Below is the Ratified Constitution for Transcendence:
Constitution for Transcendence
Article I: Name
The name of the organization shall be Transcendence
Article II: Affiliations
Transcendence shall have no affiliation with local, state, or national organizations
Article III: Purpose
The purpose of Transcendence is to further education at BGSU and in the surrounding community regarding gender identity and gender expression; to offer social support to students, faculty, staff and community members who identify as transgender, transsexual, intersex, genderqueer, drag queen, drag king, bigender, cross-dresser and other non-traditional genders, as well as significant others, friends, families and allies of the transgender community; to work towards the elimination of transphobic bigotry, prejudice and discrimination; and to create policies which protect transgender people from discrimination and foster a more inclusive and just environment for gender minorities at BGSU and in Northwest, Ohio.
Article IV: Membership
Membership will be open to all regularly enrolled undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, and community members who are interested in transgender identity, education on issues pertaining to gender identity, advocacy to eradicate transphobic prejudice and cultural programming to celebrate the full breadth of gender diversity. Membership in the group shall not be denied based on race, ethnicity, color, religion, age, sex, intersex status, gender identity, gender expression, disability status, veteran status, parental status, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, HIV/AIDS status, political affiliation, economic means/class status. Membership will be kept confidential; members may choose to register under a pseudonym, first name, or initials. The list of membership shall be used only for record-keeping of group’s attendance. The official membership will be kept by the Secretary. All members shall adhere to the Bowling Green State University Code of Ethics & Conduct, a copy of which will be made available upon request.
Article V: Officers
The Core Officers of Transcendence shall consist of a President, a Treasurer, a Faculty Advisor, and a Vision Liaison. If there are additional members available to serve, the following Positions will also be filled: Vice President, Secretary, and Community Liaison.
All terms of service are for one academic year. All Core Officers will be composed of full-time undergraduate or graduate students, or full-time faculty at BGSU. The Community Liaison may be a community member.
All officers are expected to adhere to the Bowling Green State University Code of Ethics & Conduct and when acting in official capacity as an officer of the organization shall represent the organization in a professional, responsible and ethical way.
Description of Duties:
A. President: Shall pick the Faculty Advisor and be an undergraduate or graduate student in good standing. Shall work with the Faculty Advisor to plan activities, will work with group members and other Officers to plan activities, will plan agenda for all meetings, will run proceedings of meetings.
B. Treasurer: an undergraduate or graduate student in good standing, will create budget, attend needed Office of Campus Involvement financial trainings, will make sure all performers are paid, will create proper contracts for performers, will work on funding events, will plan at least one fundraiser per year and will approach and secure potential co-sponsors for funding as needed.
C. Faculty Advisor: will receive periodic briefings from the President regarding the group and offer input for successful planning and execution of all events. Not required to attend all meetings, but one per semester is expected. In absence of a meeting, the Advisor is required to read meeting minutes.
D. Vision Liaison: The Vision Liaison will be a current member of the Vision Officer Team. Any Officer may serve, and will be decided by the Vision Officer Team. The Vision Liaison will be expected to attend all Transcendence meetings. They will take notes on the meetings and report back to the Vision Officer team and vice versa. They will advocate for funding from Vision for Transcendence events and coordinate the exchange between the Treasurers of Vision and Transcendence. They will coordinate publicity of Transcendence events to Vision membership and vice versa.
E. Vice President: will work with the President and Treasurer, will create publicity for events, including flyers, email announcements and community promotions, will fill-in for any officer relieved or resigned of their duties, as needed.
F. Community Liaison: Will work with President to provide advice about the day-to-day operations of the group and will attend meetings to proffer ideas for successful programs and activist projects, will network between Transcendence and local and national organizations. Their term is not to exceed two consecutive years.
G. Secretary: the Secretary will take notes at all meetings and send out minutes to the Transcendence membership in a timely manner, will help out with publicity as needed and coordinate email and website communications, will prepare press releases and release them to local news media, prepare a newsletter or blog.
Elections
A. Officers: The first Officers of Transcendence will be elected by the membership at the February 2006 meeting. Names will be forwarded and seconded. All members/Officers will vote, and Officers will be elected if a majority votes affirmatively. Elections will follow every subsequent March/April to take office the following August. Terms are for one year but may be repeated again for a maximum of four years.
B. Voting: Will be performed by paper ballot to be counted by the Faculty Advisor. Persons eligible to vote must have attended at least one quarter (2) of meetings per academic year.
Article VI. Advisor
The primary organization advisor must be a University faculty member committed to the purpose and constitution of the organization.
The term of service for the advisor is one year. The advisor will be hand-picked by the President. The membership will be asked to approve. If not approved, the Officers and membership reach a consensus about an alternate candidate. If the candidate agrees to serve, they become the Advisor. If not, the group reconvenes until a willing candidate is secured.
Article VII: Meetings
All meetings shall be called by the President. Transcendence shall meet as an organization for regular business meetings eight times per year: once per month in the months of January, February, March, April, September, October, November and December. In addition, special programs will be held in both the Spring and Fall semesters, including Intersex Awareness Day and Transgender Awareness Days, as well as other speakers, film screenings, and cultural events as decided by the Officers. In the case that a special meeting needs to be called, the Officers will decide on an appropriate date via email. Electronic communications will be used to carry on discussion about group business when real-time meetings are logistically impossible.
Article VIII: Quorum
A quorum for general meetings shall consist of no fewer than one half of the active membership, including at least two members of the Officer team. The definition of active member is having attended two of the last three meetings
Article IX: Removal of Officers or Members
If Officers are not fulfilling their duties, or if members are a disruption to the group, or do not share the spirit of the group’s purpose, or engage in hurtful, harassing, stalking, violent, aggressive or discriminatory behavior, or do not adhere to the confidentiality policy of the group, their status will be evaluated by the Officer Team. The accused member/Officer will be allowed to state their case. At that time, the accused party will be asked to exit the room. The Officers and members will vote on whether to allow the Officer to continue in their post, or the member to remain in the organization. If the majority agrees, the offending party shall be expelled from the group. In the case of an expelled or resigning Officer, the group will have an emergency election to locate a new Officer to fill the vacant position. If an Officer chooses to resign, a letter must be presented to the Officer team and a question and answer session may be called.
Article X: Amendments
Amendments to this constitution shall be presented by members or Officers of the group in writing and read into the minutes at a regular meeting at any point during the year. The Officer team will assess the legitimacy of the proposed Amendment. The Secretary shall ensure that all members receive a written or electronic copy of the proposed Amendment and announce the date the voting of the proposed Amendment will take place. The proposed Amendment shall then be briefly discussed and voted on at the meeting. A quorum shall be required to vote on an Amendment and majority vote shall be required to enact a proposed Amendment.
Ratified on Friday January 27, 2006