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University of Tulsa Student Chapter of the
Association for Computing Machinery
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Constitution and Bylaws

Article I - Name

  1. This organization shall be called the University of Tulsa Student Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery.
  2. In these Bylaws the organization in (1) is referred to as the Chapter; the Association for Computing Machinery is referred to as the ACM.

Article II - Purpose

  1. This Chapter shall be organized and will be operated exclusively to promote the following educational and scientific purposes:
    1. Knowledge of the science, design, development, construction, languages, and applications of modern computing machinery.
    2. Greater interest in computing machinery.
    3. Communication between people with interest in computing.
    4. Professionalism in all computing areas.

  2. The Chapter will serve students at the University of Tulsa and other interested persons in the Greater Tulsa area.

Article III - Membership

  1. Membership in this Chapter shall be open to all ACM member and non-ACM member students, faculty and staff of the University of Tulsa.
  2. Voting membership in the Student Chapter shall be granted to Chapter members at the University of Tulsa who are in good standing.
  3. Voting membership in the Student Chapter shall be granted to Chapter members who are also ACM members.
  4. A member in good standing shall be defined as any member whose dues, if any, are paid for the current semester, and has attended two-thirds of the General Chapter meetings during non-cooperative semesters.
  5. A member in bad standing shall be defined as any member who does not meet the criteria for good standing. Exceptions may be made for extenuating circumstances by an appeal, and shall be granted by a simple majority vote of the Executive Council.
  6. Voting privileges shall be extended to any voting member of the Chapter who is also in good standing.
  7. All members are expected to follow the ACM Code of Ethics. Violations of the Code are inconsistent with membership in the Chapter. The status of any Chapter member found in violation of the Code shall be brought forward by a majority vote of the Executive Council and membership in the Chapter may be revoked without recompense.

Article IV - Officers

  1. The offices shall be President (also known as Chair), Vice-President (also known as Vice Chair), Social Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and Speaker Chair.
  2. The offices may be held by any ACM student member.

Article V - Duties of Officers

  1. The President shall preside at all meetings of this Chapter and of its Executive Council. The President shall represent this Chapter at all meetings with the ACM Regional Representative. The President shall also appoint all Committees of this Chapter and Committee Chairs, except the Chair of the Program Committee. The President must also ensure that the Chairs retain access to all of the Chapter's resources, including computers, materials, and equipment. The President may ask the Membership Committee to determine if a member is in good or bad standing.
  2. The Vice-President shall assume the duties of the President in the event of the President's absence. The Vice-President shall also act as the Chair of the Program Committee.
  3. The Treasurer shall keep track of all financial aspects of the organization.
  4. The Secretary shall post notices to all current ACM members about upcoming meetings and events. The Secretary also chairs the Membership committee.
  5. The Speaker Chair shall procure speakers for meetings.
  6. Officers may delegate duties to other members as deemed necessary.

Article VI - Executive Council

  1. The Executive Council shall consist of the present officers, the immediate Past President, and the faculty sponsor. The installation of the new Executive Council shall take effect immediately following the Election meeting.
  2. On matters of question, each member of the Executive Council shall have one vote, and the President shall break all ties.
  3. The Executive Council may act for the Chapter in all matters except election of officers. Minutes of all Executive Council meetings shall be available for inspection by any member of the Chapter and shall be filed with the Chapter records.
  4. The faculty sponsor shall be a full-time University of Tulsa faculty member and shall be chosen by majority vote of the Executive Council, subject to approval by the present department chair and the President of the ACM. The choice of faculty sponsor shall be made within the first three weeks of the summer semester. Nominations may be made by any Chapter member during the first week of the summer semester.
  5. A meeting of the Executive Council shall be called by the President upon request of any member of the Executive Council.
  6. The Executive Council may appoint by majority vote an Auditor with the sole duty of inspecting the books of the Chapter to report the state of the documents to the Executive Council.

Article VII - Standing Committees

  1. The standing committees shall be the Program and Membership Committees.
  2. The Program Committee shall plan and arrange meetings of the Chapter in accordance with apparent membership interests and the aims of the Chapter as set forth in Article II. The Program Committee shall schedule and coordinate events of the Chapter.
  3. The Membership Committee shall manage the records of Chapter members and take attendance at meetings. This committee shall also determine whether a member is in good or bad standing.

Article VIII - Temporary Committees

  1. The President may appoint such Temporary Committees as deemed appropriate.

Article IX - Meetings

  1. Meetings shall be held as planned by the Program Committee. The Chapter shall hold meetings only in places that are open and accessible to all members of the Association.
  2. Meetings shall be open to all interested parties.

Article X - Amendments

  1. All proposed changes to these Chapter Bylaws shall be approved by the Chairs of the Membership Activities Board and the ACM Constitution and Bylaws Committee before being presented to the Chapter membership to vote.
  2. Amendments to the constitution shall be submitted by a member of the Chapter in writing at two successive Chapter meetings.
  3. After approval in accordance with Article X, Section 1, the amendments(s) shall be presented for vote during the second meeting and ratified by a two-thirds majority of voting members present.

Article XI - Impeachment Proceedings

  1. A call for impeachment of a member of the Executive Council may be made by any voting member in good standing at a general business meeting. At that time, a vote of the members in good standing who are present shall be taken. A simple majority in favor of a hearing is required to formally impeach the member and result in a removal hearing. A time for a removal hearing will be decided by the President (Vice-President if the President is being impeached) and the meeting will proceed as described below.
  2. Any voting member in good standing will have voting rights at this hearing.
  3. The removal hearing shall commence with case statements (no more than 10 minutes per party), one from the impeached officer, and one from the member requesting the impeachment. Then they shall take leave of the meeting and the Chapter shall debate the merits of the removal case. At the conclusion of this discussion (which will last no longer than 30 minutes), a vote will be taken. A two-thirds majority is required to remove an officer, who will lose their position on the Executive Council. The removed officer will not lose their standing as a member of the Chapter. If the members do not vote to remove the officer, the officer shall retain their office.

Article XII - Election of Officers

  1. The officers shall be elected each year at the last general business meeting of the Spring semester and shall take office as soon as elected. The President will announce this Election meeting at the previous general business meeting.
  2. Nominations will be open once an Election announcement has been made. Nominations close once the Election meeting begins. Campaigning is allowed and encouraged.
  3. Non-absentee votes will be taken during the Election meeting, which must be announced at least one week in advance through all member mailing lists and posted prominently in all Speed School campus buildings. Absentee votes will be accepted as soon as nominations have started, and as late as the end of the non-absentee vote.
  4. Voting is done by secret ballot, except in the case of a successful motion for vote by acclimation. A voter will be allowed one vote and proxies are not allowed. Votes for ineligible candidates are not counted.
  5. If a member is on co-op or otherwise unable to attend the election meeting, that member may write to the Chapter for a ballot before the election is held. When the ballot is returned, the member's name shall be recorded and the ballot counted. Alternatively, members may vote electronically, with their vote signed cryptographically, provided that signature can be duly verified by the President and Vice-President.
  6. Majority vote shall choose each officer. If a plurality vote results, then the candidate with the least votes is excluded and a runoff vote is taken. Only candidates receiving votes at this Election meeting and not excluded due to plurality are eligible candidates in a runoff. A runoff vote is governed in the same manner as the first vote for the position. A tie vote shall be broken by the Past President.
  7. Write-ins for office are allowed. If a write-in has a majority vote, then the write-in can hold office if the candidate meets constitutional requirements and accepts the office. If the write-in does not accept the office, then by default, the person with the next majority vote will be eligible to hold office.
  8. After elections, if an office has not been filled then the Past President shall decide to appoint a person to this office or hold a second election for the unfilled office.

Article XIII - Projects

  1. Any undertaking done by Chapter members that requires the extended use of Chapter equipment or resources is a project and must be dealt with according to the policy in this section.
  2. Projects may be proposed by any Chapter member in good standing. The Chapter member must submit the project to the Executive Council for approval by a majority vote. The submitter shall present the goals of the project, the immediate and possible future needs of the project (equipment, supplies, etc), and suggested funding sources (for larger projects). The member is required to handle all project related paperwork as it is needed (grant applications, etc).
  3. Multiple members are allowed, and encouraged, to participate in a project.
  4. One member is required to serve as the project's Lead. The Leads responsibilities include keeping track of resources used, holding meetings with project membership, and providing progress reports to the Executive Council.
  5. The project's Lead is responsible for maintaining a web page describing the project, the current status and progress of the project, as well as pointers to any relevant materials that the project's Lead deems appropriate or that should be publicly accessible. The web page must contain at least major advancements and milestones of the project. This responsibility may be delegated to another member involved in the project.
  6. If the project's Lead resigns, another member may take over the orphan project. If no member does so after 30 days, the equipment that was used by the project shall be made available for other projects. The project's web page, at the very least, is required to be kept up to date with major advancements and milestones.
  7. The Chapter Webmaster shall maintain a projects page containing pointers to each project's individual progress page.

Article XIV - Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

  1. SIGs are sub-organizations of the Chapter that are formed to unite members who share common interests. The only restriction a SIG may place on its members is that they be members of the Chapter in good standing. No further restriction of membership will be permitted.
  2. At least 5 Chapter members in good standing, or 10% of the Chapter members in good standing, whichever is less, are required to initially form the SIG.
  3. The Executive Council shall complete the formation of the SIG with a majority vote.
  4. The Vice-President of the SIG is elected every year at the Chapter Election meeting, and during the formation process. Each SIG member shall have one vote, with the Chapter President breaking ties. The SIG Vice-President must meet all requirements for membership in the Executive Council.
  5. The SIG Vice-President serves as the chair of the SIG.
  6. Separate dues may be required for SIG membership. This is to be decided by the SIG Vice-President and ratified by a simple majority vote of the Executive Council. If due collection for the SIG is approved, the SIG will then be required to elect a Treasurer, who will not serve on the Executive Council. The Treasurer will be elected at the same time and in the same fashion as the SIG's Vice-President.

Article XV - Standing Positions

  1. The standing positions shall be the Webmaster and Programming Coach.
  2. Optional standing positions shall be the Lab Manager and the Student Council Liaison.
  3. Standing positions shall be appointed by the President and ratified by a simple majority vote of the Executive Council.
  4. The Webmaster shall be responsible for maintenance and design of all Chapter and SIG Internet sites.
  5. The Programming Coach shall be in charge of training for the regional, and, if applicable, World Finals ACM Programming contests, as well as transportation and registration for them. The Programming Coach shall also host at least one local programming contest.
  6. The Lab Manager shall be responsible for maintenance, acquisition, and administration of all of the Chapter-owned equipment in the Chapter's computing facilities. In addition, the Lab Manager will be responsible for creation of accounts and access control to the Chapter's machines. The Lab Manager will also serve as a liaison with the University IT departments to ensure that services for the Chapter remain uninterrupted. The Lab Manager may also, by majority decision of the Executive Council, be given a discretionary budget on a per-semester basis to be used for the purchase of equipment for the Chapter.
  7. The Student Council Liaison shall be responsible for attending all meetings of the School Student Council and for reporting any decisions that are of interest to the membership at general business meetings.
  8. The term of service of the holder of a Standing Position shall end at the Election Meeting.

Article XVI - Position Succession

  1. A vacancy in a position is the result of impeachment and removal, resignation, or other situation in which an officer is unable to fulfill the duties of the office.
  2. Should the Presidency become vacant, the Chapter Vice-President shall immediately succeed to the Presidency.
  3. Should the offices of the Secretary, the Treasurer, or the Vice-President become vacant, an Election meeting for the office shall be held at the next general business meeting. The President has the right to appoint a temporary replacement to fulfill the duties of the office until the Election meeting.
  4. Should a SIG Vice-Presidency become vacant, an Election meeting for the SIG office shall be held at the next general business meeting or the next SIG meeting, whichever comes first.
  5. Should a Standing Position become vacant, the President and Executive Council shall repeat the appointment process as though the term has expired.

Article XVII - Dissolution of the Chapter

  1. Dissolution of this Chapter by consent of the members shall consist of unanimous agreement of all its officers together with a majority vote at a meeting which has been publicized to all members of the Chapter for the purpose of taking this vote.
  2. Should this Chapter be dissolved, its assets and liabilities shall be transferred to ACM and shall be supervised by the Membership Activities Board.

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