Preamble

Turkish American Student Association, does hereby establish this referred Constitution in order that our purpose be realized to its fullest extent.

Article I - Name

The name of the organization will be Turkish American Students Association, henceforth referred to as TASA.

Article II - Purpose

TASA is established for the expressed purpose of developing leadership skills as well as an awareness of social responsibilities to encourage students to participate in helping Turkish students with their orientation, adaptation to UD, establishing a cooperation and close friendship among Turkish students and other students by organizing activities of their interests to promote Turkish culture and organize funding events. Furthermore, TASA will facilitate the communication of its members with other Turkish student associations in the US and it will participate in the organization of joint activities. TASA will provide support to its current and prospective members, and help them to overcome the problems they may face during their adaptation to a new culture and a new educational environment.

TASA understands and is committed to fulfill its responsibilities of abiding by University of Delaware policies.

Article III - Membership

TASA membership requires no fee for students, faculty and staff. Summer students, interns, short term scholars and faculty, staff, and students attending the University of Delaware are eligible for membership only.

TASA does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, sex or sexual orientation.

Article IV - Officers

TASA will be governed by the following means:

  1. An elected President will preside at all meeting of TASA. The President will maintain the power to appoint all committee chairpersons, shall present all motions to the body and shall be present at 80% of the TASA meetings.
  2. An elected President will preside at all meeting of TASA. The President will maintain the power to appoint all committee chairpersons, shall present all motions to the body and shall be present at 80% of the TASA meetings.
  3. TASA shall also maintain a Vice President. The Vice President's duties shall be to preside at all meetings and functions that the president cannot attend.
  4. TASA members shall also select a Treasurer who will handle all dues, accounts and the budget of TASA on behalf of the President.
  5. President of TASA will also be able to nominate vice presidents of committees created upon needs, and assign the Vice President(s) for duties of a vacant or resigned officer(s) until a volunteer officer assigned/elected.

Article V - Operations

Voting Eligibility

All members of TASA are eligible to vote.

Election Process

All officers shall be elected by a majority vote of members of the TASA and at least one Turkish officer should be elected on the board.

All elections will be held on an annual basis. If an officer leaves his/her position, election will take place in the next or same meeting for that open position. A member appointed by the President will take the duties of the removed officer until a new officer is elected, if there is no agreement in the next election, then the President will choose the officer or assume the position. If the removed officer is the President, then the Vice President will take the duties. If an officer leaves his position before completing the year which s/he is selected without a valid reason or removed from his/her position, s/he will lose election rights for the next two years but will keep his/her voting rights. The President will take nominations from the floor as well as being able to nominate, the nomination process must be close and the movement seconded. The nominated parties will be allowed to vote. All voting shall be done by closed ballot to be collected and tabulated by the Secretary and one member of the TASA appointed by the outgoing President.

Removal

Any officer of TASA in violation of the Organization's purpose or constitution, and cannot attend the meetings and missed 2 consecutive meetings without a valid excuse and permission from the President, may be removed from office by the following process:

  1. A written or oral request with a valid reasoning by at least two members of the Organization. Written notification to the officer of the request, asking the officer to be present at the next meeting and prepared to speak in self defense.
  2. The notification must be made at least one week before the meeting to give enough for the defense and this officer has the right to ask for an extension within this time period from the President. An e-mail or other written message is sufficient to ask for permission.
Committees

Committees will be founded upon need with request of at least three members of the Organization. The President has the right to appoint a group of volunteers or request voting for committees. Each committee will consist of a Head Officer and at least two members. The Head Officer will be responsible for the expenses of the committee. The budget of the committee will be prepared by the Head Officer and the Treasurer, and it will be approved by the President and they will report to the President or the officer appointed by the President. The Head Officer of the committee must attend the general Board meetings. Committees will be dissolved with the request of at least three members of the Organization or with the request of the Head Officer of the committee. The decision will be given by the President.

Meetings

All meetings will occur at a time selected by TASA with at least one Board meeting per month and will follow the procedures set forth below:

Dismissal by the President

If the majority of members can not be reached for approval or changes on constitution at the first meeting, a second meeting is arranged during the first meeting. If again majority of members can not be reached, constitution is voted with present members.

Article VI - Finances

TASA will finance the activities it engages in by the following means: Funds raised thorough previous activities and donations.

By-Laws

Policies pertaining to the time, location of organizational meetings: Meetings will be organized on an as needed basis, at least once a month, and the time and location of the meetings will be announced at least one week in advance.

Officer's duties:

President
  1. oversees all activities and projects of the Turkish American Student Association.
  2. serves as spokesperson in all external matters as an official representative of the Turkish American Student Association.
  3. calls and administers all meetings.
  4. nominates persons to serve on sub-committees.
  5. authorizes payment of bills for the organization.
  6. also reserves the right to choose an officer to attend and direct meeting when the President is absent.
Vice-President
  1. overtakes all the duties of the President in his/her absence.
  2. helps the President with his/her duties and decisions.
Secretary
  1. is responsible of keeping the minutes of the meetings.
  2. takes attendance at meetings.
  3. takes care of correspondence of the organization and files and preserves documents.
  4. keeps a list of the phone numbers, e-mail and home addresses of the organization and its members.
  5. prepares the agenda for the upcoming meetings.
  6. encourages students to join and introduce new members, prepares and helps with flyers, messages, and homepage.
  7. keeps faculty advisor informed of activities and decisions.
Treasurer
  1. keeps all the accounts related to the Turkish Student Association.
  2. pays all the bills for the organization authorized by the President.
  3. maintains the financial records of the Turkish Student Association.
  4. submits a financial report about expenses and budget.
  5. helps in fundraising activities and oversees the expenses of planned activities, reporting these at each board meeting.
Webmaster
  1. prepares the website of the organization.
  2. announces the upcoming events or news about Turkish community at UD.
  3. posts the relevant minutes of the TASA board.
  4. keeps the list of members in the website along with Secretary.