New House III Constitution Article I. Officers Article II. Conduct of House Meetings Article III. Committees Article IV. Amendments Article V. Ratification Article VI. Room Assignments Article I. Officers The offices in the NTS government are President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Social Chairperson, Athletic Chairperson, Room Assignments Chairperson, and Historian. No person may hold more than one elected office during a term. Section 1. The President Organizes, calls, and runs house meetings. Shares with the treasurer responsibility for disbursing monetary allocations approved by the house. Oversees workings of the government and makes decisions for the house with the advice of the house government. Selects volunteers. Section 2. The Vice President Handles external affairs of the house, including representing NTS at New House government meetings and reports all results to the house at house meetings. Makes appointments to external representation with the house retaining veto power, by majority, over any appointments. Has the responsibility of informing the New House President, in writing, of the new elected officials of the house, within two weeks after each election. Section 3. The Treasurer Has the responsibility for maintaining the financial records of the house, including the collection of any monies due to the house and the disbursement of money approved by the house. Must report financial status to the government at each meeting. May only reimburse for approved expenses with receipts. Shall have all house subscriptions and bills in his/her name or NTS. Section 4. The Secretary Keeps records of house meetings, posts minutes, and maintains the house website. Must accompany the Vice President to New House government meetings. Advises the President on points of order. Section 5. The Social Chairperson Conducts, coordinates, and supervises all activities, persons, or committees involved in successfully staging any social events approved and sponsored by the house. Must prepare a budge for every social event by the end of the social event. May have volunteers to help with the organizing and stages social events. Must notify house residents about social activities with sufficient notice. Section 6. The Athletic Chairperson Keeps the house informed of all intramural activities and oversees the administrative details of dealing with the intramural office. Is responsible for the house-owned athletic equipment and the acquisition thereof (with house approval). Appoints team captains with the teams involved retaining veto power. Section 7. The Housing Chairperson Supervises the assignments of rooms to citizens of the house according to the rules outlined in article VI. Serves as a buffer between the house manager and residents of the house. Takes attendance at house meetings. Section 8. The Historian Is responsible for the house photo collection, including the upkeep of the photo wall, and keeping a history of happenings in the house for posterity's sake. Will take pictures at house functions to be placed in the house photo collection. Will be reimbursed by the house for supplies and the like needed for the job. Section 9. Elections and Terms of Office A term of office expires when a successor takes office or when the officeholder leaves the house. Elections for house officers will be held at the beginning of each term and newly elected officers take office two weeks after the election. Elections will also be held at the end of the term for any offices being vacated. Section 10. Impeachment and Resignation An officer is impeached when 1/3 of the house members sign an impeachment motion stating the reason for impeachment. A 2/3-majority vote by secret ballot is necessary to evict an impeached officer. All officers are subject to impeachment. An emergency meeting follows an impeachment motion. An elected officer or an appointed committee member may resign at any house meeting. Section 11. Vacancy Should a vacancy occur in any office for any reason, the office will be filled by the election of a successor at the meeting in which the vacancy was officially created. Article II. Conduct of House Meetings Section 1. Format Meetings will be of the "town meeting" style with all votes cast by ballot. Section 2. Announcement The President must announce a regular meeting two days in advance. The agenda is to be posted at least thirty-six hours in advance of the meeting. There will be an opportunity for any house member to add to the agenda while it is posted. Additions to the agenda made within twenty-four hours of the time of the meeting will be disallowed; this will be enforced by the house President. An emergency meeting may be called on the day it is to take place if the President, Vice President, Treasurer, or Tutor announces it before 3:00 p.m. that day; otherwise it must be announced the day before. Only one issue may be discussed at an emergency meeting. Section 3. The Chair The President will preside over house meetings. In the chairman's absence, the order of precedence for the chair will be Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and then the Tutor. Section 4. Citizens A citizen is one who lives in the house, or one who has been declared a citizen at a house meeting with the consent of 2/3 of those attending, as well as his own. All citizens are required to pay house tax each term, either through M.I.T. Student Accounts or through house treasurer. The amount of this house tax will be set by vote at a house meeting. Section 5. Voting A simple majority of house citizen's must be present for a vote to be held. Each citizen has one (1) vote and may accept at most one (1) proxy. Absent citizens may vote by proxy. Proxies must be directly communicated to the President. A quorum will consist of all citizens attending a house meeting. All motions must be seconded and repeated before being voted upon; passage requires a simple majority at any house meeting. Only citizens may vote or accept a proxy. Article III. Committees Committees will come into existence whenever the need arises. Section 1. Purpose A committee will be formed only after a "statement of purpose" has been issued. The statement of purpose will define the reason for the existence of the committee and explain the committee's responsibility to the house. The statement of purpose can be written or verbal. Section 2. Constitution A committee will be made up of volunteers. The number of members will be limited by the President. The committee chairperson will be appointed by the President from the committee members. Any citizen may be a committee member. Section 3. Dissolution Once the responsibility of the committee as set forth in the statement of purpose has been fulfilled, the committee may be dissolved by the house President. Article IV. Amendments Section 1. Proposition An amendment must be posted in writing at least twenty-four hours before the meeting in which it is to be voted upon. Section 2. Balloting Amendments are voted upon by written ballot. Section 3. Ratification Amendments require a 2/3 majority at a house meeting for passage. Article V. Ratification To take effect this constitution must be ratified by a 2/3 majority of citizens present at a house meeting under the conditions now in existence. Article VI. Room Assignments Section 1. Frequency Room assignments must take place at the first house meeting of the term, during a house meeting in May (to take effect in September), and any time the necessity of filling a room arises. Section 2. Priority Rooms are assigned on a priority basis. Priority for a room will be based on the following considerations, in decreasing order of priority: Squatter's rights - Any person living in a room just prior to leaving the house on an approved leave (co-op, semester or year abroad, or internship) shall have first rights to that room upon return. Barring, that any person living in a room just before leaving the house for the end of the semester shall have first rights to that room upon return. Housing priority - Housing priority will be determined by, in order of descending importance: a. Number of terms in NTS b. Official MIT grade level in the September following the housing assignments c. Housing Points - the points will be a summation of: i. Room Points - A person will get three points for every term in a triple, two points for every term in a double, and one point for every term in a single in NTS. Room points are cumulative from the beginning of a student's residency. ii. House Meeting Points - Each citizen is allowed to miss one house meeting without losing points. After that, one half of a point will be deducted for each meeting missed. d. Lottery The lottery is a card draw. The highest card is the Ace, with proceeding in descending order to the Deuce. If two people draw the same card, the relative position is determined by suit: (in descending order) Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and, finally, Clubs. The Housing Chairperson reserves the right to make adjustments to the calculation of housing points resolve housing problems. All house members of equal priority shall enter the lottery without giving up their squatter's rights. Section 3. Room Changes Any number of members of the house may switch rooms during the term if the following conditions are met: All residents of the rooms involved agree to the switch. No other member of the house of equal or higher priority objects to the switch. Section 4. Crowded Rooms If the need arises, the following rooms will be crowded in the order listed: 406 306 206 407 207 307 214 Section 5. Crowding Anyone assigned to a single that must become a crowded double or a double that must become a crowded triple for the fall semester can nullify the previous room assignments, with the results of the previous lottery remaining unchanged. Section 6. Exceptions Any exceptions to the above rules may be made with a 2/3-majority vote at a house meeting.