RHA Standing Rules
It is the policy of Truman State University and the Residence Hall Association not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, veteran status, in employment or in any program or activity offered or sponsored by the university. In addition, the university does not discriminate on any basis (including, but not limited to, political affiliation and sexual orientation) not related to the applicable educational requirements for students or the applicable job requirements for employees.
I.
Meeting Times and Places
B) Anyone is welcome to schedule a time with the President to speak with the executive board.
A) Attendance is recorded each week by the Secretary.
B) . Attendance at committee meetings will be recorded by executive board members heading the committees.
III.
Flow of Business
A) CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER – President or Chair of Meeting
B) ROLE CALL OF MEMBERS PRESENT - Secretary
C) MINUTES: CORRECTION/APPROVAL
1. At this point, the President asks if any corrections need to be made in the minutes of the previous meeting. A Representative should state the correction aloud during the meeting. If the correction is valid and approved by the, it is entered into the minutes. After all corrections have been made, the President asks for approval of the minutes by the body.
D) EXTERNAL BUSINESS
1. Guest speakers may present if they have previously secured approval by the President
E) OFFICER REPORTS
1. Each officer should prepare a brief written report and send it electronically to the Secretary before the meeting, for inclusion in the minutes.
2. The President’s report is the final report given before entering senate reports.
F) SENATE REPORTS
1. Each Senate should prepare a brief written report and send it electronically to the Secretary before the meeting, for inclusion in the minutes
G) OLD BUSINESS
1. Motions dealing with issues previously reviewed by and/or reported are discussed, debated, and voted on at this time. This includes tabled motions or motions referred to committee. This period is also for review of events that have occurred in the past week as well as discussion on upcoming events.
H) NEW BUSINESS
1. Motions may be made at this time.
2. Motions may only be first read during new business.
I) ANNOUNCEMENTS/BRAG BAG
1. Announcements from the General Assembly, executive board members, RHA advisor, and the Brag Bag are made this time.
J) ADJOURNMENT
IV.
Removal of Executive Board Members from the Executive
Board Due to Repeated Absences
A) An Executive Board member shall lose his/her position on the Executive Board after accumulating four unexcused absences per semester from weekly meetings. All absences are unexcused and may become excused in one of the following cases:
1. If the Secretary or advisor is notified prior to a meeting, and a valid reason is given, or
B) If an Executive Board member is removed from his/her position, the open seat will be referred back to the general body for an emergency election to fill the remainder of the term, following the election timeline to the best of the body’s ability.
A) Ad-hoc positions deemed necessary by the President with advice of the RHA executive board and advisor are filled by a simple majority approval.
B) When feasible, application for an ad-hoc position will follow a simple interview process conducted by the President and/or other administrators, as needed.
A) All publications representing RHA in some capacity will include the following information:
1. The name and title of the author of the publication
2. The date
3. The subject matter
4. The body text
5. A closing statement
B) All written material should be proofread.
A) All advertisements representing RHA in any manner will contain the following information:
1. What is being advertised
2. Where it is taking place
3. When it is to occur
4. “Sponsored by RHA” or equivalent
5. Contact Information
6. Other necessary information
B) Advertisements should be proofread.
A) The treasurer with the advice of the advisor will create a line-item budget for RHA.
B) Each month the treasurer will balance the checkbook and any spending with bank statements, and will resolve any discretion with the bank.
A) One week after each activity or event, a summary report is submitted and approved by the appropriate executive board member.
B) These reports discuss the overall successes and failures of each activity or event. These reports also include suggestions on how to improve the activity or event in the future.
C) These reports should be submitted to the programming record in the RHA office.
A) The executive board creates a bi-monthly report outlining activities, issues, events, and goals to be carried out over the course of the next two months.
B) The format of the bi-monthly report shall include the following: goals set for the current two months, accomplishments of the previous two months, improvements to be made for the next two months, goals for the next two months, and dates and deadlines for the upcoming two months.
C) These are designed with the help and input of the appropriate committee(s) and the advisor.
A) The RHA Website shall be located at http://rha.truman.edu.
B) The webmaster, president, and advisor shall have access to the website.
A) The Residence Hall Association shall follow the RHA voting procedures as outlined in this document. Parliamentary procedure shall be utilized when in either a period of Old Business or New Business.
B) A General Assembly member may make a motion to suspend the rules for a specific purpose by stating, “I move to suspend the standing rules.” Such a motion requires a second and a two-thirds majority.
C) Rules of parliamentary procedure followed by RHA may be found in the Residence Hall Association Parliamentary Procedure chart that is handed out to members during the first month of meetings. Members that are sworn in after these first meetings may receive a chart in their member binder.
D) RHA Voting Procedure
1.
First
i. Motion written and seconded.
ii. Question and answer time for five (5) minutes.
iii. The motion writer(s) then decides whether the motion is to be referred to a committee or tabled until the next full body meeting, and this is voted on by the members.
2.
Second
i. Motion read to the body.
ii. Question and answer time for the motion writer(s).
iii. Debate on the topic
a. Consists of reasons to vote for or against the proposal. Each speaker either in affirmation or opposition may speak.
b. The chair of the meeting or their designee will entertain speakers from a speaker list, alternating speakers in affirmation and speakers in opposition. Members may enter their name on the speaker list by signifying to the chair or their designee with a thumbs up for affirmation, or thumbs down for opposition. If either affirmation or opposition speaker lists are empty, the chair or their designee may entertain speakers solely from one speaker’s list.
c. If an amendment is made, this is the time:
i. Friendly amendments have to be accepted by the motion writer(s)
ii. Regular amendments go to question and answer for the amendment writer.
1. Debate the amendment
2. Call
to vote on the amendment
iii. Go back to debate of the motion after the amendment passes or fails
iv. Call to vote.
3.
Third
i. Motion read to the body.
ii. Motion voted on
iii. Chair announces if motion passes or fails.
4. All motions but money motions need to be approved by a simple majority of the body.
5. Money motions need to be approved by a 2/3 majority of the body.
6. Grammatical and formatting errors in motions may be corrected by the Secretary without approval of the body and the executive board, only if it receives the majority of the executive board members’ support. The Secretary must alert the body of any grammatical or formatting changes.
XIII.
Voting
A) The President or chair may call for a non-binding “straw vote” of all members present on certain issues. This will normally be done by a voice vote (“aye,” “nay,” “abstention”).
B) A general consent may be sought when a motion is not likely to be opposed, the President will say “If there is no objection…” Members show their agreement by their silence. If someone says “I object” the matter must be put to a vote.
C) Binding Votes
1. By Voice- the President asks those in favor to say “aye” and those opposed to say “nay.” If a General Assembly member does not feel strongly one way or another, he or she may “abstain” from voting by saying so when the President calls for any abstentions. For a majority vote, one (1) more vote should be in favor than the combined votes in opposition and abstentions.
2. Any member may move for an exact count by rising and saying “Division.” This means that the President will call for a vote in one of the following voting manners, as appropriate, so that an exact count may be obtained.
3. By Show of Hands- members raise their hands as sight verification of the exact count of “ayes,” “nays,” and abstentions.
4. By Roll Call- if a record of each person’s vote is needed, each member answers “aye,” “nay,” or “abstain” as his or her name is called. The vote of each member will be recorded in the minutes when using this method.
5. By Ballot- members write their vote on a slip of paper, to be counted by an advisor, Parliamentarian, or other member thereby appointed by the President.
6. The exact count and method of any binding votes will be recorded in the meeting minutes by the Secretary.
XIV.
Minutes
A) The Secretary will take minutes of every general body and executive board meeting.
B) The format of the minutes is as follows:
1. HEADER
i. Date of the Meeting
ii. Time the Meeting was Called to Order
iii. Name of the Presiding Chair
iv. Name of the Recording Secretary
2. NAMES OF MEMBERS PRESENT
3. NAMES OF MEMBERS ABSENT
4. LIST OF ANY CORRECTIONS OT THE PREVIOUS MINUTES
i. If there are no corrections, that is stated in the minutes.
5. EXTERNAL BUSINESS
i. List of names of those presenting external business to the body
ii. The subject of the business presented to the body
iii. Any motions read at this time should be listed, as they would be under old or new business.
6. OFFICER REPORTS
i. This should include the written reports from each officer.
ii. If an officer has nothing to report, that should be recorded here.
7. SENATE REPORTS
i. This should include the written report from each senate.
ii. If a senate has nothing to report, that should be recorded here.
8. OLD BUSINESS
i. The title of any motions read at this time
ii. Whether the motion was second read or third read
iii. The names of members speaking in affirmation
iv. The names of members speaking in opposition
v. Any subsidiary motions, including amendments
a. The maker of the motion
b. The second of the motion, if necessary
c. What happened to the motion (affirmed, opposed, tabled, etc.)
vi. What happened to the motion (affirmed, opposed, tabled, etc.)
9. NEW BUSINESS
i. The full text of all motions first read at this time.
ii. The maker of the motion
iii. The second of the motion
iv. Whether the motion was tabled or referred to committee.
10. TIME OF ADJOURNMENT
XV.Committees
A) The following are the standing committees of RHA
1. Programming
i. In charge of creating and implementing RHA programs.
ii. Assist in other campus programs when needed.
iii. Will complete a summary report after each program.
2. Internal Affairs
i. In charge of fundraising for RHA.
ii. In charge of RHA publicity.
iii. Reviews all internal RHA specific matters.
3. Resident Affairs
i. Will survey the opinions of on-campus residents when needed.
ii. Will review Residence Life policies and University policies regarding Residence Life.
iii. Will be proactive in creating and maintaining a positive resident environment.
B) The President can create Ad Hoc committees when deemed necessary
XVI.
Officer Terms of Office
A) The President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, National Communications Coordinator and Webmaster will all assume office at the end of every Spring Semester and will serve until the end of the next Spring Semester
1. The President, Vice-President, Secretary and Webmaster will be elected in late March or April.
2. The Treasurer and National Communications Coordinator will first be elected as the Treasurer Elect and the National Communications Coordinator – In Training.
B) The Treasurer Elect and the National Communications Coordinator will serve from the time of their election in November or early December and will serve until the end of the next Spring Semester, at which time they will assume the positions of Treasurer and National Communications Coordinator.
C) Any External Organization Liaison, the Parliamentarian, and any Committee Chair will serve from the time of their selection until the end of the next Spring Semester.
1. External Organization Liaisons will be elected by September of each academic year, or as positions become necessary.
2. The Parliamentarian will be elected by the end of September of each academic year.
3. Committee Chairs will be designated by their committee by the end of September of each academic year.
D) In the event any officer resigns from office before their term is completed, the president will appoint a member of RHA to fulfill their duties until a replacement officer can be elected, who will then serve the remainder of the unfinished term. A president may choose to not hold a replacement election if the term would be completed within 2 months of the date of resignation.
E) All officers will be sworn into office at the first general body meeting after their term of office begins by the immediately past President if possible. If the immediately past President is not available, they may choose a suitable representative. All officers will repeat the following when being sworn in: “I promise to uphold the mission of the Residence Hall Association and to serve all residents of this campus by fulfilling the duties of my office to the best of my ability.”