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Indian Students Association Constitution

Article I: Name and Purpose

Section I.1
The INDIAN STUDENTS ASSOCIATION at VIRGINIA TECH, hereafter referred to as ISA, shall be a non-profit socio-cultural organization.

Section I.2
Its main goals shall be:

1. To create an awareness of Indian Culture amongst the student community.
2. To provide a platform for expression and provide mutual support for the Indian Community in and around Blacksburg.
3. To provide a platform for all members and interested non-members to participate in campus activities through cultural events.
4. To establish and maintain contact with the Indian Community at large.
5. To promote growth in international understanding and fellowship.

Article II: Membership

Section II.1
Membership of the ISA shall be open to all members of the community regardless of race, color, religion, sex or disability.

Section II.2
The membership of ISA shall fall under the following three categories:
1. Regular Members: Students, faculty, and staff, associated with Virginia Tech, who have paid their membership dues.
2. Associate Members: Spouse, partner, or family member of a Regular ISA member, who has paid the spouse/family membership dues.
3. Extended Members: Friends and colleagues who are not directly related to Virginia Tech or any ISA member who has paid ISA dues.

Section II.3
Membership dues will be tiered according to the following structure and membership dues will be decided by the General Body following the formation of new committee.
1. Students
??? Annual/Semester
??? Single/married/family/partner
2. Faculty
??? Spouse/Family/partner
3. Extended Members
??? Single/married/family/partner

Section II.4
Active voting members shall be those who:

1. a. Are Regular ISA members who have paid their annual dues.
2. Are in agreement with the purpose of the club.

Article III: Office Bearers and Elections

Section III.1
The ISA Executive Committee shall be elected by the voting conducted at General Body meeting of ISA, or an online voting.

Section III.2
The Executive committee will consist of President, Vice President, General Secretary and Treasurer. The President, Vice President, General Secretary, and Treasurer have the discretion of f expanding or shrinking the executive committee.
Section III.3 Only Regular ISA members will have voting rights in the election.

Section III.4
Elections for the ISA Executive committee (President, Vice President, General Secretary and Treasurer) shall be held in the fall term of each year, the exact date to be set by the Executive Committee, and publicized to the General ISA Body. The date of the election shall be announced at least four weeks in advance.

Section III.5
Election shall be based on the simple majority of the votes.

Section III.6
Nominations for the President must be forwarded and seconded by ISA members and shall be accepted till 5:00 pm of the last date set by the executive committee.

Section III.7
In the event of a single nomination being filed, the nominee shall be declared elected and no polling shall be conducted.

Section III.8
Voting shall be by a secret ballot or secret online voting.

Section III.9
The ballot papers or online voting would be handled by the faculty advisor, President, Vice-President, and the secretary.

Section III.10
Disputes shall be settled by the Executive Committee.

Section III.11
When an office is vacated, an appointment shall be made by the Executive Committee.

Section III.12
The executive committee shall open up the nominations for all the vacant posts and invite nominations within two weeks of vacancy for vacant posts. The committee shall conduct election if there are more than one nomination for each vacant post, otherwise the nominee would be selected as ISA committee member.

Section III.13
Quorum for the ISA Executive Committee meetings shall consist of four members and must include either the President or the Vice President.

Article IV: Duties of the Office Bearers

Section IV.1
The President shall chair and call all Executive Committee Meetings. He/She shall be the person in overall charge of the activities and the affairs of the club. He/She shall preside over the Committee Meetings. He/She shall assist the Treasurer in preparing the budget. He/She shall also extend full cooperation full to the new ISA Executive Committee until he formally hands over the charge to the new President. He/She shall ensure that the Meetings and activities are adequately publicized.

Section IV.2
The Vice President will preside over all the meetings in the absence of President. He/She shall assist and advise President in all the executive decisions. He/She shall assist the President and the Secretary during the election of a new ISA committee.
Section IV.3

The Treasurer is responsible for:

1. All the financial affairs of the club.
2. He/She shall draft a budget plan for the forthcoming year and submit it to the ISA Executive Committee. He/She shall be responsible for presenting the budget proposal for the forthcoming year to the Budget Board of the Graduate Student Assembly.
3. He/She could enlist the help of any other member of the ISA Executive Committee to draft the budget.

Section IV.4
The Treasurer shall make the accounts public at the end of the year. All active voting members are entitled to examine the accounts at all times.

Section IV.4
The General Secretary is responsible for:

1. Keeping the minutes at all ISA Executive Committee Meetings.
2. Keeping an up-to-date membership list and an active voting status list.
3. Informing all members of upcoming events.

Section IV.5
The Cultural Secretary is responsible for:

1. Planning, publicizing, and coordination of the entertainment and cultural programs of the association.
2. Maintaining the association home page on the internet.
3. Publicity of all events and activities proposed by the club.

Section IV.6
Other members of the Executive Committee shall assist the office bearers in their duties, and shall be eligible to act on their behalf, when appointed to do so.