WSA Constitution

The Women's Student Association at Indiana University is dedicated to supporting women through activism, conscious raising, and eduction within the IU community.

In addition, WSA provides an atmosphere for personal growth and social networking for women. WSA recognizes, and works to eliminate, the multiple levels of oppression that are acting in society. These include racism, sexism, heterosexism, ageism, and ableism.

In addition, WSA understands their fundamental relationship to the unequal distribution of power.

The Women's Student Association (WSA)

Membership shall be open to all University students, faculty and staff, men and women of any race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, ablility, class or age in accordance with University policy.

There will be four Director positions that will be filled on a volunteer basis and approved by the executive board. They will serve a term of one academic year. These Director positions include: Director of Activism, Director of Social Programming, Director of Educational Programming, and Director of Outreach.

Each Director has clearly defined responsibilities that they are to fulfill.

The Executive Board will be made up of the five following officers that will serve a term of one academic year: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Herstorian, and Publicist. They will be appointed by the election of the general membership.

Meetings will be held bi-weekly for a general membership and weekly for the cabinet members (executives and directors).

Adoption of new amendments requires previous notification and three-fourths affirmative vote of the mass membership present for voting.

I. General membership has voting power. The Executive Board can override a general membership decision by a unanimous vote. An executive veto can be overriden by a 3/4 vote of the general membership.

II. Director of Activism is responsible for:

1. Keeping women on campus, both members of WSA and non-members, informed about both nation and local events and issues.
2. Getting students, both members and non-members, involved in activities of other organizations that support women's issues and agendas.
3. Creating and executing WSA activism projects such as protests, marches and demonstrations on both the local and national level.
4. Creating committees, made up of WSA members, when necessary for the completion of a program\event.
5. Activism events should include multicultural women's issues.
6. Develop activitism programs for: Hispanic Heritage Month, Asian-American Heritage Month, Black History Month, Women's History Month, and Pride Week.

III. Director of Social Programming is responsible for:

1. Creating and executing social programs such as gatherings, parties, and receptions for both memebers of WSA and non-members.
2. Creating committees, made up of WSA members, when necessary for the completion of a program\event.
3. Developing social programs for: Hispanic Heritage Month, Asian-American Heritage Month, Black History Month, Women's History Month, and Pride Week

IV. Director of Educational Programming is responsible for:

1. Creating and executing educational programs such as lectures, speakers, debates, and open forum discussions that address women's issues.
2. Contributes to conferences or to the creation of confrences that address women's issues for both members of WSA and non-members.
3. Creating education programs for: Women's History Month, Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Asian-American Heritage Month, and Pride Week.

V. Director of Outreach is responsible for:

1. Communicating with philanthropic and volunteer organizations to create opportunities for WSA to participates in, both action oriented and for fund raising purpose
2. Publishing articles in the IDS, Herald Times and Griot about women's issues and related topics
3. Organizing the creation of and maintaining a WSA web page.
4. Creating and distributing WSA pamphlets
5. Getting women of underrepresented populations invovled in WSA.

VI. President is responsible for:

1. Calling general, cabinet, judiciary, and emergency meetings
2. Leading all meetings
3. Creating all agendas for general and cabinet meetings.
4. Reading and responding to email
5. Public Relations
6. Recruitment
7. Maintaining an acceptable level involvement from members

VII. Vice-President is responsible for:

1. Assisiting President with all responsibilities
2. Taking over President's responsibilities in the absence of the President.
3. Supervising Directors and ensuring they fulfill their responsibilities, including having a yearly plan of action.

VIII. Herstorian is responsible for:

1. Taking minutes at both a cabinet and general meetings and storing them for WSA records.
2. Storing WSA records.
3. Documenting WSA history including yearly calendars that record social, activist, philanthropic, and educational programs and events.
4. Creating and stocking WSA headers and stationary.
5. Maintaing the WSA office
6. Reserving meeting spaces for general and cabinet meetings

IX. Treasurer is responsible for:

1. Collecting membership dues
2. Maintaining and creating new funding sources
3. Maintaing WSA budget

X. Publicist is responsible for:

1. Flyering, chalking, and advertising for WSA events.
2. Publicizing the organization.
3. Recruiting new members.

XI. Dues are $5.00 per year per member

XII. Elections will be held during the first week of school after spring break

XIII. Directors should contribute 5 to 10 hours weekly to fulfill their directorship responsibilites

XIV. Amendments to the by-laws require a 2/3 affirmative vote of the general membership and cabinet present and voting, for its adoption.

XV. Impeachment of a Director can be carried out by a unanimous vote of the Executive Board.

XVI. Impeachment of an Executive can be carried out by a 3/4 vote of the general membership.

Last modification: Monday, 06-Oct-2008 19:17:51 EDT
For more information: wsa@indiana.edu
Copyright © 2008, Evan Boggs; licensed