Draft Constitution

The Constitution of the MIT Society for Ocean Conservation

Article I: Purpose
The purpose of the MIT Society for Ocean Conservation (the Society) is to promote appropriate, sustainable management of ocean resources by conducting relevant research, educating the public, and engaging in political action.

Article II: Membership

• 1) Membership in the Society shall be open to all members of the MIT community. A member is a person who pays dues and participates in the Society activities and events.
• 2) The Society shall always have at least five members, a majority of whom must be MIT students.
• 3) The Society will not discriminate based upon any characteristic in the MIT Nondiscrimination Statement.
• 4) Students unable to afford the dues of the Society will be exempted.

Article III: Officers

• 1) The Society shall have a president, treasurer and secretary, who shall be distinct MIT students.
• 2) The President
  • a) The president shall be the official representative of the Society to MIT.
  • b) The president shall see that meetings are held at appropriate intervals and that such meetings are appropriately announced to the members of the Society.
  • c) The president or his or her designee shall preside at all meetings.
• 3) The Treasurer
  • a) The treasurer will keep all financial records of the Society.
  • b) The treasurer will sign all checks or vouchers issued by the Society.
  • c) At an interval to be determined by the Society's members, but not less than once per school year, the treasurer shall issue a statement about the Society's finances.
• 4) The Secretary
  • a) The Secretary or his or her designee shall take minutes at all business meetings of the Society. The minutes shall include the outcomes of all votes made and provide a clear explanation of decisions taken. The minutes shall also include a list of those attending the meeting.
  • b) The Secretary shall in an appropriate manner make the minutes available to the Society's members before the next meeting of the Society is held.
• 5) Other Offices
  • a) The Society may create other positions of leadership or offices or titled positions without amending this constitution, as long as the powers and duties of such new offices do not conflict with the constitution.
  • b) The president and treasurer of the Society may not hold any such new offices during their respective terms as president and treasurer.
• 6) Elections
  • a) Elections shall be held the second week of each semester.
  • b) Elections can be held only if one-fourth of active members are present. If there are two or fewer candidates, then the candidate with the majority shall take the office. If there are more than two candidates, the two candidates receiving the most votes shall advance to a runoff election.
  • c) A letter of intent to run for office must be submitted to the secretary 48 hours prior to an election.
• 7) Removal of Officers
  • a) A formal voice vote must be made in order to remove an officer. The votes of two-thirds of those present shall be necessary to pass the motion. The outcome of this vote, and the names and votes of those participating, shall be recorded in the minutes.

Article IV: Meetings

• 1) A regular schedule should be established for meetings, but meetings should not be held less than once every two weeks while the Institute is in session.
• 2) Meetings shall be announced by e-mail at least 48 hours in advance.
• 3) Procedures for running meetings:
  • a) Quorum for meetings shall be one-fourth of active members. All active members may vote.
  • b) In order to encourage a collegial atmosphere and avoid exorbitant bureaucracy, decisions shall be made by consensus where possible.
  • c) On some questions it is necessary to use a more formal system. A "formal voice vote" shall be conducted as follows:
    • i) A motion must be set down in writing and introduced by a member of the Society.
    • ii) The motion must be seconded.
    • iii) The president or other presiding officer shall read the motion aloud to the meeting.
    • iv) The secretary or acting secretary will call on each present member in turn. Each member will state if they support, oppose, or will abstain from voting on the motion.
    • v) A majority of votes cast must be in favor of the motion for it to pass, unless otherwise specified in this constitution.
    • vi) Abstaining does not count as casting a vote.
    • vii) The results of the vote, and the names of those voting for, against, and abstaining shall be written down in the minutes.
    • viii) Absentee votes can be submitted electronically prior to and during the meeting.
  • d) A formal voice vote on any issue shall be taken if one-fourth of those present desire it.
  • e) A formal voice vote must be taken to approve anything that would involve spending the Society's money.

Article V: Amendments

• 1) Any active member of the Society may present an amendment to this constitution.
• 2) Quorum for considering a constitutional amendment shall be one-third of the active members of the Society.
• 3) The procedure for consideration of amendments shall be that outlined in Article IV, Section 3, Clause c, with the exception that two-thirds of votes cast must be in favor of the amendment for it to pass.

Article VI: ASA Supremacy
The Society agrees to abide by the rules and regulations of the Association of Student Activities, and its executive board. This constitution, amendments to it, and the by-laws of this organization shall be subject to review by the ASA Executive Board to insure that they are in accordance with the aforementioned rules and regulations.

Some Commentary on the Constitution

The parts highlighted in red are the ones needing the most attention.

The list of required features in a constitution is at http://web.mit.edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/asa/start/constitution-req.html

Other information about starting MIT groups is at http://web.mit.edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/asa/start/index.html

Answers to Questions

Group name MIT Society for Ocean Conservation
President Alexandra Jordan
Treasurer Alex Vai
Secretary Danielle Whited

Members
Todd Mooring
Edgar Jack Hill
Claire Nauman
Tracey Hayse
Ivy Huang
Sarah McDermott
Anna Fung
Emily Moberg
Aaron Thom

Why are you, the founders, starting the group?
Our participation in Terrascope's study of global fisheries lead us to conclude that the health of the oceans is a vital issue insufficiently addressed by government and private groups. Our purpose is to help rectify this situation by educating the public and politicians about the need to conserve our ocean resources.

How is this group unique? Could the ASA find similarities with other groups? If so, why should this group obtain recognition? What are the differences?
This group is unique because of its specificity. Although there are other student groups active on environmental issues, we believe that this issue is not receiving enough attention and that a new group would help rectify that. Forming an independent group would also make it easier to use existing Terrascope-related contacts, instead of having to "transfer" everything to a different, preexisting group.

Why does the group need ASA recognition? What resources do you expect to use?
Our group needs ASA recognition because having an official structure would strengthen our group and make it more capable of fulfilling its goals. The primary resource we expect to use is MIT meeting space.

How do you plan to fund the group?
The group will be funded by membership fees and donations. This answer should probably be made more convincing. Assuming that we don't want to try to get funding from ASA, I know that some groups get funding from the discretionary funds of deans. Perhaps we could have something like this with course 12.

What type of events or meetings will the group have? Give specific examples.
Because the primary purposes of the group are public outreach and lobbying, most events will be meetings to plan the group's projects.

Who is the intended audience of the group?
The intended audience of the group will be students who are concerned about environmental and specifically ocean issues. The initial membership will primarily be current and former Terrascope participants.

How do you plan to recruit new members? We're going to need to expand this beyond Terrascope if we want to get approved.

How large do you expect the group to become? Why?
Our experience with Terrascope taught us that excessively large organizations often become unmanageable or encourage members to slack off. Thus, we believe our group would be most effective if it remains relatively small. Twenty highly participatory members would be an excellent size.

What has already been accomplished?
We are currently planning a letter-writing campaign urging politicians to address our issues. Closer to home, a fisheries-related Spark class is being developed.