The Constitution of
The Urban Gaming Club at
The Ohio State University
Preamble
The Urban Gaming Club at The Ohio State University was founded in 2010. It has already profoundly changed the campus atmosphere and has created hundreds of new friendships. It is the hope of those involved and those who authored this document that the club continues the traditions set forth by previous members and continues in creating new ones. This Constitution serves as a document to govern the operations of the club to aid in successful events.
Table of Contents
Article 1: Prefatory Statements and Policies
Article 2: Club Member Positions
Article 3: Club Voting
Article 4: Election of Officers
Article 5: Dismissal of Officers
Article 6: Appointment of Non-Officer Positions
Article 7: Resignations
Article 8: Procedures for Changing the Constitution or Bylaws
Article 9: Official Ratification
Article 1: Prefatory Statements and Policies
1.1: Official Name
The official name of this organization is the “Urban Gaming Club”. It is often abbreviated as “UGC”.
1.2: Mission Statement
The Urban Gaming Club exists to create fun, action-filled activities for The Ohio State University campus to enjoy. These activities spawn new friendships and foster leadership skills on demand.
1.3: Non-Discrimination Policy
The Urban Gaming Club provides an equal opportunity for the entire student body of The Ohio State University and will not limit or discourage involvement to any person or persons on the basis of sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, marital status, political affiliation, veteran status, or any other factor protected by law.
Article 2: Club Member Positions
2.1: Officer Positions
There are four officer positions, enumerated below.
President
The President oversees the core day-to-day operations and is responsible for ensuring quality events occur. The President also heads in communication with the administration.
Vice President
The Vice President is primarily responsible for overseeing the coordination of all club members with regards to event planning and execution. The Vice President assists the President in communication with the administration.
Treasurer
The Treasurer oversees and manages the finances and inventory for the club.
Secretary
The Secretary oversees general communication, maintains logs of meetings and performs other record keeping duties, and determines meeting times and locations. The Secretary is also charged with directing election proceedings and club motions.
Line of Succession
The line of succession is as follows: Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. In the case that any officer is absent to a club meeting or event, the line of succession shall determine who fills the duties of each roll. In this event, the next available officer will assume the responsibilities of the absent officer.
If the President is absent, the Vice President will manage the duties of the President as determined by the line of succession. If the Vice President is absent or the Vice President is overburdened by filling a presidential absence, the Secretary will fulfill the obligations of the Vice President. If the Treasurer is absent, or the next available officer in the line of succession refuses to assume the tasks of an absent officer, the highest ranking officer present will appoint an officer or organizer to handle the appropriate duties.
If all officers are absent, consensus must be reached among the present organizers to accomplish all necessary tasks.
Responsibilities of All Officer Positions
Each officer may secure help from other officers if he or she is unable to carry out certain duties for a short period of time. Certain tasks can also be delegated to willing non-officer members at the discretion of the officers. Ultimately, the officers should work with each other and the organizers to ensure that all the important tasks of running the club and its events are completed. Each officer is accountable for having his or her stated tasks done on time, either by accomplishing them personally or by responsibly delegating them to another.
2.2: Non-Officer Positions
There are five non-officer positions, enumerated below.
Organizers
Organizers are club members who are responsible for the conceptualization, planning, and execution of UGC events. Along with the officers, they handle the administrative tasks necessary for the smooth operation of the club.
Initiates
Initiates are club members who act as intermediaries between the moderators and organizers; they contribute to discussion and debate to help the organizers plan and run events. Unlike organizers, they lack voting rights, access to specific secure information, and the authority to make club decisions or represent the club. The role of initiates is event-specific.
Moderators
Moderators are club members who aid organizers in enforcing rules and ensuring safe participation during UGC events. They also fill in any manpower gaps which may occur during UGC events. The role of moderators is event-specific.
Aides
Aides are club members who fill a variety of roles, none as rigidly defined as the other positions. Like moderators, some aides assist in enforcing rules and ensuring safe participation during UGC events. Some aides assist with administrative tasks. Unlike moderators, they do not fill in manpower gaps during UGC events. They are essentially players that have been recognized for their knowledge of the rules of the club and those specific to any event for which they have been declared aides. The role of aides is designed for players who wish to help the club in some fashion without becoming moderators or moving up to the higher ranks. Aides are not privy to any aspect of event planning, but they may help in an administrative capacity and serve on committees that do not deal with sensitive information.
Players
Players are club members who participate in events but otherwise have no say in the planning or running of events or the club’s administration.
Non-Players
A non-player is defined as any person or thing, living or otherwise, that is not a member of the club. Non-players are not permitted to participate in or interfere with club events or functions. It is likewise the goal of all club members to not interfere with non-players.
2.3: Hierarchy of Club Positions
The hierarchical order of all club positions from most authority to least is as follows: officers, organizers, initiates, moderators, aides, and players. As non-players are not members of the club, they have no hierarchical status within it.
The hierarchical order of officer positions from most authority to least is as follows: President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary.
All members of greater authority than aides are said to be members of the “organizational team”.
Article 3: Club Voting
3.1: Overview of Voting Guidelines
In most situations, voting can and should be avoided altogether. The club must strive to reach consensus through open discussion and debate, not to resort to politics and ideological or personal division. This concept of working together is both keeping in the spirit of the club and paramount to its long-term survival.
3.2: Voting Eligibility
In the event that a motion is required or requested, only eligible club members may vote. All officers and organizers are eligible to vote, and shall hereafter be referred to as “voting members”.
3.3: General Voting Procedures
Overview
Any voting member may call for a motion at any time on any issue. Any time a motion has been called, the Secretary must notify all officers and organizers of the details of the motion and timetable for voting.
Three levels of voting exist. An officer motion involves only officers. An organizer motion involves only organizers. A club motion involves all voting members. Unless specified by the Constitution or club bylaws, all motions are club motions. In any motion, each voting member has only one vote.
Validity and Passage Requirements
For any motion to be valid, at least two-thirds (2/3) of the total applicable voting membership, rounded down, must have their votes counted. The number of votes that must be cast for a motion to be valid is known as a quorum. Unless stipulated otherwise by the Constitution or club bylaws, all voting issues require a simple majority of those who vote to pass.
Any mention of a motion in the Constitution or club bylaws in which the term “motion” is preceded by a fraction – for example, “a three-fourths (3/4) club motion, rounded down” – indicates that such a motion requires the given ratio of applicable voting members, rounded accordingly, to cast affirmative votes for the motion to pass. In such a motion, if the given fraction is greater than the standard ratio of two-thirds (2/3) for determining the quorum, the quorum shall be equal to the required number of affirmative votes for passage.
In the case a “unanimous” motion is required by the Constitution or club bylaws, all applicable members must have their votes counted, and all votes cast must be affirmative votes for the motion to pass.
For an issue to pass, the motion to pass the issue must be valid, and the required ratio of affirmative votes for the issue to pass must be met or exceeded, as detailed above.
Officer Vetoes
Unless indicated otherwise by the Constitution or club bylaws, the officers may veto an issue that has passed a club motion with a unanimous officer motion. A veto prevents the issue from passing. The officers may veto specific elements of an issue, or the issue in its entirety. Unless directly specified otherwise by the Constitution or club bylaws, an officer veto may only be overturned with a seven-eighths (7/8) organizer motion, rounded down. This bypasses the veto, forcing the issue to pass.
Voting Methods
There are two classes of motions: standard and anonymous motions. Standard motions are motions in which votes cast are public to all officers and organizers. Standard votes may be cast through the club website, or, during an official club meeting, by oral declaration or paper ballot. Anonymous motions are private motions; votes cast must be public to all officers and organizers, but they are not to be attributed to the individuals who submitted them. Anonymous votes may be submitted by paper ballots or through the club website. Unless a motion is declared an anonymous motion by the Constitution or club bylaws or by the consensus of the voting members, all motions are standard motions.
Absentee ballots are ballots submitted before the voting window opens; absentee ballots must be submitted before the time of the motion to be counted. Absentee ballots may be submitted for either standard or anonymous motions, and they may be entered by paper ballot or through the club website.
Dissemination of Results
The results of all motions must be made public to all officers and organizers upon the completion of tabulation. Posted results of a motion must include the votes cast, outcome of the motion, and any and all relevant statistics. The results of all anonymous motions, including elections, must be made public to all officers and organizers; the votes cast must be included per usual, though they are not to be attributed to any voting member.
3.4: Timeline of Voting Procedures
Unless otherwise specified in the Constitution or club bylaws, once a motion has been opened by the Secretary, voting members have seventy-two (72) hours to cast their votes on any issue. If, at the end of the seventy-two-hour (72) voting period, the motion has failed to garner enough votes to be valid, the motion may be extended by forty-eight (48) hours at the discretion of any two officers. If at this point, the motion is still invalid due to failing to meet the quorum, the motion may be extended by one additional forty-eight-hour (48) period at the discretion of any two officers. A veto must be issued within forty-eight (48) hours of any motion passing, and a motion to overrule a veto must conclude within forty-eight (48) hours of the veto.
To prevent motions from lingering on unnecessarily, once a quorum has been met for a motion, at the discretion of any three (3) officers, the voting window may be shortened to four (4) hours from the point the quorum was met. Should the quorum be reached less than four (4) hours before a motion is scheduled to close, the voting window shall not be altered. If the quorum is no longer met during the four-hour (4) window due to a voting member recanting his or her vote or changing it to a vote that does not count toward the quorum, the originally scheduled window is to be reestablished. This closing schedule shall be maintained until the motion closes according to the original schedule, or until a quorum is reached again, at which point, a new four-hour (4) window may be enacted as before.
3.5: Types of Motions to Determine Issues
A motion to determine whether an issue shall pass or fail is considered a general motion. A general motion can only result in three outcomes: the motion passes, the motion fails, or the motion is declared invalid.
To avoid opening a motion for every distinct decision when determining a set of similar decisions, a number of general motions can be grouped together into one motion, given the following: none of the choices being voted upon could conflict with one another, regardless of their respective outcomes; and the motions being grouped together under one motion are to determine multiple answers to the same question for a variety of variables. For example, a motion held for either the promotion or demotion of members en masse contains a series of motions that do not conflict with one another, and its purpose is uniform for all individuals. In such a case, each determination is to be tabulated individually; if the motion is not declared invalid, each issue may pass or fail regardless of the other decisions.