Affiliated and excited!

In case you guys hadn't noticed, we are now on the National SSA's website, here. I hope you guys are as excited as I am.

For those of you interested in a Faith & Morality panel, I invited the spokesperson for the Islamic Council of Oklahoma to speak. She said to keep in contact, and she would try to come. She's an awesome speaker.

If you did not attend our first meeting at the end of April, please send me your e-mail, so I can add you to the contact group. You can reach me here at any time.

The Campus Life and Student Activities director, Dr. Williams, has promised to approve our group. He even said he's looking forward to us "shaking up" the campus. As soon as we get listed on the school's website, we can start getting resources from the National SSA. I hope you guys become members on the national level as well, to show your support. It's only $10 for students.

Thank you guys for helping to make this group possible. I am super excited about getting things going.

Contact Us

E-mail: ecok@secularstudents.org

President: Sarah Erwin, sarmerw@gmail.com

05/11/11 Update

I was thinking that perhaps we could get a group together to go visit the National Shrine of Infant Jesus in Prague. We could go out to eat and get to know each other. I will send out an e-mail to get more feed back about when would be convenient for everyone to go.

In other news, I have not heard a peep out of the university over the recognition of our group. I can't say I'm surprised. I will be visiting the Student Activities Office every week (maybe twice a week) until make us an official group on campus. They are not really denying us recognition, just dragging their feet.

However, the national SSA has been awesome. They have made us an e-mail forward, and we are on their web directory (http://secularstudents.org/ecok). Once we become recognized on campus, they will help us out a lot. There are all kinds of benefits highlighted in the group running guide. I hope you guys are excited as I am.

I will be doing a little bit of editing on the website to make it a little more user friendly, so please stay tuned. If you did not get to attend our meeting, please e-mail me so that I can add you to the list of member e-mails.

Also, please consider becoming a member at the national level. They supply us with many resources, so it's worth the money. http://secularstudents.org/

More updates of the National SSA.

We got our group running guide in the mail today!
I hope everyone is excited as I am to get this group going.
We got an email forward as well, ecok@secularstudents.org.
I will keep you guys updated about our status on campus as I learn more information.
Thank you,
Sarah Erwin

The Constitution of the SSA of ECU

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SECULAR STUDENT ALLIANCE OF EAST CENTRAL UNIVERSITY

ARTICLE 1:              NAME AND PURPOSE OF THE ORGANIZATION

Section 1                     The name of this organization shall be the Secular Student Alliance of East Central University, AKA the SSA of ECU.

Section 2                     The purposes of this organization are to organize, unite, educate, and serve students and student communities that promote ideals of scientific and critical inquiry, democracy, secularism, and human-based ethics. The group seeks opportunities to provide support for non-theistic students.

Section 3                     The organization is recognized by East Central University and complies with regulations set forth by the campus.

ARTICLE 2:              REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMBERSHIP AND MEANS OF SELECTION OF MEMBERS

Section 1                     Membership of this organization shall not be denied to any East Central University student on the basis of race, gender, national origin, ethnicity, age, religion, citizenship, sexual orientation, or disabilities.

Section 2                     There shall be two types of members in this organization: voting members and honorary members

Section 3                     Voting members shall be limited to students enrolled at East Central University and who have filed a membership form with the secretary of the SSA of ECU.

Section 4                     Any person deemed to have aided the SSA of ECU in a positive manner may become an honorary member, so long as he or she receives a majority vote by the members.

Section 5                     Any member may be suspended or expelled by a majority vote of members due to violating the Constitution or By Laws of the SSA of ECU or for participating in actions that damage or harm the organization’s reputation. Requests to suspend or expel a member must be submitted in writing by a member. After the request is filed with the secretary, a hearing will be held in order to investigate and potentially suspend or expel a member.

Section 6                     Any student removed from the organization may file grievance with the appropriate student services on the campus of East Central University.

ARTICLE 3:              OFFICERS

Section 1                     The offices to be held and recognized in this organization are as follows: The President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Public Relations Officer, the Community Service Coordinator, and any others as deemed necessary – see provisions for amending.

Section 2                     The powers and duties of each officer shall be as follows:

A.    The President will be the official spokesperson for the organization. He or she shall organize and manage the meetings. Other duties shall be decided by the members as they see fit from semester to semester.

B.    The Vice President will be responsible for organizing and managing meetings in the absence of the President. He or she shall be responsible for notifying members of meetings.

C.    The Secretary shall be responsible for the taking of minutes and filing of the organization’s documents. He or she shall be responsible for keeping records of any organization activities and shall be able to create copies for members upon request.

D.    The Treasurer shall be responsible for managing accounting records of the organization. He or she will be granted access to the bank account under the Secular Student Alliance of ECU. He or she will also be responsible for keeping copies of any monetary transactions that occur in the name of the SSA of ECU.

E.     The Public Relations Officer is responsible for contacting the East Central University paper and other appropriate organizations when the SSA of ECU is planning an event. He or she shall be responsible for managing flyers, posters, and other materials the group disseminates onto the campus.

F.     The Community Service Coordinator is responsible for finding possible community needs that the organization may volunteer their help. Members may also suggest possible projects, and members are to select participation in a project by majority vote. The Community Service Coordinator shall organize and set up any necessary paperwork or communications with others in order to complete the project.

Section 3         Qualifications to hold any of the above listed offices are a minimum GPA of 2.0 and must be in good standing with East Central University.

Section 4         A recall election can held if an offense is submitted in writing and approved by a one third vote of members 48 hours after the offense has been submitted. New officers elected during a recall election must obtain three-fourths of the majority vote in order to replace an already elected officer.

Section 5         If an officer is found to be harmful or uninterested in the group, he or she may be removed by a two-thirds vote of a quorum of the membership. A written request to remove an officer must be filed at a regularly scheduled meeting one week before the vote. The President must attempt to contact the officer in question when the request is filed.

ARTICLE 4:              MEETINGS

Section 1                     Regular meetings shall be held at least once a month of every semester during the academic year.

Section 2                     Special meetings may be called by an elected official or by majority vote. All members must be given at least 24 hours notice of a special meeting, excluding weekend or holiday hours.

Section 3                     There must be a quorum of the membership present in order to conduct organizational business. A quorum is defined as 50% + 1 of the active members. An election to replace a removed officer shall be held one week after the vote of his or her removal. All members must be notified of the removal and the election.

ARTICLE 5:              ELECTIONS

Section 1                     Officers are elected once a semester.  Elections shall be held at the end of each semester at a regularly scheduled meeting when a quorum of the membership is present.

Section 2                     At least one week notice must be given to all members of a meeting that an election is to be held.

Section 3                     To be elected to an office, a member must nominate another member who then receives the most votes from the quorum of the membership.

ARTICLE 6:              ADVISOR

Section 1                     An individual faculty member of East Central University is required to advise the SSA of ECU, as mandated by campus regulations.

Section 2                     An advisor is to be selected or re-approved by popular vote of a quorum of the membership yearly.

Section 3                     An ineffective advisor may be removed by the organization with a majority vote of a quorum of the membership at a regularly scheduled meeting that members have been given one week’s notice of the vote taking place.

ARTICLE 7:              DUES

Section 1                     This organization has the ability to assess the membership. Any change in dues must be voted on at a regularly scheduled meeting with a quorum of the membership present that members have been given one week’s notice of the vote taking place.

ARTICLE 8:              METHODS OF AMENDMENT

Section 1                     Proposed amendments to the Constitution must be presented in writing at least one meeting before the amendment can be voted on.

Section 2                     Approval by two-thirds of a quorum of the membership is needed to pass an amendment to the Constitution. The amendment will be effective immediately after the passage unless otherwise stated in the amendment.

Section 3                     A copy of any alteration made to the Constitution must be filed with the appropriate offices at East Central University within 90 days of its passage.

ARTICLE 9:              DISPURSAL OF ORGANIZATION ASSETS

Section 1                     In the event that the Secular Student Alliance of East Central University should become defunct, all funds collected by the organization shall be turned over to the East Central Student Activities Office to be used to promote student programming on campus.

ARTICLE 10:            STATEMENT OF AFFILIATION

Section 1                     This organization is affiliated with the national Secular Student Alliance.

Section 2                     Copies of the national bylaws and Constitution is and must be filed with the appropriate offices at East Central University.