SBA Constitution
ARTICLE
I – GENERAL
§
1.01 Name The name of
the corporation is the Student Bar Association, Incorporated, hereinafter
referred to as the SBA.
§
1.02 Offices The principal office of the SBA shall be at Portland,
Maine. The SBA may have offices at such other place or places within the
State of Maine as the Board of Directors may from time to time appoint
or the business of the corporation my require.
ARTICLE
II – PURPOSES
§ 2.01 Purposes To advance the ideals and objectives of the University of Maine, to promote the ethical principles of the legal profession, to further the high scholastic standards of the School of Law, to coordinate the activities of the student body, to foster unity among faculty, student and alumni, and to cooperate with national, state and local bar associations.
Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the SBA shall exercise only such powers as re in furtherance of the exempt purposes of the organization set forth in §501© of the Internal Revenue Code and its regulations as the same now exist or as hereafter amended.
The SBA is not organized for profit, and no part of the net earnings
of the SBA shall inure to the benefit of any private member or individual.
In the event of liquidation or dissolution of the SBA, whether
voluntary or involuntary, no member shall be entitled to any distribution
or division of its remaining property or its proceeds, and the balance
of all money and other property received by the SBA from any source, after
the payment of all debts and obligations of the SBA, shall be used and
distributed exclusively for purposes within those set forth above and
within the intent of §501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code and its regulations
as the same now exist or as hereafter amended.
ARTICLE
III – MEMBERSHIP
§
3.01 General Membership All students who are registered for any course or any courses
at the University of Maine School of Law shall be regular members of the
SBA.
§
3.02 Honorary Membership All faculty members or the University of Maine School of Law
and such other persons as the Board of Directors may from time to time
elect shall be honorary members of the SBA.
They shall be without vote.
§
3.03 Faculty Advisor The Dean of the School of Law, or a faculty member appointed
by the Dean, shall be the faculty advisor to the SBA and shall serve as
the SBA’s Registered Agent.
§ 3.04 Voting All regular members of the SBA shall be entitled to vote in the general meetings and elections of the SBA.
§
3.05 Annual Meeting The annual meeting of the SBA shall take place within two weeks
of the general election of officers and class representatives which is
held in the fall.
ARTICLE
IV – DIRECTORS
§
4.01 Number The Board
of Directors shall consist of not more than nineteen (19) directors and
shall consist of SBA officers and class representatives.
§ 4.02 Duties Except as otherwise provided b law, the business of the SBA shall be managed by the Board of Directors who may exercise all the powers of the SBA. Without restricting the generality of the foregoing, the Board of Directors shall have the specific duties:
a) to manage and administer the affairs of the SBA between general meetings of the SBA;
b) to approve such committees as it may deem expedient for the carrying out of the SBA’s purpose;
c) to supervise the work of all committees;
d) to employ such persons as it may deem necessary for the successful prosecution of the objects of the SBA;
e) to give full and complete report of its activities at the annual meeting of the SBA;
f)
to enact and promulgate such by-laws for the government of the
SBA as may be consistent
with its purposes and designed to carry out its objects, provided such
by-laws are adopted by two third vote of those Directors present and voting.
§ 4.03 Officers
a) The officers of the SBA, who shall also be the officers of the Board of Directors, shall be a President, a Vice President, a Treasurer, and a Secretary.
b) To be eligible for election as an officer, a nominee must be a full time student who is in good standing. Nominees for the office of President must be from the second year class. Nominees for the office of Vice-President, Treasurer, or Secretary must be from the first or second year class.
c) Any student meeting the qualifications set forth in Article IV, § 403 (b) of this Constitution shall become a candidate of office by self nomination in the manner prescribed by the by-laws of the SBA.
d) Officers shall be elected during the fall semester by secret ballot. The date for elections shall be fixed by the by-laws. The nominee for each office receiving a plurality of votes cast at such election shall be declared elected to the office. In the event of a tie, a run-off election shall be held between or among only those nominees who are tied for the plurality. If necessary this procedure shall be repeated until the tie is broken.
e) Officers shall hold office for one year from the time that they are elected.
f) Should the office of President become vacant, the Vice-President shall become President. Should the office of the President and the Office of Vice-President become vacant at the same time, a general election shall be held at the earliest convenient time to fill the two positions. Vacancies in the offices of Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary shall be filled in a manner determined by the Board of Directors.
g)
The President of the SBA shall Preside at all meetings of the Board;
in the President’s absence the Vice-President; in the Vice-President’s
absence, the Secretary; in the Secretary’s absence, the Treasurer; in
the Treasurer’s absence, a member of the board shall be elected to act
as temporary chairperson. The
presiding officer shall be guided by the latest edition of Roberts Rules
of Procedure.
§ 4.04 Other Directors
a) Each class shall elect representatives to serve on the Board of Directors. The number of directors elected from each class shall be proportionate to the number of students in each class at the time that the elections are held. A class consisting of eighty (80) or less students shall elected three (3) directors; a class of eighty-one (81) to one hundred (100) shall elect four (4) directors; and a class consisting of more than one hundred (100) students shall elected five (5) directors.
b) Representatives for the first class shall be elected within three weeks of the first day of classes for the first year students. The first year representatives elected in the fall shall serve on the Board of Directors until the spring elections. Representatives who are elected in the spring of their second year shall sever on the Board of Directors for one year from the time they are elected.
c) All students who are in good standing are eligible to run for class representative.
d) In the event of a vacancy in a class representative position, an election to fill the vacant position will be held at the earliest convenient date.
e)
Class representative shall be a full or part-tine member of the
class which they represent. Class
representatives shall be elected by the members of that class
§
4.05 Quorum Attendance
by a majority of the entire membership of the Board of Directors shall
constitute a quorum at all meetings for the transaction of business.
§
4.06 Resignation Any
director may resign by giving written notice to the President or the Secretary.
Such resignation shall take effect at the time or upon the event specified
therein, or if none is specified, upon receipt.
Unless otherwise specified in the resignation, its acceptance shall
not be necessary to make it effective.
§
4.07 Impeachment In the
event that any member of the Board of Directors is deemed gravely delinquent
in conduct or in the execution of duties, the member may be dismissed
by a vote of not less than two-third of the entire membership of the Board
of Directors, provided that member has prior notice of the pending action.
§
4.08 Attendance Any member of the Board of Directors who fails to attend
three consecutive meetings of the Board of Directors my be dismissed by
a vote of not less than two-thirds of the entire membership of the Board,
provided that such member has notice of the pending action.
§
4.09 Meetings Meetings
of the Board of Directors shall be called by the President and shall be
held at least once during each month of the academic year.
Special meetings shall be called by the President upon the written request of
at least five (5) members of the Board.
§
4.10 Duties of Officers The Board of Directors shall prescribe the duties of the officers
of the SBA and the manner of executing deeds, contracts and other instruments
and performing the acts and orders of the Board of Directors and the powers
and agents in respect thereof except as any power may be exclusively vested
in a particular office or the manner of execution exclusively defined
by this Constitution or by-laws.
ARTICLE
V - GENERAL MEETINGS
§
5.01 General Meetings Meetings of the general membership of the SBA other than the
annual meeting shall be called in the discretion of the President.
The President must call such meeting upon written petition of twenty-five
(25) percent of the entire membership of the SBA.
All business brought before such meeting shall be decided by a
majority vote of those present and voting.
ARTICLE
VI - COMMITTEES
§
6.01 Standing Committees Those standing committees enumerated in the by-laws of the
SBA shall carry on appropriate activities.
The President shall with the approval of the Board of
Directors appoint chairpersons and members
of all standing committees.
§
6.02 Ad Hoc Committees Ad Hoc committees may be established by the Board of Directors
as it deems necessary for the specific purposes and limited terms.
§
6.03 Law School Committees The
President, with approval of the Board of Directors, shall appoint members
to law school committees as requested by the dean of the law school.
§
6.04 Membership Membership
on any committee shall be open to all members of the SBA in good academic
standing interested in the activities being undertaken by that committee.
§
6.05 Reports All committee
chairpersons are responsible to the Board of Directors for the execution
of their function and shall make reports to the Board of Directors upon
the request or as the by-laws may require.
ARTICLE
VII – FINANCES AND EXPENDITURES
§
7.01 Sources The SBA
shall be funded through the Student Activity Fees, other funds made available
to the SBA by the dean of the law school, and such other funds as the
Board of Directors may deem appropriate.
§
7.02 Authorization of Expenditures
All expenditures may only be made with the approval of the Board
of Directors and in the manner prescribed in the by-laws.
§
7.03 Unexpected Funds In the event that there are unexpected monies at the end of
the academic year, these monies shall remain in the SBA treasury.
ARTICLE
VIII – INTERPRETATION
§
8.01 Interpretation Disputed questions concerning the meaning or application of
this constitution shall be resolved by a majority vote of the members
of the Board of Directors present and voting.
ARTICLE
IX – AMENDMENTS
§
9.01 Initiative Amendments
to this constitution shall be initiated by a recorded vote of two-third of the entire membership
of the Board of Directors or by
a written petition of twenty-five (25) percent of the entire membership
of the SBA.
§
Referendum Amendments
so proposed shall be submitted to referendum vote of the entire membership
of the SBA at the earliest convenient date and shall be adopted by a majority
vote.
ARTICLE
X - RATIFICATION
§ 10.01 Ratification This constitution having been ratified by a simple majority of the student body, is now effective, thereby rendering all prior constitutions null and void.
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