Article I: Name

The name of the organization shall be Arab Student Association (ASA).

Article II: Purpose

ASA is a unique organization whose purpose is to promote Arab culture, to unite Arab and Non-Arab students, to combat discrimination of Arabs/Arab-Americans--specifically within the auspices of University of Oklahoma, the city of Norman, and the United States, and finally, to represent the views of Arab/Arab-American students to the Faculty, Board of Regents, and Administration of the University of Oklahoma at Norman.

The activities of the ASA will include, but are not limited to, the promotion of Arab unity through social activities, the construction of an Arab Culture Day/Week, the presentation of Middle Eastern politics, particularly pertaining to the Palestinians, and the promotion of Arab involvement in the university curriculum by way of strategic interaction with the administration.

Article III: Membership

• Membership is open to all OU students, faculty, staff or spouses regardless of gender, race, color, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, marital status, marital status, or political belief.
• Any OU student may be a member of the ASA.
• Faculty, staff and spouses may join the ASA as associate members.

Article IV: Office Bearers

1. All members of the ASA are eligible to bear office.
2. The officers shall be elected for terms one year in length.
3. An officers may be elected for the same office for no longer than two successive years.

The offices of this ASA shall be:

1. President
2. Vice President/ Secretary General
3. Treasurer
4. Public Relation Chairman
5. Cultural Chairman
6. Sports Chairman

The Executive Committee shall consist of all of the student officers.

Duties of the President are as follows:

• To create and monitor any and all activities pertaining to the ASA.
• To set up ASA meetings and their agendas.
• To act as head of the Executive Committee.
• To act as a mediator between the Executive Committee and the ASA members.
• To properly address and enact solutions for organizational disagreements.
• The President may be impeached only by unanimous vote among all ASA members and board members.

Duties of the Vice President are as follows:

• To keep parliamentary order during meetings.
  • To commence reports and agenda settings.
  • To properly correct members out of order.
• To fulfill the office of Presidency if the President is unable to be present at meetings, takes a leave of absence, or is impeached. In this case, the Vice President shall take the office of Presidency until the next set of elections.
• To facilitate ASA functions/activities by planning, executing, and monitoring the necessities to make the activities a success.
• To manage and be in charge of the ASA email account and website

Duties of the Treasurer are as follows:

• To keep an accurate record of ASA's financial accounts.
• To give detailed reports of finances to the Executive Committee.
• To innovate strategies to raise funds for the ASA account.
• To monitor transactions and appropriate checks to Committee chairs within ASA.

Duties of the Public Relation Chairman are as follows:

• To innovate and enact activities that serve to unite members of the association.
• To give plan and enact advertising campaigns for the organization and its activities.
• To coordinate activities with other campus organizations.
• To innovate strategies that promote for the ASA within the local Oklahoma City metro area.
• To be responsible of the ASA publications.

Duties of the Cultural Chairman are as follows:

• To appoint the members of the cultural committee.
• To act as chairman at all the meetings of the cultural committee.
• To report to the executive councils about the cultural activities proposed by the committee.
• To represent the ASA in OU cultural meetings

Duties of the Sports Chairman are as follows:

• To be responsible of forming the ASA sport teams.
• To represent the ASA in OU sport meetings.
• To organize sport tournaments.

Article V: Organization Advisor

1. The faculty advisor must be a full time faculty member at the University of Oklahoma for at least a semester prior to serving as a faculty advisor.
2. The faculty advisor shall be selected by a majority vote of the Executive Board-elect.
3. The faculty advisor may serve infinite consecutive terms so long as he or she is re-elected by each new Executive Board.
4. The Faculty Advisor must counsel students about planned activities.
5. The Faculty Advisor also serves to sign OU related documents when needed.
6. The ASA may have more than one faculty advisor.

Article VI: Meetings

1. There shall be two kinds of meetings: Executive and General Body. Executive meetings shall be a meeting of the Office Bearers. General Body meetings shall be an open meeting of Office Bearers, members, and guests.
2. The ASA shall have at least one General Body Meeting per semester.
3. The Executive Committee shall meet in the first week of each month during the fall and spring semesters of school.

Article VII: Duties of the Executive Board

1. Advise the President when making a decision for ASA activities.
2. Advise the President on member, associate, and advisor issues.
3. Advise the President during public crises.

Article VIII: Impeachment

If any elected or appointed member has been found to violate any one of the following principles, a hearing must be held. Such a violation may be grounds for impeachment. Principles include violating:

• Having missed more than two meetings without any legitimate excuse or having missed an excessive number of meetings such that the Board deems them unable to carry out the function of their position.
• Excessive lateness (3 or more meetings per semester) at Executive Board Meetings.
• Having abused funding privileges and/or Emergency Decision Procedures.

Procedure for Impeachment by Executive Board:

• Every attempt should be made to correct the problem and the impeachment procedure should be used only as a last resort. Details of the entire process should remain confidential within the Executive Committee and information regarding the case should not be discussed in public. All meetings regarding the case should be held in private so as to protect the reputation and dignity of the individual being impeached.
• The individual should be consulted about the list of grievances against them in a private meeting of the Executive Committee. They should be allowed to defend themselves against any grievances made against him/her. The individual has the right to resign at this point if he/she so chooses in which case the procedure would end here.
• The individual should not be present during the vote. A written vote should be taken by the President (unless the issue involves the President in which case the Vice President should take the vote). A written vote shall be taken and counted. A majority of at least 60% is needed for dismissal.
• Procedure for Impeachment by the General Body:

The General Body also has the right to call for Impeachment for the above reasons only after the Executive Committee has refused to do so. The General Body should follow the procedures listed in the General Body Section of this Charter.

Vacancies:

In the event of a vacancy, due to impeachment, resignation or any other event, the Executive Committee will choose a suitable replacement for the position. In the case of a vacancy in the Presidential position the normal presidential election procedure will be followed minus the vote of the old Executive Committee. During this procedure, the Vice President shall serve as President until the new President is elected.

Article: IX: Parliamentary Procedure

The meetings of the General Assembly and the Executive Committee shall be conducted in accordance with ASA constitution guidelines.

Article X: Amendments

Amendments may be made to the by-laws shall follow the protocol of the Constitution.

Article XI: Elections

• Elections shall be held during the first week of April.
• Any ASA member in good academic standing is eligible to hold ASA office. Associate members do not vote.
• There shall be no self-nominations and offices are filled by majority vote.
• The Faculty Advisor shall collect votes from eligible members during the elections.
• The members vote for President, Vice President and Treasurer. The rest of the officers shall be appointed by the elected ones, within two weeks after the Election Day. If failed to fulfill, a General Body meeting shall be held and a decision shall be taken.