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Student Organization Forms - Columbus State University

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Student Life

Student Organization Forms

The following outline is designed to cover all parts of a constitution. The bulleted points are things to consider when writing the articles. This outline is not inclusive and may vary from format. All information in the constitution is non-amendable. Each organization creates a set of bylaws when amending the constitution as it becomes necessary. Please include your amendment procedures in the constitution.

Petitioner Signature Form (PDF)

Download Sample Constitution (PDF)

Name of Organization

Date Constitution Created

ARTICLE I: Name of Organization.

The name of this organization shall be ...

ARTICLE II: Purpose/Objectives

  • List organization objectives or mission.

ARTICLE III: Membership

  • Make sure to list criteria for membership (i.e. GPA).
  • List the requirements for a member to be considered in good standing
    • Academic standing
    • Guidelines regarding attendance, dues, and participation.
  • Only currently enrolled students are permitted to be members of a CSU organization. Advisers can participate in an advising capacity but cannot be included as officers or representatives.
  • A voting procedure should be included in the constitution and can be placed in this section or in an additional article.
    • We encourage you to use a quorum/forum format.
      • Quorum is the number of active members you have on your membership roster.
      • Forum is the number of active members you have at a specific meeting or event.
      • For voting to take place we encourage you to set a 2/3 quorum (members on roster) to be present at a meeting for a vote to take place.
      • This establishes your forum (members present at the meeting) at a meeting, and we encourage a ratio of 2/3 of the forum to determine the deciding vote.
    • Only active members should be given voting privileges.
    • Advisors and non-CSU entities do not have voting privileges regardless of their affiliation with the campus organization.

ARTICLE IV: Faculty/Staff Advisor

  • Make sure to describe how a faculty/staff advisor is chosen as well as any special responsibilities of the advisor (You can refer to the Student Organization Handbook for guidelines of advisor's responsibilities).

ARTICLE V: Officers

  • List the officer positions as well as their responsibilities.
  • List requirements to be an officer (i.e. Class standing, GPA)
    • CSU has a minimum GPA requirement of a 2.0 for officers. It is at the organization's discretion to set a higher standard.
  • Outline what happens if an officer does not do their job (resignation, impeachment, etc.)
  • Include details regarding the voting procedure outlined in Article III of this sample constitution.

ARTICLE VI: Committees

  • Describe committees as well as the specific jobs of each committee as well as how these committees are formed (Are members voted in, is it based on volunteerism, etc).

ARTICLE VII: Meetings

  • Times and locations established for meetings (i.e. the first Wednesday of each month or once per week/month). Remember to keep this as general as possible as your organization will address the changes to meeting times and places in the bylaws.

ARTICLE VIII: Finance

  • Dues: amount and when they must be paid
  • What happens when someone does not pay when specified?
  • Who has the authority to write checks for the organization and what signatures should be on the check?
  • Who has the authority to sign contracts? (Students usually do not have this authority).

ARTICLE IX: Amendments

  • The procedure for amending the constitution (Amendments to the constitution are listed in the Bylaws).
  • Are there a certain number of votes to do so? We again encourage the quorum/forum system.

ARTICLE X: Disbandment

  • If the organization "folds" what is the procedure? (i.e. How is money disbursed, who is responsible for files, etc.)
  • If someone decides to reactivate an organization later, what is the procedure? (i.e. notify advisor, department, Office of student Life, etc.)

ARTICLE XI: Parliamentary Procedures

  • Will you follow Robert's Rule of Order?
  • What is the quorum/forum to vote?
  • If there is someone in bad standing do they vote?
  • Appeals process for members in bad standing.

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