AOMA Student Association Charter

I. Section 1 – Purpose

1. The AOMA Student Association herein referred to as the ASA, is the official student government assembly at AOMA: Graduate School of Integrated Medicine.
2. ASA serves to foster the social, educational, and professional growth of the AOMA student community. This includes, but is not limited to, coordinating educational events hosted by people within and outside the AOMA community, sponsoring social events for AOMA students, and increasing student awareness of local or national news in the field of acupuncture and Oriental medicine (AOM).
3. ASA serves as a liaison between students, administration, and faculty for all purposes educational and professional. This includes, but is not limited to, coordinating in-house educational events and increasing student awareness of official school news.
4. ASA also serves to fulfill any interest of the student body as deemed necessary at an ASA meeting.

II. Section 2 - Definitions

1. “Member” - A person allowed to attend meetings. Members have voting rights. All AOMA students, even if they choose not to attend meetings, are members.
2. “Active members” - The number of active members for a term is the average number of members in attendance at ASA meetings.
3. “Quorum” - Quorum is the minimum number of members that must be present in order to pass a motion.
4. “Cohort” - For the purposes of the ASA, a member’s “cohort” is the group of students with which they first attended AOMA as a student, ex: Summer 2011.
5. “Executive Cabinet”, or “Cabinet” - The Cabinet is the core group responsible for the internal functioning of the ASA. The Cabinet consists of the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Continuing Education Chair, Marketing Coordinator, and Secretary.
6. “Agenda” - The agenda is the list of topics to be discussed at a given ASA meeting.
7. “Agenda form” - The agenda form is a blank sheet to be filled in with agenda items, names of speakers, and time limits for items.
8. “Motion” - A motion is a proposal to take action.
9. The roles of the member positions are not confined by title, it can be up to the discernment of the current cabinet on specific duties.

III. Section 3 – Structure

1. All AOMA students are members of the ASA and can exercise voting rights at an official ASA meeting.
2. At least five ASA meetings will be held during the Fall, Winter, and Spring terms. At least three ASA meetings will be held during the Summer term. The time and place of general meetings will be decided by polling the student body.
3. ASA is governed by the Executive Cabinet and cohort representatives. Each member of the executive committee and all cohort representatives are to be elected by the ASA as described in Section 5.7.
4. Each cohort of students is allowed up to four cohort representatives. 
5. Officer Responsibilities: 

I. The President shall: 

1. 1. Attend and participate in all ASA meetings
   2. Act as Facilitator of ASA meetings.
   3. Finalize an agenda for each ASA meeting.
   4. Meet with the AOMA Cabinet at least once per term to discuss the present and future activities of the ASA.
   5. Organize events and projects.
   6. Assist other officers in their duties if necessary.

II. The Vice-President shall:

1. 1. Attend and participate in all ASA meetings
   2. Assume the duties of the President in the event of the President’s absence.
   3. Organize events and projects.
   4. Publicize ASA events. Acceptable means to publicize events include flyers, email, and social media.

III. The Secretary shall:

1. 1. Attend and participate all ASA meetings
   2. Take official minutes and attendance at ASA meetings and provide the documents to the ASA community.
   3. Provide the number of active members of the previous term and the current requirement for quorum (see Section 5.3).
   4. Maintain the ASA website, including a calendar of events, documents, and AOMA community news.
   5. Retain hard copies of all important ASA documents.
   6. Collaborate with the Director of Admissions to create flyers or other documents necessary to publicize ASA events.

IV. The Treasurer shall:

1. 1. Attend and participate all ASA meetings
   2. Maintain accurate bookkeeping of all ASA financial transactions.
   3. be responsible for the creation of the annual budget, with the help of the ASA President.
   4. Provide a synopsis of the budget and relevant information for the upcoming term to the ASA community by the second meeting of each term.
   5. Notify the other officers in the event of discrepancies and overages in the budget.
   6. Request in writing from AOMA’s Vice-President of Operations and Development a specific amount of support funds for the following year by August 1.
   7. Meet with AOMA finance representative once per quarter to reconcile bookkeeping accounts.

V. The Marketing/Events Coordinator shall:

1. 1. Attend and participate in all ASA meetings.
   2. Market ASA Events and functions.
   3. Ensure that communication is made via the ASA Facebook Group and the AOMA Student Group.

VI. The Continuing Education Chair shall:

1. 1. Attend and participate in all ASA meetings.
   2. Manage the receipt of scholarship requests for ASA scholarship opportunities.
   3. Manage the process of voting for scholarship recipients in a fair manner.

VII. A Cohort Representative shall:

1. 1. Attend and participate in at least 60% of all ASA meetings.
   2. Relay information discussed during ASA meetings to interested members of his or her cohort.
   3. Represent the opinions expressed by other members of his or her cohort at ASA meetings.

VI. Section 4 - Meetings

1. Time and Place
   1. Meetings will be held a minimum of once monthly, or more frequently at the discernment of the Cabinet.
   2. During the last meeting of each term, the ASA will decide the time and weekday of meetings for the following term. Eligible times for meetings are those during which all current ASA officers, or officers-elect, are available to attend the meetings. In the event that no such time exists, times during which the President and Secretary are available are acceptable.
2. Agenda
   1. Any member may use the www.aomastudents.com ‘Make Your Voice Heard’ page to add agenda items to the agenda of the upcoming meeting.
   2. There will be a Treasurer’s Report at the beginning of each meeting, if the Treasurer is not able to attend, an emailed report will suffice.
   3. Topics that are listed on the agenda will be discussed at a meeting in the order in which they appear on the list. All agenda items will be discussed before the meeting addresses any topics, not on the agenda. There will be a short period for new business during which any topic not appearing on the agenda can be discussed.
3. Proceedings
   1. The President shall act as a facilitator at ASA meetings. Any present member may serve as a time-keeper. For facilitator and time-keeper responsibilities, see Appendix.
   2. Speaking rules
      1. Unless specified by the facilitator, ASA meetings will have informal, unstructured speaking rules. Any person may speak at any time provided there is no one currently speaking.
      2. All members shall respect whoever is speaking by refraining to interrupt or to otherwise disrespect the speaker.
      3. Failure to respect other members of the ASA by any member grants the facilitator the right to expel said member from the meeting in session.
      4. Repeated failure to respect others is a violation of the student code of conduct and may be reported to AOMA Administration.

V. Section 5 - General Decision Making

1. All actions for which a vote is necessary must be made at an official ASA meeting.
2. Actions that must be voted on include meeting times, financial expenditures, dates and themes of events, elections, motions of no-confidence, formation of committees, and any other event that commits substantial ASA resources, time, or personnel.
3. Quorum for all decision making processes is 75% of the active members of the previous twelve week term (Fall, Winter, and Spring terms). During the Summer term, quorum is reduced to 50% of the active members of the previous term.
4. Motions
   1. Any member may make a motion using the following phrases: “I move that we…” or “I make a motion that we…”
   2. Once a motion has been made, another member must second the motion. A motion that is not seconded cannot proceed to a vote.
5. Regular Voting Process
   1. A seconded motion will be put to vote immediately.
   2. Only members present at the meeting may vote. Each member receives one vote and may cast a vote of “Yay” meaning in favor, “Nay” meaning opposed, or “Stand aside” meaning neither in favor nor opposed.
   3. Presented with a request by any member, the Facilitator must implement a silent ballot vote in place of the regular voting method.
   4. A motion passes if a super-majority of at least 70% votes in favor.
   5. If a motion does not pass, discussion may be reopened. Amendments may be made to the motion. If the sponsor of the motion is not willing to accept a given amendment, that amendment can be forcibly applied through a 70% majority vote. Any amended motion must be seconded again before being put to vote.
6. Emergency Situations
   1. In an emergency situation in which action must be taken before the next meeting is held, a decision can be made by a full consensus agreement of all ASA officers.
   2. After such a decision is made, the President must present the decision at an ASA meeting and demonstrate the emergency of the situation.
   3. Any members that disagree with the decision or the emergency of the situation, may initiate a vote of no-confidence on any or all of the officers (see Section 6.6).

VI. Section 6 - Officer Elections

1. Annual elections for the Executive Cabinet and Cohort Representatives will be held during the final ASA meeting of the Spring term. Additional elections for Cohort Representatives may be initiated as deemed necessary by the President.
2. General elections must be announced to the student body at the beginning of the Spring term.
3. Eligibility for Officer Positions
   1. There are no eligibility requirements for the positions of Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, or Cohort Representative.
   2. There is no term limit for officer positions. An incumbent officer may run again for the same position.
4. Nominations
   1. Nominations will be open for a period of at least two weeks preceding elections.
   2. A member may nominate any member of the ASA to an officer position, including himself or herself. Nominations must be seconded by another member. A seconded nomination must be accepted by the nominee.
5. Election Day
   1. During the final meeting of the Spring term, elections will automatically be the first item on the agenda.
   2. Speeches for officer positions will occur in the following order: President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
   3. Each candidate will receive one minute to give an opening remarks.
   4. After opening remarks, members will be allowed to ask questions of the candidates. Candidates will be given one minute each to answer a question.
   5. When members are finished asking questions, each candidate will receive one minute to give a closing remarks.
   6. Votes will be cast by anonymous, electronic ballot using the Survey Monkey service, or another similar service.
   7. The candidate who receives the most votes for each position becomes the officer-elect for that position.
   8. The officers-elect will begin their duties as ASA officers the first day of the following term.
6. Votes of No Confidence
   1. A member can initiate a vote of no-confidence against any or all officers by making a motion of no-confidence. Once a member makes a motion of no[1]confidence, the officers in question will be allowed five minutes each to defend himself or herself.
   2. Following the officers’ defenses, members may ask questions. Each officer will receive one minute to respond.
   3. Acceptable reasons for initiating a vote of no-confidence are incompetence in fulfilling officer duties, irresponsibility in handling ASA affairs, or consistent failure to follow the Constitution.
   4. A motion of no-confidence must be passed by a supermajority of 80%. If the motion passes, the officers are immediately removed from office and stripped of their duties.
   5. A call for nominations must be announced immediately and nominations for office will be taken for a two week period until the following ASA meeting. Elections will be held at the ASA meeting following nominations, as outlined in 4.7.6 with the following exceptions:
      1. Elections need not be held during the final meeting of the term.
      2. Officers assume their duties immediately following elections.

VII. Section 7 - Constitutional Amendments

1. Amendments to this document may be made according to the procedure set forth herein.
2. A written proposal to amend the Constitution must be formally submitted to the President of the ASA at an official meeting. The author of such a proposal must present reasons for seeking such an amendment.
3. The author may make a motion to begin the amendment process. If the motion is seconded, it will be put to vote as discussed in Section 4.5. A passed motion to begin the process means the Amendment has been proposed. It does not mean the proposed Amendment has been accepted.
4. An Amendment that has been proposed must immediately be distributed to the student body for consideration. A comment period of up to two weeks will be allowed before the following ASA meeting, at which further comments and debate over the Amendment will be allowed.
5. After the comment period, the author of the proposed Amendment may move to pass the Amendment and formally amend the Constitution. If the motion is seconded, it will be put to vote as discussed in Section 4.5. A passed motion amends the Constitution and the Amendment is effective immediately.
6. Amendments to the Constitution are permanent. They may not be removed by any vote. Their effects can, however, be nullified by any future Amendment which includes the annulment of specific subsections of, or the entirety of, any previous Amendment.