates without regard to race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. veteran.

Article II

Election of Officers

Section 1: At the regular chapter meeting preceding the meeting at which the election of officers is to be held, a nominating committee of three (3) active members shall be elected. The chair shall be a member of the Executive committee (Article VI, Section 1 of the Constitution), and at least one member shall be a faculty member of Iowa State University. It shall be the duty of this committee to nominate candidates for the offices to be filled at the last regular meeting in spring semester. Before the election, additional nominations from the floor shall be permitted, including self nomination.

Section 2. The officers shall be elected by ballot to serve for next academic year or until their successors are elected, and the term of office shall begin in fall semester.

Section 3. No member shall hold more than one office at a time, and no member shall be eligible to serve more than two terms in the same office.

Section 4. Should the office of the President become vacant, it shall be filled by the Vice President. A vacancy in any other office shall be filled by the Executive Committee.

Section 5: The office of adviser shall be for a full year term, August to August. The adviser shall be selected by the Executive Committee from a compiled list of candidates who are members of the National Society in good standing. The chosen volunteer will approved for the selection by his/her department head/chair/supervisor and the Dean of the College of Human Sciences. The adviser will be affirmed by a majority vote of the chapter membership. The adviser may by reappointed/reaffirmed for successive terms.

Article III

Duties of Officers

Section 1. The officers shall perform the duties prescribed by these Bylaws, the Constitution of the National Society, and by the parliamentary authority adopted by the Chapter, and shall fulfill such other duties and requirements as may be determined by the National Society.

Section 2. The President shall have general supervision and direction of the officers of the Chapter, shall preside at all meetings of the Chapter and the executive Committee, shall appoint (with approval of the Executive Committee and the Chapter Advisory Council) all chairs and members of standing and special committees unless otherwise stated elsewhere in the Bylaws, and shall be ex-officio member of all committees except the nominating committee.

Section 3. The Vice President shall have the powers of and perform the duties of the President during any absence or disability of the President, shall be chair of the program committee, and shall have such other duties as may be determined by the Executive Committee or the President

Section 4. The Secretary shall record the proceedings of all meetings, maintain all membership records, attend promptly to all official chapter correspondence, maintain an adequate inventory of supplies from the National Society, and have such other duties as may be determined by the Executive Committee or President.

Section 5. The Treasurer shall be responsible for all monies of the Chapter and shall serve as chair of the finance committee. Accurate records of all transactions shall be kept. The Executive Committee shall be responsible for causing the Treasurer’s accounts to be audited annually. The treasurer shall participate in the training made available by the Campus Organizations Accounting Office.

Section 6. The Initiation chair shall work with the Chapter Adviser and/or Advisory Council to plan and conduct the annual initiation held in spring semester. The chair shall be assisted by the initiation committee.

Section 7. The Publicity chair/Editor shall be responsible for assembling and submitting articles for publication as requested by the National Society, and shall serve as chair of the publicity committee. An accurate email group list shall be maintained by this chair as a means of reaching and informing chapter members.

Section 8. The Historian shall be responsible for recording the activities of the chapter in a form that can be kept for historical purposes. It can be in scrapbook or electronic format.

Section 9. The Representative to the College of Human Sciences Student Council shall attend the meetings of the Council and represent the needs and concerns of the members of the chapter. Information of use to the chapter that is a result of discussion at the Council meeting shall be reported to the chapter.

Section 10. The Webmaster shall coordinate the design and implementation of a chapter web site using server space available from the Student Activities Center. The webmaster may be assisted by a communications committee.

Section 11. The Adviser will be the official representative between the chapter and the College of Human Sciences. The adviser shall maintain communication and meet with the Executive Committee. The adviser will counsel officers, committees and members of the chapter on the work of the chapter. The adviser will have knowledge of and approval of financial expenditures of the chapter. The adviser will ensure that the organization is operating in conformity with the standards set forth by Iowa State University, the Student Activities Center, and the National Society of Kappa Omicron Nu.

Article IV

Committees

Chapter committees shall consist of the chair and at least two additional active members. Standing committees shall be established by the Chapter. Special committees may be established by the President, the Executive Committee, or the Chapter. The Standing Committees of Omicron Gamma Chapter shall be:

Section 1. The Publicity (Public Relations) Committee shall promote Kappa Omicron Nu within the Iowa State University community, especially within the majors of family and consumer sciences. The Publicity chair/Editor shall serve as chair.

Section 2. The Initiation Committee shall make arrangements for initiation ceremonies.

It shall be chaired by the Initiation chair.

Section 3. The Program Committee shall select programs and make arrangements for meetings. The Vice President shall serve as chair.

Section 4. The Finance Committee shall prepare the budget and make an annual analysis of chapter fiscal management. The Treasurer shall serve as chair.

Section 5. The Bylaws Committee shall submit amendments to the Bylaws to provide for changing chapter needs and to provide consistency with the National Society Constitution and Iowa State University policies for student organizations. The president shall serve as chair.

Article V

Meetings

Section 1. Regular meetings. The Executive Committee and Chapter Advisory Council shall determine the number of regular meetings to be held during the year, and shall distribute a schedule of these meetings to each active member.

Section 2. Special meetings can be called by the President or the Executive Committee and shall be called upon the written request of two (2) active members of the chapter. The purpose of the meeting shall be stated in the call, and business shall be limited to that which is stated in the call. Except in cases of emergency, at least three (3) days notice shall be given.

Section 3. Quorum. Those active members present shall constitute a quorum.

Article VI