New House at MIT


	Residents Facilities Laundry View Movie Collection Reservation Calendar Policies Request Repairs New House Contacts Useful Links Guest List New House Exec Positions/Members Constitution Bill of Rights Meeting Minutes Prospective Students About New House History Housemaster Dorm Layout/Floorplans Map/Location The Houses House 2 House 3 House 4 House 5 iHouse Chocolate City Spanish House French House German House i3 Videos FAQ The Basics The Building Student Life Questions?		Constitution Article I: Definitions Section 1.1 Member Houses The Member Houses of New House are the Cultural and Number Houses. The Cultural Houses are: Chocolate City, French House, German House, International Development House (iHouse), Spanish House. The Numbered Houses are: House 2, House 3, House 4, House 5 (Desmond). Section 1.2 Resident A resident is an undergraduate living in a room under his or her name in a Member House. Article I: New House Executive Board Section 2.1 Purposes and Powers The purposes and powers of the New House Executive Board, hereinafter "Board," are: (i) To pass measures and issue policy statements that reflect the opinions of Residents on issues which affect the campus student body, the Dormitory, or any faction of the Member Houses; (ii) To obtain monies by taxing the Residents and pursuing other ways of revenue to fund the Treasury; and (iii) To appropriate monies from the Treasury to cover expenses, including compensations, acquisitions, repairs, and student events; or to terminate previous appropriations of this sort. Section 2.2 Members The Board members shall consist of the President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, the presidents of each of the Member Houses, and the Chairs of the Standing Committees. The Member House presidents shall be the only voting members of the Board; all other members of the Board shall be nonvoting members. Section 2.3 Voting Members Duties The duties of the voting member of the Board are: (i) To ensure issues from Board meetings are properly reported to one's Member House government and Residents; (ii) To assess the opinion of Member House Residents on issues raised by the Board and to brief the Board on House opinions; and (iii) To attend Board meetings and to cast votes on issues. Section 2.4 Voting Votes shall be taken with each Member House having the same number of votes. The Board may only vote when Quorum is present; Quorum is defined as two-thirds of all voting members of the Board. By demand of any voting member of the Board, each Member House's representative shall cast a number of votes equal to the number of Residents of that House divided by ten and rounded to the nearest integer. Article III: Duties of the Board Administration Section 3.1 Duties of the President The duties of the President are: (i)To act as the presiding officer of and set the agenda for Board meetings; (ii) To act on behalf of the Board when the Board is out of session and no Board-stipulated precedent exists for an issue in question; (iii) To comply with the decisions of the Assembly; (iv) To serve as Dorm Con and Undergraduate Association Representative; (v) To act on behalf of the Dorm as its representative to the Institute and the outside world; (vi) To assume or delegate the Duties of unfilled offices or unfulfilled duties in times of transition or absence; and (vii) To create committees, standing or ad hoc. Section 3.2 Duties of the Vice President The duties of the Vice President are: (i) To assume the duties, responsibilities, and powers of the Presidency in the absence of the President or at the direction of the President; (ii) To supervise and direct appointed Committees and keep the President informed of progress; and (iii) To assume such duties as the President may request. Section 3.3 Duties of the Treasurer The duties of the Treasurer are: (i) To maintain accurate records of all bank accounts on a publicly accessible website; (ii) To disburse funds allocated by the Board and keep them apprised of such activities; (iii) To work closely with RLAD and House Manager in obtaining contracts and agreements;(iv) To manage funds as directed by the Board; and (v) To provide oversight of New House's financial activities, and report thereupon to the Residents. Section 3.4 Duties of the Secretary The duties of the Secretary are: (i) To act as parliamentarian at meetings; (ii) To take minutes at meetings and submit said to the Webmaster within one week of the meeting's adjournment for posting on website; (iii) To maintain an accurate and updated list of Board members and Member House presidents and vice presidents; (iv) To keep Dorm bulletin boards updated, including posting meeting minutes; and (v) To compile an annual compendium of minutes. Article IV: Duties of the Committees and Committee Chairs Section 4.1 General Duties and Powers of Committee Chairs A Committee Chair shall: (i) Regularly report to the Vice President and will appear before the Board at Presidents' meetings when issues pertaining to his or her Committee arise on the Presidents’ meeting agenda; (ii) Be available to answer questions and contribute to discussions concerning the Office; and (iii) Coordinate with their counterparts in Member Houses and campus-wide. A Committee Chair has the power to execute and fulfill the aforementioned duties and the duties particular to the Office, delineated hereafter and in the Bylaws. Section 4.2 Duties of the New House Houser The New House Houser shall: (i) Act as liaison between Numbered House Residents and the House Manager concerning residence; (ii) Maintain an accurate record of the Residents with the House Manager and Desk Captain, in cooperation with the Housing Chairs of the Cultural Houses; (iii) Represent New House at campus room assignment meetings; and (iv) Direct the assignment of students to Numbered Houses and rooms therein, including transfers between Numbered Houses. Section 4.3 Duties of the Recruitment Chairs The Recruitment Chairs shall: (i) Represent New House at campus rush or orientation meetings; (ii) With the Housing Chair, supervise the designation of early return workers who will work for New House and their individual Houses; (iii) Coordinate scheduling of individual House rush events; (iv) Supervise Dorm activities, events and obligations for the recruitment of freshmen; and (v) Ensure that a collective New House effort is maintained throughout recruitment periods, without sacrificing individual House identities. Section 4.4 Duties of the Social Chairs The Social Chairs shall: (i) Organize New House-wide social events; and (ii) Disburse funds appropriately for students to organize social events. Article V: Election, Eligibility, Succession Section 5.1 Election of Officers The election of the Administration and all existing Committee Chair positions shall occur prior to fall semester finals every year. The Board shall select an Elections Commissioner; this person is prohibited from running in the election. If no one is selected or accepts the duty, the President assumes the role of Commissioner: (i) Two weeks prior to the election date, the Commissioner shall have requested nominations for candidates for Office. (ii) For the one week prior to the start of the election, the Commissioner shall post a list of eligible candidates for each Office. (iii) The Commissioner shall establish a convenient and secure means for each Resident to vote once. If more than two Residents seek a given office, voters shall rank them in order of preference. (iv) Results will be tallied by the Commissioner, in the presence of such others as may demand access, and shall be posted no later than the day after the election closes. (v) The results of the election shall take effect within one week after results are posted. Section 5.2 Eligibility of Officers The following stipulations shall be enforced by the Elections Commissioner: (i) Freshmen cannot run for the Office of President; (ii) Member House presidents or chairmen cannot run for or hold the Office of President; (iii) Only one person may hold a given Administrative Office; (iv) Only one or two persons may hold the Chair of a Standing Committee; and (v) The New House Houser must be a resident in a Numbered House. Otherwise, all Offices are open to those who will be Residents of a Member House in the year they intend to hold Office. Section 5.3 Succession of Office The following stipulations shall be enforced by the Elections Commissioner: Upon the vacancy of an Office other than the Presidency, the President shall immediately appoint a temporary Officer until the next Board meeting at which time the Office will be filled as follows: (i) Nominations will be accepted from the floor; (ii) The nominees may speak; (iii) The Board then determines the elected Officer by secret ballot unless only one candidate has been presented, in which case the Board shall vote on acceptance of the nominee in a manner of its choosing. Upon the vacancy of the Presidency, the Vice President shall assume the duties, responsibilities, and powers of the President for the duration of the term. Section 5.4 Impeachment of Officers Upon receipt of a Petition from a resident calling for the removal from Office of a Dorm Officer, the President (or the Vice President, if the President is the Officer in question) shall call and govern a special meeting of the Board as above to conduct the trial. Article VI: Ratification This constitution will be proposed to all Member House Presidents, or their representatives, at an appropriate Board meeting. A discussion will then occur, and input will be received for modifications. After said meeting, it will be sent electronically to Member House Presidents for discussion at their appropriate Member House meetings. At the Board meeting immediately following the one previously mentioned, a vote will be taken of all Member House Presidents, or their representatives. Upon unanimous consent of each Member House President, or their representative, this document will replace and render void all previous governing documents. Article VII: Amendments Amendments may be proposed by any resident. The procedure for amendment is as follows: (i) A resident proposes a written amendment to the President, who then distributes it to the Board; (ii) At the next Board meeting, the resident presents the proposal and answers all questions; (iii) The Board discusses the proposal and makes revisions as necessary; (iv) At the conclusion of the meeting, the President distributes, or otherwise directs the distribution of, the revised proposal to all residents; (v) During the following Board meeting, the proposal is discussed but not amended; (vi) After discussion, a vote is taken concerning the proposal, of which a two-thirds majority of present voting members is required for passage; (vii) If approved, the amendment shall be included in its appropriate place within the Constitution. The process outlined in this article supersedes all language elsewhere in this document. Standing and Ad Hoc Committees 2013 - 2014: here PDF of Constition: here Last Revised: October, 2013
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