Constitution of the Providence College Debate and Forensics Team
Article I
Preamble
Whereas, the group of Providence College students presently members of
the PC Debate
and Forensics Team wish to establish this Constitution with the belief
that they will carry
out its intentions to the best of their abilities.
Article II
Name of Organization
Providence College Debate and Forensics Team
Article III
Membership
The Providence College Debate and Forensics Team is open to all students
of Providence
College.
Article IV
Officers
The Officers of the Debate Team serve as its Executive Board. The
Executive Board
consists of five members: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer,
and Debate
Liason.
Article V
Duties of Executive Board
Section 1: Executive Board Powers and Responsibilities
1. Power to delegate new and issued responsibilities to other members of
the Debate Team
2. Members of the Executive Board each have one vote
3. Power of impeachment of Board Members if 3/5 of the Board agree and
removal if 2/3
of the entire Debate Team concur
4. Power to make decisions for the management of the Debate Team
5. Offices of the Executive Board will share responsibility for the Task
Coordinator role
6. Responsibility to provide any team member with all team and Executive
Board records
upon request
Section 2: Individual Office Powers and Responsibilities
1. President
a. Sets legislative agenda and leads Executive Board meetings
b. Nominates auxiliary positions
c. Subscribes to APDAnet and is ultimately responsible for relations with
other schools
d. Votes for the team at APDA meetings
e. Co-ordinates moderator involvement
f. Responsible for tournament registration
g. Appoints Tournament Leaders
h. Communicates current information and procedures to Vice President
2. Vice President
a. Assumes any of the President’s roles in the absence of the President
b. Coordinates transportation to tournaments
c. Coordinates the insturction of debaters
d. Submits statistics to Secretary
3. Secretary
a. Takes minutes at Executive Board meetings
b. Takes attendance and keep records of attendance
c. Organizes records binder
d. Coordinates voice mail
e. Responsible for correspondence with other schools
4. Treasurer
a. Responsible for all debate team finances
b. Collect receipts from Tournament leader if not present at tournament
c. Responsible for bringing monetary issues and grievances to the attention
of the
Executive Board
5. Debate Liason
a. Communicates with Providence College’s academic departments
b. Responsible for frequent Cowl publications regarding the activities
of the Debate
Team
c. Activites Fair head
d. In charge of making posters and mailings for the team
Section 3: Appointed Officers
Appointed Officers serve at the discretion of the Executive Board
1. The Tournament Leader is a member of the debate team who has been appointed
by the
President to serve as the coordinator for the debate team for a given tournament.
The
Tournament Leader can be anyone on the debate team. The Tournament
Leader can be
dismissed by the senior member of the Executive Board who is present at
the tournament
if the Tournament Leader fails in any of his/her duties. The Tournament
Leader’s duties
and powers are to be established and modified by the Executive Board.
2. The Task Coordinator is a member of the Executive Board appointed by
the Board to
assume responsibility over some aspect of Debate Team business.
Article VI
Elections
Elections shall be held in the spring semester of each year with the exact
date to be
established by the Executive Board. Two thirds of active members
must be present at the
time of the election for a vote. All voting for elections is determined
by secret ballot. A
debate team member is eligible to vote if he/she has debated at a debate
tournament or
participated in the PC Debate Tournament or participated in one debate
event. Candidates
will make known what offices they intend to run for prior to the election.
A debate
member may run for a maximum of two offices and may only hold one.
Once elected, one
may not run for another office. Election for offices will be voted
on in the order in which
they appear in Article IV of the Constitution. If there is a tie
between two candidates after
a run-off, the Executive Board will break the tie and determine the winner
right at the time
of the election. If any member of the Executive Board is running,
he/she must excuse
him/herself from the deciding vote. Outgoing seniors are not elegible
to vote, but if any
are present at the time of the election they will act as the election committee.
The election
committee will collect and count the ballots and declare the winners of
the elections.
Article VII
Meetings
General debate team meetings will be held twice a week. Executive
Board meetings are to
occur once a month or more often as deemed necessary by the President.
Article VIII
Proposals
A proposal to be considered by the Executive Board can be made by any member
of the
Board. For any proposal to be brought before the entire team for
a vote, two or more
Executive Board members must agree to bring it before the entire team.
Article IX
Ratification of Proposals
Section 1: Constitutional Amendments
In order for a constitutional amendment to be ratified it must be passed
by a majority of
Executive Board members and receive two thirds of a team vote.
Section 2: Legislative Articles
In order for a legislative article to be ratified, it must have the support
of a simple majority
of the Executive Board or a simple majority of the team if brought forth
to a vote. If a
proposition is brought before the entire team for a vote the only way to
ratify the proposal
is to have a majority of the team pass it. A majority on the Executive
Board is not
sufficient in this case.
Principal Author: Paul Kessimian '01
Ratified: Unanimously in 1999