ARTICLE I
NAME
A. This organization is named the Bangladesh Association (BA) of MSU.
ARTICLE II
PURPOSE
The Bangladesh Association is a non-political, secular organization with the following purposes:
A. To promote campus awareness and appreciation of the beauty, language, culture, history and
geography of Bangladesh.
B. To provide support for the Bangladeshi students at MSU.
C. To assist prospective Bangladeshi students in the US and abroad.
ARTICLE III
AFFILIATION AND GOVERNANCE
A. This organization will be affiliated with Mississippi State University.
B. This organization will be governed by this Constitution.
ARTICLE IV
MEMBERSHIP
A. Membership categories shall be the following:
1. Active membership shall be composed entirely of MSU faculty, students and staff.
2. Associate membership shall be composed of alumni, dependents and honorary members.
Associate members may not vote or hold office.
B. Qualification of Members:
1. Active members must be registered with the university as faculty, staff or students.
2. Only active members will pay membership dues and may hold office.
ARTICLE V
OFFICERS
A. All executive powers of BA shall be vested in a President, Vice-President, Treasurer, General Secretary
and Social Secretary. These officers shall be elected in the spring semester in a manner
prescribed by the constitution, and will shall serve a term of one year.
B. Duties and Powers of the Officers
1. Duties and powers of the President
a. The President will moderate all executive board and general meetings
b. The President will maintain a regular agenda for all meetings.
c. The President will call, and is accountable to, Executive Board meetings
on a predetermined schedule prior to general meetings.
d. The President may appoint Committees, Committee Chairman, or
Committee Liaisons as needed.
2. Duties and Powers of the Vice-President (VP)
a. The VP will announce campus-wide events to the campus community
(press, other relevant organizations, etc. )
b. The VP will serve as liasion with other campus groups.
c. The VP will moderate meetings if the President is unable to do so.
3. Duties and Powers of the Treasurer
a. The Treasurer will handle all accounts and financial dealings that have
been elected by the active members and approved by the
Executive Board.
b. The Treasurer will submit account reports at each executive Board
meeting, and regularly at General meetings.
c. The Treasurer will moderate meetings if both President and VP are
unable to do so.
4. Duties and Powers of the General Secretary (GS)
a. The GS will take minutes and attendance at each meeting and save dated
copies in the organization files within ten days.
b. The GS will notify members of scheduled or Emergence Meeings (EM).
c. The GS will concurrently be the Web Page Editor, and will exclusively
maintain BA's page. Anyone may express needs or
suggestions related to the web page.
5. Duties and Powers of the Social Secretary (SS)
a. The SS will organize and arrange all social activities of BA.
b. The SS will fill in for the GS when necessary.
C. The executive board is composed of all elected officers. The board is to meet regularly before all
General meetings, and all officers must attend.
The Board may reassign tasks internally for operation efficiency.
D. The advisor of Bangladesh Association at MSU shall be a member of the faculty at Mississippi
State University.
1. The advisor will not have a vote.
2. Faculty Advisor must sign all financial transactions (with the Treasurer or the President),
University approval forms and Activities Forms for events.
3. The Advisor will act in advisory fashion, and will not interfere in the running of the
organization and the decision-making authority of the Executive Board.
E. 1. Any number of Honorary Advisors may exist. Nominations will be accepted only in writing
prior to a general meeting where it will be voted on by all active members.
A quorum accepts the applicant.
2. Duties of Honorary Advisors include advising when requested, and along with the
Faculty Advisor, arbitrating a case when and if approached by the
Executive Board to do so.
F. The following states the metods for impeaching elected officers. All impeachment preceedings will be
confidential but recorded. There are two categories of impeachment:
1. Non-confidence
a. An active member may want to impeach an officer for personal reasons
(dissatisfaction, disagreement over the way duties are
handled). The procedure is as follows:
b. Applicant must submit to any member of the Executive Board a petetion
detailing the case, signed by five (5) active members.
c. There will be due process where the officer may publicly present and
defend his / her case.
d. The decision will be made by the Executive Board behind closed doors
in the absence of the officer in question.
e. A 2/3 agreement expels that officer from current position.
f. Person in question is eligible for running in next elections.
2. Unfit officer
a. An unfit officer is found to be guilty of, or suspected of Type 1-
illegal activities (prejury, violence, black-mail) or Type 2 -
lacks attendance at both Exec. Board and general meeings
(more than 1/3 absences or unexplained absences) is
immediately subject to expulsion from office.
b. An officer or a member must call attention the situation to Executive
Board.
c. If unfitness is proven, then the officer is given notice at a closed door
emergency meeting (EM)
d. The rejected officer will be given the chance to resign in writing. This
must be done within 48 hours of the emergency meeting.
e. After this time, the officer will be impeached.
f. An officer impeached for a Type 2 offense must wait one year (and
voting period) before being eligible again.
g. Officers impeached for Type 1 offense must wait for two complete
voting cycles before being eligible for running again.
ARTICLE VI
MEETINGS
A. Meetings will be conducted in a language understood by all present, and are open to anyone interested.
B. The Order of Business for Running Meetings is as follows:
1. Opening and introduction of new officers or new members.
2. Old business (recap of previous minutes, status of projects).
3. New business (new projects, proposals, etc.).
4. Special announcements or discussions relevant to the organization.
5. Special announcement not related to the organization (open-floor).
6. Closing.
C. Parliamentary Procedure may be used and will be determined by the Executive Board upon election
into office. In discussions/debates, one speaker will have the floor at a time.
D. Scheduled meetings will be announced via email, campus mail, phone or in Reflector announcements
one week in advance when possible.
E. Emergency meetings may be called anytime without advanced notice. Notification will be verbal, or
written if necessary.
F. A quorum is comprised of 2/3 ( two thirds) of all active members.
A quorum must be present for emergency meetings or voting, but General meetings
may be conducted without it.
ARTICLE VII
DUES
A. Membership dues will be determined by the Executive Board for the coming year. Dues will be
moderate, and decided upon by the group.
B. All dues must be paid within one month of membership. Members who have not paid after one month
will be considered inactive (honorary). All Members who join anytime during the fall
semester will pay the full annual membership fee. Those joining anytime in
spring will pay half the annual fee.
C. Dues must be paid in US dollars, cash.
D. All financial transaction must be signed by the Advisor and the Treasurer or President. If the
Treasurer is unable to do so at the time, the President may sign but the Treasurer will have
all receipts / logs / reports.
E. Donations from members and patrons will be accepted.
F. Sponsorships are encouraged, but BA reserves the right to reject any sponsorship that may not be in
the best interest of the organization.
ARTICLE VIII
ELECTIONS
A. Elections will be held each March, but new officers assume positions in May.
B. The interim will serve as transition where old and new officers work jointly.
C. Members may hold only one position at a time.
ARTICLE IX
AMENDING PROCEDURE
A. Amendments to this Constitution shall be proposed in writing two weeks prior to the time they are to
be voted upon.
B. Adoption of amendments shall be by a 2/3 vote of the total membership.
ARTICLE X
REVISION
Revision of this Constitution shall be undertaken only if a motion of revision is approved by a 2/3 vote of
members present and voting.
If such revision is approved, it shall be undertaken by a committee appointed by the President of
Bangladesh Association at MSU. The President shall appoint a member to serve as
Chairman of the Revision Committee.
The revision of this Constitution shall be by ballot and shall require a 2/3 vote of the members present and
voting.
ARTICLE X1
NON-DISCRIMINATION CLAUSE
Bangladesh Association at Mississippi State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color,
religion, national origin, sex, age, handicap / disability, or veteran status.
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Association HOME PAGE.
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Mohammad
R. Hossain
Mississippi State University is an equal opportunity institution.