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| 1. The name of this organization shall be known as Rutgers Chinese Students and Scholars Association, abbreviated as RCSSA.
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1. RCSSA is an independent, non-political and non-profit organization dedicated to promoting social, intellectual and cultural activities for Chinese students and scholars at Rutgers and other interested members of Rutgers community.
2. It also exists as a channel for information and cultural exchange between its members and other organizations at Rutgers.
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1. The membership of RCSSA is automatically approved for every currently registered Chinese student and scholar at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey-New Brunswick and UMDNJ, and it is also open to all graduate students at Rutgers.
2. All members of RCSSA should agree and abide by its Constitution; the rights of members include voting, running for RCSSA officers, and participating in RCSSA meetings and activities. Any member can withdraw from RCSSA at any time by formally writing to the officers of RCSSA.
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I. The General Member Meeting
1. The General Member Meeting is the primary decision-making authority of the RCSSA, and may act on any question consistent with RCSSA purposes, and it is open to all members.
II. The President
1. The President shall be responsible for the regular operation of RCSSA. Its duties shall include, but not limited to, managing the RCSSA Board, applying for funding, overseeing RCSSA activities, organizing the pickup of new students at the airport, and familiarizing new president with the regular work of RCSSA.
2. All RCSSA members can run for the President. The normal term of the President is one year, and the maximum term can be two years.
3. The RCSSA President shall resign from the position if more than two-thirds of all eligible votes at a General Member Meeting are obtained for such objective.
III. The RCSSA Board
1. The RCSSA Board is charged with coordinating, administrating and organizing RCSSA activities. The officers of the RCSSA Board shall consist of the President, the Vice-president, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Department Chairs and other supporting board members.
2. The responsibility of the President is described in II of Article Four.
3. The Vice President shall manage the regular operation of RCSSA in the absence of the President and serve as a representative to the GSA.
4. The Secretary shall be responsible for scheduling meetings, taking minutes and publicizing the details of meetings to general members.
5. The treasurer shall be responsible for applying for funding, managing the finance of RCSSA and giving financial reports at required meetings.
6. The Department Chairs shall be responsible for activities in their respective functioning departments.
7. Other supporting board members shall oversee the organization of activities under the supervision of specific Department Chairs.
8. Positions on The RCSSA Board are open to all members. Any member can join the Board by writing formally to any officer of the RCSSA. Each new president shall call for general members to serve on the RCSSA Board once on duty.
IV. Election Committee
1. The Election Committee shall be responsible for collecting nominations and conducting the election of the president at the April General Member Meeting.
2. It shall be composed of two current board members (the presidential candidate can not be one of them) and three volunteers from the general members. It should be formed no later than April 5th of each academic year.
V. The RCSSA Web
1. The RCSSA Web shall consist of the management of its email lists, website and forum.
2. The RCSSA Web provides its members a platform for sharing life experiences and exchanging information. All major updates or changes shall be discussed and approved in General Member Meeting.
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1. The election of the RCSSA President shall be organized by the Election Committee, whose formation is described in IV of Article Four.
2. The election shall be conducted as the following procedure:
(A) The election committee shall call for candidates from all members at least two weeks before the April general member meeting of each academic year. Candidates can either be self-nominated or nominated by others. If there are candidates nominated by others, the Election Committee should be responsible for obtaining the consent of the nominated.
(B) The candidates shall submit their statements to the Election Committee for the Presidency, and the statements shall be publicized to all general members.
(C) The candidates must give a speech at the April general member meeting.
(D) The final voting shall be conducted on RCSSA official web for a period of two weeks
(E) The Election Committee shall announce the result to the public no later than two days after the voting ends.
3. A candidate who wins the highest number of votes shall be elected President. In the event that there is a tie between candidates, a simple majority vote shall be held between the two candidates with the same highest number of votes.
4. The President shall take over the responsibility no later than the beginning of August.
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RCSSA meetings are open to all members; non-members may attend RCSSA meetings unless it decides to hold a closed meeting.
I. General Member Meeting
1. The general member meeting should be held at least twice each academic year, one in April and one in September.
2. The April meeting shall be presided by the Election Committee to elect the new president. The September meeting shall be co-presided by the current and new president. The content of the September meeting shall include: giving annual RCSSA work and financial report and introducing the newly elected president by current President, and welcoming and orienting new students.
4. The time, place and detailed agenda of the general member meeting shall be publicized to all members at least one week before the meeting. The RCSSA web option shall be made available for those members who cannot attend the meetings in person to voice their opinion.
5. The RCSSA President and RCSSA Board can call for additional general member meetings. Additional meetings can also be called by a petition of more than 40 members, or 10% of the membership, whichever is more. Any member of RCSSA can initiate a petition and the RCSSA web shall be made available to collect the petitioners' signatures. The meeting shall be conducted no later than one month after the petition is submitted.
II. Board Member Meeting
1. The board member meeting shall be held at least three times each semester, and the time, location of the meetings will be scheduled by the President and Secretary at the beginning of each semester. The President can also call for additional board member meetings if needed.
2. Board member meetings are open to all members. The time, venue and agenda of the meeting shall be announced to all members at least one week before the meeting.
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1. RCSSA shall adopt the principle of openness and transparency for its financial system. The sources of funding shall consist of GSA grants, donation, and sponsorship.
2. The President and Treasurer shall be responsible for applying for the funding through GSA. The president is responsible for briefing the treasure activity plans for the year in early September and the treasurer is responsible for preparing the budget application and getting reimbursement from GSA after the funding is approved.
3. Board members cannot use RCSSA funding outside the work of RCSSA, but a symbolic gift can be provided as a reward by discretion of the President when RCSSA funding is available for such purpose.
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I. Functions and Selections of Representatives
1. The RCSSA shall appoint the representatives to GSA and other organizations. All members are eligible to apply for the positions of representatives.
2. RCSSA representatives shall, whenever possible, vote according to the directions given at the RCSSA general meetings. If an issue arises on which delegates or other representatives may vote but for which they have been given no clear instructions, they shall vote according to their judgment of the RCSSA members’ general interests.
3. RCSSA representatives must appear regularly at RCSSA board and general meetings to report votes and activities.
II. Representatives to GSA
1. The RCSSA shall have at least one representative attending GSA meetings for the number of occasions that is required by GSA regulations to be eligible for full funding.
2. At least one representative of the RCSSA shall serve on at least one committee of the GSA if this is required for full funding for the RCSSA, unless otherwise decided by the general meeting.
3. All RCSSA events supported by GSA funding shall follow applicable GSA rules.
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I. Referendum
1. If there is any dispute on whether RCSSA is acting in consistence with its purpose, a referendum shall be held to solve the dispute.
2. The President, the RCSSA Board, or more than 40 general members (or 10% of the membership, whichever is more) can initiate a referendum. Support by a majority of those voting is required to pass a referendum.
II. Amendments
1. Any two members of the RCSSA may propose an amendment to the RCSSA Constitution.
2. Proposed amendments shall go to an ad hoc constitution Revision Committee, which will consist of two board members and three volunteers from general members. The Revision Committee shall be responsible for organizing the debate on the proposed amendment and putting the proposed amendment to a vote by the entire membership of the RCSSA.
3. A quorum of 20% of the RCSSA membership is required for a valid vote on a proposed amendment to the Constitution. Given such a quorum, two thirds of those voting must support the proposal in order to amend the constitution.
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