United Nations Association of Northeastern University Constitution

Article I: Name

Section 1: The name of this organization shall be the United Nations Association of Northeastern University; hereafter referred to as the UNA.

Section 1: To promote understanding of foreign governments, peoples, and international political institutions such as, but not limited to, the United Nations and the League of Arab States, through participation in intercollegiate models.

Section 2: To facilitate cross-cultural relationships and exchanges of ideas amongst students of diverse backgrounds.

Section 3: To serve as a medium through which students have the opportunity to increase awareness of the global issues facing the international community and fosters an environment in which students practice diplomacy.

Article III: Membership

Section 1: Full Membership will be open to all full-time, undergraduate students regardless of division. The UNA does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, religion, or sexual preference.

Section 2: Graduate students and part-time undergraduate students may become Associate UNA Members who have all the rights and privileges of full members except those limited by Article IV.

Article IV: Executive Officers

Section 1: The Executive Board of the UNA shall consist of, in order of seniority: President, Executive-Vice President for Public Affairs and Education, Vice President for Finance, and Vice President for Administration.

Section 2: All officers must be full-time undergraduate students at Northeastern University. Officers have an obligation to be accessible throughout their term.

Section 3: All officers will be responsible for knowing and understanding the information in the Student Activities Handbook.

Article V: Advisor

Section 1: The Advisor to the club must be a full-time faculty or staff member at Northeastern. The Advisor will be an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Executive Board and the Board of Directors.

Section 2: Due to the unique nature of the UNA, the UNA may have a Co Advisor.

Section 3: The appointment of a Co-Advisor must be approved by the Executive Board and the Advisor. Full time or Part time undergraduate students cannot be considered for this appointment.

Section 4: The Co-Advisor will share all duties and rights with the Advisor but may not sign any documents required by the University. The Advisors will coordinate their duties to the benefit of the UNA and keep the Executive Board informed of specifics.

BYLAWS

Article I: Organizational Setup

Section 1: The UNA will consist of current UNA Full Members and UNA Members, as well as a Board of Directors, which is made up of the Executive Board, Committee Chairpersons, and individuals whose positions are specifically notated in Article VI of the Bylaws.

Section 2: Official Board of Directors meetings will be held at least once per month at a place to be determined and advertised at the start of the semester. Official votes and elections may take place during these general meetings but, the president, in accordance with Article III, may call special meetings specifically for elections or large-scale general votes.

Section 3: UNA meetings, as well as those of its committees, shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order, newly revised, except for matters specifically provided for by the Constitution and Bylaws of the Association.

Section 4: The term of officers will be one half year beginning the first Monday after spring graduation and the first Monday after Elections in the fall semester. (Typically early December)

Article II: Duties of the Officers

Section 1: President

A) The President shall be in charge of the overall direction and utilization of the entire UNA.

B) The President shall be in charge of all UNA meetings, interviews, and special projects.

C) The President shall represent the UNA to all outside agencies.

Section 2: Executive-Vice President for Public Affairs and Education

A) The Executive-Vice President for Public Affairs and Education (hereafter, EVP) shall coordinate and supervise all UNA committees and report their status to the Executive Board;

B) The EVP shall help the president to accomplish all goals set pertaining to publicity communication, image, and overall welfare of the UNA;

C) The EVP shall act as President in the absence of the President, in such case that the President is temporarily unable to serve, or upon the request of the President;

Section 3: Vice President for Finance

A) The VP for Finance shall be responsible for the management of, and bookkeeping of UNA moneys and UNA financial transactions;

B) The VP for Finance shall maintain regular communication with the Student Center Business Office and other duties assigned by the President;

C) The VP for Finance shall give reports at UNA meetings as to fundraising, disbursement, income, and balance of accounts;

D) The VP for Finance shall prepare all budget requests and spending reports as necessary during the fiscal year;

Section 4: Vice President for Administration

A) The VP for Administration shall keep minutes of all Association general meetings and Executive Board meetings, and distribute said minutes;

B) The VP for Administration shall be in charge of all correspondence of the UNA;

C) The VP for Administration will be responsible for maintaining a membership roster and providing the Student Activities Office with current officer information each semester;

D) The VP for Administration will be primarily responsible of maintenance and inventory of UNA files and property;

E) The VP for Administration shall perform all other duties as assigned by the President;

Section 5: Any Officer may appoint a representative to speak for them at any meeting or function if the Officer is unable to attend. This representative will not be given voting privileges.

Article III: Election of Officers

Section 1: Semi-Annual elections shall be sufficiently publicized to all members;

Section 2: The election process will take place at least one month prior to the end of the Fall and Spring semesters;

Section 3: The Association President shall present for approval, not less than 30 days prior to elections, a nomination committee consisting of a Vice President and three other committee members. No more than two members of such committee shall be members of the Executive Board;

Section 4: The nominating committee shall then present a slate of candidates for the Executive Board positions. No Candidate may be nominated for multiple positions unless allowed by Article III, Section 7; The President and/or Advisor will then add to this slate those nominations received by e-mail or other means, made by any member of the UNA.

Section 5: The committee shall present this slate to the current membership;

Section 6: Nominations may be made from the floor and added to the slate;

Section 7: Each position will be voted on separately. The voting process will begin with the Office of the President, then the VP for Public Affairs and Education, then VP for Finance, and then the VP for Administration. A nominee, who is not voted into the original office nominated for, may then be nominated for any of the remaining positions;

Section 8: A nominee is voted into office with a simple majority vote of the Board of Directors and current membership present at an official general meeting;

Section 9: A voting member is defined as one who has met a requirement that has been established by the Executive Board prior to elections. During periods when the UNA is not a fully recognized student organization by the university, only Northeastern students on the Board of Directors shall have voting rights.

Article IV: Ad Hoc Committees

Section 1: The Executive Board may, at its will, create Ad Hoc Committees at any time that may include but are not limited to:

A) Individual committees for each model;

B) Fundraising;

C) Publicity;

D) Outreach;

Section 2: Each committee shall be charged with a mandate that may include a timeline for the committee’s work;

Section 3: Each Committee is dissolved upon the expiration of their mandate or the expiration of the current Executive Board’s Term. Incoming officers may renew the mandate of any ad hoc committee as they see appropriate. Unless cause for removal is present, Head Delegate’s and Secretariat of UNA-hosted conferences will maintain their positions until the expiration of their mandate.

Article V: Committee Chairpersons

Section 1: The selection of Committee Chairpersons shall be by application and/or interview conducted under the approval of the Executive Board and in the presence of an Advisor.

Section 2: Chairpersons may be appointed at any time to serve until the end of the life of the current Executive Board or, until their ad-hoc committee is dissolved.

Section 3: Chairpersons may be re-appointed by incoming officers for another term.

Section 4: Committee chairpersons must be Full or Associate Members of the UNA for one semester prior to being appointed a Committee Chair.

Section 5: Chairpersons will be responsible for:

A) Providing a regular schedule of activities in their area of specialization;

B) Recruiting and training new members of their committees;

C) Providing the VP of Administration with an accurate list of committee members.

D) Attending all scheduled meetings of the Board of Directors;

E) Fulfilling all additional responsibilities as outlined by the President; and

E) Providing the VP of Finance with accurate budgetary requests;

Section 6: Committee Chairpersons will be appointed and/or removed by the President on an ad hoc basis, or as circumstances warrant, with the approval of both the Executive Board and the Advisor. Removal will be for just cause. The Removal may be appealed to the full membership at the next general meeting if one occurs within 60 days; and such appeal must be ratified by 2/3 vote of Full Members present.

Article VI: Board of Directors

Section 1: The Board of Directors consists of the Executive Board, including advisor(s), Committee Chairpersons, and individuals whose positions are specifically notated in Articles IV and/or V of the Constitution, and/or Article I Section 1, Article II, and/or Article VI of the Bylaws.

Section 2: Only Full or Associate Members of the UNA can be appointed to Board of Director’s positions.

Section 3: Members of the Board maintain their seat until a new Executive Board takes power, regardless of the expiration of a mandate they had. If a board of director is removed from their titled position for cause, they are also removed from the Board of Directors unless they hold voting rights on the board as a result of another position or mandate.

Section 4: There Shall be a Parliamentarian.

A) The Parliamentarian will assist the President and Advisor in the use and instruction of parliamentary procedures, when requested.

B) The Parliamentarian will assist in the training of Chairs and delegates, at the discretion of the appropriate member of the Board of Directors.

Section 5: There Shall be a Webmaster

A) The Webmaster will be responsible for maintaining the web space of the UNA

B) The Webmaster will make regular updates to news and contact sections of the website as well as to make further changes in content, upon the request of the Executive Board.

Section 6: The Executive Board shall select and remove the Parliamentarian and Webmaster according to procedures outlined in Article VI Sections 2-6 of the Bylaws. Candidates for Parliamentarian and Webmaster shall be nominated during Elections. The Executive Board, at its discretion, may accept nominations thereafter, but will fill the positions by the date the Executive Board takes office.

Section 7: New Positions on the Board of Directors may be created, at the discretion of the UNA. A 1/2 Majority vote of the Board of Directors shall be sufficient to create a new position on the Board. In that event, nominations for the new position will be accepted at the earliest possible meeting of the UNA and an appointment will follow the guidelines of Sections 2 & 6 of this article.

Section 8: The President of the UNA maintains their position on the Board of Directors after leaving office. They are considered voting members until they cease to qualify as a Full or Associate Member of the UNA. A President removed from office for cause loses this privilege. They may be removed from the Board by the process established in Article VIII of the Bylaws of this Document.

Section 9: All members of the board, except Advisors, have voting rights. Advisors maintain all other rights of Board members, as well as those expressly stated in this document. Advisors and present non-Board members have the right to have their position on any vote recorded, but not counted.

Section 10: Quorum of the Full Board of Directors shall be defined as the presence of 50% of its member, including at least two executive board members and an advisor. The board can meet in absence of an advisor, with the approval of an advisor.

Article VII: New Business

Section 1: All new business to be presented to the Board of Directors must be submitted to the President prior to said presentation.

Article VIII: Replacement of Officers

Section 1: Failure to meet responsibilities, as set forth in the bylaws and by the President shall, constitute sufficient grounds for removal from office;

Section 2: Any member of the UNA bringing charges against a member of the Executive Board for the purpose of removal from office shall present these charges in writing at an official meeting of the Board of Directors;

Section 3: Members of the Executive Board shall be removed from their office by a 3/4-majority vote of the UNA’s full Board of Directors;

Section 4: If, by any reason, a vacancy shall occur on the Executive Board prior to the annual election, a special election will be held to find a replacement to serve out the duration of the current term;

Section 5: The slate shall be approved by a 3/4-majority vote of present members;

Section 6: Nominations may be made from the floor; but if the slate is not approved as a whole, the vacant position is filled by a simple majority of those present;

Section 7: The resignation of a member of the Executive Board should be presented in writing at a meeting of the Board of Directors at least two weeks prior to when the said resignation goes into effect. At such a time, the President shall conduct an exit interview.

Article IX: Quorum

Section 1: Having the full Board of Directors represented, a quorum for general meetings shall be 50 percent of the full membership plus one.

Article X: Interpretation

Section 1: The Executive Board will decide any conflict in interpretation of the Constitution or Bylaws, the Advisor will decide in case of a tie.

Article XI: Amendments

Section 1: The Association's Bylaws and Constitution may be amended by a 7/10-majority vote of the Board of Directors at a regularly scheduled general meeting;

Section 2: Notice of amendments to these must be presented in writing at least two weeks prior to the voting;

Section 3: The amendment process should be started bi-annually.

Article XII: Selection of Conference

Section 1: The UNA, as long as it remains invited, shall attend the following conferences: The Harvard Model United Nations, and the National Model Arab League.

Section 2: The UNA will automatically attend and/or host all conferences attended and/or hosted in the previous academic year unless specific motions to cancel a conference are made.

Section 3: Any member may propose to the e-board the addition or deletion of a conference. Said proposal must be brought to the Board of Directors and requires a 2/3 majority to add or remove a conference. The final decision to add a conference is subject to budgetary feasibility and the permission of the University, in circumstances where it would be required.

Section 4: A member of the UNA may propose the addition or deletion of a conference it either attends and/or hosts any time prior to the UNA expressing a commitment to attend or host that conference to an outside body. As commitments to host a conference are usually made as much as a year in advance, the deletion of a conference we host will, in most cases, be covered by Section 5 of Article XII.

Section 5: Should it become necessary for the UNA to withdraw from a conference after a commitment to host or attend has been made, the decision shall rest in the hands of the e-board but will require the consent of the President of the UNA and an Advisor.

Article XIII: Away Trips ~ Selection

Section 1: The Selection Committee for teams will consist of the committee chair, the faculty advisor attending the trip, and an executive board member not applying for the trip.

a) The Chair of the Selection Committee is the Head Delegate of the delegation

b) If all executive board members are applying, the President will sit on the committee but

not be present for consideration of his/her application;

c) In the event the attending advisor is not also an Advisor of the UNA, an Advisor of the UNA will

be on the Selection Committee

Section 2: It is the responsibility of the Committee Chair to write a criteria on which their delegation will be chosen;

a) This list must be submitted to the executive board before the application is given to the

Association

b) The committee chair must make the criteria available to all applicants, upon their request

On this criteria, a committee chair may put an applicant’s character as part of the criteria.

Section 3: On the basis of the criteria, University Policies, and the discretion of the Selection Committee, decisions on what individuals constitute the team will be made. The attending advisor or the UNA advisor(s) has the power to veto the participation of any student on the grounds that the advisor will not accept the responsibility and liability of that individual’s participation on the team.

Section 4: Applicants for a model in which they had to apply and were not chosen have the right to request and receive a reason from the committee chair as to why they were not chose.

Section 5: Applicants not chosen for away trips may only appeal a selection for an away trip if there is space available on the trip.

Section 6: The decision of the Selection Committee shall be appealable. An Appealer must submit in writing to the committee chair, e-board, and faculty advisor what and why they are appealing within two weeks of the delegation being selected.

Section 7: an applicant may only appeal a section committee decision if one or the more following applies,

a). bias of the committee chair

b). unfair criteria for trip

c). the applicant is unsatisfied with the reason given by the head delegate

Section 8: it is the responsibility of the e board to decide on the legitimacy of an applicant’s appeal within a two week period of when the first delegation was chosen. The faculty advisor(s) should be present for the consideration of an appeal.

Section 9: the executive board has the right to overturn a selection committee's delegation decision. In which case an entire new delegation is chosen from previous applications by a new selection committee, which still includes the committee chair and applicable advisors. A delegate may not appeal a second time due to the constraints of models.

Article XIV: Away Trips ~ On Location

Section 1: Powers of the Head Delegate while on away trips

a) Acts as coordinator of the model

b) Has full authority at all away trips in all matters pertaining to the delegations

c) Is the acting voice of the university when the matter pertains to the delegation and the conference attending

d) Authority of the Head Delegate supercedes the authority of student members of the executive board with all matters pertaining to conference, delegation, group activity, and logistical matters with the secretariat. The authority of the head delegate is superceded only by the faculty advisor(s).

e) If secretariat is traveling with the delegation, the committee chair handles all logistical matters and secretariat members are considered under the head delegate in all matters but the secretariat’s appropriate exercise of authority at the conference.

f) The Head Delegate has the authority to set all policies, in line with UNA Guidelines and University Policies that govern both the behavior and actions of the delegation. Such policies require the approval of the Selection Committee for the trip in question.

Section 2.: Travel is to be organized by the Head Delegate, and the Executive Board, in a manner deemed appropriate by both. Once the official travel plans have been set up the delegation must be informed.

Section 3: All team members are required to travel with the delegation, and by the mode(s) of transportation selected by the head delegate and executive board. Travel is governed by the following rules:

a) No member of the team may travel alone at any time during a trip

b) No member of the team may take alternative travel without the consent of the faculty advisor

c) Members of the team living within 2 hours of the location of the conference may travel on their own to the conference. They are considered to be at conference upon their arrival at the conference location and while interacting with any conference attendees, including other members of the NU delegation. Members who commute to a conference are expected to follow ALL policies set by the head delegates.

d) The Faculty advisor can release any delegate from travel plans to address an emergency

Section 4: The delegation is considered to be at conference from the moment it departs campus until the moment it returns. This means that delegates will be held to all expectations of the UNA during that time.

Section 5: Members of the team, including the head delegate, that break policies set by the head delegate, university policies, reasonable requests of the head delegate, or refuse to follow instructions of the faculty advisor are liable for expulsion from the team. Any student expelled from a conference for behavior that violate the Code of Student Conduct, will have the matter handed over to the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution as soon as possible by the UNA Advisor(s).

Section 6: Expulsion from the team is solely at the discretion of the faculty advisor, but the advisor should take consul with the head delegate on this matter. Expulsion can be:

a) the forced restriction of a delegate to the hotel or their hotel room

b) the removal of the delegate from the conference entirely, which involves their being sent back to the main campus in Boston, MA. Students asked to return home must do so immediately and incur all costs in their travel.

c) the release of a delegate to proper authorities, should the situation result in the necessity of that action

Section 7: Expulsion may occur during preparations for conference, while traveling to or from conference, and while at conference, and is subject to appeal as follows:

a) Delegates expelled while at conference may not appeal the decision. They may appeal the means of expulsion, but the final decision rests with the attending advisor.

b) Delegates expelled from the team before the team is at conference, may initiate the same appeals process delineated in Article XIV: Away trip selection. Should an appeal be lodged, the student’s slot on the team will remain frozen until the appeal is concluded. The result of the appeal will be to either overturn the decision to expel or to uphold it. The process of re-drawing a delegation, as delineated in Article XIV is unnecessary in this case.

Article XIX: Away Trips ~ On Location