Constitution
of the
Nevada Association
of
Student Councils
ARTICLE I
NAME
SECTION 1 The name of this organization shall be the Nevada Association of Student Councils, hereinafter referred to as NASC.
ARTICLE II
OBJECTIVES
Section 1 It shall be the purpose of the NASC:
A. To promote cooperation and communication among the secondary schools in the State of Nevada.
B. To present an opportunity for the development of leadership and responsibility.
C. To exchange ideas relating to student activities.
ARTICLE III
MEMBERSHIP
Section 1 Approval of membership will be granted when:
A. The governing board of the applying school has accepted this Constitution and the By Laws.
B. The annual dues established by the Association have been paid.
Section 2 Membership in the NASC shall be open to all schools with grades 11 and/or 12, public or private, with an active functioning student government within the State of Nevada or membership in the NIAA.
Section 3 Charter membership shall be limited to secondary schools sending delegates to the first organizational meeting in Ely, Nevada, on April 8, 1967.
Section 4 Ex-officio members shall include the Presidents of the Secondary School Principals, the Executive Director of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, the Nevada NASC Past President and any Nevada student selected to an office in the National Student Council Association.
ARTICLE IV
OFFICERS AND SCHOOL POSITIONS
Section 1 Officers shall consist of President, five Vice-Presidents, Representative to the State Board of Education, Secretary, Host School Chairman, Webmaster, Newsletter Editor, and Middle School Liaison, Region Representatives.
A. The following officers shall be elected from the active delegates of the NASC:
1. President
2. Vice-President chosen from each class division (2 for AAAA Vice).
3. Representative to the State Board of Education.
4. Middle School Liaison.
5. Representative from each region.
B. The following positions shall be appointed:
1. The President, with the approval of the Executive Board, shall appoint the secretary.
2. The Host School Advisor shall appoint the Host school chairman.
3. The Executive Directors shall appoint a Webmaster.
4. The NASC newsletter school/editor shall be selected by the executive board to serve a 1-year term. Presentations will be made at the state conference.
C. Regional Advisors:
1. There shall be one regional advisor from each of three NASC regions as determined by the NIAA administrative districts.
2. The term of office shall be three years with one new regional advisor being elected each year. There shall be no limit on number of terms of eligibility.
3. Faculty sponsors of the member schools shall elect the regional advisors at the annual conference. Candidates must have two years experience as an NASC advisor and must have attended the NASC state conference a minimum of two years.
Section 2 Students must meet the following criteria to run/apply for a position on the NASC Board and maintain for the duration of their term
A. President and Vice-Presidents must be juniors at the time of election. All other officers must be either a sophomore or junior at the time of election.
B. President, Vice-President and Regional Rep. candidates must have 1-year experience in high school student council.
C. To apply for newsletter editor, the school must have submitted two (2) articles to the newsletter the year the student applies for office.
D. All officers must be members in good standing (ie, not on probation of any kind) of the student council at their school.
E. All officers must be enrolled in at least half time at their home school.
F. Students may not have any D’s or F’s at the end of the most recent standard grade reporting period.
Section 3 The Executive Board at a board meeting that school year shall select the NASC Host School for the ensuing year.
ARTICLE V
NOMINATION, ELECTION AND FILLING VACANCIES OF OFFICERS
Section 1 Nominations:
A. Each nominee must obtain written permission from his/her principal and advisor.
B. Schools must declare, in writing, to their executive director their intent to run qualified candidates for office no less than two (2) weeks prior to the first day of the State Conference. If there are offices without candidates two (2) weeks prior to the conference, eligible schools will be notified and given additional time to file for vacant offices.
C. Candidates for Executive Director must declare intent to run and submit an application to the NIAA Executive Director by the date specified by the State Executive Board.
Section 2 Voting:
A. Executive Board shall enter on a ballot the names of those candidates who have met the qualifications necessary for holding an office.
B. Election shall be by a simple majority of votes cast as outlined in Article VI, Section 1C.
Section 3 Removal of Officers:
A. With the consent of the executive directors, officers may be removed from office for misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance.
B. It is the Executive Director’s responsibility to inform the officer and the officer’s advisor of unsatisfactory progress prior to removal.
Section 4 Vacancies in Office:
A. The executive directors shall fill any vacancies in an elective office before the term expires.
B. All vacancies in appointed positions shall be filled by the original appointed process.
C. In case of presidential vacancies another State Officer shall be appointed by the Executive Directors to assume the duties of President.
D. In case of regional advisor vacancy, another shall be appointed by the two remaining regional advisors.
ARTICLE VI
MEETINGS
Section 1 Annual Conferences:
A. There shall be an annual conference of delegates from member schools in the spring semester of each year.
B. Special meetings shall be called when deemed necessary by the Executive Board.
C. If, due to limited facilities, it becomes necessary for the host school to set the limit of delegates, it will be done prior to February 1st and each school will receive an equal number of delegates. Each school shall determine the number of official delegates to the conference. The maximum number of votes from each school shall be four. If a school does not send a full allotment of delegates, those delegates attending will have the full voting power of their school.
D. The host school for the following year will be allowed to bring additional delegates. The current host school will determine the number of extra delegates.
E. The annual conference shall rotate regions - Western to Northern to Southern.
F. Every delegation must be accompanied by an advisor.
G. Seniors may only attend the conference if they are currently state officers or have been selected by the host school and/or Executive Director to serve as a junior counselor.
Section 2 State Conference Time Line:
A. The Conference Advisor shall mail all NASC schools a list of conference deadlines by October 1.
ARTICLE VII
AMENDMENTS
Section 1 This Constitution shall be amended through proposals from the NASC members submitted to regional advisors 30 days prior to the beginning of the State Conference and 2/3 consent of the NASC member schools in attendance at the conference (1 vote per school).
Section 2 The by-laws of the Constitution shall be as binding upon the membership as the Constitution and can be amended by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Board.
ARTICLE VIII
BY-LAWS
Section 1 Powers and Duties of NASC Officers; duties specified may not be delegated unless approved by all three (3) regional advisors:
A. It shall be the duties of the President to:
1. Preside at all meetings of the NASC
2. Be or appoint a representative of the Association at all public occasions.
3. Appoint a secretary as stipulated above in Article IV, Section 1.
4. Appoint all necessary committees.
5. Serve as chairman of the Executive Board.
6. Represent the NASC at the National Conference.
7. Coordinate with regional advisors all program expenses.
B. It shall be the duty of all Vice-Presidents to:
1. Perform the duties delegated them by the President.
2. All Vice-Presidents will be the spokesperson for their respective league.
3. Attend all Executive Board meetings.
4. Mail correspondence to all schools in his/her league.
5. Manage monthly goal packets and inform schools of their status.
C. It shall be the duty of the Representative to the State Board of Education to:
1. Attend all meetings of the State Board of Education.
2. Attend all Executive Board meetings.
3. Mail a report of each State Board meeting to NASC Executive Board members within two weeks following each meeting and a summary to schools at least once per quarter.
D. It shall be the duty of the Middle School Liaison to:
1. Distribute NASC information to the state middle school student councils.
2. Attend all Executive Board Meetings.
E. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to:
1. Attend all Board Meetings
2. Keep minutes of Executive Board meeting.
3. Conduct all correspondence of the Association including notices of minutes of schools and Board members.
4. Distribute meeting minutes using the following guidelines:
a. 1 week after meeting: send to state board members for corrections
(Board members have 1 week to report corrections)
b. 3 weeks after state board meeting: send to general membership.
F. It shall be the duty of the Host School Chairman to:
1. Coordinate all facilities for the Annual State Conference.
2. Attend all Executive Board meetings.
G. It shall be the duty of the Newsletter Editor to:
1. Coordinate the gathering, printing, and mailing of the NASC newsletter.
2. Attend all Executive Board meetings.
3. Publish and distribute 4 issues of the NASC Newsletter to all member schools. It is recommended that Newsletters be sent in May, October, January and March.
4. The Newsletter School must print a detailed synopsis of the Annual Conference within 30 days of its adjournment. If the Newsletter School is unable to do so, the runner-up school shall take over publication of the Newsletter.
H. It shall be the duty of the webmaster to:
1. Maintain the state website for use and purpose of administering information to the NASC Board and member schools.
2. Attend all meetings of the Executive Board.
3. Comply with the requests of the Board in a timely manner.
4. Find a reliable host server for www.Nevada StuCo.org
I. It shall be the duty of the Regional Representatives to:
1. Attend all State meetings and communicate the needs of their region to the Board.
2. To communicate effectively with their NASC Region concerning the actions of the State Board.
3. Coordinate with regional advisor and host school advisor to plan regional conference.
J. It shall be the duty of the Regional Advisors to:
1. Coordinate all NASC activities with student officers.
2. Approve all money expenditures.
3. Conduct the sponsor’s meeting at the State Conference.
K. It shall be the duty of the Executive Board to:
1. Assume general direction over the activities of the Association.
2. Establish a clearinghouse for student council information and assistance.
3. Publicize Association activities in newspapers.
4. Turn over all records to the new Executive Board at the expiration of their terms of office.
5. Select the annual conference host school for the ensuing year.
6. Coordinate the State Conference program with the host school.
Section 2 A. The criteria for the Silver and Blue Star Awards to be used the following school year shall be distributed at the State conference. Criteria cannot be changed after distribution.
B. The Silver and Blue Star Awards shall run from the day following the conclusion of the State conference until the day prior to the next State conference
Section 3 Criteria for Advisor Awards
A. New Advisor
Less than 3 years advising at a NASC school
B. Advisor
1. Three or more years as a NASC advisor. The year prior to nomination, the school where the advisor was must have won the Silver OR Blue Star Award.
2. After winning, an advisor may not be nominated again for 5 years.
C. Middle Level Advisor of the Year
1. Two years experience
2. Must be from the region hosting the NASC State Conference.
3. Must attend the Middle Level Conference if one is held in their region.
4. After winning, an advisor may not be nominated again for 5 years.
Section 4 Campaign Rules
Campaign materials, if allowed by the host school, are limited to 100 8.5 x 11 handbills that may not be cut into small pieces.
ARTICLE IX
FINANCES
Section 1 Each school will be assessed an annual fee with the NIAA Dues.
A. The membership fees are:
1. AAAA $100.00
2. AAA $100.00
3. AA $100.00
4. A $100.00
B. Each school sending delegates to the Annual Conference shall pay an additional conference fee to be determined by the host school with the approval of the Executive Board.
C. Official funds may be used to pay all routine expenses of the Association, to pay expenses of the Executive Board incurred on official business and to assist in sending official State delegates to the National Conference of Student councils.