BY-LAWS OF THE RESIDENCE HALLS ASSOCIATION

OF OKLAHOMASTATEUNIVERSITY

DEFINITIONS

  1. RHA Executive Officers shall include only the RHA President, RHA Vice-President, RHA Treasurer, and the National Communications Coordinator. RHA Executive Officers shall be referred to as "RHA Executives" or "Executives."
  1. RHA Judicial Oversight Committee shall include only the Judicial Oversight Committee Chair and JOC Justices.
  1. RHA Senate Officers shall include only administrative appointments made by the RHA Senate Chair. RHA Senate Officers shall include, but are not limited to, the RHA SenateChair,the RHA Senate Parliamentarian, the RHA Senate Secretary, the Chairs of the RHA Senate Standing committees,and the Chairs of any special committee of RHA Senate.
  1. Executive appointees and executive appointments shall include RHA Officers and the RHA Judicial Oversight Committee Chair.
  1. RHA Executive Board may include, but are not limited to the following: RHA President,RHA Vice-President, RHA Treasurer, National Communications Coordinator, RHA Senate Chair, Cowboy Cinema Chair, Information Technology Chair,ServiceandCivic Engagement Chair, Awards and Banquet Chair, Advertising Chair, Public Relations Chair,Election Board Chair,Sustainability Chair, NRHH President, RHA-SGA Liaison, RHA-Physical Plant Liaison, RHA-SGA Senators, Secretary, Historian, Retention Chair, and Judicial Oversight Committee Chair.
  1. Active RHA Executive Board members shall be those individuals meeting the expectations of their positions as determined by the RHA President and RHA Advisor. These expectations shall include, but are not limited to the following:, AttendingallSenate and Executive Boardmeetings, securing a proxy if he/she is unable to attend meetings, andcompleting a minimum of two (2) office hours per week.

Article I - Oath of Office

  1. Before the RHA President and Vice-President assume the duties of office, they shall takethe following oath, delivered by the current RHA Judicial Oversight Committee chair:

I (state your name) / do solemnly affirm / that I will discharge with justice and equity /

withdiligence and faithfulness / to the best of my ability / all the duties falling upon me

as (stateyour position) / and will to the best of my ability / preserve, uphold, and defend /

theConstitution of the Residence Halls Association.

  1. The RHA Vice-President shall administer the oath to all other RHA Executives, Officers,RHA Senate Officers, RHA Senate members, Judicial Oversight Committee Chair, andSenators.

Article II - Elections

  1. All rules and regulations regarding elections shall be addressed in the "Election Board Rules,” an addendum to the RHA By-Laws.

Article III - Installations

  1. Installation of the RHA President and RHA Vice-President shall be held at the RHA Banquet, held during RHA Week in April, following the RHA general election.
  1. Installation of RHA Officers, RHA Judicial Oversight Committee Chair, RHA Senators, RHA Senate Officers, and RHA Senate members shall be held at the first regular meeting of RHA Senate during thefall semester, following their election, or approval, by RHA Senate.
  1. In the event that the installation for any position in RHA cannot be held at the appointed time and place, an alternative time and place shall be provided for by the RHA Vice- President. Installations shall occur during a regularly scheduled meeting of RHA Senate.

Article IV - Terms of Office

  1. Terms of office for RHA Executives, RHA Officers, RHA Judicial Oversight Committee Chair,RHA Senators, RHASenate Officers, and RHA Senate members shall be from the beginning of the fall semester and the end of the spring semester.
  1. RHA Officers, RHA Senate Officers, and RHA Judicial Oversight Committee Chairs may be appointed formore than one term.
  1. The RHA President or RHA Senate may specify shorter terms of office for any RHA Officerprovided the term of office is clearly understood by RHA Senate at the time of RHA Senate approval of the appointment.

Article V - Executive and SENATE Appointments

  1. The RHA President may make any appointments he/she deems necessary. All appointments made by the RHA President shall be announced by the RHA President at a regular meeting of RHA Senate. All appointments made by the RHA Senate Chair shall be announced by the RHA Senate Chair at a regular meeting of RHA Senate. Announcements may be made without a full quorum of RHA Senate.
  1. The RHA Senate Chair may make any RHA Senate Officer appointments he/she deems necessary.
  1. The RHA President shall make the following appointments at the beginning of his/her term:

RHA Judicial Oversight Committee Chair

  1. The RHA Senate Chair shall make the following appointments at the beginning of his/her term:

RHA SenateParliamentarian

RHA SenateSecretary

RHA SenateResidential Affairs Committee Chair

RHA Senate External Affairs Committee Chair

  1. An opening in any appointive RHA position shall be publicized in such a manner that allmembers of RHA shall have the opportunity to apply.
  1. All appointments shall either be approved or rejected by a simple majority of those members present and voting at a regular meeting of RHA Senate no earlier than one weekfollowing the announcement of the appointment.
  1. All appointees shall have at least a 2.0cumulative GPA, be a full time student, and reside in a residence hall.
  1. RHA Executive Boardshall be accountable to the RHA President. RHA Senate Officers shall be accountable to the RHA Senate Chair.
  2. The RHA President and Vice-President shall be accountable to the RHA Senate.
  1. Members of RHA may hold only one (1) RHA Executive Board or RHA Senate Officer Position, unlessotherwise specified by RHA Senate. No elected member of RHA, including the RHA President,RHA Vice-President, and any RHA Senate member, may be appointed to any other office withinRHA.

Article VI - Standing Committees of RHA Senate

  1. The standing committees of RHA Senate shall be the Internal Affairs Committee and theExternal Affairs Committee. The Chair for each committee shall be appointed by theRHA Senate Chair and approved by a majority vote of RHA Senate.
  1. The duties of the InternalAffairs Committee shall include reviewing any legislation concerning the RHA Constitution, By-Laws, budget, Election Board Rules, and House Rules to be approved by RHA Senate, and any other matters of aninternal nature, to be determined by the RHA Senate Chair.
  1. The duties of the External Affairs Committee shall include working with Residential Life and other university administrative bodies, making recommendations to Residential Life and other university administrative bodies, making recommendations to whomever RHA Senate deems necessary, planning and sponsoring activities (such as the Adopt-A-Child program), movies, speakers, and any other programming events deemed necessary by RHA Senate.
  1. Membership of the standing committees shall consist of all RHA Senate members with no more than 50% of a residence hall's delegation serving on one particularcommittee.
  1. The responsibilities of the Chairperson and members of the standing committees shall be:
  1. Chairperson shall preside over the committee meetings, delegate the responsibilities of any appropriate matter to each member, bring any recommendation out of committee, set a regular meeting time and place for the committee meetings, record attendance, and report the progress of the committee to the RHA Senate Chair.
  1. RHA Senate members shall serve on a committee, shall attend weeklycommittee meetings, and shall perform duties assigned by thecommittee Chairperson or the RHA Senate Chair.
  1. Standing committees shall meet and collect any research appropriate to the making of a responsible and informed recommendation on resolutions assigned to the committee, correct any errors in form or ambiguity in content, make necessary revisions in resolutions assigned to the committee, and assist in the implementation of any resolutionupon request of the RHA President, RHA Senate Chair or RHA Senate.
  1. RHA Senate members shall be assigned to a standing committee of RHA Senate by the RHA Senate Chair.

Article VII - Special Committees

  1. The Executive Committee shall consist of the RHA Executives, RHA Officers, and any other RHA member the RHA President deems necessary. These may also be considered RHA Central members.
  1. The President's Council shall consist of the RHA President, the residence hall Presidents, and any other RHA member the RHA President deems necessary.
  1. The Vice-President's Council shall consist of the RHA Vice-President, the residence hall Vice-Presidents, and any other RHAmember the RHA Vice-President deems necessary.
  1. The RHA President, with the approval of RHA Senate, and RHA Senate, shall have the authorityto establish and empower special committees, commissions, task forces, or any otherentity deemed necessary.
  1. The Chair of all RHA special committees shall be the RHA President or the RHAVice-President unless otherwise provided for by the RHA President, RHA Vice-President, or RHA Senate.
  1. The Chair of all committees established by the RHA President shall be accountable to the RHA President and RHA Senate. The Chair of all committeesestablished by the RHA Vice-President and/or RHA Senate shall be accountable to the RHA Vice-President, the RHA Senate Chair and RHA Senate.
  1. Membership on any committees established by the RHA President shall be open to all RHA members and shall be advertised in such a way that all RHA membershave the opportunity to apply. Membership in any committee established by theRHA Vice-President, RHA Senate Chair or RHA Senate shall be limited to RHA Senate members unless otherwiseprovided for by the RHA Vice-President, RHA Senate Chair, or RHA Senate.
  1. A quorum of 50% of the committee membership shall be required for official meetings of any RHA special committees.
  1. All RHA members shall be allowed to attend and participate in the meeting of any RHA special committee, but shall not count toward the quorum or be allowed to vote on committee recommendations unless otherwise specified by RHA Senate.
  1. RHA Officers shall be allowed to form special committees directly related to their position to aid in the discharge of their duties should they deem necessary, and with the approval of the RHA President. The RHA Officer shall be the Chair of the committee.

Article VIII - Duties of RHA Special Committee Chairs

Duties of the Chair of any RHA special committee are to preside over the committee meetings, to delegate the responsibilities of any appropriate matter to each member of the committee, to bring recommendations to RHA Senate, and to vote in the case of a tie.

Article IX - Attendance, Vacancy, Replacement

  1. The seat of any RHA Senate member having three (3) unexcused absences in one semester shall be declared vacant by the RHA Senate Chair.
  1. An absence shall be defined as non-attendance at an RHA Senate meeting by a member or his/her proxy and/or,
  1. Failure to attend any RHA Senate workshop/orientation held at the beginning of anysemester.
  1. If an excused absence (illness, death in family/family business, tests, etc.) is necessary, and a proxy cannot be found, it is the responsibility of the RHA Senate member or RHA Officer to notify the RHA Senate Chair at least thirty (30) minutes before the RHA Senate meeting is scheduled to begin.
  1. Proxy representation shall be allowed provided the RHA Senate Chair is notified by the member at least thirty (30) minutes before the RHA Senate meeting is scheduled to begin. Proxyrepresentation shall count for ¼ of an absence.
  1. In the event of a vacancy in RHA Senate, the RHA Senate Chair shall notify the affected residence hall President within one week of the vacancy. The vacant seat shall be filled by the rules of each residence hall. Any RHA Senate seat not permanently filled within three (3)school weeks shall not count toward quorum in RHA Senate.
  1. In the event of a vacancy in the office of RHA-SGA Senator, the RHA President shall appoint a member of RHA to fill the vacancy. RHA Senate shall approve or reject the appointment by a simple majority vote of those RHA Senate members present and voting. The vacancy shall be permanently filled within four academic weeks as prescribed by theSGA By-Laws.

Article X - Budget

  1. The RHA President, with the assistance of the RHA Treasurer, shall prepare a budget forRHA each semester.
  1. The RHA President shall propose that nomore than 40% of the total funds be set aside forresidence hall allocations.

The percentage of the budget to be set aside for residence hall allocations shall be allocated in the following method:

*40% for a base amount to be distributed evenly among each recognized residence hall government. This figure shall be known as the Base Hall Allocation.

*60% for Programming Occupancy Scale. The Scale shall be calculated in the

followingmanner:

The 60% of the residence hall allocation budget set aside for Programming Occupancy Scale shall be divided evenly among each RHA member. The figure obtained shall beknown as the Base Member Allocation.

The Base Member Allocation shall be multiplied by the number of residents in aresidence hall. This figure shall be considered the allocation for the Programming OccupancyScale. Add the Programming Occupancy Scale to the Base Hall Allocationtoobtain thetotal allocation for each residence hall.

  1. The RHA President shall place seven percent (7%) of the total funds allocated from Residential Life, excluding residence hall allocations, at the beginning of each semester IntheContingency Account, as long as the balance of the Contingency

Accountis less than $3000.

  1. The Contingency Account shall be used in the following manner:
  1. The Contingency Account shall be used for unusual and non-

recurringdebtsincurred by RHA through special allocation by RHA Senate.

Reimbursements toResidential Life may be taken from Contingency without

approval.

  1. Amounts under $500 may be disbursed at the authorization of the RHA Executive Board.
  2. All other requests over $500 for special allocation shall be submitted to the RHA Senate Chair in writing.

c. A two-thirds (2/3) majority of RHA Senate members present and voting is required to approve a special allocation.

  1. Any profits resulting from programs supported by the Contingency Account shall be returned to the Contingency Account unless otherwise specified by RHA Senate.
  1. Any person(s) responsible for the inappropriate use of the Contingency Account funds shall be held personally liable.
  1. Requests for funding from the RHA General Account shall be accompanied by a budget specifying exactly where the funds are to be spent. Funds budgeted or allocated from the RHA General Account to any program, activity, or service shall remain in the RHA General Account and shall be disbursed directly into a creditor's account by the RHA Treasurer as directed by the director of the program, activity, or service. Exception will be provided should RHA Senate approve a disbursement directly into the account of the program, activity or service by a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the total voting membership of RHA Senate. The RHA Treasurer is not authorized to disburse funds for any expense notspecifically provided for in the budget of the program, activity, or service.
  1. The RHA President shall not propose, and RHA Senate shall not allocate funds from the RHAGeneral Account for reimbursement or other payment to any case where a valid receipt is not presented.
  1. The RHA President shall propose that five percent (5%) of the total funds for the spring and fall RHA Budgets be allocated towards scholarships. These scholarships shall be awarded once per year, and the account shall only cover from the fall to the spring.
  1. No fewer than three (3) scholarships shall be given per year. Of these three (3), no fewerthan one (1) scholarship shall be available to the RHA Executives/RHA Officers, nofewer than one (1) scholarship shall be available to RHA Senate members, and no fewer than one percent (1%) scholarship shall be available to RHA Judicial Oversight Committee Chair(s).
  1. The selection of the RHA Senate member scholarship(s) recipient(s) shall be decided by the RHA Executives/Officers at a regular weekly meeting of the RHA Executives/Officers. The RHA Executive/RHA Officers scholarship(s) recipient(s) shall be determined by the RHA Senate membersat a regular meeting of RHA Senate, with any RHAExecutives/Officers present leaving the room during discussion of this matter. The RHA Judicial Oversight Committee scholarship(s) recipient(s) shall be decidedby the RHAJudicial Board Advisors.
  1. These awards shall be presented at the RHA banquet. Awards and/or presentation materials shall be provided for by this account.
  1. An Executive Stipend shall be incorporated in the budget from the budge table funds.

This stipend shall grant the RHA President $400.00, the RHA Vice-President $300.00,

and the RHA Treasurer, NCC(s), and Senate Chair each $200.00.

  1. This stipend shall be allocated by approval of the RHA Senate. By a 2/3 vote of the

RHA Senate, any allocation can be reduced or withheld per an evaluation of the

duties performed by the officers at the Senate’s discretion.

  1. The RHA President shall submit the complete budget to RHA Senate, who shall have no morethan two (2) academic weeks to review and amend the budget. The RHA President andRHA Treasurer shall be considered co-authors of the budget.
  1. The RHA Senate Chair shall send the budget to the RHA SenateInternal Affairs Committee for review, proposition of amendments, and recommendation. RHA Senate shall approve, oramend and approve the budget by a simple majority of those members present and voting.
  1. The RHA President may spend no more than ten percent (10%) of the semester's allocation prior to RHA Senate approval of the budget. The RHA President shall be responsiblefor reporting all expenditures under this clause.
  1. At the end of the Spring Term,RHA has the right and ability to reassume any Hall Government carryover beyond $2,000 (two-thousand).

Article XI - Open Meetings