Preamble

We, the members of the College of William and Mary Chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary, in order to honor and recognize outstanding members of the residence hall system, as well as promote a higher quality and standard of involvement and interaction in the residence hall community, do hereby establish and uphold this constitution. 

Article I: Name 

The name of this organization shall be the College of William and Mary Chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary at the College of William and Mary. Hereafter, the Chapter shall be referred to as WMNRHH or “the chapter.”

Article II: Purpose 

                                                            
The purpose of WMNRHH shall be to provide recognition for those in the campus community who show outstanding service within, provide important leadership in the advancement, and/or exhibit great support to the residence hall system on campus. This recognition shall include, but not be limited to, offering of membership in the chapter, awarding of “Of the Month” and “Of the Year” awards, presentation of gifts from the chapter, and holding of receptions planned by members of the chapter. Consequently, it shall be a goal of WMNRHH to remain an active chapter and not simply an honorary chapter, and the chapter shall strive to attain this goal through consistently holding meetings and events throughout the academic year.

Article III: Membership

Section I: Membership Limit

A.    At no time shall the active membership of WMNRHH exceed one percent of the total residence hall population, or 20 members, whichever is larger at the time. 

B.     This limit applies to active membership only, so alumni and honorary members shall not be included in this limit.

Section II: Types of Membership

A.    Active Membership

1.      Active members shall be defined as students currently living in the residence halls at the College of William and Mary who have been inducted into the chapter and wish to remain active members.

2.      Active members shall be the only members with voting privileges.

3.      In order to retain active status, members must attend the monthly meeting, vote, and submit at least one Of-the-Month (OTM) Nomination each month. Failure to meet the requirements will result in an active non-voting membership status.

                                                       a.            To regain active voting status the member must submit two (2) Of-the-Month nominations during the month of non-voting active membership, and his/her full active membership will be restored at the next general Chapter meeting.

                                                      b.            Members may only retain active non-voting membership status for one (1) month, after which the Executive Board will review the situation and determine whether or not to ask the member to rescind his/her membership in the chapter.

                                                       c.            If an active member cannot attend a meeting for any reason and feels as though he/she should be excused, the member can submit an excuse to the President through an online form a week in advance. The Executive Board will review the excuse request anonymously and then vote to grant the excuse or not.

B.     Early Alumni Membership

1.      Early alumni members still live on-campus but wish to become and remain inactive members of the chapter due to their inability to maintain the required level of activity for active membership status.

2.      The following guidelines apply to the procedure of applying for early alumni membership status:

                                                             a.            The member or Chapter Advisor must complete the early alumni membership application which shall include the signatures of: Chapter President, Chapter Advisor, and chapter member for whom the form is being completed. 

                                                            b.            The completed early alumni membership application shall be submitted to the Regional AD-NRHH for approval. 

                                                             c.            The number of early alumni members granted to a chapter per academic year shall not exceed ten percent of the chapter's membership limit.

                                                            d.            It is the right of the Regional AD-NRHH to deny requests for reasons including, but not limited to: 

i.        The application form is incomplete,

ii.      The Regional AD-NRHH does not believe that sufficient measures were taken by the chapter to address the member’s inactivity with chapter business before submitting the application, and

iii.    The chapter has exceeded its allotted early alumni membership approvals for the year. 

                                                             e.            If the member and/or chapter wish to appeal the decision of the Regional AD-NRHH, they may appeal to the entire AD-NRHH board. The decision of the AD-NRHH board shall be final. 

i.        Each AD-NRHH shall have one vote.

ii.      A simple majority shall be necessary, with the NRHH Chair casting the tie-breaking vote when necessary.

3.      Early alumni members shall be ineligible to regain active status in WMNRHH.

4.      Early alumni members shall not have voting privileges.

C.     Alumni Membership

1.      Alumni membership shall be held by former active members who have left the residence halls, either through graduation or moving off-campus.

2.      Alumni members remain active with the chapter when they can, and the Chapter Secretary shall maintain a list of alumni members in order to facilitate communication between these members and the chapter.

3.      Alumni members shall not have voting privileges. 

D.    Honorary Membership

1.      Honorary membership is offered to other members of the campus community who have shown outstanding service and dedication to the interests of the residence program, but are unable to meet the requirements for active membership at the time of their nomination.

2.      In addition, residents who are inducted but do not intend to participate in NRHH monthly meetings may ask to be classified as honorary members. The Executive Board shall vote on granting honorary status in such a case.

3.      Honorary members do not have voting privileges. 

Section II: Selection Standards 

A.    (Qualifications) Candidates for membership shall:

a.       have resided in the residence halls at the College of William and Mary for at least two semesters prior to the semester of selection, 

b.      have achieved sophomore status by completing a minimum of twenty-four credit hours,

c.       be a student in good standing with the college and have a minimum of a 2.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale, and

d.      have demonstrated outstanding service toward or leadership in the residence hall system at the College of William and Mary. 

B.     (Nondiscrimination Clause) WMNRHH shall not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, religion, handicap, or sexual orientation in the selection of its members or in its programs.

Section III: Process of Selection

A.    Nomination Procedure 

1.      Residence Life Student Staff, Area Directors, Resident Hall Association members, NRHH members, Office of Residence Life personnel, and Hall Councils will submit nomination forms, which will be made available to these members of the community through various modes of communication.

2.      Applications will be sent to those nominees approved by the Selection Committee.

B.     Selection Committee

1.      A selection committee shall be appointed each semester to review applications.

2.      The campus selection committee shall be composed of five active members of WMNRHH. The five members will be those who can graciously afford to volunteer at the meeting before the selection process begins.

3.      Should there be more than five volunteers, the President will fulfill his/her duties by selecting the committee.

4.      An officer will chair the committee. 

5.      Any voting member can make honorary membership nominations to the Selection Committee before they begin the selection process. Honorary members are selected by a simple majority vote of the Selection Committee. 

6.      Active members are selected by the committee based on the qualifications below and dedication to William and Mary residents.

Article IV: Executive Structure, Meetings, and Advisor 

Section I: Officers 

A.    Officer candidates for the College of William and Mary Chapter must be both in good standing with the college and active members of WMNRHH, as defined above. 

B.     The officers of the chapter shall be President, Vice President of Administration, Vice President of Technology, Secretary, and Publicity Coordinator. The Executive Board shall comprise these officers.

Section II: Officer Responsibilities 

A.    The President shall: 

1.      Preside over all WMNRHH meetings.

2.      Preside over all Executive Board meetings.

3.      Appoint ad hoc committees and committee chairs as needed.

4.      Act as an official spokesperson for the organization to the campus.

5.      When able to, act as the WMNRHH representative at regional and national NRHH meetings. When unable to do so, the President will do his/her best to find a representative in his/her stead.

B.     The Vice President of Administration shall: 

1.      Preside over all WMNRHH meetings in the absence of the President.

2.      Edit the nominations for OTMs into a format such that they can be resubmitted to the regional and national nomination levels.

3.      Maintain a list of members in conjunction with the secretary, keeping track of members that vote and/or nominate OTMs.

C.     The Vice President of Technology shall:

1.      Post and run the voting process for OTMs.

2.      Maintain the NRHH website.

3.      Assist the VP of Administration in editing the OTM nominations.

4.      Maintain a list of all technological resources used by WMNRHH, including all necessary usernames and passwords.

D.    The Secretary shall:

1.      Maintain the NRHH-L listserv.

2.      Send agendas for all meetings on the NRHH-L listserv.

3.      Take minutes at called meetings and distribute them on the NRHH-L listserv. 

4.      Take attendance and keep a list of active members with the VP Administration.

5.      Keep a copy of all meeting minutes, reports, and documents on file and pass these on to the next Chapter Secretary.

6.      Shall reserve a location for each semester’s Induction and have each new member sign the chapter’s membership book.

E.     The Publicity Coordinator shall:

1.      Oversee all publicity efforts.

2.      Recognize all OTM winners monthly, both personally and campus-wide.

3.      Shall be involved, either directly or indirectly, in the planning of all events for the chapter, in order to fulfill his/her publicity duties.

F.      All officers shall aid the Chapter Advisor(s) in the submission of the end-of-the-year progress report to the National Honorary Office.

Section III: Election and Term of Office 

A.    Election of officers shall be held in April each year. The Chapter President shall designate a meeting during which to hold these elections and notify the membership of the date at least a month in advance.

B.     Members interested in running for office should send the current Chapter President a letter of intent. Letters will be compiled and distributed prior to the election. The officers shall be elected by a simple majority of the active members present at the designated election meeting. 

C.     Newly elected officers will not officially take office until the first day of the fall semester. Following April elections, they may share responsibilities with current officers; however, ultimate responsibility remains with current officers during this transition period. 

D.    In the event of the resignation of an officer, an election will be held to fill the vacancy (with the exception of the Chapter President). 

1.      In the event that the office of President is vacated, the Chapter Vice President will become the Chapter President. 

2.      A general election then will be held to fill the Vice President vacancy.

E.     Officers may be impeached as a result of failure to fulfill duties as stated in the constitution or misuse of executive privileges.

F.      Impeachment of officers will follow the subsequent procedures:

1.      The officer and Chapter Advisor(s) shall be notified of poor performance in his/her duties by the individual(s) bringing forth the complaint in writing.

2.      The officer shall schedule a meeting with the individual(s) bringing forth the charges and the Chapter Advisor(s).

3.      Following this meeting, the officer shall be given two weeks to improve the behavior brought forth in these charges.

4.      After the two-week period the individual(s) who have brought forth the charges and the Chapter Advisor(s) shall meet and review the officer’s performance.

5.      If performance has not improved, a recommendation for impeachment shall be brought before the chapter by the Chapter Advisor(s). At that time impeachment must be approved by a majority vote of the active membership.

6.      If a majority approves impeachment, then impeachment proceedings will begin and the entire chapter will be informed of the charges. The executive board member being brought up on charges will be afforded the opportunity to speak and will then leave the room.

7.      A discussion by the membership present will then take place concerning the charges, led by the Executive Board members who are not impeached.

8.      Once the discussion is over, the active membership present shall then vote on whether or not the executive member shall be deposed. A two-thirds (2/3) majority vote is needed to depose an officer.

Section IV: Meetings 

A.    Chapter meetings will be held at least once a month. Special meetings may be called as needed by the Executive Board or Advisor(s).

B.     Executive Board meetings will also be held once a month. If possible, these meetings will be held in the week before each meeting of the chapter. The agenda for the next chapter meeting will be set at these Executive Board meetings.

C.     A simple majority of active members present at each meeting is required to pass all motions with the following exceptions:

1.      Motions involving the appropriation of funds above $25.00 require a two-thirds (2/3) vote of active voting membership.

2.      As stated above, motions involving impeachment require a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the active voting membership.

Section VI: Advisor

A.    WMNRHH shall be advised by a member (or two) of the Office of Residence Life. 

B.     The advisor(s) will attend all meetings of the chapter. The advisor(s) will be responsible for the submission of the chapter re-affiliation forms to NACURH and SAACURH and end-of-the-year progress reports. 

Article V: Dues and Fees

Each member shall pay twenty (20) dollars in dues no later than one month past the date of their induction. Fees shall be charged on a case-by-case basis as determined by the Executive Board and Chapter Advisor(s).

Article V: Constitutional Amendments

Amendments shall be submitted to the President in writing. The President will then present the proposal to the Executive Board and Chapter Advisor(s), who must together approve the proposed amendments. Afterwards, amendments must be presented to the chapter for ratification at the next chapter meeting. Amendments to the constitution shall be adopted or amended by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the active voting membership.

Article V: Non-Campus Affiliation 

This is a college affiliate of the National Residence Hall Honorary. In order to remain a member of the National Residence Hall Honorary, this chapter must follow the rules and by-laws of the National Residence Hall Honorary constitution.