The Constitution of Baylor's
Vietnamese Student
Association
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Article I. Name
The name of this student organization shall be the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA).
Article II. Purpose and Goals
The purpose is to promote the Vietnamese culture throughout the campus and represent the Vietnamese community at Baylor.
The major goals shall be to (1) assist the Baylor organizations with certain social, cultural, or service events, (2) provide a social environment for those who are of Vietnamese descent and those interested in the Vietnamese culture, (3) to participate in service activities such as Steppin’ Out, and (4) participate in events held by VSA’s from other universities.
Article III. Membership
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Any Baylor student registered for at least 12 hours and who has maintained a current and cumulative grade point average of at least 2.33 may apply for membership and be active. Members must be in good standing with Baylor University.
Application for membership will be open for four weeks (twenty-eight days) after the first meeting of each semester and will not be limited to a particular amount. Membership is open to all Baylor students.
Dues shall be determined per academic semester by the officers and will be collected from all members of this organization within four weeks (twenty-eight days) of the first general meeting.
Volunteer opportunities will be made available to all members. Volunteer hours may be acquired through other sources but must be approved by the VSA service chair.
“Members in good standing” are those who abide by this constitution and are entitled to the membership benefits.
Article IV. Officers
Officers are to obtain a minimum grade point average of 2.0 for their current standing and a cumulative grade point average of 2.67.
Officers are subject to membership guidelines as expressed in Article III, Sections 4 and 5.
Officers are required to attend all general and officer meetings unless excused.
Officers are required to attend 75% of organizational and VSA related events. Organizational events includes but are not limited to fundraising, applicable practices, social events, and premiers.
All officers must abide by and uphold all Baylor University rules and regulations.
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President: The President is in charge of keeping in contact with the VSA advisor and keeping relations with Baylor organizations and events. He or she will communicate with officers and advisors on all matters. He or she will conduct officer meetings and general meetings. He or she shall make the final decisions in case of any tie. He or she shall call officer evaluations as needed and preside over the officer evaluation.
Internal Vice President: The Internal Vice President acts the contact of Baylor University VSA to other organizations on Baylor campus, in coordination with the President. He or she is in charge of assigning families, keeping the family attendance up to date, and checking on family activity.
External Vice President: The External Vice President acts as a contact of the Baylor University VSA to the Vietnamese organizations of other schools in Texas. He or she will act as a representative of VSA at Baylor University meetings and carry out presidential duties in the absence of the president.
Secretary: The Secretary is responsible for keeping all non-financial records. He or she is responsible for keeping minutes at each VSA and University required meetings; he or she will then inform the other officers. He or she is in charge of reserving rooms for general meetings and submitting and managing the member roster, which both are done through Connect. He or she is in charge of informing members of each event and meeting. Secretary must document any reservation or email from any Baylor faculty or staff member after approval. He or she is responsible for keeping track of and informing the President of other student organization events, especially that of the MA Big VI.
Treasurer: The Treasurer is responsible for the records of all spending and money transactions including but not limited to creating an expense report and holding receipts and bank statements. He or she must give a copy of the record to the Secretary. He or she is responsible for upholding the VSA bank account and has the sole power of withdrawing money from the bank account. Requests for money allocations by other officers must seek approval from the Executive board. Collecting membership dues will be the responsibility of the Treasurer. Furthermore, he or she is in charge of reserving, setting up, and obtaining approvals for all fundraisers and charity events. He or she is responsible for coordinating fundraising events as needed and keeping records of all costs and profits. All unused money at the end of each semester will be transferred for use for the following semester. All unaccounted for spending is the sole responsibility of the Treasurer and must be paid for by the Treasurer; he or she will then be removed from office. Treasurer and President are the only officers who will have a card. Any spending must be notified and documented to the Treasurer.
Historian: He or she will take pictures of all VSA social events. He or she is responsible for creating a poster board and/or scrapbook for Late Night and Mosaic Mixer. He or she shall create a slideshow for the Spring Formal as well as videos if he or she would like for the organization. He or she must obtain or borrow a camera. He or she is responsible for posting pictures up on the the VSA social media outlets.
Public Relations Chair: He or she is responsible for advertisements for VSA meetings and organizational events. He or she is responsible for getting any designs approved for any VSA event, especially for the fall Autumn Moon cultural show, spring charity formal, and Asian Night Market. He or she is responsible for submitting a template for the program and slideshow for any VSA event as needed to the President. He or she is in charge of scheduling chalking for meetings and events.
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Graphic Designs Chair: He or she is responsible for designing merchandise and graphics for any VSA event. This includes member t-shirts, social media posts, advertisements, and other merchandise. He or she will work closely with the public relations chair to coordinate graphics and flyers as well as the historian for VSA pictures.
Intramural Chairs: He and she is responsible for organizing athletic involvements including intramurals and various sports including but not limited to t-shirt ordering, practices, and registration of players for their designated group. He and she is responsible for coordinating sports including registration, coaches, and practices. He and she will also schedule sports practices.
Social Chair: The Social Chair will foster social relations with other organizations. He or she is responsible for organizing a minimum of two (2) official VSA social events each semester and informing members about these events. He or she is responsible for organizing new member activities.
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Service Chair: The Service Chair is responsible for coordinating service projects each semester, including, but not limited to, Steppin’ Out. He or she will inform members of such service opportunities. He or she is responsible for verifying the validity of all service submissions. He or she is responsible for submitting volunteer hours to the university in a timely manner. He or she is responsible for representing VSA at any service affiliated meetings and events required by Baylor University.
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Cultural Chair: The Cultural Chair is responsible for spreading Vietnamese culture amongst the community. He or she will find a choreographer or choreograph a cultural dance that will be performed at VSA events and/or outside events. He or she will be also responsible for recruiting “dancers” for the cultural dance. He or she in charge of a cultural fun fact during each of the VSA member meeting. He or she is accountable for planning and running cultural day which will be during a member meeting when Vietnamese culture is informed to the VSA community through activities.
Clause 1. Nomination will be held during the end of March or early April. A quorum must be present and a simple majority vote will win. Any active member can be nominated by another active member. Members nominated for office must be present at the meeting to be nominated. Elections will be held at the following regular meeting. Each nominated member must be present and give a speech.
Clause 2. Each elected officer shall hold his or her office for one academic year.
Clause 3. Each active member will have one vote.
Clause 4. Each nominated member would have an interview after his or her speech.
In case of a vacancy in an office position after the initial election, nominations and elections shall be held among the officers to fill or combine positions within one general meeting.
Article V. Judicial Review Board
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Clause 1. The officer evaluation board will be made up of all the officers of VSA and will be presided over by the Executive Board.
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Clause 2. Officer evaluations will be held as needed.
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Clause 3. The President may conduct the evaluation in any manner he or she sees fit.
Clause 4. The officer evaluation board will have the power to review an officer’s ability to hold his or her office. A unanimous vote not including the officer in question is needed for removal of an officer.
Article VI. Meetings
Regular meetings shall occur every Tuesday at 7PM in the Houston room on the third floor of the Bill Daniel Student Center.
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Officer meeting shall be held at least once a week. Additional meetings will be presided with the president.
A quorum shall consist of the entire officer board, plus one member. Quorum must be present to conduct official business.
Article VII. Finances
Dues shall be determined per academic year and will be collected from all members of this organization.
All moneys belonging to this organization shall be deposited and dispersed through a bank account established for the organization. All funds must be deposited within 24 hours after collection. The advisors of this organization must approve and sign each expenditure before payment.
Article VIII. Advisors
The organization will have no less than one official advisor and all advisors shall be full-time faculty or staff members of Baylor University. Advisors shall have the following duties and responsibilities: (1) to provide guidance for understanding Baylor University policies and procedures and provide leadership for adherence to those rules by the organization; (2) to review and approve requests for organization events, activities, publicity and t-shirts; (3) to act as a consultant in the areas of setting goals, problem-solving, policy-making, and upholding guidelines and purposes, which includes attendance at organization and officer meetings as deemed necessary; and (4) to attend, as the University representative, all off-campus and overnight activities, providing guidance, support, and assuming leadership in the event that an emergency should occur.
Article IX. Amendments and Revision
This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the active membership subject to approval of the Vice President of Student Life, through the Department of Student Activities, and the Dean for Student Learning and Engagement.
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