constitution

Ratified on 18 April 2007 | Printable (PDF) Version

Article I: Organization

Section 1: Name

The name of this organization shall be the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Dormitory Council, hereafter referred to as DormCon.

Section 2: Purpose

The purpose of this organization shall be to secure for the undergraduate residents of MIT undergraduate dormitories, by mutual effort, those benefits which cannot be obtained through the action of individual house governments.

Section 3: Jurisdiction

The constitutions of the individual dormitories shall take precedence in all matters not explicitly covered by this DormCon Constitution.

Article II: Membership

Every current undergraduate resident of an MIT undergraduate dormitory shall be a member of DormCon.

The voting members of DormCon shall be the house committee presidents of the undergraduate MIT dormitories. In the event that a dormitory's house committee president cannot regularly attend meetings, or at the discretion of the government or membership of a dormitory, a resident of that dormitory other than its president may be appointed to represent that dormitory as a voting member of DormCon. Every voting member must be a current undergraduate resident of an MIT undergraduate dormitory.

Article III: Meetings

Section 1: Attendance

DormCon meetings shall be open to all members. The officers and voting members shall attend all DormCon meetings. DormCon may invite any other person to attend meetings as seen fit by its leadership.

Section 2: Quorum

A quorum for transacting business at a DormCon meeting shall consist of the presence of enough voting members such that at least half of the dormitories are represented. If a quorum is not present, a meeting may be held but no votes may be taken.

Section 3: Meeting Frequency

DormCon shall meet once every two weeks or as seen fit by the President. Publicity for a meeting shall be distributed at least 48 hours before said meeting, and shall include the date, time, location, and purpose of the meeting along with any other information the officers of DormCon may wish to include.

Section 4: Proxies

A voting member of DormCon may appoint a proxy to attend meetings in his or her absence. The proxy appointed must be an official undergraduate resident of the voting member’s dormitory and holds all rights and privileges of the voting member for the duration of the meeting for which he or she has been appointed. The name of a proxy for a meeting must be submitted in writing before said meeting to the Secretary by the voting member whom the proxy is replacing. The voting member shall make a good faith effort to inform the proxy of the issues and questions that may arise during the meeting so that the proxy may be an active participant.

Section 5: Voting

For the purposes of an amendment vote, an election vote, or an impeachment vote, the voting members of DormCon shall be entitled to cast one vote per undergraduate officially residing in the dormitory they represent. The population of each dormitory shall be determined by the MIT Housing Office. If a member of DormCon who is not also a voting member is present during an amendment, election, or impeachment vote, he or she may cast his or her own single vote, reducing the number of votes cast by his or her dormitory’s voting member by one.

For the purposes of any other vote, the voting members of DormCon shall be entitled to cast exactly one vote each. In the event of a tied vote, the President of DormCon shall cast the deciding vote.

Section 6: Decisions

Substantive decisions of DormCon shall be made by a majority vote, not counting abstentions, unless otherwise noted in this Constitution. These decisions shall be binding upon the membership of DormCon.

Section 7: Financial

Subsection A: Budget Meeting
At the second DormCon meeting of each semester, a budget shall be established for that semester. Upon approving a new budget at a DormCon meeting, the previous budget shall become void.

Subsection B: DormCon Tax
All undergraduate residents of the undergraduate MIT dormitories shall be subject by DormCon to a tax of five dollars per resident per semester. A three-fourths affirmative vote at a DormCon meeting shall be necessary and sufficient to alter the amount of this tax. Such an alteration shall not require an amendment vote.

Article IV: Executive Committee

Section 1: Membership

The Executive Committee of DormCon, hereafter referred to as DormCon Exec, shall consist of the officers enumerated in Section 3 of this Article. These officers shall attend all meetings of DormCon and shall be responsible for the complete and effective performance of their respective duties as described. Additionally, they shall be responsible for transitioning their successors into office.

Section 2: Power and Authority

Subsection A: Representation
DormCon Exec shall be empowered to speak on behalf of DormCon in good faith. DormCon Exec shall put forth its best efforts to represent the views of DormCon accurately and effectively. Any action taken by an officer in the capacity of their office must be reported to DormCon before or during the meeting following that action.

Subsection B: Financial Signatories
The DormCon financial signatories shall be the President, Executive Vice President, Treasurer, and Vice President for Residence Exploration. The President and Treasurer may add additional DormCon Exec members to the list of financial signatories as they see fit.

Section 3: Officers

Subsection A: President
The President shall be responsible for carrying out this Constitution and executing all decisions of DormCon. The President shall oversee and coordinate the efforts and actions of DormCon. The President shall schedule the times and places of meetings and shall notify the voting members of DormCon of the same. The President shall act as chairman of all DormCon meetings. The President, or any proxy so designated by the President, shall be the chief representative of DormCon to the departments and offices of MIT and other external organizations.

Subsection B: Executive Vice President
The Executive Vice President shall assist the President in the execution of the decisions of DormCon and in representing DormCon to the departments and offices of MIT and any other external organization. The Executive Vice President shall serve as Acting-President if the President so decides, for whatever time the President determines. The Executive Vice President shall also serve as Acting-President if the President is incapacitated or if the office of President otherwise becomes vacant.

Subsection C: Treasurer
The Treasurer shall be responsible for all of the financial transactions of DormCon. The Treasurer shall oversee the receipt and payment of the money of DormCon, shall ensure timely reimbursement to anyone who has spent money on the authorization of DormCon, and shall monitor all of DormCon’s financial account activity. The Treasurer shall keep DormCon's permanent financial records and shall submit written reports about the state of DormCon’s finances at each meeting. The Treasurer shall create a budget to be approved by DormCon at the beginning of each semester and shall submit a complete and detailed financial report to DormCon at the end of each semester. The Treasurer shall keep copies of all reports of a financial nature presented to DormCon.

Subsection D: Secretary
The Secretary shall be responsible for maintaining all of the records of DormCon except those specifically assigned to others. The Secretary shall record the minutes of all DormCon meetings, including a list of the attendees of each meeting, and shall distribute said minutes to the members of DormCon within three days of the meeting. The Secretary shall be responsible for the dissemination of information related to DormCon. The Secretary shall maintain the DormCon website and DormCon bulletin board with current, relevant, and appropriate information about the actions and interests of DormCon.

Subsection E: Vice President for Residence Exploration
The Vice President for Residence Exploration (REX), hereafter referred to as the VP for REX, shall be responsible for coordinating and overseeing all of DormCon’s REX and Orientation activities, including jointly-run dorm events held during Orientation Week and Campus Preview Weekend and any other communication or interaction between incoming students and dorm communities for the purpose of residence selection. The VP for REX shall be DormCon's primary liaison to any groups involved in REX on any issues related to REX. The VP for REX shall be the primary contact for REX officers from individual dormitories and shall be responsible for making sure that these officers receive all necessary and requested information with regard to REX. The VP for REX shall work with the i3 Project Coordinator and relevant MIT personnel to assist with the production of dorm publication material for the Guide to Residences and the Interactive Introduction to the Institute (i3).
The VP for REX shall assemble meetings of REX officers from each dormitory as appropriate. These meetings shall occur at least once prior to Campus Preview Weekend and at least once prior to Orientation Week to discuss schedules, policies and other issues related to those events, and whenever such a meeting is requested by DormCon, another student group, or an administrative office that wishes to discuss REX issues of relevance to dorm communities. The VP for REX may invite appropriate administrators or representatives of other student organizations to these meetings.
DormCon may elect multiple REX chairs to assist the VP for REX.

Subsection F: Housing Assignments Chair
The Housing Assignments Chair, hereafter referred to as the HAC, shall serve as DormCon’s main advocate and liaison on all issues related to the assignment of students to dormitory rooms. The HAC shall communicate with Room Assignment Chairs (RACs) from each of the dormitories in order to inform RACs of current system-wide policies and procedures for housing assignments and potential changes in these policies and procedures and to gather feedback from RACs on housing issues. The HAC shall represent the collective interests of the RACs on housing issues to DormCon and to the Housing Office. The HAC shall assemble meetings of RACs from each dormitory when appropriate. The HAC shall also meet periodically with the undergraduate housing management.
DormCon may elect up to two HACs.

Subsection G: Judicial Committee Chair
The Judicial Committee Chair, hereafter referred to as the JudComm Chair, shall oversee the DormCon Judicial Committee described in Article VI, Section 2. The JudComm Chair shall be a resource for individual house Judicial Committees. In case of conflict or disagreement arising from the wording of this Constitution, any Bylaws, or any amendments to either, the JudComm Chair shall have the power to interpret the meaning or intent therein, subject to reversal of this interpretation by a three-fourths majority vote of DormCon.
DormCon may elect up to two JudComm Chairs.

Subsection H: Risk Manager
The Risk Manager shall be responsible for disseminating information to members on DormCon risk management guidelines, MIT policies, and laws concerning safety and liability. The Risk Manager shall be a resource for individual dormitories seeking advice on risk management. The Risk Manger shall work with relevant MIT personnel to provide social host training programs to interested members. The Risk Manager shall assist the VP for REX in working to establish standards for appropriate behavior during Campus Preview Weekend and Orientation Week, but shall have no role in enforcing said standards.
DormCon may elect up to two Risk Mangers.

Article V: Elections

Section 1: Eligibility

All undergraduate residents of MIT undergraduate dormitories shall be eligible to serve as officers of DormCon. There shall be one and only one MIT undergraduate serving in each of the DormCon offices, unless otherwise noted in this Constitution. No officer of DormCon may simultaneously hold a position as an officer of the Undergraduate Association, the Inter-Fraternity Council, the Panhellenic Association or the Living Group Council.

The offices of President, Executive Vice President, and JudComm Chair shall each be held by different MIT undergraduates. Any undergraduate holding any of these three Offices shall not simultaneously hold any other DormCon office.

If a current Officer becomes ineligible to serve for any reason, that Office shall immediately become vacant.

Section 2: Timing of Elections and Tenure of Office

Elections for the offices of President, Executive Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, HAC, JudComm Chair and Risk Manager shall be held annually during April. These elections shall proceed in the order listed above, and officer-elects shall be sworn in during the last meeting of the spring semester. Elections for the VP of REX shall be held annually during the first DormCon meeting of the spring semester, and the officer-elect shall be sworn in immediately. If elections (for any given officer) are not able to be held during the aforementioned times, they shall be held as soon as possible thereafter.

The tenure of office for any undergraduate holding a DormCon Office shall extend from the time when that officer is sworn in, to the time when his or her successor is sworn in.

The President shall be responsible for transmitting to relevant MIT personnel and to the leadership of relevant MIT student groups the names of all DormCon officers upon their election or appointment.

Section 3: Impeachment

A two-thirds affirmative vote at a DormCon meeting shall be necessary and sufficient to impeach a DormCon officer. The election to fill the Office made vacant by a successful impeachment shall occur at the DormCon meeting following the meeting during which the impeachment took place, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Section 4: Vacancies

In the event of a vacancy in the office of President, the Executive Vice President shall serve as Acting-President until the next regular DormCon meeting. At that meeting, or as soon as possible thereafter, an election shall be held to fill the position of President. If the Acting-President is elected to the position of President, an election for Executive Vice President shall be held immediately to fill that office.

In the event of a vacancy in any DormCon office other than President, the President shall appoint any eligible person to serve in said office until the next regular DormCon meeting. At that meeting, or as soon as possible thereafter, an election shall be held to elect a permanent replacement for said appointee.

Article VI: Committees and Other Positions

Section 1: Creation and Dissolution

DormCon may create or dissolve committees of a temporary nature from time to time as it deems necessary. The President shall appoint the members and chairs of all such committees, unless otherwise noted in this Constitution. Such appointments are subject to approval by a majority vote at the DormCon meeting following said appointments. Additionally the President may appoint any person who is a member of DormCon to carry out any of the duties of DormCon. Such an appointment is subject to approval by a majority vote at the DormCon meeting following said appointment. These persons and committees shall be responsible to DormCon.

Section 2: Judicial Committee

The DormCon Judicial Committee, hereafter referred to as DormCon JudComm, shall be a standing committee of DormCon. DormCon JudComm shall mediate and adjudicate all disputes which come before it. The membership, rules, and procedures of DormCon JudComm may be found in the Dormitory Council Judicial Committee Code, which shall be considered an extension of this Constitution and which shall be subject to the same rules and procedures for amendment and ratification as this Constitution.

Section 3: Rooming Committee

The DormCon Rooming Committee shall be a standing committee of DormCon. The members of the Rooming Committee shall be the HAC and at least one RAC from each MIT undergraduate dormitory. This committee shall ensure that individual dorm in-house rooming policies are established, fair, and in accordance with MIT housing policies. Furthermore, the DormCon Rooming Committee shall help formulate any changes to general in-house rooming policies.

Section 4: I3 Project Coordinator

The i3 Project Coordinator shall be the undergraduate point-person for all aspects of the Interactive Introduction to the Institute (i3) Project. The i3 Project Coordinator shall be responsible for meeting with and communicating project parameters and deadlines to individual dormitory i3 Coordinators, overseeing the lending of video cameras to dormitory i3 Coordinators, and editing all material to be included. The i3 Project Coordinator shall work closely with DormCon, relevant MIT personnel, dormitory Housemasters, individual dormitory i3 Coordinators, and relevant outside vendors to ensure the successful completion of the project. The i3 Program Coordinator shall be appointed by a majority vote at the first DormCon meeting of the spring semester, or as soon as possible thereafter, subject to the approval of relevant MIT personnel. The appointee must be a member of DormCon. This position may be held jointly by two members of DormCon.

Article VII: Amendments

A three-fourths affirmative vote at a DormCon meeting shall be necessary and sufficient to amend this Constitution, except in the case where an amendment impinges upon the authority of the individual house committees. In that case, ratification by three-fourths of the house committees shall be necessary and sufficient to amend this Constitution.

Article VIII: Ratification

This constitution shall be adopted by a vote in the manner of an amendment vote. It shall supersede all previous versions of the DormCon Constitution.