Constitution of SUSTA

  1. NAME
  2. The name of the organization is the "The Federation of Ukrainian Student Organizations of America," or, in Ukrainian, "Soiuz Ukrainskyh Studentskyh Tovaryst Ameryku (SUSTA),”.
  3. OBJECT
  4. The general objects of SUSTA are:
  5. to foster cooperation and understanding among Ukrainian-American students' organizations and other Associate Member Organizations;
  6. to educate and inform Ukrainian-American students about issues and events relevant to them as students of Ukrainian origin;
  7. to participate and encourage the development of a dynamic Ukrainian-American community which adheres to democratic and humanitarian principles;
  8. to encourage the development of a Ukrainian-American student movement; and
  9. to foster an understanding among non-Ukrainian ethnic groups as to Ukrainian affairs and issues.
  10. to promote the formation of local Ukrainian clubs at American Universities.
  11. to support Ukrainian clubs with resources and ideas for events and how to proceed in planning.
  12. The specific objects of SUSTA are:
  13. to represent Ukrainian-American students and other Associate Member Organizations as an organized body;
  14. to coordinate and initiate activities of Ukrainian-American student organizations and other Associate Member Organizations;
  15. to support Ukrainian-American and Ukrainian studies at universities in America and elsewhere;
  16. to organize and sponsor conferences, congresses, tours, student exchanges, study groups and exhibits which further the objects of SUSTA;
  17. to publish a student publication and/or contribute to existing publications in order to provide an open forum for discussion of issues of concern to Ukrainian-American students and other Associate Member Organizations;
  18. to support and cooperate with Ukrainian democratic student organizations worldwide;
  19. to support and cooperate with all organizations in matters:
  20. furthering the objects of SUSTA;
  21. promoting the welfare and interests of Ukrainian students;
  22. concerning the abrogation of human and civil rights; or
  23. of Ukrainian American public life.
  24. to ensure that Ukrainian and Ukrainian-American history, contemporary fine arts, culture and the Ukrainian language, as well as any other issue pertaining to Ukrainians and Ukrainian-Americans is presented in a fair and accurate manner by the media.
  25. MEMBERSHIP
  26. Any Ukrainian club, association or federation,
  27. whose members are students of an American university or college; and
  28. which is governed in a democratic manner, with an elected executive responsible to its membership may apply for membership in SUSTA by submitting to the SUSTA executive:
  29. a formal written request for membership;
  30. a copy of its constitution and by-laws;
  31. a list of its executive members; and
  32. a list of the names, e-mail address and academic enrollment status of each of its members.
  33. Associate Membership - Any Ukrainian student organization, club, association or federation outside of America may apply for associate membership in the Ukrainian American Students' Union,
  34. whose members are of a non-American university or other post-secondary institution; and,
  35. which is governed in a democratic manner, with an elected executive responsible to its membership, may apply for membership in SUSTA by submitting to the SUSTA executive;
  36. a formal written request for membership,
  37. a copy of its constitution and by-laws,
  38. a list of its executive members; and,
  39. a list of names, e-mail addresses and academic status of each of its members.
  40. Where an applicant for SUSTA membership has fulfilled the criteria outlined in section 3.01, the SUSK executive may conditionally accept this applicant as a member of the organization, pending a two month probation during which the aspiring club must appoint a SUSTA representative, and pay its membership dues for that academic year.
  41. A member may withdraw from SUSTA by:
  42. filing a declaration of withdrawal with the SUSTA executive; or
  43. dissolving its organization.
  44. Where a member of SUSTA has:
  45. infringed the constitution or by-laws of SUSTA;
  46. failed to pay its membership dues as prescribed in the by-laws; or
  47. unjustifiably neglected its activities or responsibilities, the SUSTA executive, by a two-thirds majority vote of all its members, may suspend this member's membership provided it has advised all SUSTA members at least two weeks before the suspension of:
  48. its intention to suspend the member;
  49. the reasons for the suspension; and
  50. the duration of the suspension.
  51. Where a member has been suspended under the provisions of section 3.04, the next Congress shall review the circumstances of the suspension and shall;
  52. remove the suspension;
  53. renew the suspension; or
  54. expel the member.
  55. THE CONGRESS
  56. In this section,
  57. a "delegate" means a member-in-good-standing of a SUSTA member club, who is authorized by that club to attend the Congress as the club's representative;
  58. "alternate delegate" means a member-in-good-standing of a SUSTA member club who is authorized by that club to take the place of any of the club's delegate unable to participate in the Congress;
  59. "observer" means any person who is in attendance at the Congress and is not a delegate or alternate delegate;
  60. "guest" means any observer who has been officially invited by the SUSK executive to attend the Congress as its guest;
  61. "Congress" means Annual assembly or Extraordinary assembly of SUSTA;
  62. "Associate Member" means any person who is in attendance at the Congress and is not a delegate or an alternate delegate.
  63. The Congress is the supreme legislative body of SUSTA.
  64. The Congress consists of delegates, alternate delegates, guests, observers and the SUSTA executive.
  65. The SUSTA executive shall call a Congress at least once during every calendar year.
  66. Upon the request of one-third of all SUSTA members, the SUSTA executive shall call an Extraordinary Congress and set its agenda.
  67. The SUSTA executive shall, in writing and no less than two calendar months prior to a Congress, notify all SUSTA members of the date and place the Congress is to be held.
  68. Should the SUSTA executive be incapable of calling a Congress as required by the constitution, an ad hoc Congress committee composed of the presidents of at least half the SUSTA membership may call a Congress and set its agenda.
  69. Quorum at a Congress is fifty per cent of the delegates registered at the Congress. The SUSTA annual Congress shall follow proper congressional procedure.
  70. The maximum number of delegates any member of SUSTA shall send to a Congress is:
  71. three, for its executive; and
  72. one for every ten members or fraction thereof, whose SUSTA membership dues have been paid to the SUSK executive.
  73. Only delegates and members of the SUSTA executive have the right to vote at a Congress.
  74. Each SUSTA member in good standing may delegate up to three of its votes to its first delegate. Should the SUSTA member send more than one delegate to the Congress, any additional delegates are entitled to vote only if the total votes then held by the member does not exceed its maximum allowable votes.
  75. No person whose Congress registration is not paid in full shall vote at a Congress.
  76. No person shall delegate a right to vote at a Congress to another person, except in the case of a delegate from one member club delegating a vote, by written proxy, to an alternate delegate from the same member club.
  77. At its outset the Annual Congress shall elect from among its delegates:
  78. a presidium, composed of a chairperson, vice-chairperson and two secretaries, empowered to conduct the Congress proceedings;
  79. a nominations committee, empowered to prepare a list of candidates for election to the SUSTA executive for the subsequent term of office;
  80. a verifications committee, empowered to verify that each member club has only the constitutionally permitted number of delegates and that these delegates are bona fide delegates;
  81. a constitutional committee, empowered to prepare the text of all proposed constitutional changes, if any, to the Congress;
  82. a resolutions committee, empowered to prepare the text of any Congress resolutions for the consideration of the Congress;
  83. an auditing committee, empowered to audit the outgoing SUSTA executive's financial records; and
  84. any other committee which the Congress may deem necessary.
  85. The SUSTA executive shall set the Annual Congress agenda, which shall include at least:
  86. reports from each of the outgoing executive members;
  87. reports from any existing committees;
  88. reports from SUSTA member clubs;
  89. an audited financial statement;
  90. resolutions;
  91. constitutional amendments; and
  92. election of the SUSTA executive of the following year.
  93. The outgoing SUSTA executive, in co-operation with the outgoing Congress committee;
  94. should set aside a fixed amount of capital to be held in trust for the start-up administration costs of the next Congress, to be used by the newly-elected Congress co-ordinator and his/her committee;
  95. This amount will be determined only after the current Congress books have been closed;
  96. This money will not be absorbed by the SUSTA executive.
  97. THE EXECUTIVE
  98. The SUSTA executive is composed of:
  99. a President, who:
  100. shall be responsible for all SUSTA business, chair all executive meetings and represent SUSK before the public, and
  101. may delegate any of the position's responsibilities or tasks to any other executive member;
  102. an Executive Vice-President Internal, who:
  103. shall assist the President and fulfill the duties of the President when the President is unable to do so, and
  104. shall coordinate, help organize and maintain contact with all SUSTA member organisations, coordinating all actions and activities with the SUSTA Regional Vice-Presidents;
  105. Regional Vice Presidents, each of whom:
  106. shall coordinate SUSTA activities in a given geographical region of Canada or where deemed necessary, and
  107. shall be responsible for increasing feedback from the SUSTA members in their designated region to the SUSTA Executive and for strengthening SUSTA at the member level;
  108. a Secretary, who:
  109. shall be responsible for SUSTA executive minutes, records and correspondence,
  110. shall be responsible for the daily operation of the SUSTA office, and maintenance of the SUSTA archives,
  111. shall make the minutes of all Executive meetings and Congress minutes available to all SUSTA members, and
  112. shall keep an archive of all past and present members of member organizations;
  113. a Treasurer, who:
  114. shall be responsible for handling all SUSTA funds and keeping an accurate financial record using generally accepted accounting principles,
  115. shall draft a budget for the SUSTA fiscal year and be responsible for its realization, and
  116. must present a completed final financial report to the SUSTA Congress delegates and to the auditing committee for examination at the Congress;
  117. a Project Director, who,
  118. shall co-ordinate all SUSTA projects,
  119. shall ensure that members of the SUSTA Executive, Committees and President's Conference are informed of all SUSTA projects;
  120. a Director of Communications and Publications, who:
  121. shall be responsible for a regularly produced SUSTA publication/newsletter, any other SUSTA publications deemed necessary by the Congress or the SUSTA Executive, and
  122. shall develop and maintain communication between the SUSTA Executive and SUSTA members;
  123. a Director of External Relations - Ukrainian Organizations, who:
  124. shall maintain communications with all national and international Ukrainian student and youth organizations, and
  125. shall maintain communications with other national and international Ukrainian organizations: ensuring that each organization is aware of the new executive and activities of SUSTA, ensuring that a representative and/or greeting is dispatched to each organization's national congress/conventions, and in turn, that each organization receives an invitation to SUSTA's conferences and Congress;
  126. a Director of External Relations, who:
  127. shall maintain contact with all levels of government and relevant non-Ukrainian organizations, ensuring that they are aware of the new executive and activities of SUSK;
  128. an Alumni Coordinator, who:
  129. shall organize and maintain liaison with SUSTA alumni, and
  130. shall gather and maintain SUSTA archives;
  131. an Immediate Past-President, who:
  132. is not elected, hence has no executive vote, but is the outgoing SUSK President of the immediately preceding term of office, and
  133. shall advise the SUSTA Executive on all SUSTA matters, and provide an organizational continuity with the previous year's Executive.
  134. Any person may run for election to the SUSTA executive, if that person:
  135. is a full member in good standing of a SUSTA member club; and
  136. has not received a degree or diploma from a University more than five years prior to being nominated, unless that person is enrolled in a further degree or diploma program.
  137. The SUSTA executive:
  138. shall fulfill the objects outlined in section 2 of the Constitution to the best of its ability;
  139. shall be bound by the resolutions of all annual and Extraordinary Congresses;
  140. may, subject to budgetary constraints, employ any professional staff it feels is necessary to fulfill the objects outlined in section 2 of the Constitution.
  141. The SUSTA executive shall assume its responsibilities at the conclusion of the Congress at which it was elected and shall hold these responsibilities until the conclusion of the next Congress, or until they resign or are removed from office.
  142. Immediately following Congress, the entire outgoing SUSTA executive shall remain as active advisors to the incoming executive.
  143. The SUSTA executive, by a two-thirds majority vote of all its members, and no sooner than one week after all SUSTA members have received notification of its intentions, shall remove from office any executive member who:
  144. has, for four or more months, continually failed to fulfill the position's responsibilities; or
  145. has seriously or flagrantly violated the SUSTA constitution or by-laws.
  146. Should the SUSTA President resign or be removed from office, the SUSTA executive shall, by a two-thirds majority of all its members and after all SUSTA members have been advised of the candidates' names, elect a replacement from among any of the Vice-Presidents or Directors residing in the city in which the executive office is located.
  147. Should a member of the SUSTA executive, other than the President, resign or be removed from office, the SUSTA executive may appoint a replacement, provided it advises all SUSTA members of the candidate's name at least one week before the appointment is made.
  148. The SUSTA executive shall hold a meeting at least once a month. Either by phone, in person, or by internet
  149. Quorum at SUSTA executive meetings is the President (or his/her delegated substitute), and three other members.
  150. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
  151. Only the SUSTA Congress or Extraordinary Congress has the power to amend the constitution.
  152. The SUSTA Congress or Extraordinary Congress shall consider those constitutional amendments which:
  153. have been submitted, in writing, to the SUSTA executive no later than two weeks prior to the convening of the Congress; and
  154. have been edited for style by the Congress Constitutional Committee.
  155. The SUSTA executive shall submit the text of all proposed constitutional amendments to all its members no later than one week prior to the convening of the Congress.
  156. A two-thirds majority vote of the Congress is required to pass an amendment to the Constitution.
  157. BY-LAWS
  158. The SUSTA executive or Congress may pass by-laws to clarify sections of the constitution or deal with matters not included in the constitution.
  159. Before an amendment to the by-laws may be voted on,
  160. in the case of a proposal before the SUSTA executive:
  161. the President shall read the amendment at no less than three executive meetings, the third of which is held no sooner than six weeks after the first, and
  162. the executive shall submit the text of the proposed amendment to all SUSTA members no more than two weeks after it is first read at an executive meeting; or
  163. in the case of a proposal before the Congress, the Congress shall treat the amendment as if it were an amendment to the Constitution.
  164. A two-thirds majority vote of the executive or of the Congress is required to pass an amendment to the by-laws.
  165. RULE OF ORDER
  166. The rules contained in the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall govern SUSTA in all cases to which they are applicable and not inconsistent with the SUSTA constitution or by-laws.