Ware House Council Constitution

8/4/2019 Ware House Council Constitution

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Enacted October 1, 2011

Constitution of the Ware House Council

PreambleWe, the student residents of Ware College House at the University of Pennsylvania, in order to provide a

means for responsible and effective student participation in the affairs of the House, do hereby establish

this Constitution for the Ware House Council.

Article I. Name1. is organization shall be known as the Ware House Council.2. e short form House Council will be used interchangeably with the full name to refer to this

organization in this Constitution.

Article II. Mandate1. e House Council shall be the coordinating student body charged with representing all

students residing in Ware College House at the University of Pennsylvania, and promoting

community among this diverse body.

2. e House Council shall serve as a liaison between the student residents of Ware College Houseand the College House Staff, and represent the concerns of student residents to the House

administration and university administration.3. e House Council shall monitor issues of importance to the residents of Ware College House

and foster dialogue among its members for the purpose of identifying relevant issues of

advocacy.

4. e House Council shall sponsor and promote academic, cultural, and social events of interestto the Ware College House community.

Article III. Definitions1. Ware: An abbreviation for the institution of Ware College House.2. School Year: e period from the first day of the fall semester to the last day of the spring

semester, as specified by the Penn Academic Calendar.

3. Student Resident: Any student whose primary place of residence during the present schoolyear is Ware College House.


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4. Full-Time Student: Any individual who can provide certified documentation from theUniversity of Pennsylvania Registrar indicating current full-time student status at the

University.

5. Advisory Member: Any resident advisor or graduate associate who has been selected by theHouse Dean in accordance with

Article VIII. Selection Process, as well as the House Dean or

the representative of the House Dean.

6. Voting Member: Any resident student who has been selected for the House Council throughthe processes defined inArticle VIII. Selection Process; voting members are differentiated

from general members by their right to contribute one (1) vote each during proceedings.

7. General Member: Any student resident who does not hold a seat as a voting member.

Article IV. Membership1. All full-time resident students, including resident advisors and graduate associates, in addition

to the House Dean, shall be eligible for membership in the Ware House Council.

2. e process to become a member is outlined inArticle VIII. Selection Process.

Article V. Positions

1. Advisory Membersa. e House Council shall be advised by the House Dean andtwo (2) advisory members

who are resident advisors or graduate associates serving in Ware College House, to assist

the House Council in the fulfillment of its mandate.b. Advisory members shall facilitate communication between the administration and the

House Council.

c. Advisory members or their representatives shall attend all meetings of the HouseCouncil and provide information and resources to the House Council.

d. During the first general body meeting of each school year, the advisory members willgive an overview of the House Council and present its Constitution.

2. Voting Membersa. e voting members of the Ware House Council shall comprise twenty-four (24)

resident students.

b. e voting members are responsible for the fulfillment of the Ware House Councilsmandate.

c. All voting members shall affirm their commitment to uphold the Ware House CouncilConstitution aer the Advisory Members presentation of the Constitution.


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3. General Membersa. All resident students of Ware College House are invited to attend the general body

meetings of the Ware House Council without prior notice or application.

b. General members may not vote in House Council proceedings.c. General members may not disrupt House Council proceedings.d. No provision in this section shall be interpreted to prevent the Ware House Council

from regulating public attendance or from holding private subcommittee meetings that

may only be attended by voting members.

4. Speaker of the House Councila. e Speaker shall be responsible for conducting House Council proceedings in an

orderly, disciplined, and effective fashion.

b. e Speaker does not vote in any proceedings that the Speaker oversees.c. is position shall rotate among advisory and voting members on a weekly basis, except:d. An advisory member shall serve as the first Speaker during the initial general body

meeting of the House Council.

e. Immediately aer the first general body meeting, an advisory member shall use arandomized list of all advisory and voting members to determine the sequence in which

the position rotates among all advisory and voting members. In the event that the

Speaker is absent for a meeting, the next person in the list shall serve in this role.

5. Records-keepera. e Records-keeper shall be responsible for taking note of major decisions made during

Ware House Council proceedings and distributing these notes to all advisory and voting

members of the House Council.

b. e Records-keeper must take a tally of votes (affirmatives, negatives and abstentions);this tally, as recorded in the notes, shall be the official record.

c. is position shall rotate among advisory and voting members who choose toparticipate in this role.

Article VI. General Body Meetings1. e Ware House Councils general body meetings shall be:

a. fully consistent with this Constitution;b. held at least twice a month during the school year, scheduled to maximize the number

in attendance, and at any other time that its voting members deem appropriate;

c. chaired by the Speaker of the House Council;


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d. quorate by the presence of a majority of all voting members; ande. each inclusive of a period, no briefer than five (5) minutes if there are general members

present, for general members to bring their concerns to the House Councils attention.

2. While general members may attend the House Councils general body meetings:a.

e Speaker has the exclusive right to remove general members who disturb the

proceedings.

3. Any decisions to allocate funding to a subcommittee or project must be voted upon in a generalbody meeting.

4. For any voting in a general body meeting, each voting member of the council shall be allocatedone (1) vote.

a. Decisions shall be made by a majority of those present.b. A voting member may vote in the affirmative (aye), vote in the negative (nay), or abstain

from voting.

c. e Speaker will only vote to cast a tie-breaking vote.d. e vote shall be documented by the Records-keeper.

Article VII. Committees1. Committees shall be organized to focus on certain areas of interest and report back to the

general body.

2. All advisory and voting members of the House Council may join any committee withoutapplication or unnecessary notice.

3.

Meetings of the committees may be scheduled by their members, with the provision that theymust be scheduled to maximize the number in attendance.

4. Liaisona. e role of the Liaison Committee shall be:

i. to communicate the concerns of Ware residents to other student governmentgroups, including but not limited to the Undergraduate Assembly (UA), the

Student Committee on Undergraduate Education (SCUE), the Residential

Advisory Board (RAB), and the Housing & Public Safety subcommittee of the

International Student Advisory Board (ISAB);ii. to interact with potential business sponsors for House Council events;

iii. to publicize the actions of the House Council and manage onlinecommunications; and

iv. to communicate with administration for approval and input.


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b. is committee exists to service the needs of the Ware House Council. In certain cases,another committee may need to interact directly with a university group or department

withoutusing the Liaison Committee as an intermediary.

5. Facilities & Dininga. e role of the Facilities & Dining Committee shall be to address matters of concern

with respect to living conditions, upkeep of the Ware buildings and grounds, operation

of the McClelland dining hall, and other areas that directly relate to Ware College

Houses physical operations.

b. Notwithstanding the role of the Liaison Committee, the Facilities & DiningCommittee may, with the approval of a vote in the general body meeting:

i. communicate the needs of Ware residents to university departments, such asFacilities & Real Estate Services, Penn Housing Services, and Penn Dining/Bon

Apptit; andii. submit official recommendations to the Ware administration and the university

administration.

6. Eventsa. e role of the Events Committee shall be to organize and promote social, political, and

academic events that are of interest to the Ware College House community.

b. Notwithstanding the role of the Liaison Committee, the Events Committee may, withthe approval of a vote in the general body meeting:

i. collaborate with the Social Planning and Events Committee (SPEC) and therespective Class Boards (CB) to create diverse programming;

ii. collaborate with members of College Houses & Academic Services (CHAS) tocreate academic and enrichment opportunities for Ware residents, such as

tutoring help and dinner with faculty; and

iii. communicate with administration for approval to run events.c. For each event, with the approval of a vote in the general body meeting, the Events

Committee shall be responsible for spending funds in support of this role.

7. Temporary Committeesa. e advisory and voting members of the House Council may establish such committees

as they determine necessary and proper for the conduct of House Council business.

b. Temporary committees may not be established in areas that fall completely under thejurisdiction of one or more of the committees previously defined in this article.

c. Temporary committees shall be bound by the provisions of this article.


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Article VIII. Selection Process

1. Selection of Advisory Membersa. e House Dean shall have the discretion to select two (2) competent resident advisors

or graduate associates to fill these advisory member seats at, or prior to, the start of eachschool year.

b. e term of each resident advisor or graduate associate is one (1) year.c. e presiding House Dean shall always hold a seat as an advisory member of the House

Council, and may delegate this seat to a representative in case of absence.

d. No provision in this section shall be interpreted to prohibit a resident advisor, graduateassociate, or House Dean from serving in multiple years.

2. Selection of Voting Membersa. e advisory members shall select twenty-four (24) competent resident students to fill

these voting member seats within the first three (3) weeks of each school year using a

meritocratic method.

b. e term of each voting member is one (1) year.c. No provision in this section shall be interpreted to prohibit the Ware House Council

from operating with less than this quota of voting members if: the number of

applications in a given school year is insufficient to meet the quota, a member resigns, or

a member is removed from a seat aer the voting members are selected.

Article IX. Amendments1. Amendments or annulments to this Constitution may be proposed in writing at any time, by

any member, during the school year.

2. is Constitution shall be amended or superseded only by a two-thirds majority of the presentvoting members in a general body meeting.

Ware House Council Constitution

Documents

Transcript of Ware House Council Constitution