University of California, Riverside
National Residence Hall Honorary
Highlander Chapter
Constitution
Preamble
Our mission as the National
Residence Hall Honorary at the University of California, Riverside is to aid
the development and maintenance of a strong, diverse and academically
successful residential community within the UCR Residence Halls. We believe
that in order to accomplish this we must do the following:
2.
Create and
support initiatives that focus on diversity awareness, tolerance and
celebration.
3.
Develop effective
educational and social programs.
4.
Encourage
academic excellence through role modeling and the development of academic
initiatives.
5.
Recognize
resident leaders for their service to the residence hall community.
6.
Find and direct
residents to appropriate resources and leadership opportunities in Housing
Services, on campus and in the surrounding community.
7.
Find ways to
increase communication and positive working relationships with residential
staff.
8.
Be a channel
through which recognition of the Residence Halls is known on a local, regional
and national level.
Article I-Name
The name of this chapter
shall be the Highlander Chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary, NRHH,
at the University of California, Riverside. Here in after, shall be referred to
as NRHH, Highlander Chapter.
Article
II-Purpose
The purpose of this
organization shall be to provide recognition for individuals who have provided
outstanding service or exceptional leadership within the residence halls, as
well as maintaining academic success at the University of California,
Riverside, UCR.
Article
III-Membership
Section I
There shall be five types of
membership in the organization: active, alumni, honorary and ex-officio.
1.
Active Members
shall be residents of the UCR
residence halls and may be of any class, undergraduate or graduate. Only active
members shall have voting rights.
2. Alumni
Members shall be members who no
longer live in UCR residence halls, who are former active members of another
chapter who are now part of the UCR community.
3.
Early Alumni
Members shall be members of NRHH who
no longer fulfill the requirements for active membership status. To be
considered; members must fill out the appropriate paperwork and be confirmed by
the regional AD-NRHH.
4.
Honorary
Membership shall be conferred upon
those who do not live in the UCR residence halls, or are residents or members
of the residence hall professional staff, who have made an outstanding
contribution to the residence halls.
5.
Ex-officio
Members are limited to members of the
Residence Hall Association (RHA) Executive Board and advisors.
Section II
Qualifications for active
membership
1.
Shall have resided
in the residence halls continuously from the beginning of the academic year of
selection, including at the time of induction.
2.
Shall have a
quarterly grade point average of at least 3.0 at the time of selection
3.
Shall have
demonstrated outstanding service or exceptional leadership in the residence
halls at UCR.
4.
Shall commit to
the attendance of weekly meeting, with the exclusion of holidays and finals
week.
5.
Mandatory: Must
have written at least one OTM per month, written in paragraph form with each paragraph
being no less than six sentences, from the time of Prospective Membership to
the time of induction.
Article
IV-Selection of Members
Section I
Prospective members may
submit an application to the chapter during the beginning of fall and winter quarter.
Until a grade point average of 3.0 or above is verified, an applicant is
considered a Prospect. After confirmation of the required grade point average,
a Prospect is considered a Active Member.
Section II
Selection Committee
1.
The selection
committee shall be comprised of five (5) people. They shall include: the NRHH
President, NRHH Vice President, RHA President, the Leadership Coordinator and
Leadership Assistant
2.
The chapter
President shall choose, from among the selection committee, a committee chairperson
by the end of the first week of the fall academic term.
3.
The selection
committee chairperson must convene the selection committee during the beginning
half of the fall academic term to select potential prospects.
Section III
Active Member Selection
Standards
1.
At no time shall
the active membership of the chapter exceed one percent (1%) of the total
residence hall’s population, or 40 whichever is greater.
2.
Candidacy for
active membership shall be according to the following standards:
a. Must have
attended at least eighty percent (80%) or more of all NRHH meetings and
programs occurred at the time of selection and written one OTM per month.
b. Demonstration
of outstanding service or exceptional leadership in the residence halls at UCR.
c. Capacity
to continue outstanding service or exceptional leadership in the residence
halls at UCR.
3.
The Selection
Committee may choose as many or as few candidates for selection as they wish,
as long as all provisions of this article are satisfied.
Section IV
Honorary Member Selection
Standards
1.
Nominees for
honorary memberships must have made an extraordinary contribution to the
residence halls at UCR to be selected as a n honorary member.
2.
The Selection
Committee shall never select more honorary members than half of the number of
active members selected.
Section V
Alumni Member Selection
Standards
1.
Alumni membership
automatically stakes action once any person(s) who was an active member of NRHH
leaves the UCR residence halls.
Section VI
Early
Alumni Selection Standards
1. Early
Alumni membership takes place once a current member no longer fulfills the
requirements for active membership and submits the proper documentation to be
approved by the regional AD-NRHH.
Article
V-Officers
Section I
1.
The Executive
Cabinet shall be comprised of the President and Vice President.
2.
The Cabinet shall
be comprised of the Executive Cabinet and the Board of Directors.
3.
The Board of
Directors shall be comprised of the Director of Programming, Director of
Publicity and Director of Recognition.
4.
Officers shall be
comprised of the Cabinet and all ex-officio members.
Article
VI-Meeting Procedures
Section I
During the course of the
meeting, the President is responsible:
1.
Calling the
meeting to order for, in this sequence:
2.
Approving minutes
3.
Liaison reports
4.
Weekly updates
a.
Old Business
b.
New Business
5.
Committee time
6.
Receiving Officer
Reports
7.
Open Forum
8.
Adjourning
meeting
Section II
Any procedure of the meeting
may be altered, when necessary, by the request of any active member, as
approved by the President or at the discretion of the President him/herself.
Section III
NRHH meetings will be held
every week, except in the case of academic holidays and finals week or events
conflicting with meeting times that prevent members from attending meetings.
The particular place, date and time for these meetings will be determined
either by the Executive Cabinet or by the members at the beginning of the
academic school year and shall remain the same for the entire year unless notified
by the president. Meetings may be canceled when replaced with a NRHH program.
Section IV
Missing more than two
consecutive meetings without an excuse shall result in the loss of voting
privileges until the President or the Vice President reinstates their voting
privileges. The President or Vice President may grant excuses before any
meeting. No officer can grant him/herself an excuse. At each meeting, the Vice
President shall record the status of each member: present, absent or excused.
Article VII-Agenda
Section I
The President shall determine
the main agenda items upon discussion and approval by the Executive Cabinet.
Section II
Any NRHH member can introduce
additional agenda items at each meeting during the Open Forum.
Article VIII-Voting
Section I
Those Agenda items or
business which require the approval of NRHH, shall be voted upon.
Section II
Voting shall not occur until
it has been established by the facilitators that debate on that specific topic
has been exhausted.
Section III
A quorum must be present at
the meeting for any voting to take place. Action and Policy items require a
fifty percent plus one (50% + 1) quorum of active members. Elections will
require a three-fifths (3/5) of active members for quorum. In the extreme case
that quorum cannot be obtained, at the President’s discretion, the active
members present may vote to temporarily reduce quorum.
Section IV
A motion shall initiate
voting. Votes shall be taken by a show of hands. Any item shall pass by a
majority vote.
Section V
The RHA President shall serve
as the liaison between the chapter and RHA. The RHA President and National
Communication Coordinator are ex-officio members of the NRHH Cabinet and either
may serve as the Sergeant of Arms at elections.
Section VI
Ex-officio members do not
hold the privilege to vote, although they may bring up topics to be voted upon
and participate in discussion on any agenda item.
Section VII
The President shall vote only
in the event of a tie for full NRHH meetings.
Article IX-Duties
Section I
NRHH shall serve as base for
leadership development, community service and recognition within the residence
halls.
Section II
NRHH shall maintain
committees to represent leadership, community service and recognition
opportunities, however, additional committees representing other current
concerns may be added.
Section III
NRHH may initiate Residence
Hall projects for the entertainment or benefit of the residents.
Section IV
NRHH members are encouraged
to attend all RHA and staff sponsored events.
Article X-Non-Campus Affiliation
Section I
The Highlander Chapter is an
affiliate of the National Residence Hall Honorary.
Section II
This
chapter will follow all of the governing of the National Residence Hall
Honorary.
Article XI-Amendments
Section I
Amendments to this
constitution shall be presented as a written petition.
Section II
A vote upon the proposed
amendment must occur by the first meeting following its introduction and shall
be conducted by the voting procedures so stated in this constitution.
Section III
In the case of amendments, a
two-thirds majority approval by the active membership is necessary for the
proposed amendment to pass.