Constitution for the Eastern Washington University Resident Housing Association
Last Updated April 25th, 2022
Article I: Name
The name of this organization shall be the Resident Housing Association, herein referred to as RHA.
Article II: Purpose
The Resident Housing Association of EWU is a team devoted to the growth and development of residential housing experience through advocacy, equity and inclusion initiatives and connecting residents to others. The RHA Executive board serves as the liaison between residents and the campus community
Article III: Membership
Section 1: General Membership
All students living in the residence halls are considered members of the RHA. Each member will have the right to attend meetings and participate in all campus-wide activities sponsored by the RHA.
Section 2: Elected Membership
Each residence hall will designate one (1) Residential Representatives to have voting rights at the RHA General Body meetings.
Section 3: Non-Discrimination Clause
Participation in the proposed organization must be without regard to arbitrary consideration of such characteristics as age, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status.
Section 4: Hazing
Hazing is prohibited. Hazing shall be defined as any conduct which subjects another person, whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or psychologically, to anything that may abuse, degrade, or intimidate the person as a condition of association with a group or organization, regardless of the person’s consent or lack of consent.
Article IV: Organization
Section 1: Executive Officers
The executive officers of RHA shall be comprised of: RHA Director, Associate Director of National and Campus Communications (AD-NCC), Associate Director of Administration and Finance (AD-AF), Director of Activities and Programs (AD-AP) and the NRHH Representative.
Section 2: Requirements for Executive Officers:
These duties can be waived by the Advisors if needed. They include but are not limited to:
Must have and maintain a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA;
Must be enrolled as a full-time student;
Must live in one of the residence halls or the EWU Apartments;
May not be con-currently employed as a Community Advisor;
Upholding the RHA Constitution;
Upholding and maintaining Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, the governing rules of RHA.
always Acting as a positive representative for RHA and EWU Housing;
Performing the duties required by their office;
Attending all general body meetings;
Attending a minimum of one hour of executive board meetings per week;
Giving weekly updates at executive and general body meetings;
Submitting all agenda items in a timely fashion;
Working a minimum of five office hours per week unless otherwise stated by the advisors;
Attending one diversity or inclusion program per quarter, not hosted, or co-hosted by RHA;
Acting as an advocate for our student population;
Attending mandatory summer training;
Attending other training sessions as necessary;
As directed, attend all programming events;
As directed, co-chair task forces;
Creating advertisements as needed;
Producing transition documents for new exec board position upon end of term;
Holding a minimum of two one-on-one’s with -in training executive officers;
Acting as a cohesive unit to accomplish all goals;
Performing other duties as delegated by the RHA Director and Advisors;
Section 3: Officer Responsibilities
1. RHA Director
Duties shall include but are not limited to:
Acting as chief liaison for RHA;
Providing motivation for the organization;
Holding a goal-setting meeting at the beginning of each quarter;
Presiding over general body meetings;
Facilitating executive board meetings;
Working with the ADAF to prepare agendas for Executive and General body meetings;
Serving as spokesperson for the executive board and organization;
Informing all exec board members of any meeting expectations, changes, or other information;
Holding one on one’s with executive board members and Hall council members to their discretion;
Meeting weekly with all advisors;
Remaining fair and impartial during all decision-making processes;
Does not vote except in the case of a tie;
Attending all President boardrooms at all conferences in accordance to the NACURH Guidelines;
Attending all President regional chats according to the NACURH Guidelines;
Maintaining administrative access to all RHA communication;
Being aware of budget and money matters;
Booking all meetings spaces;
Facilitating task force creation for each executive member quarterly;
Being aware of all NACURH and RHA related documents as necessary;
Facilitating activities to assist in group cohesiveness;
Coordinating executive board transition;
2. Associate Director of National and Campus Communications (AD-NCC)
Duties shall include but are not limited to:
Serving as a liaison between the campus, regional, and NACURH level;
Shall be responsible for attending and representing RHA at all conferences;
Attending all NCC boardrooms at conferences according to NACURH guidelines;
Attending all NCC regional chats according to the NACURH Guidelines;
Presenting bids and legislation to the General body to accurately represent EWU’s opinion;
Reporting to the general body on all conference and regional meeting materials and information;
Recruiting a delegation of residents and make appropriate arrangements for their registration and travel to and from all conferences;
Facilitating pre-conference meetings;
Facilitating the creation of bids for all conferences;
Shall work with the ADAF to facilitate all fundraising for conferences;
Writing the affiliation documents and shall be sent to the NACURH Information center;
Attending ASEWU meetings once per quarter; (counts as office hours);
Reaches out to on-campus organizations to create partnerships in conjunction with the AD-AP;
Attending Club and Organization meetings when held; (counts as office hours);
Serving as primary parliamentarian;
Facilitating election of all officers;
Setting the timeline for special elections in accordance with the Advisors;
Creating and distribute surveys to residents regarding RHA matters;
Maintaining the website for RHA;
Accessing social media accounts to post on RHA matters;
Assuming all duties of the RHA Director in their absence;
3. Associate Director of Administration and Finance (AD-AF)
Duties shall include but are not limited to:
Maintaining all organizational records, inventory, and history;
Preparing the organizational annual budget;
Facilitating budget updates at every general and executive board meeting with the treasury documents;
Making quarterly reports of all receipts and disbursements to the members;
Working with the RHA Director to prepare agendas for executive and general body meetings;
Auditing books regularly with the advisors;
Maintaining a financial history of the organization;
Serving as the primary signatory on financial accounts;
Directing all constitutional updates revisions, and rewrites;
Maintaining spirit points rules and tally points every quarter;
Shall record and maintain minutes for all organization meetings;
Sending minutes to all appropriate members and institutional staff;
Shall maintain attendance at all meetings;
Maintaining contact info for executive board and hall councils;
Creating and facilitating Edgar games at every general body meeting;
Collecting and facilitating all budget requests for funds and pay bills;
Maintaining a working relationship with the institutional accounting office;
Coordinating solicitations and fundraising efforts;
Claiming all stolen or lost equipment;
4. Associate Director of Activities and Programs (AD-AP):
Duties shall include but are not limited to:
Planning programs and events;
Assigning duties for programs or events between executive board and any volunteers;
Keeping statistics on attendance at programs;
Completing evaluations on programs;
Presenting feedback and improvement ideas regarding programs to the executive board at meetings;
Creating and maintaining all activities involving the Hall Wars competition;
Keeping awareness of traditional RHA programs;
Scheduling program and event locations;
Reaching out to on-campus organizations to create partnerships in conjunction with the AD-NCC;
Accessing social media accounts to post on programming matters;
Reaching out to Community Advisors for RHA promotion and joint program activities;
Working with Community Advisors to bring “Pack-N-Pros” in the hall;
Hosting one diversity programs per quarter
Sending out one survey per quarter to gather feedback on what programs students want to see;
Attending at least three non-RHA programs a quarter;
Facilitating meeting with past conference attendees to get program ideas;
Helping coordinate a minimum of five diversified programs a year;
5. NRHH Representative:
The NRHH representative has partial duties, but not all, of the executive officers. Duties shall include but are not limited to:
Attending all RHA meetings;
Voting on behalf of NRHH at RHA general body meetings and executive board meetings;
Fulfilling the duties and requirements of the NRHH constitution and the RHA constitution;
Being accountable for the representation of NRHH at RHA functions;
Reporting information acquired at RHA meetings back to NRHH;
Running special elections if the AD-NCC is running for a position;
As directed, attend all programs;
As necessary, co-chair task forces;
6. RHA Executive Board In-Training (RHA-IT)
Duties shall include but are not limited to:
Having a minimum of two one-on-ones with their outgoing officers, except for the RHAD-IT, who should also meet once with every executive board member to get a grasp on all positions;
Attending all general body meetings;
Attending all executive board meetings;
Having one team bonding event during the quarter;
Creating a means of communication for over the summer;
Assisting with programs as necessary;
The RHAD-IT and the AD-NCC-IT are encouraged to apply to go to the NACURH conference to learn conference procedures;
9. ADVISOR(S):
Duties shall include but are not limited to:
Meeting weekly with the RHA Director;
Having one-on-ones as needed with the executive officers;
Attending all meetings;
Keeping the executive board informed on institutional matters;
Maintaining relationships with on-campus personnel as needed;
Auditing finances with the ADAF;
Acting as an advisor during trips to conferences and business meetings;
Serving as a liaison between the organization and the institution;
Assessing risk management practices and assisting with risk management decisions;
Assisting the organization with election concerns;
Respecting and encouraging all organizational functions;
Section 4: General Body Responsibilities
Residential Representatives:
Duties shall include but are not limited to:
attending all RHA meetings;
fulfilling the duties and requirements of the RHA constitution;
representing their hall at RHA meetings;
reporting information acquired at RHA meetings back to their hall council;
volunteering for one RHA event per quarter;
serving on one RHA Committee per quarter;
holding one office hour a week in their hall;
Article V: Election and Appointment
Section 1: Voting Processes
Votes
Every vote will be decided by a simple majority vote. In the case of a tie, the RHA Director will serve as the tie-breaker. . The voting members always have the option to abstain from the vote or to cast a vote of no confidence, if applicable. Elections for the RHA Executive Board members will be at the beginning of Spring quarter.
Voting Members
The voting members of RHA will include all Residential Representatives and the RHA executive board, excluding the RHA Director, RHA-IT, and the Advisor(s). To be considered a voting member, an individual must:
Be currently living in a residence hall;
Be registered as a full-time student at Eastern Washington University;
Be elected into one of the voting positions;
May not have more than two unexcused absences from any general body meetings of the year;
Voting member rights may be proxied to another individual. Regional representatives are first encouraged to proxy to their partner representative, but can proxy to another individual living in their hall, or an Office Worker working in their hall. The NRHH Representative may proxy to another RHA Executive Board member or another NRHH member. An RHA representative can proxy to any other RHA Executive Board member, excluding the RHA Director, or to their -IT, if the position is filled. No voting member may hold more than two votes at any given time. If a vote is to be proxied, the RHA Executive Board must be informed prior to the meeting being called to order. A proxied voting right returns to its original owner after a meeting adjourns or when a motion is made to return it.
Section 2: Voting in Executive Board Members
Voting in members of the executive board shall follow parliamentary procedure.
1. Each candidate will present a bid to the voting body to be reviewed beforehand.
2. First each candidate shall give a three (3) minute speech;
3. Next there will be a period of question and answer for three (3) minutes for each candidate that is extendable up to five (5) minutes more;
4. After the candidates have had a chance to present and the voting members have had a chance to ask questions, there shall be a three (3) minute discussion among the voting members, extendable up to five (5) minutes more. This discussion can only contain content related to the speeches and the question and answer period of the individual candidate;
5. Finally, there shall be a three (3) minute discussion among the voting members, extendable up to five (5) minutes more. This discussion can only contain content related to the speeches and the question and answer period, but is used to discuss and compare all candidates;
5. Votes will be by paper ballot and will be counted by the RHA Director and the Advisor(s);
6. A revote can be called if:
a. There is an issue in counting the votes, called for by whoever is counting the votes;
b. There is suspect of misunderstanding or misinformation of the voting members called for by the election facilitator;
c. At any other point a revote can be cast if the voting members unanimously agree to a revote. At any point other than those listed above, the election facilitator can ask that the voting members call for a revote and give a statement on why they feel there should be a revote;
7. If, at any point, a discrepancy in the voting process has been found, the election facilitator will call off the election with the input from the executive board and the advisors until the situation is resolved.
Section 3: Interim Positions
An interim is defined as an RHA Executive Board member or Residential Representative nominated by the RHA Director and the Advisors who temporarily steps into any vacant board position due to an urgent need for that position to be filled. The interim has the choice to reject their nomination. The interim will have full rights and responsibilities during their term as interim. The interim spot is temporary and must be followed with an appointment process or special election as soon as possible, not to exceed one month. This will be defined as an interim term, where a person can only serve as interim for one month before further action must be taken. A person cannot be elected interim to a position more than one interim term. If an interim appointment and a special election yield no new officer, another interim may be elected at the discretion of the RHA Director and the Advisors. Any position available on the Executive Board will follow this process, except for the RHA Director and AD-NCC, defined below.
RHA Director
In the case of the vacancy of the RHA Director, the AD-NCC will automatically be granted the Interim position of the RHA Director, rather than being nominated by the Advisors. If the position is vacant one month or less before a conference, the Executive Board will nominate someone to fill in as the RHA Director or NCC at the conference. It is the discretion of the Interim RHA Director if they will serve as the NCC or the RHA Director at the conference. Their interim term will last until a week after the conference, at which point a permanent appointment must be made or a special election timeline announced.
AD-NCC
If the AD-NCC position is vacant one month or less before a conference, the position must be filled by an Interim by the next general body meeting. If an interim has not been found, the Special Election timeline must be announced at that meeting, with a special election happening a week later.
Section 4: Interim Processes
At the end of an interim’s one-month term, an interim appointment will be held at the following general body meeting. An interim appointment is when the general body can appoint the interim fully into the position they hold interim for. The interim appointment process will follow the normal election process. If appointed, the interim becomes the executive officer for the remainder of the executive officer term. If the interim is not appointed, a special election will follow. The individual who served as the interim is allowed to run in the special election.
A special election timeline must be announced one week after a vacant position is announced and no interim fills it, or one week after an interim appointment if the interim is not appointed. The timeline is to be set by the AD-NCC. If the AD-NCC is running for a position, elections will be run by the NRHH Representative. If both are running for a position, then elections are facilitated by the Advisors. Special elections follow normal election procedure.
Section 5: Terms of office
The term of office for all officers shall be as follows: elected officers shall hold the position of RHA-IT from the elections of spring quarter to the end of the academic year. At that point, they shall assume all full responsibilities of their position, and serve in the position until the end of the next academic year. If the officer is voted in during the academic year, their term shall be from the time they were voted in, to the end of the academic year. Executive officers may serve a maximum of two (2) terms in any one position on the RHA Executive Board. There shall be no limit to the number of times a Residential Representative may be re-elected to their position from their residence hall.
Article VI: Removal of an Officer
Section 1: Removal of an RHA Executive Board Member
Any RHA Executive Board member can be removed from office upon a supermajority vote of two-thirds (2/3) of all voting members. The RHA Executive Board cannot be removed upon one supermajority vote of two-thirds (2/3). Each RHA Executive Board member’s removal must be voted upon in separate instances. To begin the removal process, a letter of intent must be submitted to the Advisor(s), which shall contain the reasons stated for a request for removal. The authors of the letter of intent shall remain secret, with only the Advisor(s) ever knowing. To be valid, this letter must be co-written by two or more executive officers, four or more Residential Representatives, or one executive officer with two Residential Representatives. A petition containing signatures from 25% of the current residential population or 50% of one hall population will also be accepted by the Advisor(s) as grounds to begin the process.
After the Advisor(s) have received the letter, they will announce at the next general body meeting that the process has begun and that a vote will be taken at the following general body meeting. Sometime within the next 48 hours (about 2 days), the officer at risk of being removed will receive a copy of this letter, edited by the Advisor to be anonymous, so they can prepare a rebuttal if they choose. At the meeting, the letter of intent will be read to the voting members. The officer at risk of being removed has the option for a five (5) minute speech and three (3) minute Q&A session, extendable up to five minutes. Following, there will be a five (5) minute discussion, extendable up to five minutes, ending in a vote. If the officer is removed, they have one (1) week to turn in all relevant information and vacate the position.
Section 2: Removal of a Residential Representative
If a Residential Representative is unexcused from two (2) or more meetings, then that hall or apartment will lose voting rights for the remainder of the quarter, or until the position has been filled by another individual. An unexcused absence is one that the executive board and the Advisor(s) have not been notified of, whether by E-mail or any other form of contact. A Residential Representative is expected to notify the executive board or the Advisor(s) as early as possible of an absence. A Residential representative will be considered absent if they do not alert the executive board or the Advisor(s) three (3) hours before a meeting. In the case of an emergency, it is the executive board’s discretion to waive an absence. It is the Residential Representative’s responsibility to provide information about a proxied vote. .
Section 3: Resignation
At any time, any officer may resign from their respective position due to any academic, health, and/or other personal concerns without any required explanation. It is requested that the individual(s) give a clear written and signed statement that they are resigning from their position at least two (2) weeks prior to resignation.
Article VII: Meetings
The RHA meetings, presided over by the RHA Director, shall begin the first full week of each quarter. The time for the general body meeting will be decided upon by the RHA Executive Board. The RHA shall meet weekly during the academic quarter. A meeting will be cancelled if it will not meet quorum, if it falls on a Holiday or day off, or if there is a successful vote to cancel it. Any member of the Executive Board may call additional meetings should the need arise, provided that twenty-four (24) hour notice is given to the members.
Article VIII: Quorum
Quorum of RHA shall be two thirds (⅔) of the general board’s voting members. If the quorum is not met any voteable action must be tabled to be discussed at a future meeting where quorum is re-established. Any substantive action taken in the absence of a quorum is invalid. If a meeting begins with a quorum and is not maintained, any thereafter voteable action must be tabled to be discussed at a future meeting where quorum is re-established. Any vote that is proxied shall count towards a quorum. Any position that is currently vacant will not count toward the quorum until it has been filled.
Article IX: Amending the Constitution
Section 1: Amendments from the AD-AF
To amend the constitution, the AD-AF will rewrite the constitution with the suggestions of the rest of the executive board and voting officers in mind. The AD-AF must present the rewritten constitution to the executive board and have all officers in agreement before it can be voted on by the voting officers. Revisions must clearly show deleted and added portions.
Section 2: Complete Revision
If the constitution needs to be completely rewritten, then this shall be done by the RHA AD-AF in coordination with the advisors in addition to following all the rules stated above.
Section 3: Amendments from an RHA Member
Amendments to the constitution can be proposed by any member of RHA as well. The proposing member must amend the constitution following the rules above, with the exception that they must first have attempted to have the AD-AF push the legislation, and they must turn in their proposed amendments two weeks in advance to the executive board, to give the board time to give the legislation to the voting officers.
Section 4: Voting
Voting on the constitution shall be announced one (1) week before voting. A copy of the proposed changes will be given to all voting officers at this time. An amendment shall be passed by two thirds (⅔) majority vote of voting officers attending the RHA meeting.
Section 5: Amendment Voting Processes
The process for voting in amendments is as follows:
The legislation will be brought to the floor.
There will be a reading of the new legislation unless it is waived by the voting officers.
There will be a three (3) minute session of question and answer, extendable up to five (5) minutes more.
There will be a three (3) minute discussion period, extendable up to five (5) minutes more.
The voting body will vote to accept the new legislation. This vote can happen in full, by page, by paragraph, by individual change, or by any other method deemed fit by the voting body.
