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All Greek organizations operate according to a constitution. The more
time and thought that goes into your constitution now, the less operating
problems you should have in the future. Take your time and carefully fill
in all the blanks below. When you are done, you will have your very first
constitution! Remember to drop by the book store and pick up a copy of
Robert's Rules of Order, the Bible of parliamentary procedure. Or
you can take a peek at the abbreviated online
version. If you get stuck, we have links to a ton of Greek
constitutions in The Reference Center to give you an idea boost!
- Name of organization:
- School:
- List the goals and purposes of the organization:
- State how the organization intends to accomplish these
goals and purposes:
- Requirements for membership:
- Officers and their duties (individual names not needed).
- What are the eligibility requirements or necessary qualifications
to run for each office?
- How will the organization nominate and elect new officers?
- How will the organization replace officers during their
term of office?
- When will the organization elect officers (what time
of year)?
- How many members and officers are necessary to constitute
a quorum in order to conduct legal membership meetings, committee meetings,
etc.? (For example, some organizations consider a quorum as one half of
their active membership plus one.)
- How will meetings be conducted? (Roberts Rules of Order
or another method?)
- How will members, not officers, call emergency
meetings and special events?
- Who will be the officer responsible for informing
membership of emergency or special meetings?
- What will be the method of informing membership of emergency
special meetings?
- Set a day and time for regular membership meetings:
- Membership dues (if applicable):
- What will be the process for amending this constitution
and what number of votes will be necessary for passage of an amendment?
Other issues to consider when implementing your bylaws
(Consult Robert's Rules of Order for information on how to do
this. This book is available at your local bookstore or campus book center.)
- What role will your alumni play? Implement guidelines
for the supervisory and advisory positions they will assume one day. (Since
YOU, the Founders, WILL BE THE ALUMNI SOON, doing this now will avoid a
lot of confusion and hassle later.)
- What type of standards will the organization enforce
and how will it enforce it? (For example, proper conduct toward brothers/sisters,
in and out of meetings, misappropriation of funds, disaffiliation, etc.)
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