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Choate Programming Union Constitution

Article I - Name

The name of this organization shall be “Choate Programming Union” and shall be referred to as CPU when abbreviated.

Article II – Statement of Purpose

Our organization aims to:

  • Teach students to code
  • Collaborate on group projects
  • Hold weekly discussions, workshops, or lectures
  • Participate in programming competitions

Article III - Student Leadership

  1. Effective March 31st, 2021, this organization shall be led by a president, vice president, and secretary. a. The responsibilities of the president should be to begin and end all meetings. b. The responsibilities of the vice president include: communication with all other clubs, and all other duties the president designates. c. The responsibilities of the secretary include: presiding over all constitutional matters, and ensuring that the club is in good standing with COSA, if desired by the cabinet. d. Solely for the purpose of defining responsibilities, The president is the superior of the vice president, and the vice president is the superior of the secretary. The definition is vice versa for subordinating positions. e. If any cabinet position is unable to fulfil their duties, the subordinate position should fulfil said duties until the position is once again able to fulfil their duties. If the position unable to fulfil their duties has no subordinating position(s), it is the responsibility of the superior to hold an emergency election.
  2. Effective until March 31st, 2021, The co-presidents should coordinate as a team to manage club meetings and activities. In order to create a constructive environment, co-presidents should not establish a hierarchy, and should be able to work well together both in the same room and remotely.
  3. The Cabinet shall only consist of the president(s), the vice president, and the secretary. Officers appointed by the elected cabinet shall not be counted as a member of the cabinet.
  4. If a cabinet member is not fulfilling the responsibilities of office, he or she may be removed from office as follows: his or her title will be stripped by unanimous agreement of the cabinet.
  5. In the event that a cabinet member is removed from office, steps down from office, demises untimely or is otherwise incapable of fulfilling the duties of office, a new cabinet member shall be elected by weighted vote as described in Article V only if there is a single president remaining.

Article IV - Electing Student Leaders

  1. Elections for a position shall be held once that position becomes open because of graduation, stepping down, or impeachment. a. A member of the cabinet can only be impeached by a unanimous decision of the entire cabinet except for the person in question, and a super-majority unweighted vote of active members.
  2. Elections shall be conducted by weighted vote as described in Article V of all club members. The candidate who receives the most votes shall be president, the second most shall be vice president, and the third most shall be secretary.

Article V - Balloting Procedure

  1. Definitions a. A super-majority is hereby defined as when a greater than or equal to two-thirds (⅔) of ballots cast are in favor of the motion.
  2. Secret Ballot a. In all elections, an anonymous, publicly verifiable ballot shall be cast via the Discord bot or another method as determined by the current cabinet members.
  3. Announcement Mandate a. The membership will be notified via email or Discord and during meetings about elections at least 24 hours prior to the intended date.
  4. Election Observing and Contesting a. Each candidate will have 48 hours after the announcement of the election results to contest the results. If a member of the cabinet or any Choate faculty member affirms the contest, an odd number, greater than one, of neutral third-party(ies) will be brought in, chosen from any Dean, the head of the SAC, or the advisor of the club. b. Any Choate student or faculty can request to observe or be shown the exact election procedure at any point during the year. The cabinet is mandated to assist any election observing request to the greatest degree reasonably possible while maintaining a secret ballot.
  5. Weighted, Ranked-Choice Votes a. The purpose of the weighted vote is to ensure that only active members can govern the affairs of the club. b. Members of the cabinet can participate in the vote to encourage the cabinet members in attending each meeting. c. The sole factor governing the weight is a member’s attendance point as kept in the database of the Discord bot. d. The formula used to devise someone's weight will be the number of meetings attended + 4 if the member has attended at least 4 meetings. If the member has not attended 4 meetings, their weight will be 0. e. In a weighted, ranked-choice election, one weight corresponds to a single ranked-choice ballot. f. The winner of the ranked-choice election shall be determined by the Schultze method.

Article VI - Officers

  1. The purpose of an officer is an honorary title awarded to those who have exemplified a strong commitment to the club at large, have displayed significant skill, or for another reason which the cabinet deems fit.
  2. The appointment of an officer should be done by an anonymous vote by the cabinet (i.e. those who are publicly elected). The result of the election should be a unanimous vote to elect the officer.
  3. The only official power invested in an officer is moderator privileges on the CPU discord server (or equivalent); however moderators will be held to a higher standard when it comes to club participation.
  4. Impeachment of an officer requires a ⅔ supermajority of the cabinet, and at least ⅔ of cabinet members present during voting.

Article VI - Rules Governing Membership

  1. There is no eligibility requirement for membership in this organization.
  2. To be considered an active member, one must attend 4 club meetings. All active members shall receive blue card recognition.
  3. Members whose actions repeatedly damage the creation of a safe and fun discussion space may be subject to removal as a member, as determined by cabinet decision and member ratification.

Article VII - Meetings

  1. Meetings will be held weekly except in unique cases of cancellation by presidents.
  2. The presidents set the time, location and content for each meeting, which should be sent to the membership 1 day before said meeting.

Article VIII - Finances

  1. Finances shall be collected through school-sponsored events and applying for online grants.

Article IX – Ratification & Amendments

  1. This constitution must be agreed upon by a simple majority of cabinet members when it is amended or ratified.
  2. The guidelines for changing this constitution are as follows a. An amendment to this constitution may be proposed by anyone to an officer or cabinet member at any time, including leaders of the club, elected or otherwise. b. That amendment will be discussed by the membership during a meeting, if a cabinet member decides to go forward with the amendment process. c. Voting will take place on the proposal after the meeting. A majority of the members must agree to the proposal by secret ballot. d. A super-majority of the cabinet will be required to pass the amendment.

Article X - Adviser

  1. The adviser of this organization shall be selected by cabinet decision.
  2. It shall be the responsibility of the adviser to help manage finances and transportations when necessary, provide useful academic or otherwise resources, and coordinate meeting discussion as desired.

Article XI - Affiliations

  1. This organization is not currently affiliated with any other organizations.

Article XII - Statement of Nondiscrimination

  1. Membership in this organization is open to all students currently enrolled at Choate Rosemary Hall regardless of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, or physical disability.

Article XIII – Transparency Commitment

  1. All official club documents, decisions, election results, and communications sent or received on behalf of the club leadership or club proper, shall be quickly made freely and easily accessible, versioned on an open source immutable ledger, and stored in a machine readable format. a. Git is an acceptable version control system.
  2. Tampering with club documents or the history of club documents is an impeachable offense.

Article XIV - Leadership Transition

  1. At the beginning of the spring term, all elected student leaders shall take their new positions. Anyone previously in a position will lose their position at this time.
  2. The former student leaders are responsible for tutoring and educating the new cabinet members on their duties and the tools used to perform them.
  3. During the first two weeks of the spring term, the former cabinet members will transfer ownership for and give credential access to all CPU services (eg: the CPU Discord server) to the new cabinet members.