Constitution

PREAMBLE

The reasons for creating this chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at
The Georgia Institute of Technology are:

• The great number of Hispanic Students
• The absence of a well-organized entity for the advancement of Hispanic Students
• The absence of a Society professionally interested in the academic potential of the Hispanic Community
• The need of an organization to help Hispanics through their studies

ARTICLE I

NAME

The name of the non-profit organization shall be THE SOCIETY OF HISPANIC PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS, a Georgia Tech Student Organization (GT-SHPE)

ARTICLE II

PURPOSE

The purpose of this organization shall be:

• Inform the Hispanic students of scholarships available from the National Society.
• Help the Hispanic students in their academic performance at Georgia Tech.
• Assist our members in getting a job that best matches their potentials.

ARTICLE III

MEMBERS

SECTION I

All candidates/members of this organization must be students of Georgia Tech.
All candidates/members must abide by all articles within the constitution.
No person shall be denied membership in this organization due to race, color, gender, handicap, nationality, religious affiliation or belief, regardless of the name of the organization.
All candidates/members should fill out a membership form and pay a $5 processing fee to the National organization with the national submission of the form and $5 dollars for chapter fees.

SECTION II

The maximum number of members shall be five hundred.

SECTION III

All persons who have become members of the organization at least thirty days prior to the Annual Election shall be eligible to vote.

SECTION IV

Persons who have been members of the organization for at least two quarters and are currently enrolled as a full time Georgia Tech student shall be eligible to hold office.

SECTION V

The chapter shall meet at least once a month. The President shall call a general meeting at any time giving a notice to the members 7 days prior to the meeting.

ARTICLE IV

EXECUTIVE BOARD, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, ELECTIONS, TERMS OF OFFICE,
FACULTY/ADMINISTRATIVE ADVISOR(S), AND IMPEACHMENT

SECTION I - Description and Qualifications for Executive Board and Board of Directors.

The Executive Board of Directors (EBOD) shall consist of an elected President, External Vice President, Internal Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Historian, Faculty and Administrative Advisors. The Board of Directors (BOD) shall consist of Director of Academic Development, Director of Professional Development, Director of Recruitment, Director of GT Faculty & Administration Liaison, Director of GT Student Organizations Liaison, Director of Corporate Relations, Director of Alumni Relations, Director of Community Outreach, Director of External Organizations Liaison, Director of International Programs, Director of GT-SHPE Programs, Director of GT-SHPE Events, Director of Marketing, Webmaster, Director of Internal Fund Raising Activities, Director of External Fund Raising Activities and necessary chair positions, as well as the members of the EBOD.
In order for a member to become a member of the BOD or EBOD he/she must be a student at Georgia Tech with a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or above, and has shown a strong commitment to GT-SHPE. A candidate for the EBOD positions Internal/External Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer or Historian shall be a member of the BOD for at least one semester prior to being elected. A candidate for Presidency shall be a member of the EBOD fro at least on year prior to being elected for the position.

SECTION II - Responsibilities

Part I - EBOD

The President:
Administer all business concerning the chapter.

• Act as a liaison between members, administration, and corporations
• Chair all meetings.
• Provide the web master with announcements of internal and external activities, scholarships, and job opportunities.
• Be able to take any of the responsibilities of any of the BOD positions or assign them to any of the BOD members when necessary.
• Have a part in ALL decision-making policies.

The External Vice President:

• Is equal to the internal VP but responsibilities rely upon the chapters contacts with the public, regional and national chapter.
• Assist the President in all business concerning the acquisition of new corporate contacts and keeping good relations with old corporate contacts.
• In charge of external affairs (industrial relations, company tours and visits, etc).
• Has the duty of attending regional meetings with the student and/or professional chapter meetings.
• Is to be able to assume the position of internal VP and president in their absence.

The Internal Vice President:

• Is equal to the external VP but is responsible of all the internal affairs (campus relations, social activities, etc.) of the chapter.
• Maintain updated information on upcoming University events.
• Responsible for the communication between the BOD and the chapter and school.
• To be in charge of reserving the rooms and catering any GT-SHPE meetings and events.
• Is to be able to assume the position of external VP and president in their absence.

The Treasurer:

• Shall manage all money received or disbursed.
• Be responsible for maintaining and updating the records of incoming and outgoing finances.
• Be responsible for signing all necessary documents for the proper functioning of the organization, in the absence of the President and Vice Presidents.
• Be responsible for constructing the budget of GT-SHPE.

The Secretary:

• Take minutes of all meetings.
• Will be in charge of public relations.
• Distributing the Corporate Packages.
• Making Resume CDs.
• Is responsible for the GT-SHPE files and computer.

The Historian:

• Is responsible to track and document Chapter Activities whether it is to national events, school or chapter events.
• Is to be in charge of compiling the end of the year report throughout their term.
• Is responsible for the chapter's digital camera.

Part II – BOD

Director of Academic Development:

• Assist in any academic related problems a member may have.
• Organize and create study sessions (e.g. During Midterms and Finals)
• Get tutors for members that may need them.
• Collect information on professors (how good they are, their grades distribution, the way they teach, etc) and begin a record of past exams and homework also known as "word".
• Collect books from members who wish to participate to create the GT-SHPE library used to lend books to members whenever they need them (this includes textbooks).
• Report to the Internal Vice President.

Director of Professional Development:

• Assist members on resume building, interviewing skills, etc.
• Organize career forums that will promote our professional development.
• Report to the Internal Vice President.

Director of Recruitment:

• Work with the Undergraduate Admissions department and with the different admissions office at each college to get more students to come to GT.
• Promote within the current members the option of attending GT for graduate school.
• Works closely with our administrative advisor.
• Report to the Internal Vice President.

Director of GT Faculty & Administration Liaison:

• Creates a direct link between GT-SHPE and GT faculty.
• Help solve problems a GT-SHPE member could have with GT as a University, or with any member of the Faculty.
• Create events that involve Faculty, Administration and Students. For example, a Hispanic Cook Out.
• Report to the Internal Vice President.

Director of GT Student Organizations Liaison:

• In charge of relating and communicating with other organizations on campus.
• Make sure of active participation and involvement from GT-SHPE on activities we get invited to by other organizations.
• Assure that other organizations get invited to particular events of GT-SHPE.
• Work to get activities planned and organized together with other on-campus organizations.
• Report to the Internal Vice President.

Director of Corporate Relations:

• Work directly with corporations by organizing corporate visits for recruiting.
• Have Corporations working together with GT SHPE in different activities.
• Help find and select the corporations that would be part of the Industry Advisory Board (IAB).
• Report to the External Vice President.

Director of Alumni Relations:

• Work directly with the Alumni (Hispanic and non Hispanic) and with the Alumni Association.
• Help find and select the members that would be part of the Alumni Advisory Board (AAB).
• Work hand by hand with the director of external fund-raising activities to acquire a grant for GT-SHPE with the Alumni Association.
• Report to the External Vice President.

Director of Community Outreach:

• Establish a group of activities to help the community inside and outside of GT(tutoring, translating, ecology, Team Buzz, Tech Beautification Day, Relay for Life).
• Be always looking for the different needs that may arise within the community.
• Report to the External Vice President.

Director of External Organizations Liaison:

• Relate and work with any other organization outside of GT (Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Latino-American Association, GHNET, other SHPE chapters, other universities organizations, SHPE Professional Chapter and others).
• Make sure of active participation and involvement from GT-SHPE on activities we get invited to by other organizations outside of GT.
• Assure that other organizations outside of GT get invited to particular events of GT-SHPE.
• Work to get activities planned, organized and co-sponsored with other organizations outside of GT.
• Report to the External Vice President.

Director of International Programs:

• Work with companies that may have working programs outside the US.
• Relate to other universities outside the US to start building a worldwide academic network.
• Find any special academic programs and opportunities outside the US.
• Learn and help solve the special situations international students have for working permits here in the US.
• Report to the External Vice President.

Director of GT-SHPE Programs:

• Supervise all the programs that will be taking place throughout the year. In order to do this, need to work closely with all the other members of the BOD to be looking for upcoming programs.
• Help with propaganda of events.
• Keep minutes, information such as # of people, ethnicity, etc.
• Report to the Secretary.

Director of GT-SHPE Events:

• Supervise all the events that will be taking place.
• Work closely with the Director of GT-SHPE Programs.
• Advertise each event.
• Keep minutes, information such as # of people, ethnicity, etc.
• Report to the Secretary.

Director of Marketing:

• Advertise GT-SHPE on campus and outside of campus.
• Create GT-SHPE products (pens, caps, t-shirts, etc).
• Report to the Secretary.

Webmaster:

• Keep the GT-SHPE web site up- to-date.
• Need to work very closely with all the other members of the BOD to check of any news.
• Report to the Secretary any changes that are planned to be made on the website.
• Keep improving the website by coming up with new ideas and researching on new technologies.
• Report to the Secretary.

Director of Internal Fund-Raising Activities:

• Prepare and coordinate all the different Fundraising activities on campus. This can be either targeted to a special event (ETCC, NTCC, RLI, RSLC) or to collect funds for GT-SHPE as a whole.
• Report to the Treasurer.

Director of External Fund-Raising Activities:

• Prepare and coordinate all the different Fundraising activities outside campus. This can be either targeted to a special event (ETCC, NTCC, RLI, RSLC), to collect funds for GT-SHPE as a whole, or for other community organizations or the community in general.
• Work closely with the Director of Alumni Relations to get GT-SHPE a grant.
• Report to the Treasurer.

SECTION III - Elections

Part I – Elections for EBOD

Election shall be held one month to a month and a half prior to finals week.
Candidates for the offices shall be ruled by Article III-Section-IV and Article IV-Section-I.
All candidates will comply with the following guidelines:
The candidate must speak and justify why he/she is qualified for the position he/she is running for.
All ballots on election days must be personally deposited into the election box.

Part II – Election for BOD

During the first three weeks of fall semester these positions will be offered to the membership at large, at the end of which a vote of half plus one of the EBOD will be needed for the appointment. The EBOD reserves the right to appoint chair positions based on need and interest from members.

SECTION IV - Term of Office

The term of office shall be one year.
The new officers shall assume their official capacities in the Award Banquet.
Transition period, which is the period after elections until the end of the year, will be the time where the prior EBOD monitors and shadows the new EBOD with the ability to share responsibilities.
Newly elected officers are responsible for meeting during the summer period, to plan activities for the upcoming academic year, and finalize any pending proposals for the budget and corporate package.
Newly elected officers are responsible for recruitment efforts occurring during summer orientation and for sending corporate packages to the companies before the end of July.

SECTION V – Faculty/Administrative Advisor(s)

Must be a supporter of the promotion of GT-SHPE.
Will serve to advice and council the EBOD on decisions and concerns regarding the organization.
Will meet monthly with the executive board.
The Faculty Advisor will be professor of Engineering or related Science and will be selected once a year by the E-board.
The Administrative Advisor will be selected by the Faculty Advisor and the EBOD.

SECTION VI - Impeachment

Officers may resign upon written notification to the organization's advisor(s).
They may be removed by an executive vote in case of any infraction of this constitution.

ARTICLE V

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURES

All business meetings shall be governed by procedures contained in Robert's Rules of Order.

ARTICLE VI

AMENDMENTS

The following procedures shall be followed for amending any portion of the constitution:

• The proposed amendment shall be submitted in writing to the National Society after approval from the general membership.
• A favorable vote of two-thirds of the membership present at a general meeting shall be required for passage.