The Massachusetts Institute of Technology East Campus Dormitory Constitution.

Article I: Name

The name of this organization shall be "The East Campus Dormitory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technologyā€¯ (hereafter referred to as "East Campus").

Article II: Membership

Membership of East Campus shall be defined into three categories: 1) Full members, 2) non residential members, and 3) associate members.

Section 1: Eligibility

  1. Full members:
    1. Any current resident of East Campus as defined by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Housing & Residential Services Office (hereafter referred to as "HRS") shall be considered a full member of East Campus.
    2. If, for any reason, East Campus is declared partially or fully uninhabited by HRS due to renovation, emergency or other similar displacement, all residents during the term prior to evacuation shall be considered full members during their time as undergraduate students at MIT.
    3. Non-residential members: During times of displacement, Non-residential members shall retain full rights & privileges as residential members according to this constitution, except in instances where "full member" is specified. Non-residential membership shall be granted by Hall chairs and is subject to revocation by the Executive Committee.
  2. Associate members:
    1. Residents of East Campus that do not satisfy the criterion for membership, including the Head of House, Associate Head of House, Area Director, and Graduate Resident Advisors, shall be considered associate members of East Campus. Associate members may not hold office or vote, but are entitled to select privileges within the dormitory government

Article III: House Committee

Section 1: Purpose

All legislative powers granted by this Constitution shall be vested in a House Committee of East Campus (hereafter referred to as "HouseComm"), which shall be composed of voting delegates from each Hall of East Campus. The purpose of HouseComm shall be to represent the interests of members of East Campus.

Section 2: Powers

HouseComm shall have the following powers:

  1. To create and dissolve auxiliary committees;
  2. To establish a budget for each semester;
  3. To establish the house tax for each semester;
  4. To allocate and de-allocate house funds;
  5. To create and amend By-laws and regulations for itself and any auxiliary committees it creates (By-laws may not violate this Constitution, and any By-law that does so in letter or spirit shall be considered null and void);
  6. To create and amend this Constitution according to Article VII;
  7. To confirm a disputed election according to Article IV Section 4 Item 4;
  8. To impeach any member of an auxiliary committee or the Executive Committee according to Article VI.
  9. To make decisions for the betterment of East Campus and to advise the Executive Committee in their duties.

Section 3: Meetings

House Committee meetings shall be chaired by members of the Executive Committee (hereafter referred to as "Exec") as described in Article IV. Meetings shall be regularly held and conducted according to the By-laws of the House Committee.

Section 4: Voting

Unless otherwise specified in this Constitution or By-laws of HouseComm, any member of East Campus may, at a meeting of HouseComm, make a motion for a vote to be held at the same meeting. If a vote is held, each Hall with a present delegate shall have exactly one vote. Unless otherwise specified in the By-laws of HouseComm or this Constitution, decisions shall be made by a majority vote of Halls present.

Article IV: Executive Committee

Section 1: Purpose

All executive powers granted by this Constitution shall be vested in an Executive Committee of East Campus (hereafter referred to as "Exec"), which shall be composed of the members described in Section 2. The purpose of Exec shall be to implement and execute the decisions made by HouseComm or passed by referendum and to act as leaders and representatives of the dormitory.

Section 2: Members

Exec shall be composed of the following members, in order of succession:

  1. President
  2. Vice President
  3. Treasurer
  4. Secretary
  5. Member at Large

Section 3: Eligibility and Tenure of Office

Only members of East Campus may hold positions on Exec. No two positions may be held by the same person.

Specific requirements for eligibility and tenure of each member of Exec shall be as follows:

  1. The President and Vice-President shall:
    1. Be members of East Campus for the term in which the election is held, and the full term before it, in order to be eligible to hold office.
    2. Take office at the Registration Date in the term following the election and shall remain in office until the registration date following the next election.
    3. Intend to remain eligible to serve for the duration of the time period described in the previous clause.
  2. The Treasurer, Secretary, and Member at Large shall:
    1. Be members of East Campus for the entirety of the term in which the election is held in order to be eligible to hold office.
    2. Take office at the first House Committee meeting of the term following their election.

Section 4: Elections

  1. Election Committee:
    1. At least two meetings prior to a dormitory-wide election or referendum, an Election Committee (hereafter referred to as "ElectComm") shall be elected by HouseComm, unless one already exists.
    2. For all purposes in this Constitution and By-laws of HouseComm, ElectComm shall be considered an auxiliary committee.
    3. Elections shall be conducted as described in the HouseComm By-laws.
  2. Elections of the President and Vice-President:
    1. The President and Vice-President shall be elected via popular vote.
    2. All candidates must be nominated via a petition signed by at least 20 percent of the members of East Campus.
    3. All members of East Campus shall be eligible to vote in this election.
    4. This vote shall be held on the first Tuesday of each December.
    5. This vote shall be held in-person in Talbot Lounge.
      1. In instances of displacement mentioned in Article 2 Section 1, petition signing and voting may take place virtually, at the discretion of ElectComm.
  3. Elections of the Treasurer, Secretary, and Member at Large:
    1. The Treasurer, Secretary, and Member at Large shall be elected by majority vote of the halls at the last regularly-scheduled HouseComm meeting of the Fall term according to the By-laws of HouseComm.
  4. Disputed results:
    1. After ElectComm announces the results of the election, any candidate may dispute the results of the election by notifying the members of ElectComm in writing within 24 hours.
    2. At the next HouseComm meeting, the election must be confirmed by a vote of seven-out-of-ten Halls.
    3. If the election is not confirmed, a new one must take place within ten school days. School days are defined as days on which Fall or Spring term classes take place.

Section 5: Powers and Duties

The members of Exec shall have the following powers and responsibilities:

  1. President:
    1. Presiding over meetings of HouseComm, or, in the case of a conflict of interest, yielding that power to the Vice-President.
    2. Casting the deciding vote at meetings of HouseComm, or, in the case of a conflict of interest, yielding that power to the Vice-President.
    3. Managing all representation of East Campus to other members of the MIT Community, including attending and voting at meetings of the MIT Dormitory Council and Council of the MIT Undergraduate Association or appointing capable proxies to do the same.
    4. Acting as a signatory of all East Campus accounts.
    5. Acting as the final interpreter of this Constitution and any By-laws or regulations created by the House Committee.
  2. Vice-President:
    1. Fulfilling the responsibilities of the President if he or she is unable to do so.
    2. In conjunction with the Member at Large:
      1. Handling all room assignments in East Campus.
      2. Acting as the Room Assignment Chair and communicating with the Room Assignment Chair of the MIT Dormitory Council and the Housing Chair of the MIT Undergraduate Association.
    3. Managing the auxiliary committees created by the House Committee.
    4. Presiding over meetings of HouseComm in the event that the President is unable to do so, or if there is a conflict of interest on a particular issue. In the latter case, the Vice-President shall yield the chairship back to the President when the conflicting issue has been resolved.
    5. Casting the deciding vote at meetings of HouseComm in the case of a tie if the President is not present at the meeting or if there is a conflict of interest.
  3. Treasurer:
    1. Acting as Chief Financial Officer of East Campus.
    2. Maintaining financial records for East Campus.
    3. Distributing funds as instructed to by HouseComm.
    4. Processing requests for reimbursement in a timely manner.
    5. Proposing a budget for East Campus each semester and ensuring that the budget consequently established by HouseComm is followed.
  4. Secretary:
    1. Publicizing HouseComm meetings to members of East Campus at least 2 days in advance of each meeting.
    2. Taking minutes at HouseComm meetings.
    3. Publicizing minutes at most one week after each HouseComm meeting.
    4. Maintaining an agenda for each HouseComm meeting.
    5. Calling roll at the beginning of each HouseComm meeting or upon request by any member of the Exec or any delegate of a Hall to HouseComm.
    6. Maintaining official East Campus documents including this Constitution, By-laws and any other official document submitted to or by members of the House Committee, Executive Committee, or any auxiliary committee.
  5. Member at Large:
    1. In conjunction with the Vice President
      1. Handling all room assignments in East Campus.
      2. Acting as the Room Assignment Chair and communicating with the Room Assignment Chair of the MIT Dormitory Council and the Housing Chair of the MIT Undergraduate Association.
    2. Aiding the other members of the East Campus Exec with the execution of their duties as they may require it.

Section 6: Vacancies

Vacancies for members of Exec shall be filled in the following manner:

  1. President:
    1. In the event that the President is unable to complete his or her duties, or becomes ineligible to do so, the next member of Exec (according to the order of succession enumerated in Section 2) shall take office as President.
    2. They shall remain acting as President until a new election for President is held.
    3. This election must take place in accordance with the process described in Section 4, and must take place at most ten school days after the vacancy is created.
  2. Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Member at Large:
    1. In the event that the Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, or Member at Large is unable to complete his or her duties, or become ineligible to do so, a temporary replacement shall be appointed by the President.
    2. The replacement shall remain acting in the appointed position until a new election takes place.
    3. This election must take place in accordance with the process described in Section 4.
    4. The election for Vice-President must take place at most ten school days after the vacancy is created; the election for Treasurer, Secretary, and Member at Large must take place at the next HouseComm meeting.

Article V: Impeachments

  1. Any member of Exec or of an auxiliary committee may be removed from office for gross negligence, failure to perform duties, malfeasance, or abuse of power by a vote of seven-out-of-ten Halls.
  2. Each Hall must present a paper ballot to the Secretary (or the President if the Secretary is being impeached) at the HouseComm meeting in which the vote for impeachment is held. Each Hall may determine how its vote is conducted according to its own policies.
  3. The vote must be taken at the meeting following the motion for impeachment.
  4. Exec must notify the party being impeached, in writing, at least one week prior to the vote.
  5. No member may vote in his or her own impeachment.

Article VI: Hall Chairs

East Campus shall be composed of ten halls, each with representatives, hereafter referred to as "Hall chairs."" Each Hall may determine its Hall chairs according to its own policies, practices and timeline, but hall chairs must be members of their respective Hall.

Section 1: Powers & Responsibilities

Hall chairs shall have the following powers and responsibilities:

  1. Acting as "voting delegates" and attending the meetings of HouseComm or otherwise sending a proxy.
  2. Managing their Halls' internal room assignment & reassignment process.
  3. Managing all representation of their Hall to other members of East Campus and externally, and making a good faith effort to represent the ideas, opinions, and interests of their hall members.
  4. Acting as Chief Financial Officer and signatory of all their Halls' accounts.

Halls shall possess the right to delegate the above responsibilities between Hall chairs & other members of their hall at their discretion. The powers not delegated to the Executive Committee by the Constitution are reserved to Hall chairs respectively, or to the members of East Campus.

Article VII: Amendments

  1. This Constitution and any By-laws or regulations governing East Campus may be amended by a vote of seven-out-of-ten Halls.
  2. Each Hall must present a paper ballot to the Secretary at the HouseComm meeting in which the vote for the amendment is held. Each Hall may determine how its vote is conducted according to its own policies.
  3. Members and associate members of East Campus must be notified in writing by the Secretary about proposed amendments at least a week prior to the vote with the exact motion or amendment to be voted upon.
  4. The President has the power to force any proposal for an amendment to the Constitution, By-laws, or regulations to a referendum, which shall be conducted as outlined in Article VIII. The President may not force a vote on the impeachment of any member of ExecComm to a referendum. A presidential force-to-referendum may be overridden by a vote of seven-out-of-ten halls.

Article VIII: Referenda

  1. Motions or amendments for referendum voting may be made either by petition of at least 20 percent of East Campus members or by a majority vote of HouseComm. The petition or HouseComm resolution must include the exact motion or amendment to be voted upon.
  2. The Secretary shall notify all members and associate members of East Campus in writing with the date of the vote, at most 48 hours after the introduction of the motion or amendment.
  3. The vote must take place between 5 and 10 days after the members and associate members of East Campus are notified of the motion or amendment. ExecComm must decide the exact date of the vote within 24 hours.
  4. ElectComm shall conduct the referendum vote as outlined in Article IV Section 2 of the By-laws.
  5. In matters concerning amendments to this Constitution or to the By-laws, or the impeachment of any member of ExecComm or any auxiliary committee, the right to vote in a referendum is reserved to members of East Campus. In all other cases, the right to vote in a referendum shall be extended to all members and associate members of East Campus.
  6. Any referendum shall be decided by two-thirds of the votes cast. HouseComm may vote to lower this threshold to a simple majority for a given proposal by a vote of seven-out-of-ten halls.

Article IX: Order of Precedence

In case of conflict between the governing documents of East Campus, the following order of precedence shall apply:

  1. The Constitution of East Campus
  2. The By-laws of East Campus
  3. The regulations of East Campus
  4. The rules, regulations, and policies of the individual Halls of East Campus