AIMS Constitution

Constitution of the Association of Information Management Students (AIMS) at the University of Washington

Article I - Name

Section 1 The official name of this organization shall be the Association of Information Management Students (AIMS) at the University of Washington.

Article II - Purpose

Section 1 It shall be the purpose of the organization to:

  1. To function as a student government.
  2. To provide official channels for communication between MSIM students, faculty, and administration of the Information School.
  3. To promote the interests and serve as an advocate for MSIM students
  4. To provide opportunity for social, cultural, and professional activities.

Article III - Membership

Section 1 The regular membership shall consist of admitted and currently-enrolled graduate students in good standing within the MSIM program at the University of Washington.

Section 2 Voting. Only currently registered MSIM students shall have voting privileges.

Section 3 Honorary Membership. All previous graduates of the MSIM program, faculty, and administration of the Information School shall be granted honorary membership.

Section 4 Associate Membership. Non-University persona may have associate membership status within the organization, but shall not have voting privileges.

To become an associate member, more than half of the membership must approve the nomination at a general meeting. Any regular member may nominate a candidate for associate membership throughout the year, but no candidate may be nominated, without subsequent approval and election by the regular membership, more than twice.

Article IV - Meetings

Section 1 The organization shall have at least one executive board meeting, one executive officer meeting, and one regular membership meeting per elected term.

Section 2 Meetings Generally. Regular membership and Executive Officer meetings shall be held at times advertised at least one week in advance and prominently posted by the Secretary via email, bulletin boards, website, calendars, listservs, in person, or other means.

Executive Board meetings shall be advertised at least two weeks in advance by the President, Vice-President, or Secretary via email, bulletin boards, website, calendars, listservs, in person, or other means.

Meetings of the organization shall be held upon the call of the President, under advisement from the general membership or Executive Officers.

Section 3 Special (Irregular) Meetings. Special (or irregular) meetings shall be held at any time by an Executive Officer. There shall be no compulsory attendance by officers, regular members, or the advisor. There shall be no quorum requirement for special meetings.

In no case shall a special meeting bypass the function of a duly-called officer or general member meeting.

All binding resolutions or decisions during irregular meetings are null and void.

Section 4 Quorum. A quorum for a regular meeting shall consist of no less than 6 people (including executive officers and regular members) present at a scheduled or other appropriately-announced meeting.

A quorum for an Executive Officer meeting shall consist of no less than 4 officers present at a scheduled or other appropriately-announced meeting.

A quorum for an Executive Board meeting shall consist of no less than 8 officers present at a scheduled or other appropriately-announced meeting.

Section 5 The organization shall determine its own means of running meetings and other business, and may establish its own parliamentary procedures as needed. The President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Advisor shall assure that a meeting is run in accordance with this determination.

Section 6 All decisions shall be by simple majority of the quorum.

A regular member may make a motion, point of order, or comment during a regular meeting, or do so, by special invitation of the President, during a regularly-scheduled meeting convened of officers.

Representatives and Committee chairpersons may, at the sole discretion of the Executive Officers, be allowed to attend any regularly-scheduled officer meeting.

An Executive Officer may make a motion, point of order, or other comment for business during any meeting.

The President may veto any decision made by the Executive Officers. However, the other officers of the quorum may override that veto by a unanimous vote.

Article V . Executive Officers

Section 1 The Executive Officers of the organization shall be: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Technology Officer, Publicity Officer, and Executive Liaison Officer.

Section 2 There are no qualifications for any officer position and any member of the organization may be nominated or elected to an executive office. Although a candidate may be nominated for more than one office, the candidate will have to decide, before the election, which office they will seek.

Section 3 Length of Term. Terms for office shall begin the first day after election results are announced. The term shall run for one year until the end of the Spring Quarter or until elections are held, whichever is longer shorter.

Section 3A Transition Period. In order to assure a smooth transition between newly-elected officers and outgoing officers, there shall be a transition period wherein outgoing officers will serve in an advisory capacity to newly-elected officers.

Section 4 Duties. The following are some (but not all) of the enumerated duties of each Executive Officer.

President:

  1. Leading the AIMS organization;
  2. Facilitating Executive Officer and Executive Board discussions;
  3. Call official meetings and preside at such meetings;
  4. Be responsible for the administration of any business of the organization;
  5. Prepare agendas and distribute to Secretary;
  6. Represent the MSIM student body in meetings of the faculty and administration;
  7. Coordinate development and amendment of the Constitution or Bylaws;
  8. Hold transition meetings with past and present officers, Representatives, and Committee members;
  9. Approve programs, activities, and material on the website or for public distribution.

Vice-President:

  1. Assist the President in all duties;
  2. Preside over official meetings or events in the case of the President.s absence;
  3. Coordinate with the President in the planning and execution of the organization.s activities;
  4. Oversee the creation of Committees and Representatives;
  5. Serve as an advisor to Committees and Representatives;
  6. Work with the Secretary in administration of elections;
  7. Assist any other officer in their duties as needed.

Secretary:

  1. Maintain all AIMS records and correspondence;
  2. Maintain the calendar and bulletin board with the Technology Officer for AIMS;
  3. Record the minutes of the meetings of the organization and, in conjunction with the Technology Officer, maintains a public archive of selected correspondence and Listserv announcements;
  4. Distribute minutes to AIMS members;
  5. Record with the Vice-President all Committee and Representative minutes, decisions, and rules.
  6. Communicate announcements to the Advisor;
  7. Communicate Executive Officer announcements to the organization;
  8. Work with Election Liaison to count ballots and verify a fair election of officers;
  9. Respond with the Technology Officer to Listserv and website inquiries and comments;
  10. Gather and maintain accurate officer information (such as Name, address, phone number, email address, UWNETID, and school/personal schedule);
  11. Assist any other officer in their duties as needed.

Treasurer:

  1. Maintain AIMS financial records;
  2. Maintain the AIMS bank account and other accounts;
  3. Provide financial reports on spending to the Executive Officers as requested;
  4. Submits required budget to the Student Activities Office and Information School;
  5. Submit a yearly budget to the entire membership;
  6. Serve as primary account handler for all financial transactions including reimbursements;
  7. Work with the ALISS treasurer on selective joint projects (i.e., Student Lounge);
  8. Organize and delegate responsibility for fundraising events;
  9. Assist any other officer in their duties as needed.

Technology Officer:

  1. Promptly design, create, implement, and maintain of the organization.s website, listserv, and other information systems;
  2. Convene an ad hoc team in performance of these duties;
  3. Disseminate with the Secretary the organization.s information electronically;
  4. Help in posting announcements via electronic systems (including Catalyst) for elections or other AIMS related business as needed;
  5. Information to be publically disseminated includes, but is not limited to, volunteer opportunities, community organization information, meeting minutes, and more;
  6. A change to the appearance of the website shall be with approval of other officers;
  7. Assist any other officer in their duties as needed.

Publicity Officer:

  1. Plans and coordinates organization activities in cooperation with the other officers and the general membership;
  2. Act as a public relations representative for AIMS;
  3. Coordinate marketing efforts for AIMS events;
  4. Produce and post publicity in appropriate ways;
  5. Serve as liaison with the Student Activities Office for activities outside the Information School;
  6. Maintain the organization.s visibility;
  7. Make social connections with the University-wide community;
  8. Coordinating social and convocation events;
  9. Managing event funds with the Treasurer;
  10. Working with the Secretary and Technology Officer to post events to the Information School calendar;
  11. Assist any other officer in their duties as needed.

Executive Liaison:

  1. Acts as the primary contact between executive MSIM students in the executive MSIM program;
  2. Provides access to programs that meets executive MSIM needs and interests;
  3. Works with the First-Year MSIM chairperson to address academic and professional concerns;
  4. Assist any other officer in their duties as needed.

First-Year MSIM Chairperson:

  1. The chairperson shall be the official spokesperson for first-year MSIM students to the AIMS officers and the Information School faculty and administration;
  2. This position is ex officio and has voting privileges;
  3. Assist any other officer in their duties as needed.

Section 5 Removing an Officer. Upon the unanimous vote of all Executive Officers (excluding the officer being removed) and three-quarters of a quorum of the regular membership, an officer may be removed from office.

This process shall be overseen by the Advisor and reasons for the removal, to the extent allowable, shall be made public to the organization.

Removing an officer is an exceptional procedure that should rarely be used; it shall be administered in just order and for good cause shown. Procedures governing removal shall abide by all applicable laws or regulations.

A decision to remove is final and is not appealable, unless in direct violation of this Constitution.

Removal from office shall not be a bar for nomination to another, but not the same, officer position.

Section 6 Resignation of an Officer. An Executive Officer may resign their post.

With no less than two weeks notice, the Executive Officer must notify the Advisor and all Executive Officers in writing about their resignation. If possible, the resigning officer will assist in finding a suitable replacement.

The extraordinary procedures for Special Appointments in Article VI, Section 5, may be used for filling a vacant post.

Section 7 Registered Officers. All Executive Officers shall be .Registered Officers. for purposes of University of Washington rules and regulations governing a Registered Student Organization (RSO) and Student Activities.

Article VI . Executive Officer Elections

Section 1 To the extent not inconsistent with this Constitution, officer elections shall be organized and administered by the Association of Library and Information Science Students (ALISS) and the Student Leadership Council (SLC) at the University of Washington.

Section 2 Elections Liaison. A special elections liaison shall be appointed by the Executive Officers during the first week of the quarter in which elections are held.

The liaison may be any regular member, or executive officer, or executive board member, and shall work directly with the Secretary.

Responsibilities shall include coordinating AIMS elections with ALISS and announcing election results, or other responsibilities deemed necessary to effectively manage election of AIMS candidates.

Section 3 Nomination and Candidacy Period. Current Executive Officers are encouraged to solicit candidates during the second full week of the quarter during which elections are held.

Candidates must be members of the organization and may nominate themselves or be nominated by another member.

Candidates must confirm their nomination by submitting a campaign statement.

The duration of the nomination period will be no less than twelve days.

In the event that no nominations have been made for one or more executive officer positions by the fourth week of the quarter, nominations for all those positions will remain open until at least one candidate has been confirmed for each position.

Voting will not begin until there is at least one candidate for each executive officer position. Regardless, voting must begin by the ninth week of winter quarter.

Section 4 Voting Period. Voting shall be by secret ballot.

Voting will be held during the week following completion of nominations. The duration of the voting period shall be no less than five days.

The ballot will provide a choice for a write-in candidate for each position, even if a candidate is running unopposed.

Votes will be tallied for each position during the weekend following the voting period.

The candidate for each position with the most votes will be selected as officer-elect for that position. Officers-elect will be announced during the week following voting.

In the event that the top candidates for a position receive an equal number of votes, a run-off election will be held for that position during the week following the initial voting period.

Section 5 Special Appointments. In the event that an officer position is vacant following officer elections or during the course of a term, a special appointment may be made by the Executive Officers to fill this position by the unanimous vote of a quorum of officers, or through a special majority vote by the regular membership, either of which shall be at the sole discretion of the Executive Officers.

The special appointee shall have all the rights, responsibilities, and privileges accorded to the office into which the appointment was made.

Section 6 All regular members are eligible to vote.

Section 7 This Article shall be congruent with the election articles of the ALISS constitution.

Article VII - Executive Board

Section 1 The Executive Board shall consist of the Executive Officers (or their appointees), two GPSS senators, and representatives from at least three student organizations within the Information School.

Section 2 The Board will keep the organization.s advisor and concerned advocates informed of its decisions and activities.

Section 3 Limited Role of Executive Board. In no case shall the decisions of the executive board abrogate or overturn the decisions of the general membership. Executive Officers may take Executive Board decisions under advisement in fulfillment of their regular duties.

Article VIII . Student Leadership Council (SLC)

Section 1 To the extent not inconsistent with this Constitution, AIMS shall fully participate and abide by rules and decisions made by the SLC.

Section 2 Generally. The President and Vice-President of the organization are ex officio members in the SLC. .

SLC representatives shall from time to time report back information about agenda items to AIMS.

Article IX - Advisor

Section 1 There shall be one faculty or administration advisor from within the Information School who shall be an ex officio member with no voting privileges.

Section 2 Voluntary Nature. The advisor voluntarily serves for a one-year term and is nominated by the Executive Officers under advisement from the regular membership.

Section 3 Duties. Duties or responsibilities of adviser shall be:

  1. To advise and assist the executive officers and regular membership with fulfillment of organization activities.
  2. To serve as ombudsman during regular, officer, special (irregular), or ad hoc meetings.
  3. To act as liaison between the administration of the Information School and the members of this organization.
  4. To appoint an ad hoc AIMS representative, if no executive officer is present to conduct the organization.s business.
  5. Deliberate and advise during Executive Officer, Representative, or Committee Member removal proceedings.

Section 4 Advisor Pro Tem. The advisor may occasionally appoint an advisor to act as their representative in the event that they are unable to attend meetings or otherwise conduct their advisory role as needed.

In no case shall this pro tem appointment contravene their responsibilities as advisor.

Article X . Committees and Representatives

Section 1 Committees Generally. Any member may become a voluntary committee member.

Committees are semi-autonomous bodies that are comprised of no more than 5 members, but no less than 2 (except the First-Year MSIM Committee which shall have no more or less than 5 members, two of which must be evening MSIM students)

Committees will designate a chairperson and a recorder. The committee will decide their agenda, timeframes, and working rules, with careful attention to existing agendas, timeframes, and working rules of the Information School.

All work product from meetings, including meeting minutes, decisions, and rules, will be timely delivered via email to the Secretary.

Section 2 Representatives Generally. Any member may become a voluntary representative.

The representative will decide their own agenda, timeframes, and working rules, with careful attention to existing agendas, timeframes, and working rules of the Information School.

All work product and notes will be timely delivered via email to the Secretary.

Section 3 Length of Term. Terms shall begin the first day of the Spring Quarter and shall run for one year until the end of the Summer Quarter, except for the First-Year MSIM committee which shall form during the Fall Quarter and run until the end of the Summer Quarter.

Section 4 Standing committees are Admissions and Curriculum, Convocation, International Student, and First-Year MSIM

Section 5 Standing representative positions are Alumni Representative and Research-Colloquium Representative .MSIM Admissions and Curriculum Representative.

Section 6 Duties. Standing Committees and Representatives shall perform the following:

Admissions and Curriculum Representative: This person is charged with assisting the Information School review and vote to admit MSIM candidates during the course of the academic year and also is charged with representing the student.s voice in curriculum matters.

Admissions Function

  1. The member will carefully read and evaluate an applicant's folder and attend committee meetings to discuss and vote on each candidate.
  2. The member vote will count as that of a faculty member.
  3. The admissions process begins in October and runs through April, and occasionally the committee will meet frequently during admissions periods.
  4. The MSIM Program Coordinator will provide training for the new committee member.

Curriculum Function

  1. The member will represent the students' voice in MSIM curriculum matters at meetings with Information School faculty and administration, and by other means that may resolve student concerns.
  2. To determine student needs or provide a forum for concerns through personal contact, student meetings, and by electronic means.

Convocation Committee. This committee works in conjunction with the ALISS committee and solicits recommendations for the convocation speaker for the Information School graduation ceremonies. The committee, in conjunction with the Dean, SLC, and the President of AIMS and ALISS, will help narrow the list of speaker candidates and prepare a special ballot. The committee works in conjunction with the ALISS convocation committee for the event, including programs, catering, music, ushering, and decorations.

International Student Committee: This committee will serve as a liaison for international students to the Information School faculty, administration, and the AIMS organization. It shall consist of 2-5 MSIM students.

Committee Functions

  1. Act as a liaison with faculty, college offices, and other UW student organizations to provide academic and extracurricular support international students.
  2. Work with the Foundation for International Understanding Through Students (FIUTS) group.
  3. Coordinate with the Research-Colloquium Representative any internship and research opportunities.
  4. Coordinate with the Publicity Officer any extracurricular functions such as a quarterly potluck and other social events.

First Year MSIM Committee: This committee of five 3-5 members (two executive, three day) is charged with representing and advocating the interests of all first-year MSIM students. There shall be a balance of Day and Executive MSIM students.

The committee shall select one Chairperson.

Chairperson Functions

  1. The chairperson shall be an Executive Officer ex officio and have voting privileges during their term.
  2. The chairperson is expected to participate in Executive Officer meetings.
  3. The chairperson shall be the official spokesperson for first-year MSIM students to the AIMS officers, and the Information School faculty and administration.

Committee Functions

  1. Relay class times, lab hours, availability of required materials and resources concerns to faculty and administration.
  2. Evaluate the equability between day and evening programs to the MSIM chair.
  3. Work with the MSIM Academic and Curriculum Representative as needed.
  4. Make sure that all first-year students are in contact with second year students via email, bulletin boards, website, calendars, listservs, or other prominent means.
  5. Collecting first year information and relaying to the Secretary, the MSIM program chair, MSIM Academic and Curriculum Rep.

Research-Colloquium Representative: This representative will be responsible for collaborating with ALISS, IUGA (Informatics Undergraduate Association), and the UW student chapter of ASIS&T (American Society for Information Science & Technology) in jointly organizing special colloquia and research projects. The representative will facilitate communication between other student groups outside the Information School. In addition, the representative will be in regular contact with the Director of Research at the Information School and serve as a liaison for student grants, funding, and other research opportunities.

Alumni Association Representative: This representative will be a member of the Board of Directors of the Information School Alumni Association. The representative attends board meetings and assists with building and maintaining MSIM alumni relations.

Section 7 Special Appointments. In the event that a committee or representative position is vacant during the course of a term, a special appointment may be made by the Executive Officers to fill this position by the majority vote of a quorum of officers, or through a special majority vote by the regular membership, either of which shall be at the sole discretion of the Executive Officers.

The special appointee shall have all the rights, responsibilities, and privileges accorded to the position into which the appointment was made.

Section 8 The Executive Officers or Board reserve the right to create ad hoc committees as needed.

Section 9 Removing a Representative or Committee Member. Upon the majority vote of the Executive Officers (with exclusion of the officer being removed if their position holds ex officio status) and a majority of a quorum of the regular membership, a Representative or Committee Member may be removed from their position.

This process shall be overseen by the Advisor and reasons for the removal, to the extent allowable, shall be made public to the organization.

Removing a Representative or Committee member shall be administered in just order and for good cause shown. Procedures governing removal shall abide by all applicable laws or regulations.

A decision to remove is final and is not appealable, unless in direct violation of this Constitution.

Removal from the position shall not be a bar for membership on any other committee or representative position.

Section 10 In no case shall a representative or committee, through their meetings, rules, and decisions, obstruct, contravene or otherwise contradict the express meaning and spirit of this Constitution.

Article XI . Amendments

Section 1 Any member can propose an amendment to the Constitution by submitting it in writing by email to an Executive Officer.

Section 2 Notice Period. A published deadline for receipt of comments, objections, and questions of the proposed change to the Constitution shall be made by the Vice-President and Secretary.

Advance notice of the proposed change shall be made to the membership at large via email, bulletin boards, website, calendars, listservs, or other prominent means.

Members will have no less than one calendar month to review the proposed amendment and to communicate their acceptance or rejection via secret ballot.

The Secretary or Vice-president will announce the voting results.

Section 3 Adoption. The constitution may be amended by a majority vote of the regular members.

A duly-called meeting with advanced notice or an irregular meeting with no notice may be used to discuss or debate the proposed amendments at the sole discretion of the Executive Officers.

Adoption of amendments to the Constitution shall never be made through a quorum of members or officers during any meeting.

Section 4 Limit on Changes. The constitution may be amended no more than twice per term of elected officers, or once per quarter, whichever is less.

Article XII . Bylaws

Section 1 Any member can propose the adoption, revision, or amendment to bylaws by submitting them in writing by email to an Executive Officer.

Section 2 Notice Period. Advance notice of the proposed change to the bylaws shall be made to the membership at large via email, bulletin boards, website, calendars, listservs, in person, or by other means.

Members shall have at least one week to review the proposed change.

The proposed amendment shall be formally addressed at the next scheduled meeting of the general membership.

Section 3 Adoption. Adoption of changes, revisions, or amendments to the bylaws shall be executed by a three-quarters vote of the quorum in a duly-called regular meeting.

Section 4 In no case shall bylaws, their amendments or revisions therein, obstruct, contravene or otherwise contradict the express meaning and spirit of this Constitution.

Article XIII . Miscellaneous Provisions

Section 1 Executive Sunset Provisions. In the event that the executive and day MSIM program are merged, all references to executive MSIM activities and the office of Executive Representative (Liaison) shall be null and void and are removed from the Constitution.

Section 2 All remaining powers, unexpressed rights, responsibilities, and duties are left to the members in faithful support of Article II and in concordance with this Constitution.