Constituion
Constitution of the Delaware Alpha Chapter of the
UPSILON PI EPSILON ASSOCIATION
(Last Revised 1998)
ARTICLE I: Name and Object
ARTICLE II: Government
ARTICLE III: Membership
ARTICLE IV: Election of Members
ARTICLE V: Officers
ARTICLE VI: Ratification and Amendment
ARTICLE VII: Amendments
- The name of this organization shall be the Delaware Alpha Chapter
of the Upsilon Pi Epsilon Association, an International Honor Society
for the Computing Sciences.
- The object of this Chapter of the Association shall be the promotion of
high scholarship and original investigation into the various branches of
the Computing Sciences.
- The Delaware Alpha Chapter of the Association shall be located at
the University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware.
- The Delaware Alpha Chapter shall be governed by this Constitution,
together with amendments to the same as hereinafter provided, and by
the By-Laws enacted to provide for
those governmental functions of a more routine nature.
- The By-Laws of this Chapter shall be
adopted and changes thereto enacted by an affirmative vote of
two-thirds of the active members of the Chapter.
- The provisions of this Constitution shall be subordinate to those of
the
Constitution
and By-Laws
of the Upsilon Pi Epsilon Association.
- Activities that result in undue physical stress or any subtle or covert
technique that will impair, make captive, or destroy an individual's
freedom of thought will not be tolerated.
- This organization will adhere to all policies and regulations of the
University of Delaware and of the Board of Trustees of
State Colleges and Universities.
- All fund raising activities shall be carried out in accordance with the
rules and policies of the Office of Student Affairs.
- This Chapter shall consist of members and honorary members.
- The membership of the Chapter shall be made up of individuals whose
academic achievements, reputation and creative abilities deserve
recognition, and whose membership would enhance the stature of the
Association. Specifically the membership shall include graduate
and undergraduate students, former students, and faculty in the
Computing Sciences at the University of Delaware, elected according
to the procedures detailed in
Article IV of this Constitution.
- Honorary members shall be individuals of distinguished achievement in
one or more of the various branches of the Computing Sciences.
- Eligibility for membership shall not be restricted according to race,
color, religion, national origin, age, gender or disability.
- The active membership of this Chapter of the Association shall consist
of those members who satisfy the fiscal and attendance requirements set
forth in the By-Laws. The privilege of
voting in membership elections and participation in other official
functions of the Chapter shall be restricted to active members.
- The eligibility of students, former students and faculty for election
to membership in this Chapter of the Upsilon Pi Epsilon Association
shall be determined as follows:
- A member of any Chapter who joins the University of Delaware
community shall have the right to affiliate with this
Chapter if information from his/her own Chapter or from the
International Secretary certifies him/her to be a member in good
standing.
- A graduate student must be a degree student in the Computing
Sciences, must have been in graduate residence at the University
of Delaware at least one semester, and must have
completed at least one-half the number of semester hours of
graduate work normally required for the master's degree with a
grade point average of at least 3.5/4.0. Only the following
coursework will be considered in computation of the grade point
average: all graduate coursework exclusive of seminar and research
courses; up to six (6) hours of seminar and research coursework,
provided that said coursework was not evaluated on a
satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis and does not lower the computed
grade point average.
(Amended by Amendment I)
An undergraduate upper-division student must be a degree
student in
the Computing Sciences, must have completed at least sixty-four (64)
semester hours for undergraduate credit with a grade point average
of at least 3.0/4.0, must have completed at least eighteen (18)
semester hours in the basic Computing Sciences courses
with a grade point
average of at least 3.25/4.0 for Computing Sciences courses, and must
rank in the upper third of all undergraduate students in the
Computing Sciences satisfying the credit requirements.
- A faculty member must have been in full time employ of the
University of Delaware for at least one semester
and in responsible charge of some of the undergraduate or
graduate courses or important research work in the Computing
Sciences at the University of Delaware.
Eligibility of a faculty member shall be based mainly upon
his/her present achievements as denoted by his/her degrees,
rank, publications, high standards of scholarship maintained
in classes or research work, honors and membership in other
societies, and potential future interests in the Association.
- Former students, who at the time of their completion of degree
requirements in the Computing Sciences satisfied the grade point
average and class rank requirements of subsection (b) or (c) of
this section, shall be eligible for election to membership in
this Chapter of the Association if no more than three (3) years have
elapsed since his/her graduation.
- Students, former students and faculty members who do not qualify
under the provisions of the previous subsections, but whose
achievements in and contributions to the several branches of the
Computing Sciences qualify them, in view of the Committee on
Eligibility and Membership, shall be eligible for election to
membership in the Association.
- The Chapter shall have a Committee on Eligibility and Membership whose
duty it shall be to ascertain, prior to an election, the scholarship
ratings and any other desirable information concerning prospective
candidates. Due to the confidential nature of student records, only
the faculty members of this committee are allowed to ascertain the
scholarship ratings of prospective candidates. Minutes shall be
recorded for the meetings of this committee.
- All candidates for election to membership, qualified according to
section 1 of this article, shall be reviewed by the Committee on
Eligibility and Membership. Those reported favorably by the
Committee shall be proposed for election.
- Each candidate must be discussed individually by name, and the
balloting for his or her election shall be carried out before the next
candidate is considered. In case a candidate fails a first ballot, he
or she may be discussed further, and a second and final vote shall be
taken. If the candidate fails the second ballot, a reason for rejection
is to be noted in the minutes and the candidate shall never again be
considered for membership in this Chapter.
- The election of all members shall be by a secret ballot.
- Election of a candidate to membership shall be by three-fourths
affirmative vote by the members present and voting.
- The maximum number of members shall not be limited.
- The election of new members shall be held within eight weeks before
the end of the spring semester. The Chapter may hold as many elections
and initiations each year as may be deemed expedient by the Chapter
Officers and the Committee on Eligibility and Membership.
- The membership of the Chapter shall elect a standing Committee on
Eligibility and Membership at the time of officer elections which shall
serve until the next regular officer elections.
- Membership should not be offered to a particular individual a second
time if such membership has been previously declined by that individual
for any reason with the exception of hardship cases.
- The Executive Council of the Chapter shall consist of the Faculty
Advisor and the following elected officers: President, Vice-President,
Secretary, Treasurer and Historian.
- The Executive Council shall be responsible for ensuring that only
current members of the Chapter and other approved individuals view
the minutes of all meetings, including meetings of the Committee on
Eligibility and Membership.
- The duties of the President shall be to call and preside at all
meetings, to appoint committees and to authorize payment of bills
presented against the Chapter, upon approval of the Executive Council.
- The duties of the Vice-President shall be to perform the duties of
President in the absence of the President. He or she shall also become
President in case of the resignation or disability of the President.
In addition, he or she shall be responsible for the coordination of
committees and the proper conduct of meetings.
- The duties of the Secretary shall be to keep records of all
transactions of the Chapter, and in particular, to keep the minutes of
the meetings. In addition, he or she will be responsible for the
handling of all correspondence for the Chapter.
- The duties of the Treasurer shall be to collect all dues and
assessments and to issue, with the assistance of the Secretary, notices
of special assessments. He or she shall have charge of all funds of
the Chapter, and shall pay therefrom bills presented against the
Chapter and approved for payment.
- The duties of the Historian are to keep a systematic account in
chronological order of events of the Chapter.
- The Faculty Advisor shall be a member of the University of
Delaware Computing Sciences teaching staff. The duties
of the Faculty Advisor shall be to consult on matters of Chapter policy
and to act as auditor of Chapter finances. He or she shall also be the
presiding member of the Committee on Eligibility and Membership.
- Election of officers shall be held immediately after the election of
new members each spring semester. Newly elected officers shall be
installed and shall begin to serve the meeting following their election.
- Vacancies in any office other than the President shall be filled by
majority vote of the Executive Council. An officer elected by the
Executive Council shall be considered an acting officer, and an
officer elected by the Chapter shall be considered a regular
officer. If the office of President is vacated the Vice-President shall
immediately assume that office, becoming a regular President if he or
she was a regular Vice-President and an acting President if he or she
was an acting Vice-President; the Executive Council shall then
temporarily fill the vacant office of Vice-President. A special
election to fill all vacated offices and all offices filled by
acting officers shall be held at the next Chapter meeting. Officers so
elected shall take office immediately and serve the remainder of the
term.
- The Committee on Eligibility and Membership shall consist of the
Executive Council, at least two additional active student members and
at least two additional active faculty members. All members of the
committee who are not part of the Executive Council are elected to the
committee by vote of the active members. The termination of service of
any of the additional members of the Committee on Eligibility and
Membership shall be by resignation, submitted to and accepted by the
Executive Council of the Chapter. Any vacancies on the Committee shall
result in an election, in like fashion as stated above, at the next
general meeting. The Committee on Eligibility and Membership shall be
responsible for the screening of students who meet the scholastic
eligibility requirements of the Association and shall recommend for
election those they deem otherwise qualified.
- This Constitution shall become effective immediately upon ratification
by a three-fourths affirmative vote of the active Chapter members.
- This Constitution shall remain in effect until revised or amended.
- Amendments to this Constitution may be proposed by any member of the
Chapter at a regular or special meeting. The proposed amendment shall
be discussed and a vote for further discussion shall be taken; a
simple majority of the active members present shall determine that
consideration. On approval, the proposed amendment shall be formally
framed by the Executive Council.
- Amendments framed according to the previous section shall be circulated
to the entire active membership of the Chapter, together with
appropriate commentaries and a written ballot. The ballots will be
returned to the Secretary within two weeks of their distribution. The
Secretary and Vice-President shall tally the votes and make the results
of the balloting public at the following regular meeting of the Chapter.
- A three-fourths favorable vote of the returned ballots shall be
required for ratification of each amendment.
- Any major amendments shall be submitted to the University of
Delaware Organization Committee for final approval.
- The amendment shall become effective immediately upon announcement
of the results of the ratification election and final approval from
the University of Delaware Organization Committee.
- A graduate student must be a degree student in the Computing Sciences,
must have been in graduate residence at the University of
Delaware at least one semester, and must have completed at least
one-half the number of semester hours of graduate work normally
required for the master's degree with a grade point average of at
least 3.5/4.0.
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