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ARTICLE I: NAME

Section 1

The name of this organization shall be “Pakistani Students Association” at the University of Washington (UW).

ARTICLE II: PURPOSE

Section 1

The purpose of the organization shall be to:

  1. Provide a cultural link to Pakistan for both Pakistani and American students at UW.
  2. Provide a social setting for Pakistani students to interact.
  3. Contribute to the Pakistani community at large.

ARTICLE III: AFFILIATION

Section 1

The organization can affiliate with any other Pakistani student organization if two thirds of the members vote in favor of it.

ARTICLE IV: MEMBERSHIP

Section 1

The majority of the membership of this organization shall consist of regularly enrolled undergraduate and graduate students of the University of Washington. Only those members that are currently enrolled at the University of Washington will have voting privileges.

ARTICLE V: OFFICERS

Section 1

The organization shall consist of five officers:

  1. President
  2. Vice President
  3. Secretary
  4. Treasurer
  5. Public Relations Director

Section 2

The President’s responsibilities include:

  1. Ensuring that all events the association is involved in are in compliance with the goals and objectives of the Pakistani Students Association.
  2. Conducting meetings; addressing any issues members raised.

Section 3

The Vice President’s responsibilities include:

  1. Assuming the position of President, in the case that the President cannot perform his duties temporarily, until the President can return.
  2. Assigning chairpersons their duties, meeting regularly with the chairpersons, communicating with officers the progress of committees, raising concerns of officers to chairpersons, and ensuring that chairpersons complete their assigned duties.

Section 4

The Secretary’s responsibilities include:

  1. Organizing meetings, informing members of meetings, writing meeting minutes and distributing them among members, arranging officers meetings, and handling all correspondence within the association.
  2. Counting votes during elections and announcing the new officers to members.
  3. Re-registering the organization and ensuring that all appropriate paperwork is filed with the Student Activities Office Autumn quarter.
  4. Maintaining a notebook with all meeting minutes and members’ contact information. This is to be brought to all meetings and made available for members to view.

Section 5

The Treasurer’s responsibilities include:

  1. Handling the association’s financial account.
  2. Keeping track of finances and reporting them to members regularly.
  3. Picking up mail from the PSA mailbox regularly and file all bank statements; other correspondence may be given to the Secretary to distribute accordingly.
  4. Reimbursing any members who use personal funds for the association’s expenses.
  5. Ensuring that fundraisers are being held regularly and the balance of the account is replenished annually.

Section 6

The Public Relations Director’s responsibilities include:

  1. Informing members of all upcoming events and assessing the feedback from completed events.
  2. Publicizing events, maintaining the web page, and updating events on the web page regularly.

Section 7

If these officers need more help, they can make new officers for different sections by the simple majority in the group of five.

Section 8

Any complaints or concerns members may have with officers shall be addressed to the President; if the issue is in regards to the President, the Vice President should be contacted.

Section 9

The term of office shall be from the beginning of summer quarter until the start of the next summer quarter.

Section 10

An officer can be removed from office by a two-third majority of the members if there is:

  1. A serious misconduct.
  2. Involvement in activities which are damaging to the image and reputation of the association.

Section 11

The procedure above will also be followed for the removal of any member.

ARTICLE VI: ELECTION

Section 1

Selection of officers shall be held in the month of May for the term starting at the beginning of summer quarter. All members shall be notified by the Secretary a minimum of fifteen days before the election.

Section 2

One year of previous experience is required to run for the President position.

  1. In case no one with previous experience is running, there will be no Vice President position. Instead Vice president and President will become co-presidents and share the same duties and responsibilities.
  2. In case of a disagreement between the two co-presidents, an officer’s vote with two-thirds majority will prevail.

Section 3

If there is more than one member contesting a position, a majority will be enough to determine the new officer.

Section 4

If an officer is removed or can no longer hold office, an election will be held for that position.

  1. In the case of the President, the Vice President will become President and the position of Vice President will be filled via election.

ARTICLE VII: MEETINGS

Section 1

Regular meetings of this organization shall be held at least bi-monthly, but current members may choose to hold meetings more often. The Secretary will inform all members at least one week before the meeting.

Section 2

Meetings shall be conducted in the following order:

  1. The President, or the highest officer present, must start the meeting.
  2. The Secretary must read the minutes from the most recent meeting. After this is done, the Secretary must ask the delegation if any changes/additions are required. Once the changes have been made, or if there aren’t any, the minutes must be voted on and approved by a majority.
  3. The Treasurer must read the most current financial statement. Also, during this time the Secretary must either pass out an attendance sheet, or take attendance from the desk.
  4. The Public Relations Director must inform the delegation of the results/reactions to the most recent events, events in the near future, and what remains to be done for these upcoming events.
  5. The President must now reopen all tabled discussions/votes.
  6. All new ideas/propositions/amendments must be brought up at this point.
  7. The President must end the meeting by stating, “I now call this meeting to a close.”

ARTICLE VIII: ASUW REPRESENTATIVE

Section 1

An ASUW (Associated Students of UW) representative will be either elected in May following the same procedure as officers, or picked by the President later.

Section 2

This person is responsible for attending ASUW weekly meetings and informing PSA members about meeting minutes and ASUW-related events.

ARTICLE IX: ADVISORS & SPONSORS

Section 1

Members can decide to have advisors or sponsors with a two-third majority according to the policies of the University of Washington.

ARTICLE X: COMMITTEES, CHAIRPERSONS

Section 1

For each event, the person who proposed the event becomes the chairperson, unless he or she wishes to appoint someone else. A committee can consist of as many members as wish to join.

Section 2

Chairpersons will communicate to the officers via the Vice President and must attend any chairperson meetings announced by the Vice President unless they excuse their absence with the Vice President.

Section 3

The chairperson of the committee is responsible for the decisions regarding the event and will delegate tasks to the members of the committee.

Section 4

Any decisions regarding legalities, such as use of the PSA sponsorship of events or usage of financial resources, must be brought to the attention of the Vice President and, if needed, Treasurer, and voted on collectively by the entire group of members.

Section 5

The committee may ask for advice regarding the event at regular meetings but is not bound to it.

Section 6

The chairperson must report progress back to the Vice President at each meeting and must ensure that officers are aware of all decisions made.

ARTICLE XI: DUES

Section 1

Members shall vote on whether membership dues will be collected with a simple majority according to the policies of the University of Washington.

ARTICLE XII: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

Section 1

The constitution may be amended by a two-third majority at any regular meeting.

  1. The change will be voted on at the meeting after the proposal and not on the same day.
  2. The proposed change of the constitution must be included in the meeting notice.

 

Last updated 11/9/09