Constitution of New House II
Article I – Name
The name of this organization shall be New House Two, or Jonathan and Blanch Ballard House.
Article II – Object
The object of this organization shall be to provide proper and efficient government for the students of Ballard House.
Article III – Members
Section 1. All official undergraduate resident of Ballard House are members thereof and have the full right to participation in its proceedings.
Section 2. The graduate resident(s) of Ballard House are non-voting members thereof, but do have the right to speak at meetings.
Article IV – Officers
Section 1. The officers of Ballard House shall be Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Members-at-Large, Judicial Chair(s), Social Chair(s), Athletic Chair, Facilities Chair, Fire Captain, Sergeant-at- Arms, Residence Chair(s), Senior Gift Committee members, CPW/Rex committee members, and Webmaster. These officers shall perform the duties prescribed by this constitution and by the parliamentary authority adopted by the House.
Section 2. Elections for all offices except Residence Chair(s) will be held at House meetings at the end of each term. The election of the Residence Chair(s) will take place at the beginning of the spring term. No member shall hold the same office for more than two consecutive terms.
Section 3. The officers shall be elected to serve for one term or until their successors are elected, and their term of office shall commence immediately upon election.
Section 4. Any officer can be removed from office by a two-thirds vote at a House meeting. The House member will not receive the points allocated to this position.
Section 6. If an office becomes vacant, the Chairperson shall appoint a member to hold that office until an election which will be held within 7 days, to officially elect the officer. If the Chairperson of Secretary position becomes vacant, the Treasurer will act until the election.
Article V – Duties of Officers
Section 1. The duties of the Chairperson(s) shall be to preside at the House meetings, to be official Room Assignments Chairperson, and to be the principle representative of the House to the outside world, and assist the residence chair during R/O week.
Section 2. The duties of the Treasurer shall be to manage House finances, keep clear and accurate records of House financial transactions, and provide allocated money within 3 days and other money on an event basis.
Section 3. The duties of the Secretary shall be to e-mail post minutes of House meetings within 7 days of the house meeting to the House 2 e-mail, update the house calendar, and maintain House records, especially the House directory. The Secretary shall also inform and publicize to the House, meeting times through emails.
Section 4. The duties of the Members-at-Large shall be to help the Chairman represent Ballard House at dorm meetings and to return the pertinent information to the House.
Section 5. The duties of the Judicial Chairs shall be to be the first avenue of arbitration for disputes among members of the House, to maintain a working copy of the constitution, and to make and distribute final current copies of the constitution to House members at the end of their term .
Section 6. The duties of the Social Chairperson(s) shall be to plan and manage all House social events except those during R/O week, those organized by the graduate resident(s), and those for CPW. The Social Chairs shall also inform and publicize to the House, all social events through emails.
Section 7. The duties of the Athletics Chairperson shall be to make available to members of the House, at least three intramural team opportunities, obtain House funds to pay fines (half, up to $50) accrued by the above, manage House athletic equipment, ensure the captains are doing adequate jobs.
Section 8. The duties of the Facilities Chairperson shall be to maintain the facilities of New House II, excluding the weight room.
Section 9. The duties of the Fire Captain shall be to fulfill the Institute requirements for that office.
Section 10. The duties of the Sergeant-at-Arms shall be to maintain order at House meetings, act as a bouncer at House parties and study breaks, moving non-House members to the end of the line.
Section 11. The duties of the Residence Chair(s) shall be to run the Residence activities and assist the Chairperson during R/O week.
Section 12. Any duty not outlined in this constitution, but necessary for proper function shall be done by officers.
Section 13. The duty of the Webmaster shall be to maintain the New House II website.
Section 14. the duty of the senior gift committee shall be to order and present gifts to seniors who have reached their 8th term or last term whichever is sooner as well as to notify the house of the gift giving time. All seniors will receive their gift on their eight term and only on the 8th term or last term. The exception shall be if the senior elects to get their senior gift the next term. Section 15 the duty of the CPW committee shall be to plan and carry out CPW events and notify the house and the prefrosh of the events.
Article VI – Meetings
Section 1. The regular meetings of Ballard House shall be held at least 4 times during each regular semester: on Registration Day of Fall Semester, on Registration Day of Spring Semester, and monthly on a preset day each month of the semester.
Section 2. The purpose of regular meetings is election of officers, room assignments, and any other business that may arise. Room assignments and vacant offices shall be only business conducted at the first regular meeting.
Section 3. Special meetings may be called by the Chairperson at the written request of ten House members.
Section 4. Notice, time, and agenda of meetings shall be posted 48 hours in advance except with exceptional notice (all officers agree).
Section 5. Meetings will be held in the fifth floor lounge of Ballard House, and no meetings may be called during the summer, IAP or national Institute holidays.
Section 6. Quorum is 25% of Ballard House. Population is to be determined at the first meeting of the semester.
Article VII – Parliamentary Authority
The Rules contained in Robert’s Rules of Order – loosely interpreted – shall govern New House II in all cases. They are not superseded by the constitution and any special rules adopted.
Article VIII – Financial Policy
Section 1. A House appropriation may be passed by the House by a majority vote at a House meeting. Section 2. The Treasurer shall pay House funds to the director of an appropriation provided that the total amount disbursed does not exceed the limitations set forth by that appropriation amount that is given to the director. Receipts and the difference are returned to the Treasurer. Section 3. The Chairperson, Treasurer, or Judicial Committee, acting in concert is empowered to make emergency appropriations as situations arise.
Article IX – Room Assignments
Section 1. The purpose of the Room Assignments procedure is to provide each House member with a room, in accordance with all Institute regulation regarding such procedures.
Section 2. Room assignments shall be held at the first and last regular meetings of Ballard House, and at any other meetings where the need arises; no assignments shall be made without following the procedures set forth in this constitution.
Section 3. Room assignments at regular meetings are for the semester immediately following. Section 4. The Room Assignments procedure is divided into two parts: first, the assignments of priorities through the Room Lottery and second, the assignment of rooms.
Article X – Room Lottery
Section 1. The purpose of the priority system and the lottery is to provide a clear ranking, in priority, of all House members. Section 2. All House members must be ranked; no two members may have the same ranking. In the event that two or more members within a priority group have the same number of points, there will be a chance drawing, with a deck of cards, at which each such member must be present to determine their ranking.
Section 3. Before a room assignment meeting, the Secretary shall prepare a list of House members, and for each member, the priority group to which he belongs.
Section 4. There shall be two factors that determine to which priority group a member belongs: first, number of terms lived in Ballard House, second, class year.
Section 5. Class year shall be defined as the expected year of graduation of each member, when he/she first arrived at the Institute at the beginning of his current period of continuous enrollment and/or residence. So, in the case of fifth year seniors, they shall be considered as a fourth year senior.
Section 6. For the purpose of this determination, a member shall have lived a term in the House if he/she has resided in the House for more than ten weeks during a term.
Section 7. A member ranks above all members with lower numbers of terms lived in Ballard House, and below all members with higher numbers of terms in Ballard House.
Section 8. Among members with the same class year, those with more terms in the House rank above those with fewer. Section 9. Among members with less than three terms in the House with the same class year and number of terms in the House form a priority group. Among members with the same class year, all members with three or more terms in the House are put together into one priority group.
Section 10. There shall be no class year higher in priority than that of a senior. Member who would otherwise have such a class year designation shall have their class year re-designated to that of a senior.
Section 11. All members will be ranked according to the point system with their respective priority groups.
Article XI Assignment Procedure
Section 1. Before the meeting, the Chairperson(s) shall write on a blackboard a list of all of the rooms in the house and who the current occupant is.
Section 2. No member is forced to move from his or her room, except when the Institute regulations such as those requiring un-crowding, intervene. This is known as “squatter’s right.” In order for a member to squat, they must have earned a minimum of 4 points in their previous term.
Section 3. The following procedure shall be followed: the Chairperson(s) shall ask each member in turn, in order of prior established priority, whether they wish to change their room, as soon as one member decided to, the Chairperson erases the name from the current room, and write it down next to the chosen room, and returns to the top of the list.
Section 4. The procedure shall end when the Chairperson has read through the list once without any changes.
Section 5. If a member with a high enough priority wishes to take a vacant room at any time during the proceedings, they have the right to interrupt and ask the room.
Section 6. If Institute regulations force the movement of some member, and none affected by the regulation wish to move, the member with lowest priority must move.
Section 7. If more than one person of a crowded room wishes to move, the one of highest priority is granted the opportunity. All vacancies should be filled by rank.
Section 8. R/O lottery will be postponed until the first official lottery of the semester. Freshmen will be randomly assigned to rooms until that time.
Article XII- Point System
Section 1. The number of terms in Ballard House is the first and foremost limiting factor.
Section 2. The points shall be allotted as follows: Offices – 8 points for Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Judicial Chair, Social Chair, Sergeant-at-Arms, Webmaster, Residence Chair, CPW committee, and Facilities Chair. 6 points for Members-at-Large, Athletics Chair, senior gift committee, and Fire Captain. 2 points for Committee Members. 1 point for meeting attendance. For high occupancy rooms – 2 points/semester quaded, 1.5 points/semester tripled, 1 point/semester doubled. Intramural teams – 1 point/team. A member holding two offices, in accordance with the guidelines set forth in Article IV, is restricted to earning a maximum of 10 points, which includes the full point value associated with the first office plus additional points (up to the maximum) for holding the second office. Members causing house fines will receive a 1-point deduction per fine. No points can be accrued during the Independent activities period.
Section 3. A quad shall be defined as four house occupants living in a room, a triple as three house occupants living in the room, a double as two occupants, and a single as one house occupant living in a room.
Article XIII – Amendment of the Constitution
This constitution can be amended at any meeting by a two-thirds vote of members present provided the amendment has been posted at least a week prior to the meeting.
Article XIV – Kitchen Policy
Any dirty dishes left in the kitchen area of the House 2 at the end of each shall be placed into a bin (to be purchased) by the Facilities Chair. Every Sunday, starting at 6pm, all House 2 residents are welcomed to pick out any items from the bin they wish to keep. The Facilities Chair then has the authority Monday morning to throw out what is left in the bin. Also, any food which has an expiration date that has passed shall be thrown out every Sunday night by the Facilities Chair. At the discretion of the Facilities Chair, any item in the fridge (1st and 5th floors) that seems spoiled or has been in the fridge for several weeks shall be thrown out by the Facilities Chair (they would know what has been in the fridge and relatively for how long since they will be examining the kitchens on the weekly basis on Sunday nights). House members are welcome to inform the Facilities Chair if they have any concerns about any items in the fridge since the Facilities Chair has the authority to throw things out of the fridge. The purpose of this will be to attempt to maintain cleanliness in the kitchen, to minimize the amount of rodents in our house, to calm the frustrations of house residents over unsanitary conditions, and to make residents aware that there are consequences for leaving dirty dishes in a communal sink.
Special Rules of Order and Standing Rules of Ballard House
Rule 1) Members need not stand to address House meetings, but must be recognized by the Chairperson.
Rule 2) A member is not limited to the number of times they may speak on a particular subject in debate.
Rule 3) All New House II alumni are invited to all House meetings. All other events are open to them also.
Rule 4) Proxies are allowed for the purpose of room assignments only. The giving of a proxy must be put in writing or email to the Chairperson(s) at least 24 hours in advance.
Rule 5) A single copy of the kitchen keys will be supplied to each member upon request by the Facilities Chairperson. Members are required to return their keys to the Graduate Resident Tutors at the termination of each school year, as they are House property. There will be a $15 fee for any keys that are not returned.
Rule 6) No member shall hold the same office for more than two consecutive terms.
Rule 7) All House members are House Presidents. It is for this reason that the presiding officer(s) is referred to as Chairperson(s).
Rule 8) Committees must be formed at House Meetings. Only House 2 residents may reside on committees.