Illinois Tech Robotics Constitution

Created: March 5, 2004
Last Revised: November 1, 2018

Preamble

We, the members of Illinois Tech Robotics, do hereby ordain this constitution of Illinois Tech Robotics, of Illinois Institute of Technology as the constitution for the members of this robotics oriented organization, Illinois Tech Robotics.

  1. Name

    The name of this organization shall be Illinois Tech Robotics.

  2. Purpose

    1. To foster the curiosity, drive and knowledge of students using hands-on methods.
    2. To provide challenges to stimulate growth and innovation in the field of robotics.
    3. To develop leadership and technical skills through cooperation, networking with professionals, and teamwork.
    4. To support and promote robotics at all levels of academia and the community, particularly in conjunction with FIRST Robotics.
    5. To help facilitate academic and professional success of its members by sharing resources, expertise, and knowledge among members.

  3. Membership

    1. The membership of Illinois Tech Robotics shall consist of enrolled Illinois Institute of Technology, Vandercook College of Music, and Shimer College students who meet all IIT Office of Campus Life requirements for student organization membership.
    2. There shall be two tiers of membership in Illinois Tech Robotics, whose requirements are stated below.
      1. General Member: All general members must meet all IIT Office of Campus Life requirements for membership and be safety trained to use equipment in the Illinois Tech Robotics laboratory.
      2. Active Member: All Active Members of Illinois Tech Robotics must meet the requirements to be a General Member, but in addition must have attended an average of six ITR events (including General Body Meetings, Business Meetings, Project Meetings, and Philanthropy Events) over a preceding six week period while classes are in session or 50% of events in the past six weeks, whichever is fewer, and have attended all Lab Cleanup sessions unless the member has communicated to the Lab Manager or the President that they are unable to attend. A General Member may also be deemed an Active Member with a ⅔ vote of the Executive Board who feel that an exception should be made.
    3. Membership benefits:
      1. The following privileges will be extended to all General Members:
        • Use of the tools and resources in the Illinois Tech Robotics lab.
        • Ability to take part in Illinois Tech Robotics Projects
      2. The following privileges will be extended to all Active Members:
        • All privileges extended to General Members
        • The ability to vote in Illinois Tech Robotics elections
        • The ability to travel with Illinois Tech Robotics if ½ of all relevant Project Meetings have been attended
        • Ability to run for the Illinois Tech Robotics Executive Board
        • Ability to serve as a Project Lead
    4. Membership shall not discriminate based upon race, gender, color, religion, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, veteran status and/or socioeconomic status.

  4. Officers

    1. The officers of Illinois Tech Robotics shall be President, Vice President of Philanthropy, Vice President of Engineering, Treasurer, Secretary, Lab Manager, Webmaster, Fundraising Chair, Vice President of Publicity, Vice President of Education, and President Emeritus.
    2. Qualifications for each office include being a full-time Illinois Institute of Technology, Shimer College, or Vandercook College of Music student in good academic and disciplinary standing as set forth by the IIT Office of Campus Life guidelines. In addition, only Active Members of Illinois Tech Robotics as outlined in Article III may be considered for office. With the exception of the position of President Emeritus, all officers must intend to be enrolled full-time in classes through the duration of their term.
    3. Standard term of office is one year beginning the first day of class in the spring semester.
    4. Duties of officers:
      1. The President will be responsible for planning and scheduling meetings, overseeing the executive board and general membership, and maintaining the image and status of Illinois Tech Robotics.
      2. The Vice President of Philanthropy will be responsible for coordinating volunteer efforts with FIRST-related activities, maintaining contact with other organizations relating to FIRST and other outside organizations, maintaining a current count of club volunteer hours, and other duties as prescribed by the President.
      3. The Vice President of Engineering will be responsible for coordinating on-campus robotics initiatives, overseeing the progress of projects and project leads, maintaining contact with IIT faculty, students, staff and organizations, and other duties as prescribed by the President.
      4. The Treasurer will be responsible for proposing to Finance Board, representing Illinois Tech Robotics at Finance Board hearings, placing purchasing orders, maintaining the current year’s budget, and other duties as prescribed by the President.
      5. The Secretary will be responsible for recording the minutes at meetings, maintaining a membership list, reserving meeting rooms, responding to emails, writing regular communications, and other duties as prescribed by the President.
      6. The Lab Manager is responsible for keeping the lab clean, organized, operating, safe, and well stocked. They are also responsible for establishing and enforcing safety training guidelines as well as organizing lab cleanup meetings and other duties as prescribed by the President.
      7. The Webmaster will be responsible for maintaining the club website, gathering feedback and improving the site and other duties as prescribed by the President.
      8. The Fundraising Chair will be responsible for maintaining contact with other universities and companies and coordinating fundraising activities while working closely with the treasurer, as well as other duties as prescribed by the President.
      9. The Vice President of Publicity is responsible for spreading the word of Illinois Tech Robotics through channels including, but not limited to, social media, TechNews articles, IIT Today, pamphlets, posters, business cards, and public exhibitions.
      10. The Vice President of Education is responsible for maintaining an Illinois Tech Robotics club knowledge base and avoiding the loss of knowledge. They also should identify knowledge gaps and resolve them through methods including, but not limited to, workshops and tutorials.
      11. The President Emeritus role will be filled by the most recent former President. President Emeritus will support the President and other members of the executive board and club in transition to office, serve as a consultant as needed, provide a tie breaker vote on executive matters when able to as outlined in Article III, and other duties as prescribed by the President.
    5. In the event of an officer not fulfilling their duties, a vote of no confidence may be called against an officer by any active member during a business meeting. In the event of a vote of no confidence, a list of opportunities for improvement must be passed by a ¾ paper vote of the present voting body. If the vote passes, the officer shall have one month to improve by the criteria passed by the voting body. At the next scheduled business meeting, an additional vote will take place where the voting body will determine if the officer in question has made adequate progress on their goals. If ¾ of the active voting body does not see adequate improvement, the officer in question is removed from their position.
    6. In the event of a vacancy on the executive board, a special election will take place with constraints as outlined in Article VI.

  5. Meetings

    1. Regular meetings of Illinois Tech Robotics shall be held weekly or bi-weekly, permitting the complexity of upcoming events/projects. Regular general body meetings shall serve as a time to disseminate information and work on whole-club projects.
    2. Business meetings of Illinois Tech Robotics shall be held at least once a month. Business meetings serve as a means of communication between the executive board and the general body.
    3. Special meetings may be called at any time by the president in concurrence with Article IV, Section 4a.
    4. A quorum shall consist of one more than one half the attendees of the previous regular meeting and is necessary for a vote to take place.
    5. All official club business including all voting matters shall follow the most recent version of Robert’s Rules of Order.

  6. Elections

    1. Elections of officers shall be held at the last meeting of the fall semester.
    2. A turnover meeting must be scheduled within the first two weeks of the spring semester of the year following the fall elections, and the spring semester will be used as a turnover semester.
    3. Any Active Member of the club may vote.
    4. Nominations will be opened for all positions at least one week before the election meeting and shall remain open until the time of speeches for the position in question. Any member of the club may nominate, and any active member of Illinois Tech Robotics may be nominated. All nominations must be accepted or declined by the time of speeches. All nominations with no acceptance or declination will default to a declination at the time of speeches.
    5. All candidates will have an opportunity to prepare and deliver a speech and answer questions from the assembled club body. The club body will also have an opportunity to discuss candidates in private.
    6. Elections are carried out by paper ballot. The ballots shall be counted by previous officers who are not running for office; if all previous officers are running for office, the faculty advisor of the club shall count the ballots. Immediately following the counting of the ballots, the results will be announced by the residing president.
    7. Elections shall be initiated and overseen by the Secretary and President Emeritus.

  7. Executive Authority

    1. The executive authority of Illinois Tech Robotics shall be invested in the Illinois Tech Robotics Executive Board.
    2. The Executive Board shall consist of the officers outlined in Article IV and the faculty advisor(s).
    3. All Executive Board meetings are open to the entire membership. A portion of the meeting time shall be for closed information.

  8. Advisor(s)

    1. Illinois Tech Robotics will always have at least one Faculty Advisor.
    2. Potential Faculty Advisors can be suggested by any member of the Executive Board and voted on by the executive board receiving no less than one more than ⅔ of the voting members present. If the proposed advisor is rejected, the opportunity to suggest a new advisor, to be voted on by the executive board, will be offered to the membership.
    3. Duties and responsibilities of advisors shall be to advise the club and Executive Board in executive decisions in appropriate situations and act as a liaison between Illinois Tech Robotics and the Illinois Institute of Technology.
    4. The advisor(s) has the power to call and conduct a special Executive Board meeting at any time. The advisor(s) has the power to call and conduct a special General Body meeting after consultation with the President.
    5. The advisor(s) will not have voting privileges.

  9. Committee(s)

    1. Standing Committees shall be current project teams, consisting of a team leader and interested members representing committee members.
    2. New projects shall be proposed to the Vice President of Engineering. Proposed new projects should include project drawings, prototypes, relevant calculations, a list of members interested in the project, and a proposed team leader. The Vice President of Engineering shall advise the proposed project, then bring the proposal for consideration at the next regularly scheduled Executive Board Meeting, where ⅔ of the Executive Board must vote in favor of the project being approved in order for the project to become a regular project of Illinois Tech Robotics.
    3. Project team leaders shall be responsible for administrative duties related to a project, including, but not limited to, organizing project meetings, documenting project progress, ordering parts, completing budget proposals, reporting to the Vice President of Engineering, and representing their project at General Body Meetings.
    4. Project team leaders are determined by the following protocol:
      1. When the project proposal is initially approved by the Executive Board of Illinois Tech Robotics, the proposal shall include a proposed project leader, who becomes the project leader of the project upon approval.
      2. At the end of each spring semester, each project is responsible for determining their project lead for the next calendar year. This process is up to the determination of each project. The new project leader for the next calendar year must be communicated to the Executive Board prior to the last scheduled Executive Board Meeting of the academic year.
    5. Projects of Illinois Tech Robotics have the benefit of proposing for preferential Student Activities Fund allocations through the organization’s budget proposals. All other activities of the organization are proposed through a lower priority budget proposal.
    6. The Illinois Tech Robotics Vice President of Philanthropy shall be considered to be the project lead of a Philanthropy project, which encompasses all philanthropic endeavors. Philanthropy shall have the same budgetary benefits as robotic projects.
    7. Project leaders are subject to a vote of no confidence as defined in Article IV, Section 5.

  10. Dues

    Illinois Tech Robotics shall ask no dues of its members, but travel fees may be charged at the discretion of the Treasurer and/or Executive Board for travel where expenses outweigh resources.

  11. Amendments

    1. This constitution may be amended by a ⅔ vote of quorum of membership at any Business Meeting.
    2. Notice of proposed amendments shall be presented to the general membership at least one week prior to voting on them.

  12. Dissolution

    1. Upon the dissolution of Illinois Tech Robotics, all necessary funds, responsibilities and paperwork shall be handed over to the Student Activity Fund.
    2. All items purchased with the University funds shall be given back to the University. Section 3. The president shall be responsible for carrying out these directives.

  13. Statement of Non-Hazing

    Illinois Tech Robotics will not conspire to engage in hazing, or commit any act that causes or is likely to cause bodily danger, physical harm, or personal degradation or disgrace resulting in physical or mental harm to any fellow student of person attending the institution.

  14. Statement of Compliance with Campus Regulations

    Illinois Tech Robotics shall comply with all university and campus policies and regulations. Illinois Tech Robotics shall also comply with all local, state and federal laws.