THE PSA CONSTITUTION Preamble: All members of the Pakistani Students Association must abide by the rules and guidelines provided in this constitution. Article I. The organization shall be known as the "Pakistani Students Association" or "PSA" hereafter. Article II. The purpose of this organization shall be to promote, foster, maintain, and organize Pakistani students of cultural and social promotion, enrichment, and interaction; to promote service to the community, and to emphasize the development of leadership skills, character, judgment, and responsibility. Article III. A. Active Membership All Pakistani students who are enrolled at the George Washington University and who are on the PSA email list. Any Pakistani student enrolled at the George Washington University who requests to be put on the email list of active members must be added. B. Honorary Membership 1. Shall be awarded to the individuals nominated by any member of the Executive board and approved by both the Executive board and the Legislative board. 2. Honorary membership is open to only those that are enrolled or employed at the George Washington University. 3. As such, these Honorary members are not eligible to run for or hold office in the organization. 4. Honorary members who have shown significant contribution to the PSA can be given voting rights if the Executive board and the Legislative board decree it. However, those rights are only awarded for that particular academic year. This is only to be done on an individual level while looking closely into the merits of the individual and his/her contribution to the PSA. C. Associate Membership 1. Associate members shall consist of Pakistani alumni of the George Washington University and those Pakistanis that are not currently enrolled at this University. 2. Associate members are not entitled to run for or hold office in the organization. 3. Associate members cannot be given voting rights. Article IV Section 1: Elected Officers The elected offices shall be those of President, Senior Vice President, Junior Vice President, Secretary General, and Treasurer. These offices comprise the Executive Board. Section 2: A. President 1. The President of this organization shall be the official representative of the PSA. 2. The President of this organization shall preside over the meetings of the Executive Board, the Legislative Board, and General Body meetings. 3. The President of this organization shall perform all duties appropriate, pertaining to his/her office. 4. The President of this organization, in consultation with the Executive Board, will appoint sub-committees consisting of members of the PSA, in order to widen the participation and lessen individual responsibility in the affairs of the organization. All sub-committees must report to the Executive Board. 5. The President of this organization shall act as the ex-officio in all existing committees pertaining to the PSA. B. Senior and Junior Vice Presidents 1. Both the Senior and Junior Vice Presidents of this organization shall help coordinate affairs, enrichment activities, and cultural functions of the PSA, and must help the President in representing the PSA. 2. The Senior Vice President of this organization shall assume the office of President, with all rights, responsibilities, and privileges contained thereof in the event that the President should be absent from school/academic probation/registration /impeachment of the President. 3. Should the office of the President become vacant, the Senior Vice President shall assume the office of the President for the remainder of the unexpired term. 4. In a case where the Senior Vice President must occupy the office of the President (as described in Article IV, Section 2, B #3), the Junior Vice President then becomes the Senior Vice President. For the office of the Junior Vice President, which then becomes vacant, any member of the Executive board may nominate a person for the position. The nominated person must be approved by a majority vote in the Executive Board. In the case of a tie, the Graduate Student Representative in the Legislative Board will have the deciding vote. C. Secretary 1. The Secretary maintains contact and coordination with Campus Activities, membership, and the GW community. 2. The duties of Secretary include, but are not limited to, coordinating PSA activities and events with Campus Activities (includes reserving use of GW facilities) 3. Keeping the GW general student body informed of PSA activities and events via e-mail and keeping the Executive Board informed of any important incoming and outgoing correspondence to the general body, or any outside source. 4. The Secretary will also bring a copy of the Constitution to each Executive Board event to insure the Executive Board follows all perameters of it. The Sectertary also keeps "minutes" of all PSA Executive Board and general body meetings. D. Treasurer 1. Shall keep a record of all financial accounts and activities and must produce them on request by the executive board. 2. Shall report the association's financial status during the meetings. 3. Shall receive all membership dues and must record moneys thus received, and issue receipts for the same if so required. 4. The Treasurer assumes control over all financial aspects of the organization, and may nominate selected members of the general body to a finance committee. However, these members must gain a majority vote from the Executive Board. 5. Treasurer must keep receipts and must seek approval from the Executive Board for all expenditures. 6. All checks/expenditures must be co-signed by the Treasurer and the President. All revenues must be disclosed to the Executive Board. All receipts must be submitted to the Treasurer and must be disclosed to the Executive Board. Section 3: Office Eligibility 1. Any PSA member who has been convicted of any crime or is in violation of law in any of the two countries (Pakistan/USA) may not run for office in the PSA, excluding minor traffic offenses. 2. Any Pakistani/Pakistani-American individual enrolled in the University, as a student in a degree course/program is eligible to run for office, provided that he/she is an ACTIVE PSA member. 3. Associate and Honorary members may not run for, or hold, office. 4. Any individual who has been suspended and removed/censured from office previously, cannot run for or hold office, or vote. Section 4: If an office in the PSA becomes vacant during the course of a term, follow the same process as described for the Junior Vice President position (Article IV, Section 2, #4). Article V Section 1: Election Committee 1. An election committee will comprise of 3 individuals. One of whom will be an outgoing Executive Board member. The other two individuals will be nominated by the Executive Board and the Legislative Board, and must receive the majority vote from the two Boards. 2. The election committee shall organize the elections, ensuring a fair, impartial election. 3. The election committee shall announce the election schedule before the last date for filing nominations. 4. Individuals on the Election Committee cannot be related to one of the current Executive or Legislative Board members, or one of the candidates, by blood or marriage. In the case that the incumbent is related to the outgoing board member, strike that member's position on the Election Committee and hold the elections with a two person committee. Section 2: Election Procedure and Schedule 1. Elections are to be held in the end of April of every year on two specific days decided upon in advance and announced publicly at least 1 week in advance, the voting will be done by secret ballot, in a democratic fashion. 2. The votes will not be counted are closed on the second day of voting. 3. No email ballots or phone votes will be accepted. 4. Each candidate may appoint 1 representative to oversee the counting of the votes. The votes will be counted by the members of the Election Committee. However, the University Advisor may be asked to oversee the counting of the votes as well, if asked by the current Executive Board, Election Committee, or Candidates. Section 3: Voting Eligibility 1. Active members as outlined in Article I shall be allowed to vote. 2. Honorary Members will only be allowed to vote under the provisions of Article I. 3. Any individual who has been suspended/censured may not vote unless the Executive Board and Legislative Board permit so. Section 4: Term in Office 1. The term of office will be one academic year. 2. An officer may be elected to the same office for no more than two terms. Article VI Section 1: Meeting Schedule 1. General body meetings shall be held once a month and the general body must be updated on the happenings of the organization. 2. These meetings will be advertised wellin advance and the Executive Board shall make every effort to ensure that all members are informed in a timely manner. 3. Executive Board meetings shall be held at least two times a month and as deemed necessary. Section 2: Emergency Meetings 1. The Executive Board reserves the right to call special and/or emergency meetings. 2. Notification in advance is required for the Executive Board meetings, and a 48 hour advance notification is required for such general body meetings. Section 3: Decision Making 1. In any and every decision made by the Executive and/or Legislative Board, or the general body, shall require a majority vote. 2. All proposals are brought up by the Executive Board and thus are voted on by the Executive and Legislative boards. Article VII 1. The Executive Board shall be composed of the Elected Officers. 2. The Legislative Board must consist of at least the positions of Freshman representative and Graduate representative. (Refer to Emergency Election clause in case of extenuating circumstances). 3. Legislative Board members are to be nominated by the Executive Board members and must gain majority vote from the Executive Board to take office. 4. The Executive Board reserves the right to add/delete a position on the Legislative Board, however they may do only so if the total positions of the Legislative board remains an even number and does not exceed six. The positions of Freshman and Graduate Representatives cannot be deleted (refer to Article VII, 2). Article VIII Section 1: Amendments 1. Amendments are to be proposed by any member of the Executive Board. 2. The motion shall be carried out by a majority vote from the Executive Board and the Legislative Board. 3. The PSA constitution may be amended ONLY IF there is a unanimous vote of the Executive Board and Legislative Board. The article or articles to be amended must be disclosed to the general body. Article IX Impeachment/Removal from office, Censure and Suspension from the Organization of PSA A. Suspension Any PSA member can be suspended from the organization by the Executive Board. Suspension may last for a maximum of one semester in one academic year depending upon the circumstance of the individual's case. B. Impeachment/Removal from Office Any PSA officer can be impeached and removed from office by a no-confidence vote by the Executive Board and the Legislative Board. After impeachment, the Executive Board has seven days to appoint a new officer to the vacant position. In the case of the President's impeachment or removal, please refer to Article IV. C. Censure The Executive and Legislative Board can censure a PSA member or officer. The censured member shall be ineligible to vote, run for or hold office in the association for 1 year from the date such a motion is passed. D. Circumstances warranting Impeachment/Removal from Office, Censure, Suspension 1. Violation of the PSA charter, abuse of privileges, lack of responsibility. 2. Failure to comply with the organization's guidelines. 3. Gross negligence. 4. Non-payment of membership dues as set by the organization. Article X Legislative Procedure All bills originate in the Executive Board meetings. The Executive Board then presents it to the Legislative Board and a formal vote and Legislative body is taken and majority vote wins. Article XI Emergency Elections If three positions on the Executive Board become vacant (by resignation, successful impeachment, removal from office, censure, or suspension) OR the previous elections are found and proven to have been illegitimate/invalid, then a new, mid-year, emerency election should be held. For the election process, please refer to Article V, Section 1.