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Champions of Hope Constitution

PREAMBLE

We, the members of Champions of Hope, are subscribing to the regulations and policies
of Arizona State University, establishing this Constitution to govern the matters within
our organization.

Article I - Name and Purpose

Section 1: Official Name

The name of this organization shall be Champions of Hope, otherwise abbreviated as CoH, or
referred to as Champions of Hope at ASU.

Section 2: Affiliations

Champions of Hope is not affiliated with any existing national, regional, or local organization or
association.

Section 3: Organization Purpose

The purpose of this organization shall be to promote awareness and understanding of structural
factors affecting student learning for future teachers, and to activate them to serve their
community in myriad ways of service.

Champions of Hope seeks to empower future educators will the tools and background
necessary to serve students with underprivileged backgrounds who therefore face structural
factors affecting their learning. By engaging future educators in the process of attending
community trainings, guest speakers, and real-world examples that illustrate how diverse
backgrounds create diverse students, Champions of Hope takes fundamental responsibility for
the economic, social, cultural, and overall health of the communities it serves. Champions of
Hope seeks to maximize the potential of all students, improving the community through its
youngest members by arming future educators will the ability and the willpower to begin
recognizing diverse students' fundamental worth, listening to their specific challenges, valuing
their responses, and taking action.
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Article II – Non-Discrimination Statement

Section 1

Membership and all privileges, including voting and officer positions, must be extended to all
students without regard to age, ethnicity, gender, disability, color, national origin, race, religion,
sexual orientation, or veteran status. Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, Section
106.14, makes an exception for social fraternities and sororities, in regard to gender, for
membership criteria. Religious student organizations will not be denied registration solely
because they limit membership or leadership positions to students who share the same religious
beliefs. These groups, however, may not discriminate in membership or leadership on any other
prohibited basis (i.e., age, ethnicity, gender, disability, color, national origin, race, sexual
orientation, or veteran status).
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Article III - Membership

Section 1: Membership Qualification and Participation

Membership in Champions of Hope is open to any registered ASU student1 with a vested
interest in education, particularly those interested in the structural factors which affect student
outcomes.

Continued attendance is mandatorily required only for those seeking prospective officer
positions in the organization

Attendance and participation is open to all students.

Section 2: Associate and Guest Participation

Associate or guest participation may occur if both of the following are met:

● The associate or guest is present voluntarily

● The associate or guest is ASU staff, faculty, or alumni

Otherwise, an associate or guest may participate if any of the following are met:

● The associate or guest is present to facilitate a workshop or lead a discussion/provide a

presentation
● The associate or guest has a compelling reason to attend a meeting topic
● The associate or guest has an interest in education or community involvement/service
● The associate or guest, being a member of the local community, informs officership of
Champions of Hope of their tentative attendance ahead of time

1Student = enrolled in at least one (1) semester hour of University credit at ASU.

Article IV - Officers
Section 1: Officer Roles and Responsibilities
President
● Presides over meetings of the
organization
● Calls special meetings of the
organization
● Facilitates executive board meetings
● Prepares and files any report
required
● Appoints committee chair people
● Maintains contact with organization
adviser
● Maintains contact with organization
alumni
● Maintains contact with affiliated
university department or community
partner
● Represents the organization to the
University
● Serves as a spokesperson for the
organization
Vice-President
● Assumes the duties of the President
in his or her absence
● Serves as an ex‐officio member of
standing committees
● Directs Constitutional updating and
revisions
● Facilitates election of officers
● Recruits new members
● Serves as Parliamentarian
● Represents organization at official
functions
Organization Coordinator and Common Read Director:
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● Serves as a secondary signatory on
financial accounts
● Assists all executive officers
● Provides follow‐up to organizational
tasks
● Organizes executive board retreats
● Coordinates executive board officer
transitions
● Represents organization at official
functions
● Remains fair and impartial during
organization decision making
processes
● Provides encouragement and
motivation to fellow officers and
organization member
● Establishes committees to address
the issues of marginalized groups
and promote their success
● Remains fair and impartial during
organizational decision making
processes
● Responsible for organization
branding and social media
● Directs marketing actions
● Addresses issues of disciplinary
action
● Performs other duties as directed by
the President

● Keeps a record of all members of
the organization
● Keeps a record of all internal
activities of the organization
● Keeps and distributes minutes of
each meeting of the organization
● Creates and distributes agendas for
each meeting of the organization
● Notifies all members of meetings
● Prepares organization's calendar of
events
● Schedules all internal meetings, and
other internal activities of the
organization
Academic Coordinator and Activities Director:
● Keeps a record of all associate and
guest participation in the
organization
● Keeps a record of all external
activities of the organization
● Reaches out to community members
to find guest speakers on topics
directed by the communal office
● Reaches out to ASU Student and
Cultural Engagement to set up times
for organization trainings and
workshops
● Reaches out to ASU Student
Organization Involvement to
collaborate innovative organizational
practices
● Reaches out to like-minded
organizations for collaborative
efforts, workshops, and trainings
● Schedules all meetings that require
external attendance, and other
external activities of the organization
● Obtains appropriate facilities for
organization activities
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● Obtains appropriate facilities for
organization activities
● Prepares and files any report
required
● Responsible for the upkeep and
expansion of the Common Read
program
● Handles all official internal
correspondence of the organization
● Represents organization at official
functions
● Remains fair and impartial during
organization decision making
process
● Coordinates organization elections
● Prepares and files any report
required
● Responsible for promoting the
integration of Champions of Hope
and Mary Lou Fulton Teacher’s
College curricula, goals, and
objectives.
● Handles all official external
correspondence of the organization
● Represents organization at official
functions
● Remains fair and impartial during
organization decision making
process
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Section 2: Officer Qualifications

All officer positions require the candidate to:

● Be at least sophomores at the University level by credits2

● Have completed -
○ TEL102: Professional Education in Community Contexts with a passing grade
OR
○ USL216: Service-Learning for Education in Community Contexts with a passing
grade
OR
○ A similar course to demonstrate preparedness to engage with community issues
with a passing grade
OR
○ Provide an adequate history of community involvement with sufficiency
determined by vote of currently elected officers

Both the President and Vice-President officer positions requires the candidate to:

● Have attended the majority of the previous academic semester’s meetings

● Receive the endorsement for potential candidacy from EITHER of the organization’s
advisors

The OC/CRD and AC/AD officer positions requires the candidate to:

● Receive the endorsement for potential candidacy from ANY of the organization’s elected
officials for
○ Demonstrating proficiency in communication
○ Demonstrating an aptitude for community engagement
○ Demonstrating morally upstanding behavior
○ Demonstrating a willingness to achieve beyond their outlined goals
○ Demonstrating an eagerness to improve and learn consistently

Section 3: Terms of Office

The term of office for all officership roles will be the whole of the academic semester before
requiring a re-election to retain office.

Officers elected for a Spring semester will retain their officer position through the Summer,
whereas officers elected for a Fall semester will retain their officer position through the Winter.

2 Sophomores at the University level have completed 30 credit hours.

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Section 4: Provisions For Removal Of Office

The removal of an officer can be handled in one of the following ways:

● The elected body of the student organization may vote to remove a current-office holder
from their position
○ A quorum need not be present
○ A simple majority of vote of the remaining members of the elected board must be
met
○ Any member of the elected board may call for a vote to remove another officer,
initiating a vote immediately
● The body of the student organization may vote to remove a current office-holder from
their position
○ A quorum must be present
○ A 2/3rds majority vote of the quorum must be met
○ Any member of the body of the student organization may call to remove an
officer
○ The vote will precede if any other member of the student organization seconds
their vote
○ If the vote begins in the body of the student organization, currently elected
officials may NOT vote in the proceeding, but may offer their opinion

Appeals to a vote out of office may be made directly to the president who may reconvene a
special committee at their discretion to determine the fitness of an officer to evade being
removed from office.

Section 5: Vacancy of an Office

In the event of a vacant officer position, the vice-president of the organization will move to fill the
office by identifying a member of the organization who would fit the vacancy well, reaching out
to them, and holding a special election to ratify their election.

If filling the vacancy is not tantamount to continuing procedures of the organization, then the
vacancy will be retained until the end of the semester elections.
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Article V - Elections

Section 1: Election of Officers

Elections of officers shall be held once a year via a vote of members present when a quorum is
established.

Section 2: Provisions for Filling Vacancies

Elections will be held every April 20th and will determine officers for the following academic year.

● Elections on April 20th will determine officers for the following Fall Semester.
● The officers elected will take upon their new role in the following August at the start of
the academic year.

Any candidate for officer who receives at least ⅔ of a quorum’s votes will have immediately won
their officer ship.

Should any candidate for office win the majority of the votes for office but not meet the ⅔ of the
quorum, the vote moves to the remaining officers of the organization who will vote between the
two highest candidates. A simple ½ majority is sufficient to win office at this point.

Special elections to fill a vacancy may be called when at least ⅔ of the organization are present
and ½ of the present body calls for a special election. After the call is made, a vacancy may be
filled with ½ of the present body’s votes.

Alternatively, special elections may be called with at least ⅔ of the remaining organization’s
officers present, and ½ of the present officers call for a special election. After a call is made, a
vacancy may be filled with ½ of the present body’s votes.

Should a position require election before regular election dates, then positions will be posted in
group announcements as well as on SunDevilSync.

Section 3: Procedures For Voting

Any member is eligible to vote after attending at least 3 of the student organization’s bi-weekly
meetings.

During elections for officer positions, voting will be enacted by way of a paper ballot. All other
voting will be done through a hand vote.

For a vote to be valid, a quorum of either 5+ voting members are present, or ½ of the voting
members must be present.
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Article VI - Meetings

Section 1: Regular Meetings

Regular meetings shall be held on a bi-weekly basis, wherein the body of the organization will
be notified by the OC/CRD and/or Vice President of the organization via regular channels of
communication.

These meetings will be for:

● General issues of the organization

● Updates regarding upcoming events
● Creating safe-spaces for discussion

Elected Official meetings will be held on an alternating bi-weekly basis, wherein the elected
board of the organization will be notified by the OC/CRD and/or President of the organization via
regular channels of communication.

The premise of these meetings is at the discretion of the President pertaining to the regular
upkeep of the organization.

Trainings, workshops, and guest speakers will be held at varying times and locations to
accommodate for the presenter of the information, but planned for a bi-weekly basis, wherein
the body of the organization will be notified by the AC/AD via regular channels of
communication.

Section 2: Qualifying Quorums

A call to quorum can be made when either 5+ voting members are present, or when ½ of the
voting members are present at any meeting.

Decisions of parliamentary procedure requiring elected official involvement will be handled by

joint action of the elected board on a case-by-case basis.
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Article VII - Advisors

Section 1: Number and Type of Advisors

There shall be 2 faculty/staff advisors who shall be member(s) ex-officio with no voting
privileges.

They shall both exist to aid in the direction, scope, and outreach of the organization as it
pertains to its regular roles and responsibilities.

Section 2: Selection of Advisors

In the case that the organization is in need of an advisor to fill the role of either the primary or
secondary advisor either of the following will appoint a new advisor:

● The President may hand-select an advisor that is particularly apt to fill a position
○ The advisor will then need to meet with the remaining elected board who will use
a simple majority vote to ratify or deny the appointment of the advisor
● The President may appoint the AC/AD to convene a special committee for the purpose
of finding a new advisor who meets the needs of the organization
○ The advisor will then need to meet with the remaining elected board who will use
a simple majority vote to ratify or deny the appointment of the advisor

Section 3: Advisor Duties

Advisors connect student clubs to the university by creating unified and inclusive experiences
within a classroom environment and throughout ASU campuses.

Advisors actively guide students through various opportunities to develop emerging leaders and
their leadership qualities.

Advisors serve as a bridge between students and the appropriate campus resources to provide
students with overall support.

Advisors seek to improve and influence the overall welfare and well-being of each student and
student club.

○ Communication: Being available and responsive to club Officers communications

through agreed-upon channels. Supporting student communication efforts within specified
student clubs and organizations. Communication with student organizations/clubs to determine
overall event success and criticisms to utilize as guides for future events.
○ Attending Meetings: Actively participating with the club leadership. This may include
general body meetings, executive board meetings, and more.
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○ Attending Events: Partnering with your student club to plan safe and productive events.
Attending large-scale organizational events and being the on-site staff liaison.

Article VIII - Amendments

Section 1: Amendments to the Constitution

The Constitution of the Organization:

● May be amended when at least 2/3rds of the organization are present and ½ of the
present body calls for an amendment to the constitution
○ After changes are recommended, the changes are then ratified with ½ of the
present body’s vote
● May alternatively be amended when at least 2/3rds of the organization’s officers are
present and ½ of the present officers call for an amendment to the constitution.
○ After changes are recommended, the changes are then ratified with ½ of the
present officer’s votes.