CONSTITUTION
for the
Black Engineering and Science Students’ Association

Article I – Name of Organization

Section 1 – Name of Organization
Then name of this organization is the Black Engineering and Science Students’ Association, hereafter referred to as BESSA.

Section 2 – Purpose
a.    Encourage members to achieve and maintain academic excellence.
b.    Acquaint the Black community with opportunities in the fields of Engineering and the Technical Sciences.
c.    Encourage Black youth to enter the Engineering and Technical Science professions and to master their schoolwork.
d.    Assist minorities in Engineering and Science fields to secure employment.
e.    Assist members to develop themselves culturally.
f.    Establish contact between the black community and professionals in Engineering and Science fields.

Article II – Membership

Section 1 – Members
Members shall be under the category of “general member”, “affiliate member”, or “alumni & professional member”.
a.    General Member: Anyone who subscribes to the objectives of BESSA and is a registered student at the University of California, Berkeley majoring in any discipline of engineering or technical sciences. The technical sciences are defined to be the natural sciences as set forth by the College of Letters and Science at University of California, Berkeley.
b.    Affiliate Member: Any student who subscribes to the objectives of BESSA, but does not meet all of the requirements of Article II, Section 1(a).
c.    Alumni & Professional Member: A former member of BESSA or a professional subscribing to the objectives of BESSA.

Section 2 – Admission to Membership
Membership is open to any person who meets each of the following requirements:
1.    The conditions set forth by Article II, Section 1;
2.    Completion of an official membership form;
3.    Payment of designated yearly dues.

Section 3 – Termination of Membership
A member is terminated from BESSA for an action, which is determined to be detrimental to BESSA by a majority vote of the general, membership present at a regular or special meeting. Such a membership may be readmitted only by a majority vote of the membership present at a regular or special meeting.

Section 4 – Rights of Members
All members shall have equal rights and privileges to participating in the activities of BESSA and access to its resources. All general and affiliate members have voting rights.

Article III – The Executive Committee

Section 1 – Executive Officers
The Executive Officers shall be President, Senior Vice President, Junior Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary.
a.    President: The President presides at BESSA meetings and shall be Chairperson of the Executive Committee. He/she shall be the principle representative of BESSA. The President shall submit annually, at the end of his/her term a written report on the affairs of BESSA and a written financial report of its operations. Such a report shall be kept of file for viewing by the general membership.
b.    Senior Vice President: The Senior Vice President assumes the duties of the President in the President’s absence or inability to serve. He/she shall also oversee the action of the Career Fair Coordinator(s).
c.    Junior Vice President: The Junior Vice President assumes the duties of the President in the simultaneous absence or inability to serve of the President and the Senior Vice President.
d.    Treasurer: The Treasurer shall maintain the financial records of BESSA. He/she shall safeguard all funds, depositing them in a bank determined by the Executive Committee, and may open accounts in the name of BESSA. Two Executive Officer’s signatures – one of which is the Treasurer’s – shall be required on all BESSA accounts. He/she shall report on the financial status of BESSA at closed Executive Committee meetings four times each year. The financial records shall be audited annually by the Executive Committee.
e.    Secretary: The Secretary shall keep the minutes of each general and special meeting. The Secretary shall also keep a record of the proceedings of each meeting of the Executive Committee. He/she shall maintain a current list of the names and addresses of all members.
Note: In addition to the above-specified duties, all officers shall perform such other duties as necessary to carry out the objectives of BESSA within the limitations set by the Executive Committee.

Section 2 – Duties of the Executive Committee
a.    The Executive Committee shall manage and transact all business of the Executive Committee. 
b.    The Treasurer should have on file a copy of the budget for the academic year made available to general members only.
c.    The Executive Committee is responsible for guiding BESSA activities towards its established goals.

Section 3 – Limitations
Neither the Executive Committee nor the membership may spend more that 10% of BESSA’s cash assets per semester without the approval of the other non-budgeted items. During the summer semester, the Executive Committee shall not exceed its approved budget by the lesser of:
1.    20% of BESSA’s cash assets, or
2.    $500.00 (consult Treasurer for up-to-date figure).

Section 4 – Meetings of the Executive Committee
Closed meetings of the Executive Committee will be held on a weekly basis. Attendance by non-Executive Officers will be held at the President’s discretion.

Article IV – Appointed Officers

Section 1 – Officers
Annually appointed officers shall be Banquet Coordinator, Career Fair Coordinator, Outreach Coordinator, and Retention Officer. Other appointed officers may be created at the discretion of the Executive Committee to assist the Executive Committee in achieving the goals of BESSA.
a.    Banquet Coordinator: The Banquet Coordinator oversees the banquet committee and handles all facets of the banquet.
b.    Career Fair Coordinator: The Career Fair Coordinator oversees the Career Fair committee. He/she shall stay in close contact with all aspects of the Career Fair during the summer and over winter breaks. He/she shall report to the Senior Vice President and shall be appointed by the end of the Spring Semester.
c.    Outreach Coordinator: The Outreach Coordinator contacts members to set up and confirm school visits (consult the Junior Vice President for Summary).
d.    Retention Officer: The Retention Officer is responsible for organizing and maintaining a program for academic excellence. He/she shall update and maintain the BESSA library and exam files.

Section 2 – Appointments
Appointed Officers are nominated by the Executive Committee member presiding over the administration to which that position belongs, and approved by a majority vote of the Executive Committee. Officers should be appointed by the second meeting of the Fall Semester.
Section 3 – Qualifications
To be nominated for an appointed office, a person must be either a general or an affiliate BESSA member.

Article V – Elections

Section 1 – Nominations of the Executive Committee
a.    Nominations for the Executive Committee shall be accepted only at the fifth meeting of the Spring Semester.
b.    A person may nominate himself/herself.
c.    A person may be nominated for more than one office, however, must decline all nominations, except one, prior to elections. That is, a person may actually only run for one office.
d.    A person wishing to run, but not nominated at the fifth meeting of the Spring semester, can run only as a write in candidate and must make a speech on his/her behalf prior to his/her opponents.

Section 2 – Eligibility Requirements of Candidates for Office
To be eligible for an executive office, a person must be a BESSA member for at least two (2) consecutive semesters immediately previous to the semester in which he/she plans to begin serving his/her term if elected. At this time of nomination, the person must be a general member of BESSA and must verify in writing that he/she is a registered student in good academic standing at the University of California, Berkeley. The person must satisfy these eligibility requirements throughout his/her term if elected.

Section 3 – Election of Officers
a.    Elections shall be held at the sixth meeting of the Spring Semester.
b.    Voting shall be by secret ballot and the winner must receive the majority of the votes cast.
c.    In the event that there are three or more candidates for a particular office and none received the majority vote, then a run-off shall be held between the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes.
d.    In the event of a tie, at least two attempts shall be made to beak a tie. If the tie still exists after the two additional attempts, the Executive Committee shall go into a closed session to vote on the tying candidates and shall report to the membership within the same meeting. Within this closed session, the President shall not vote except in the event of a tie within the Executive Committee.
e.    Absentee ballots will be added to the votes taken at the election meeting. Such absentee ballots shall be given to the previously designated office prior to the election meeting. Absentee voters shall lose their vote in the event of a run-off.
f.    Presence of nominee?

Section 4 – Nomination and Elections of Members-at-Large
a.    To be nominated for a Members-at-Large, a person must be a general or affiliate member.
b.    Nominations and elections of the Members-at-Large shall be held at the first meeting of the semester in which they will serve their term.

Section 5 – Terms of Office
a.    Officers shall serve their term from the last day of Spring semester finals to the last day of the subsequent Spring semester finals.
b.    An officer cannot succeed himself/herself in the same office for more than two successive terms.
c.    Members-at-Large shall serve during the semester for which they were elected (“semester” being defined in Article VIII, Section 3).

Section 6 – Special Elections
a.    In the event that an officer is unable to serve his/her full term, a special election shall be held as soon as possible. In this case, nominations and elections may be held at the same meeting.
b.    In the event that a Member-at-Large is unable to serve his/her term, his/her seat shall remain empty until the next scheduled elections of Members-at-Large.

Section 7 – Removal from the Executive Committee
a.    If an Executive Officer does anything detrimental to BESSA, he/she may be removed from office.
b.    Impeachment Procedure: Before an impeachment vote is brought before the membership, a panel consisting of the remaining Executive Officers and the campus advisor will hold a hearing to determine if the officer abused his/her office. If the panel unanimously decides to continue the impeachment process after the hearing, a vote will be brought before the general membership. Voting shall be by secret ballot. If at least 25% of the votes are in his/her favor, the officer may retain his/her position. Otherwise, the officer must resign and a special election will be held at the following general meeting to fill the office.

Article VI – General Meeting

Section 1 – Meetings
a.    General meetings of BESSA shall be called by the Executive Committee at intervals of no longer than one month (excluding academic Winter and Summer vacations). There shall be at least (6) general meetings per semester.
b.    Special meetings of BESSA for specific purposes may be called by the majority of the Executive Committee or by a petition of 10% of the membership. At such a special meeting, only the item(s) for which the meeting was called must be discussed.

Section 2 – Notice of Meeting
a.    Notice of regular or special meetings shall be given in writing to members not less than two (2) days before each meeting.
b.    Notices shall specify the place, the day, and the hour of the meetings and in the case of a special meeting, the nature of the business to be transacted.

Section 3 – Quorum at Meetings
a.    A quorum for the transaction of business at any general meeting of BESSA shall be ten (10) percent of all registered members.
b.    All general and affiliate members whose names are duly listed on the roster on the day of any meeting shall be entitled to vote or act on any business to be transacted at such a meeting.
c.    No member may vote or act by proxy; voting by absentee ballot for elections of officers is discussed in Article V, Section 3(e).

Article VII – Amendments
This constitution may be amended or repealed and a new constitution adopted by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of a quorum of the membership present at any meeting at which notice was given that the constitution was being considered for the amendment.

Article VIII – Definitions

Section 1 – Approval
Approval means a majority vote of members present at a given meeting, unless otherwise specified in the constitution.

Section 2 – Majority
Majority means fifty (50) percent plus (1) person of vote cast.

Section 3 – Semester
a.    Fall Semester: From first day of classes of Fall semester to first day of classes of Spring Semester.
b.    Spring Semester: From first day of classes of Spring semester to the last day of finals of Spring semester.
c.    Summer Semester: From the day following last day of finals of Spring semester to first day of classes of Fall semester.
d.    The terms “classes” and “finals” refer to those of the University of California, Berkeley undergraduate academic calendar.