The Constitution of the Scrabble Club of Notre Dame

Article I - NAME

The name of this club shall be the Scrabble Club of Notre Dame. (SCOND)

Article II - Purpose

The purpose of SCOND will be to give students, faculty and staff interested in Scrabble a place to meet other Scrabble enthusiasts and build camaraderie among members. We will accomplish this by:

A: Holding weekly meetings consisting of both friendly and competitive

style play.

B: Holding Scrabble tournaments on campus.

C: Taking club trips to tournaments in the midwest

Article III - MEMBERSHIP STRUCTURE

Section 1. Full membership in SCOND will be open only to Notre Dame, Saint Mary's or Holy Cross students. Faculty and staff are more than welcome to attend the meetings and play with the students, but will be considered associate members and will have no voting rights. In the event that the Scrabble Club hosts a tournament, it shall be open to all students regardless of membership. Alumni, parents, and community members cannot be members of the club, but at the club's discretion, events may be hosted that are open to the aforementioned people. 

Section 2. Members can join at any point during the year by simply attending a meeting. Any new students interested in joining will shall notify the secretary of their intent and after paying their membership fee shall be added to the roster.

Section 3. Student members who attend at least half of the scheduled meetings will be eligible for voting rights

Article IV - MEMBERSHIP FEES

Section 1. All members must pay an annual membership fee of $5.00 due to the club treasurer no later than September 15^th. 

Section 2. Members joining the club after this date will pay this fee by the second meeting that they attend. 

Section 3. Members who are current on their dues shall be considered active.

Section 4. Only active members will be eligible for voting rights. 

Article V - OFFICER STRUCTURE

Section 1. The offices of SCOND will be President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. 

Section 2. The workings of this club should be very simple, we have elected to only have these four offices unless the need for another arises.

Section 3. Only students may serve as officers, and at least half of the officers must be Notre Dame undergraduate students.

Section 4. The duties of the President shall include:

A. Coordinating weekly meetings of the club.

B. Presiding over all official business during club meetings.

C. Providing leadership to the club.

D. Working directly with the club advisor to ensure that the club is operating within the expectations of the university.

E. Acting as the chief spokesperson of the club.

F. Establishing an effective relationship with the Club Coordination Council, Student Activities Office, and other University administrative departments.

G. Being the chief director of all campus tournaments.

Section 5.  The duties of the Vice-president shall include

A. Assisting the president with the fulfillment of his/her duties.

B. Presiding over club meetings in the event that president is unable to attend.

C. Working together with the treasurer on budgetary issues.

D. Assisting the President in the direction of campus tournaments.

Section 6. The duties of the Secretary shall include:

A. Taking attendance at every club meeting

B. Creating advertising materials including, but not limited to posters, flyers, and press releases.

C. Notifying local and university press of any major activities of the club.

D. Maintaining the club website and member email listserv.

E. Assisting in the direction of tournaments by recording tournament data and posting rankings during the event.

F. Determining the voting rights eligibility of members

Section 7. The duties of the Treasurer shall include:

A. Collecting club dues from members

B. Collecting tournament entry fees

C. Managing the club budget

D. Storing supplies, including boards, tiles, and dictionaries.

E. Coordinating fund-raisers for the club.

F. Determining if members are active

Article VI - ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Section 1. All Club Officers shall be elected before March 1 and will serve a term of

1 May - 30 April. The time between elections and 30 April shall serve as a transition period for new officers, where the current officers are available to answer any questions the new officers might have.  

Section 2. The election procedure will follow a three step process: 1. Nominations, 2. Elections, 3. Run-off Elections (If needed)

A. Nominations: At the three meetings before the scheduled election date, the club secretary will allow active members to sign up to run for the four club offices, with the exception of the President position. Members wishing to run for President must receive approval from at least two of the current officers. If this approval is not reached, then the only members eligible to run for the position of President shall be the current officers. Candidates may only run for one position, and if not nominated, may nominate themselves.

B. Elections shall consist of a speech no longer than five minutes by each candidate followed by up to three minutes for questions by the club members. Following this, all active members will cast their votes. The secretary will check the membership status of each ballot casting member and tally the votes. The person in each office receiving simple majority shall be declared winner. The order of the election shall be as follows: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer.

C. In the event that no candidate receives the simple majority required to win, the club will immediately hold a run-off election between the two candidates receiving the most votes.

Section 3. The first meeting in March will be reserved for elections.

Section 4.  If at any point, active members of the club wish to impeach a current officer they may make their case during one of the club meetings. If after this there are at least two other active members who are in favor of the impeachment then a vote to decide whether or not to impeach the current officer will be held. Two-thirds of the vote is required for an impeachment.  If the impeachment is successful, then the remaining officers will arrange for a new election of an officer in the coming weeks.

Section 5.  The first election of officers shall be a special situation, in that everyone present at the election who has attended at least one meeting will be eligible to vote.

 

 

Article VII - ADVISOR

Section 1. The club officers shall unanimously agree upon and appoint an advisor no later than April 1 to serve their term from 1 May – 30 April. 

Section 2. The advisor will be a professor or hold an administrative position with the University of Notre Dame 

Section 3. The duties of the advisor shall include:

A. Meeting with the club officers on a regular basis

B. Attending club activities

C. Keeping abreast of club issues and intentions.

D. Meeting with the treasurer on a bimonthly basis to review account balances and financial transactions.

E. Helping the students coordinate any meeting with the university staff.

Article VIII - MEETINGS

Section 1. The club shall meet every week on a day that is convenient for most members. The meeting dates will be set by the club officers and posted on the club website no later than 15 September. 

Section 2. In the event that the meeting date becomes inconvenient for a majority of the members, and a request to change the date is made, members will be able to vote on the change. If the change is approved, the website will be updated accordingly and members will be informed through the email listserv maintained by the secretary.

Section 3. The format of each meeting will be simple. Any business that needs to be discussed shall be done at the beginning and then casual games of Scrabble will be played. As long as three people are present, the officers reserve the right to discuss plans for the club. 

Section 4. Emergency meetings can be called by any officer and shall take place whenever convenient for the officers. All officers must be present at the meeting if official business is to be done at the emergency meeting. Members will be informed of any emergency meetings at least 24 hours in advance via email.

 

Article IX - DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS

Section 1. All disbursements of funds must be approved by the Treasurer and Advisor

Section 2. All financial transactions of the club will be managed through the University of Notre Dame's accounting system, as stipulated by the Student Union Treasurer's Office.

Section 3. Only the Club Officers and the Club Advisor shall have the ability to charge expenses to the club via the University's account charge system.

Article X - AMENDMENTS

Section 1. Any amendments to this constitution may be proposed to the officers by an active club member during any club meeting. 

Section 2. The member(s) proposing the amendment must submit a draft of the proposed change to the president to start the process.

Section 3. The secretary shall email all members the proposed change along with a copy of the current constitution at least 5 days before the amendment voting meeting (which should be the next meeting that the club has after the 5 day notice.)

Section 4. A two-thirds vote of the active club members will be required to pass the amendment.

Section 5. If the change is carried through, the President shall admit the amendment in writing to the Student Activities office for review/approval.

Article XI - AFFILIATION CLAUSE

Section 1. The Notre Dame Scrabble Club will have no affiliation with the National Scrabble Association (NSA) except in the event that Notre Dame hosts an NSA sanctioned tournament. 

Section 2. If there comes a conflict between the policies of the Notre Dame and the NSA, Notre Dame policies will supersede the policies of the NSA.