Lehigh University - Global Citizenship House

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House Members

2007/2008 Academic Year

Lauren Brainerd
John Gilpatrick
Dan Ingram
John Marks
Becky Montes De Oca
Casey Parker
Clint Robins
Francesca Rossi
Tina Stegura
Clint Zarnosky
Craig Zarnosky

Gryphon (Resident Advisor):
Engin Eryilmaz

2006/2007 Academic Year

Kofi Appiah-Nkansah
Maura Douglas
Colin Foley
Shelly Harris
Dan Ingram
Tane Kaymaz
Jake Kleinknecht
Corey Luthringer
Clark Kocurek
John Marks
Emily Marshall
Tony Michalak
Becky Montes De Oca
Kelsey Preston
Erika Roach
Clint Robins
Chris Spagna
Tina Stegura
Devin Tyman
Derek Wagner

Gryphon (Resident Advisor):
Chris Diggs

Constitution

Article I –The name of this organization shall be The Global Citizenship House.

Article II – The Global Citizenship House seeks to build a bridge between student's classroom experience and their applied development as world citizens. As a co-curricular extension of the Global Citizenship Program's goals, this living group offers students the opportunity to add a range of social activities to their Global Citizenship “backpack.” Consistent with the program's emphasis on individual agency in the world, The Global Citizenship House is a self-governing group of students dedicated to exploring how to develop a personal stance as responsible citizens of the Lehigh Valley and the world.

Article III – Membership in The Global Citizenship House is open to all people of all races, genders, religions, creeds, and any other defining characteristic.

Article IV – As a group aimed at fostering internationally minded activity and experiences, The Global Citizenship House innately avoids any actions that are similar to or in actuality are hazing.

Article V – There are four primary officers, the President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Activities Coordinator. These positions are all one-year terms, with any house member eligible to run for any of them. The only requirements are that the members are not studying abroad at any point during their year in office. Election procedures are determined and outlined in the bylaws and are subject to change through the same procedures as the bylaws.

Article VI – The chain of command for the above stated four primary officers is: President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Activity Coordinator. Any officer can be ousted from his or her position by an impeachment procedure as per the bylaws. A general three quarters majority can impeach and remove any officer.

Article VII – The official faculty advisor serves as both a resource for activity contacts as well as a concrete tie to the Global Citizenship Program. The advisor must be or have been on the Global Citizenship Faculty Advisory Board.

Article VIII – Meetings can be called at any time with due notice by the President and Vice President only. In order for a vote to be taken in a meeting at least half of the house members must be present as well as two of the primary officers. In order for a vote to take place, at least one primary officer must sponsor the proposed referendum.

Article IX – All committees and sub-committees are defined and updated through the bylaws. Each committee must have a specific purpose as well as support from three of the four primary officers.

Article X – Upon entering office, the Vice President will declare a veteran house member who is not the President to have the initial say on impeachment of the President. Procedures are outlined in the bylaws.

Article XI – The Global Citizenship House will comply with and actively seek to follow in spirit as well as action, all ordinances of Residential Services with respect to The Global Citizenship House. All procedural regulations are outlined and included in the bylaws.

Article XII – Any amendment to The Global Citizenship House Constitution must have support of at least two of the primary officers as well as a three quarters majority from general house members. Any member who has attended at a minimum fifty percent of house meetings can propose an amendment.

By-laws

Section I – This shall be a general outline of the Global Citizenship House by-laws.

Section II – This document shall be put up for ratification every year in the first house meeting of the year. At that time, any proposed changes should be submitted. In order for the by-laws to be ratified, there must be support from at least two of the primary officers as well as a three quarters majority from general house members. At any other time, a change in the by-laws must be presented to and approved by at least one primary officer before the proposed change can go to referendum.

Section III – There shall be four primary officers: President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Activity Coordinator.

Subsection A – Election procedures are as follows:

Part 1 - During the last week of March, nominations for prospective candidates must be submitted. Any form of submission is acceptable, and self-nominations are acceptable.

Part 2 – In order to facilitate fair and accurate voting, one house member shall be voted the official Ballot Counter. There will be a vote to determine the holder of this position during the last house meeting in March. The Ballot Counter may not run for any of the primary positions during the election or cast a vote. All votes will be submitted to the Ballot Counter via email.

Part 3 – There will be three days of open voting beginning after the first house meeting in April. Each member shall have exactly one vote for each of the four positions. If there are more than two candidates, a runoff will take place during the second week in April unless one candidate accrues a two-thirds majority or more. After the initial vote concludes, the Ballot Counter will announce which, if any, positions require a runoff.

Part 4 – There will be three days of open voting for the runoff beginning after the second house meeting in April. Each member shall have exactly one vote for each runoff election.

Part 5 – The Ballot Counter will announce the winner of each position at the first meeting after the last vote on a given position has concluded.

Subsection B – Impeachment procedures are as follows:

Part 1 – At any house meeting, any member of the house can request impeachment proceedings for any officer. These procedures will occur at the end of the meeting and are outlined as follows.

Section a – The proposed impeachment must be seconded by at least two house members. A move to impeach does not require support of any of the primary officers.

Section b – The officer in question must be present at the meeting in order for him or her to be impeached. However, the impeachment procedures will occur at the next house meeting regardless of the officer's attendance.

Section c – The entire house will then vote on an amount of time each party will have to express its position.

Section d – Each party, starting with the members proposing impeachment, will speak for the allotted time.

Section e – At the conclusion of the speeches, an open vote will take place in which each member must vote for or against the impeachment. There will be no abstention, and all votes must be made clearly. The meeting secretary will record each vote and announce the verdict promptly following the conclusion of voting.

Section f – The procedure to appoint a new officer will begin at the end of the meeting. The election will follow the outlined procedures in Section III, Subsection A, with the dates changed to match the date of impeachment.

Section IV – There will be committees and sub-committees as outlined below.

Subsection A - There will be four committees in the Global Citizenship House, each with a specific goal and purpose:

• Thursday Night Dinner Committee. There will be two house members who organize and plan dinners at the house with various guests. The committee will be responsible itself for determining details and requirements of the dinners.

• International Committee. There will be two house members who organize and plan international events through the house. The committee will be responsible itself for determining details and requirements of the events.

• In-House Committee. There will be two house members who organize and plan events for just the members of the house. The committee will be responsible itself for determining details and requirements of the events.

• Weekend Committee. There will be two house members who organize and plan events for members of the house with other groups and people on or off campus. The committee will be responsible itself for determining details and requirements of the events.

Section V – When regulations are given to the Global Citizenship House by Residential Services, procedures for following the regulations will be outlined here.

Section VI – There will be weekly house meetings held in the common room on the first floor. Day and time will be determined by all members of the house by procedures according to the President.

Ammendment

Passed Spring '07:
Section III -
Subsection C
The Vice President shall henceforth have the added primary responsibilities to help recruit and retain members throughout the year as well as be in charge of preparing the re-application for Upper Class Experience Housing Communities. Through any number of methods and practices the Vice President will seek to meet, inform, and recruit students of all acceptable academic years. While each year's new Cohort of GC students serves as a highly recruit-able group, the Vice President will attempt to reach out to other students as well.
Subsection D
The Activity Coordinator will from now on have the added primary responsibility of planning, inviting, and executing the bi-weekly Thursday Night Dinners. This change will replace the 'Thursday Night Dinner Committee' outlined in Section IV, Subsection A, number 1.