Constitution of the Vietnamese Students' Association at Yale University

Article I: Name

The name of this organization shall be the Vietnamese Students’ Association (Vi.S.A.).

Article II: Purpose

The purpose of ViSA shall be to establish an organized connection within the Yale community concerning Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American culture and issues.

Article III: Membership

A. Membership shall be open to all interested individuals affiliated with Yale University.

B. A perspective member shall become an official member with full voting rights upon attending three consecutive meetings determined by the presiding officers or paying a $3 due (to be effective one week after payment).

C. The length of membership shall be one full school year.

D. Dues shall be levied at the discretion of the presiding officers, when and if they deem it necessary and appropriate.

E. Voting Rights
Each official member is entitled to one vote on a single matter put forth for voting.

Article IV: Officers

A. Terms

There shall be a President and Vice President or Co-Presidents (2), Secretary, Treasurer, Social Chair, Cultural Chair, Political Action Chair, Publications Chair, Historian, and Freshman Liaison.
The office of President cannot be held for two consecutive terms.

B. Elections

Only an official member is eligible for nomination.
Candidates are to deliver a speech lasting no longer than two minutes, except candidates for President, who will have no longer than five minutes.
Each speech shall be followed by a question period no longer than five minutes, except for position of President, which may last for ten minutes.
Only an official member is eligible to vote in elections.
Elections shall be held before the end of the fall semester.
In instances when an officer resigns, elections for that office shall be held accordingly.

C. Duties

President
a. The President shall officiate at all meetings.
b. The President shall set an agenda for ViSA meetings.
c. The President shall attend all AASA meetings as the representative of ViSA.
d. The President shall inform all ViSA members about ViSA functions.


Vice President
a. In the absence of the President, the vice president shall assume all presidential duties.

Secretary
a. The Secretary shall keep minutes of all ViSA meetings.
b. The Secretary shall send out weekly ViSA announcement.
c. The Secretary shall record the logistics of every event for future reference.
d. The Secretary shall maintain a record of all official members and alumni.


Treasurer
a. The Treasurer shall register ViSA properly with the proper offices when pertaining to finances.
b. The Treasurer shall keep record of the organization’s funds.
c. The Treasurer shall verify that there is sufficient funding for any planned activities.
d. The Treasurer shall apply for needed funding.
e. The Treasurer shall be responsible for fundraising activities and keeping track of finances.

Social Chair
a. The Social Chair shall plan events that will strengthen the ViSA Community.
b. The Social Chair, along with the Cultural Chair shall be responsible for the annual Cultural Show or another event of similar scale.

Cultural Chair
a. The Cultural Chair shall need to keep contact with the greater Vietnamese Community
b. The Cultural Chair shall be responsible for ViSA’s participation in the Cultural Awareness Program
c. The Cultural Chair, along with the Social Chair, shall be responsible for the annual Cultural Show or another event of similar scale.

Political Action Chair
a. The Political Action Chair shall keep ViSA informed on current issues pertaining to Vietnam and Vietnamese-Americans
b. The Political Action Chair shall attend AASA PAEC meetings.

Publications Chair
a. The Publications Chair shall promote and advertise ViSA events with banners, flyers, etc.
b. The Publications Chair shall be responsible for publishing the annual ViSA Vibe.

Historian
a. The Historian shall take and document photos of all ViSA events
b. The Historian shall maintain a regularly updated ViSA website.

Freshmen Liaison
a. The Freshmen Liaison shall inform all freshmen about ViSA functions.
b. The Freshmen Representative shall work towards greater participation of the freshmen class in ViSA.

D. Chain of Command

The vice president shall succeed the president.
The secretary shall succeed the vice president.
The treasurer shall succeed the secretary.
The community/education chair shall succeed the treasurer.
The freshmen representative shall succeed the community/education chair.

E. Additional Duties


In addition to the aforementioned duties of the respective offices, each officer shall help maintain and strengthen good relations with AASA.
The official ViSA emailing list shall only be used by officers to inform ViSA members of ViSA/pan-Asian events.

F. Resignations


An officer must submit a written statement of intention to the organization two weeks prior to resignation.
If and when members of ViSA are dissatisfied with the performance of an officer, the said officer can be removed with a two-thirds majority vote.

Article V: Procedures

A. Every article of this constitution may be amended by a two-thirds majority vote with at least one week’s prior notice in writing.

B. Articles may be added to this constitution by a two-thirds majority vote with at least one week’s prior notice in writing.

C. Majority vote entails affirmative vote.