CONSTITUTION OF TURKISH STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION
OF THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
ARTICLE I: NAME
The name of this organization shall be Turkish Students' Association of The Ohio State University, hereafter referred to as "TSA."
ARTICLE II: SUPREMACY OF CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY
The purposes, general policy and provisions of this constitution shall not be in conflict with the excerpted preamble and articles of the constitution of The Republic of Turkey as stated in Article XII. No member or office under the auspices of TSA shall engage in conduct in violation of Article XII. Supremacy of the laws of the Motherland, Turkiye, is in evidence by the existence of an association of Turkish students.
Section 1: The purposes of TSA shall be:
A. To represent The Republic of Turkey through social and cultural activities.
B. To establish a cultural exchange between Turkish students and students of other nationalities.
C. To celebrate the anniversary of October 29, The Republic Day, and to commemorate Ataturk, the founder of The Republic of Turkey, every year on the 10th day of November.
D. To maintain unity among Turkish students.
E. To encourage cooperation with similar student associations.
Section 2: These purposes of TSA shall not be conducted, in deed and spirit, in violation of the excerpted preamble and articles of the constitution of The Republic of
Turkey. These articles listed in Article XII are integral and fundamental parts of the Constitution of TSA.
ARTICLE IV: GENERAL POLICY
Section 1: TSA shall be a nonprofit organization devoted to the purposes set forth above. No office or member shall receive or be entitled to receive any pecuniary profit from the operation of TSA. Further, TSA shall not, in any way, directly or indirectly, engage in any attempts to influence legislation by propaganda or any other means.
Section 2: The purposes and policies of TSA shall not be conducted or abused by any of its offices or by any member as a platform advocating sexism, racism or religion under the auspices of TSA.
Section 3: No office or member shall exploit or abuse religion or religious feelings or things held sacred by religion in any manner whatsoever for the purpose of personal or political influence or for even partially basing the fundamental, social, cultural, economic, political and legal order of TSA on religious tenets.
ARTICLE V: ADMINISTRATION
Section 1: TSA shall be administered by a five-member Executive Committee, consisting of President, Secretary General, Treasurer, Social Director, and Director of Public Relations, all of whom must be OSU students. Ways and means of administration shall be as defined in the By-Laws of TSA.
Section 2: President and Treasurer of the Executive Committee must be Full-Members of TSA for a period of not less than one year (12 months).
ARTICLE VI: MEMBERSHIP
Section 1: Any individual subscribing to the purposes and general policy of TSA as stated in Article III and Article IV may have the privilege of membership in TSA. No individual shall be denied membership on the basis of sex, race, religion, or national origin provided that he/she complies with the stated purposes and general policy of TSA.
Section 2: There shall be two categories of membership: Associate-Member and Full-Member.
ASSOCIATE-MEMBER: All first-time members, who subscribe in writing to the purposes and general policy of TSA, become Associate-Members. Associate-Members may participate in all activities of TSA; however, associate-membership is a nonvoting membership.
FULL-MEMBER: An Associate-Member may become a Full-Member upon written approval of the Executive Committee in accordance with Section 5 of this Article. This approval is contingent upon, but not limited to, the demonstrated commitment of the Associate-Member to the purposes and general policy of TSA.
Section 3: Only Full-Members who are OSU students are eligible as voting members. Full-Members who are not OSU students are nonvoting members. Herein, the term non-voting applies literally everywhere except in Articles IX through XI of this Constitution wherein all Full-Members are voting members.
Section 4: Any individual wishing to become a member must complete and submit the application form to the Executive Committee along with the application fee. The Executive Committee shall review the applications within 4S days of their receipt. The Executive Committee reserves the right to approve or reject an application. Notification of approval or reasons of rejection of the application will be sent in writing to the applicant and to the' Auditor within 15 days of the decision. The application fees of the rejectees will be refunded.
Section 5: The Executive Committee shall review Associate-Members for Full-Membership status In June and December of every year on the basis of demonstrated commitment to Article n through Article IV. Such a review cannot be made any other time. Associate-Members with less than 60 days of membership by the review date shall not be considered for review until the following scheduled review.
Section 6:, Application fees for Associate-Members and Full-Members must be determined by the majority of the voting members present at the opening of the General Assembly every year. Application fee for associate-membership will be less than that of Full-Membership but not less than 50% of fun-membership fee.
Section 7: Membership must be renewed every year, between the announced date of the General Assembly in April and June 15th. Current members must me a new application form and pay the annual application fee. Membership status cannot be changed by renewal. Any renewal application after June 1st will be considered for Associate-Membership only.
Section 8: Membership will be terminated by the Executive Committee under the following circumstances:
A. Violation of any section or article of the Constitution of TSA by the member.
B. Failure to renew the membership by the first day of June.
C. By resignation of the member.
All decisions of the Executive Committee concerning all membership matters may be appealed in writing to the Auditor. The General Assembly and/or the Emergency General Assembly are the ultimate appeal institutions if called upon.
ARTICLE VII: ELECTIONS
Section 1: The Executive Committee shall call the General Assembly in April of each year in order to elect the Executive Committee and. the Auditor for the following term. Election procedure is defined in the By Laws of TSA.
Section 2: A list of the voting membership shall be sent to all voting members and to the Auditor by the Executive Committee before the first day of February of the election year. There shall not be any addition to this voting membership list until after the review date in June, as per Article VI, Section 5.
Section 3: In the event Article X, Section 2 should apply, an Emergency General Assembly shall be called by the Auditor to elect a new Executive Committee.
ARTICLE VIII: GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND EMERGENCY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Section 1: General Assembly comprises of the entire membership as per Article VII, Section 1.
Section 2: The quorum to hold a General Assembly is established by the majority of the voting membership residing in Central Ohio at the, time of the General Assembly.
Section 3: Emergency General Assembly comprises of the entire membership. It has all the powers of the General Assembly except for Article XI. It shall be held in case of one or more of the following:
- Upon a written request of at least one-third of the total membership.
- Upon a written request by the Auditor.
- Upon a request of the Executive Committee.
In any of these events, the Secretary General shall inform the membership in writing at least three days before the meeting. In case of the events A and/or B, the meeting has to be conducted within thirty days of the date the written request is 'submitted. The Executive Committee' failing to call the meeting in spite of events A and/or B is discharged of all its powers and is assumed abolished by this Constitution. Consequently, the Auditor shall call the Emergency General Assembly.
Section 4: The quorum to hold an Emergency General Assembly is established by the majority of the voting membership residing in Central Ohio at the time of the Emergency General Assembly.
Section 5: Majority of the General Assembly and/or Emergency General Assembly is defined to be the majority of the voting members present at the opening of the Assembly. That is to say more than half the number of voting members present at the opening of the Assembly.
ARTICLE IX: AUDITOR
Section 1: DUTIES AND POWERS OF AUDITOR:
Auditor shall oversee the functioning of the Executive Committee. Auditor shall verify the compliance of the Executive Committee with the registration of TSA as required by The Ohio State University policies pertinent to student organizations. Auditor has the authority to inspect the "Minutes of the Executive Committee Meetings" and all other' records pertaining to the functioning of TSA. There bas to be at least two mandatory inspections of the Executive Committee by the Auditor. Auditor shall be notified in advance, of each and every Executive Committee meeting and its agenda. Auditor shall be present at the inauguration meetings as defined in the By-Laws of TSA. Upon invitation by the Executive Committee, Auditor may join the other Executive Committee meetings as an observer. Auditor shall audit the accounts and present the results to the General Assembly. Auditor shall handle appeals concerning membership matters within 30 days of such appeals. Auditor may call the Emergency General Assembly according to Article VIII, Section 3 and Article X, Section 2.
Section 2: ELECTION OF AUDITOR: Any individual who has been a Full-Member of TSA for at least two full consecutive years (24 months) is eligible to be elected as Auditor. The election of Auditor precedes the election of Executive Committee members at the General Assembly. To be elected as Auditor, a nominee must meet the following requirements in the first round:
A. At least one more than 50% of the total number of Full Members who are OSU students at the opening of the general Assembly must approve a nominee by their votes.
B. If there is only one nominee the rounds will be repeated as necessary until, these requirements are met. If there are more nominees than one, the nominee with most supporting votes is elected provided that the following requirements are met:
1. At least one more than one-third of Full-Members who are OSU students at the opening of the General Assembly must approve a nominee by their votes
2. At least one more than one-third of all Full-Members (OSU Students and all others as Per ArticleVI, Section 3) at the opening of the General Assembly must approve a nominee by their vote
ARTICLE X: IMPEACHMENT
Section 1: The members of the Executive Committee and/or the Auditor may be impeached' based on their conduct in violation of any aspect of the Constitution of TSA.
The impeachment procedure can be started by convening an Emergency General Assembly as described in Article VIII. Impeachment procedures will be the same as the amendment procedures stated in Article XI. Impeached member(s) shall be barred from membership for five years, effective immediately.
Section 2: In the event that more than one member of the Executive Committee is impeached, any remaining officer shall be relieved of his/her duties' and powers, effective immediately. New elections for all offices will be held within 30 days following impeachment.
Section 3: In the event that the Auditor is impeached, a new Auditor shall be elected by the same Emergency General Assembly in accordance with Article IX.
ARTICLE XI: AMENDMENTS
Section 1: Upon a written request of at least one-third of the total number of Full- Members, amendments to this constitution may be proposed. The Secretary General shall then inform all members in writing within 15 days. This information shall also include a copy of the current constitution, proposed changes, and a list of members of all categories.
Section 2: The following requirements must be met to open a General Assembly to discuss and vote on amendments to this constitution:
- At least two-thirds of the total number of Full Members who are OSU students must be present.
- At least two-thirds of the total number of all Full Members (OSU students and all others as per Article 6, Section 3 ) must be present.
The following requirements must be met to approve a change in the constitution before it takes place:
- At least one more than 50% of the total number of Full Members who are OSU students at the opening of the General Assembly must approve a change.
- At least one more than 50% of the total number of all Full Members (OSU students and all others as per Article 6, Section 3) at the opening of the General Assembly must approve a change.
Approved amendments become effective immediately.
ARTICLE XII: SUPREME ARTICLES OF THE CONSTITUTION OF TSA
Section 1: Preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey:
"This constitution ... is entrusted"" for safekeeping by the Turkish Nation to the patriotism of its democracy-loving sons and daughters, in order that it may be understood to embody the IDEAS, BELIEFS and RESOLUTIONS set forth below and be interpreted and implemented accordingly; commanding respect for, and absolute loyalty to, its letter and spirit:
The direction of the concept of nationalism as outlined by Ataturk, the founder of The Republic of Turkey, its immortal leader and unrivalled hero; and in line with the reforms and principles introduced by him; ...