Marietta College Honors House

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The Honors House of Marietta College

Constitution

Article I. Name

This organization shall now be referred to as the Honors House.

Article II. Purpose

The foundation and purpose of this organization shall always be to promote academic excellence at Marietta College . It shall do this through the facilities it has acquired, but more importantly, by showing excellent leadership and volunteerism on the campus and in the community.

Article III. Members

Section 1. Any student residing in the Honors House becomes an automatic member of this organization; the only exception applies to the resident assistants appointed by Residence Life who have the option of being members if they meet the eligibility requirements.

Section 2. To reside in the Honors House a student must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.000 or better. Failure to have such an average disqualifies any student from residing in the Honors House.

Section 3. An active member’s grade point average will be checked each academic semester. If this average falls below 3.000 cumulative, the member will have one academic semester called the “probationary semester” to raise that average to 3.000 or better. Failure to do so will result in the loss of membership and residency in the Honors House. After the student has maintained a 3.000 cumulative for two consecutive semesters, the student may be considered for membership as a new, incoming member.

Section 4. All members who lived in the Honors House during the previous semester have the right to continue to live in the Honors House and have priority over the incoming members.

Section 5. For these active members who had previous residency in the Honors House a point system will be employed for room picks.

Section 6. The point system will work on a number scale from one (1) to ten (10). The following positions and duties will receive the points as follows:

President —10

Vice President —9

Secretary —8

Treasurer —8

Student Senate Representative— 8

Student Senate Alternate— 3

Should the alternate attend more Student Senate meetings than the representative, the points will be reassigned so that the representative receives 3 points and the alternate receives 8 points. It is the responsibility of the representative and alternate to record meeting attendance.

Committee Chairperson —6

Committee Member —3

Attendance for Each Meeting —1

Fulfilling Housing Policy Duties

Honors House Projects—3

Each Hour of Tutoring—2/ hour (regardless of how many students are tutored during that time) [alternative methods for gaining tutoring opportunities—post all over campus, small profile of willing tutors, e-mail, etc.]

Each year the House decides how it will fulfill its campus housing requirement. Once the decision is made, the commitment must be maintained throughout the academic year.

Past Residence —1 for each year of past residency.

Section 7. An active member shall be defined as one who has accumulated at or above the minimum point requirement and has met other house requirements as specified each year. The minimum number of points to be earned shall be 20 points per academic year (required 10 by the end of the first semester). If the minimum number of points is not earned, the member will be considered a new, incoming member and will be subject to the rules and regulations governing room picks for new, incoming members.

Section 8. Students who either 1) study abroad during fall semester, or 2) move into the House for the Spring semester to fill vacancies shall be required to earn at least 5 points for the year as opposed to the 20 normally required. Justification for this results from the inability to be fully involved in committees/officer positions chosen in the fall coupled with the tendency for fewer point-earning opportunities during the Spring semester.

Section 9. Room picks for active members with previous residence will be based on the number of points attainted by each member. Those members with the highest accumulation of points choose a room first. If there is a tie in points, the room pick is chosen by the member who has the most credit hours. If there is still a tie, grade point average will be considered.

Section 10. For new, incoming member who have no previous residence, room picks will be chosen by the number of completed credit hours the person has attained. If tied, the highest grade point average takes precedence. Credit hours and grade point averages of individuals interested in residing in the House are to be obtained by the Membership Committee chairperson with the permission of the president. The Membership chairperson shall lose the position in the event that he/she divulges confidential student information. All confidential information (such as grade point averages) is to be destroyed upon finalization of room picks.

Section 11. Any member studying abroad will receive 10 house points as long as they communicate regularly with the house through letters and/or e-mails. The house member who sets up the bulletin board to display these messages will receive 2 points per semester.

Section 12. Any member who must live out of the house for a semester due to Greek obligations will only be required to obtain 5 house points for that semester. These members will be able to continue their involvement in all house activities including meetings, committees, and house projects. Greek members must attend 1 football clean-up and 2 House projects. This will fulfill the 5 point minimum. Greek members will also be allowed to tutor, although tutoring points will not go towards the minimum 5 points.

Article IV. Officers

Section 1. There shall be four officers serving as the government of the House. Their titles and duties are as follows:

President — Shall be in charge of all meetings and the general organization of the House. The President shall have the authority to investigate and consider action for major transgressions (i.e. points discrepancies, general disorder, etc.) against this constitution and the general well-being of the House. The President’s decisions concerning the matters of transgressions stated above will be discussed by the officers and then put to a House vote, only passing with a 2/3 majority.

Vice - President—Shall assist the president and preside in case of absence of the president. Shall oversee the formation and the activity of standing and ad-hoc committees as specified in this constitution.

Secretary —Shall record the minutes of every meeting and keep roll call. Responsible for providing typed copies of the minutes before the next meeting or one week after a meeting, whichever comes first.

Treasurer : Shall be the accountant of the House. Approval to spend money must be approved by the membership. The signature of the President and treasurer are to appear on all financial documents. Responsibilities also include drafting proposals for funding and meeting the necessary deadlines as specified by the other party involved.

Section 2. The officers and the members have a mutual responsibility to each other because all live in the same house. Officers have the responsibility to make decisions with the best interest of the house in mind and share the decision making process with the other members. The members have the responsibility to provide input and cooperate with the officers on matters of house interest.

Section 3. Any officer can be removed from office by a vote of two-thirds of the membership; the points that would accompany the office would be subtracted from (rather than awarded to) that member’s total points.

Section 4. If any officer resigns his/her post or is removed from it, an election shall take place within two weeks of the occurrence of the vacancy. The person who wind this election shall finish the term of the previous officer.

Section 5. Election of officers shall take place no later than three weeks prior to the end of the spring semester. Officer terms last from one election to the following election.

Section 6. Any in-residence, active member may run for office.

Section 7. Officers’ names must be turned in to the Office of Campus Life Programs.

Article V. Standing Committees

Section 1. All standing committees shall consist of a chairperson and members. The size of each committee is dependent upon the size of the House; therefore, the number of committee members needed for each committee shall be decided at the beginning of each academic year by the House officers.

Section 2. All House members, with the exception of the officers, are required to sit on at least one committee.

Section 3. All standing committee chairpersons shall be elected in the fall of each year, no later than two weeks after the start of the academic year. Standing committees shall meet at least once per month and as needed.

Section 4. Any committee chairperson can be removed from office by a vote of one-half of the membership; the points accompanying the person would be subtracted from (rather than awarded to) that member’s total accumulated points.

Section 5. There shall be a Housing Committee whose duties shall be to: 1) Write the Housing contracts as required by Residence Life; 2)write the group goals for Residence Life; 3)Organize House events; 4)report all repairs to the Physical Plant; and 5) complete physical labor duties as requested by the House. Shall the need arise, a Maintenance Committee shall be formed to fulfill duties four (4) and five (5) as explained above.

Section 6. There shall be a Fund-Raising Committee whose duties shall be to: 1) raise funds for general use by the Housel and 2) acquire the wants and needs of the House.

Section 7. There shall be a By-Laws Committee whose duties shall be to: 1) have full knowledge of the Constitution; 2) serve as the “attorney” for House procedures; and 3) review the constitution on an annual basis, ensuring that it remains a working document.

Section 8. There shall be a Membership Committee who duties shall be to: 1) maintain a record of the points attained by each member, 2) prepare a monthly report of total point values for each member; 3) review on a case-by-case basis any questions that arise over membership and membership procedures; and 4) review the grades of the current and new, incoming members. The chairperson of this committee shall be the sole individual of the House granted access to confidential student information.

Section 9. There shall be a Tutoring Committee whose duties shall be to: 1) compile a list of the House residents and the subjects in which they are able to tutor; 2) publicize the tutoring services to the campus (the chairperson shall give his/her phone number as a contact); 3) assign tutees with appropriate tutors; and 4) monitor each resident’s tutoring hours.

Section 10. An ad-hoc committee may be formed for business that does not fall into any of the standing committees. However, and ad-hoc committee will not become a standing committee unless an amendment is passed.

Article VI. Meetings

Section 1. Meetings shall be held at the discretion of the officers or by one-half of the membership, but at least monthly.

Section 2. The meetings shall be governed by the following rules of order. Speakers must be recognized by the President or presiding officer. Officers shall designate an agenda for each meeting. A discussion period may follow the set agenda at the officer’s discretion, during which other matters of concern may be addressed. Voting shall be conducted by show of hands or secret ballot as the situation requires.

Section 3. One-half of the membership is necessary to comprise a quorum. The secretary shall take roll call at each meeting to determine if a quorum is present. For voting matters not specifically provided for within this constitution, a majority vote shall carry the decision.

Article VII. Amendments

Section 1. This constitution may have amendments added to it by a vote of two-thirds of the membership.

Section 2. This constitution may be abolished by a 90% vote of the membership.

Section 3. A new constitution shall be ratified within two weeks after the abolishment of this constitution. A 90% vote of the membership is required to implement a new constitution. Failure to have a new constitution ratified within this time period shall result in the reimplementation of this constitution.