Contents

Purpose, Membership, Fees and Terms

1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4

2
2
2
3

Organization
2.1
2.2
2.3

Charity Committee . 6
Sports Committee 6

General Rules.. 6

Election of the Society Executive .. 7

Bi-Elections.... 8

Campaigning
6.1
6.2
6.3

3
3
3
4
4
5
5

Elections of and Appointment of Society Figures

5.1
5.2

Discipline ..
Transfer of Society Documents..
Function of the Society Executive..
2.3.1 The President..
2.3.2 The Vice President..
2.3.3 The Treasurer..
2.3.4 The Social Chair(s)..

Society Meetings
4.1

Committee
3.1
3.2

Purpose ..
Membership
Society Fees
Terms..

Campaigning .. 9
Speeches.. 9
Voting.. 9

Impeachment

10

Amendments to the Constitution

11

By-Laws

11
1

9.1

General House Information. 11

Purpose, Membership, Fees and Terms

The name of this Memorial University of Newfoundland Student Union (MUNSU) ratified society shall
be: The Barnes House Society.

1.1
1.

Purpose
The purpose of this constitution is to make clear the rules and regulations governing the society
known as The Barnes House Society.

2.

The direction and representation of The Barnes House Society shall be the purpose of the elected
Society Executive.

1.2
1.

Membership
All persons (excluding all Staff Members) residing in Barnes House shall be members of the Society
upon paying their Society fees.

2.

Paid residents shall be heretofore referred to as Society Members and shall remain so until the day
they depart from Barnes House at the end of the current semester. Society fees will not be refunded.

3.

In order to be a Society Member, individuals must have resided in Barnes House or will be residing
in Barnes House for a full semester. Payment of Society fees ensures membership regardless of
occupancy in Barnes House (i.e. off-campus, but former residents may continue to be Society
Members so long as Society fees have been paid in full). The Society Executive reserve the right to
refuse membership. Society members must be a current student.

1.3

Society Fees

1.

Society fees must be paid every semester by all Society Members.

2.

The Society fee rate (?]$) will be set by the Society Executive.

3.

All payments must be made in person to the elected Society Treasurer. The elected Society Treasurer
shall provide a receipt upon request.

4.

All funds (including fines for unpaid fees) will be collected and allocated at the discretion of the
Society Executive for the betterment of the Society.

5.

If Society fees are not paid, residents shall be denied membership in the Society and shall be
prohibited from societal involvement, but not limited to the following
A.

They may not attend any society functions.

B.

They may not avail of faculties made available by the Society for its members (any materials
paid for by the Society).

C.

They may not participate in intramural sports.

D.

They may not participate in Society elections (neither by running nor voting nor nominating
candidates nor asking questions).

1.4

Terms

1.

The terms Barnes and The Society shall denote The Banes House Society.

2.

The terms House Executive and Exec(utive) shall The Barnes House Society Executive which
shall consist of the President, Vice-president, Treasurer, and Social Chair(s).

3.

The terms Member(s) and Society Member(s) shall denote persons with The Barnes House
Society membership.

4.

The term Senior(s) shall denote any resident in at least their second full year of residency in The
Barnes House Society.

5.

The term F.R.O.S.H shall denote a colloquial reference to any resident in their first year or
residency in the Barnes House Society (First-year Resident Of Student Housing)

6.

The terms Staff,RA(s),AA and RC shall denote the Housing, Food & Conference Services
Members assigned to live among The Barnes House Society. This includes, nut not limited to the
house Resident Coordinator, Resident Assistants and Academic Advisor.

7.

The term Housing shall refer to the Housing, Food & Conference Services Office of MUN and its
delegates.

8.

The term Alumni shall refer to any former Society Member who resided in the Society as a
registered tenant of the Society through Housing, Food & Conference Services. Alumni having
completed at least their first year shall be granted, at the discretion of the Society Executive, the title
Senior Emeritus.

Organization

2.1

Discipline

1.

The Society Executive, in conjunction with the Staff shall play an active part in the discipline of the
Society Members.

2.2
1.

Transfer of Society Documents

The Society Executive shall take office on the arrival date for Executive Members as outlined by
Housing. Immediately following elections in the winter semester, members of the outgoing Society
Executive are to familiarize the newly elected members of the Society Executive with Society
procedures. It is the final role of the present years Executive to prepare the next years Executive for
their upcoming roles and to transfer all Society documentation and properties to the new Executive.

2.3

Function of the Society Executive

2.3.1 The President

1.

Be a current member of the Society living within Barnes House.

2.

Preside over all society meetings, unless otherwise occupied.

3.

Assume the responsibility of direction and action taken by the Society Executive within the Society.

4.

Must participate in or be present at the majority of Society events.

5.

Must participate in or be present at all sporting events, if time permits.

6.

Must act as a mentor to all Society Members and leader for the Society as a whole.

7.

Must be a role model for the morals and beliefs of the Society.

8.

Assume the responsibility of increasing society morale.

9.

Represent the Society in its relations with MUNSU and Housing.

10. Be responsible for the direction and integration of the actions of the Society Executive in the
Society.
11. Be responsible for calling meetings of the Society, subject to the provisions of Section 4 of this
constitution.
12. Carry out any other duties as the Society Executive shall assign.
13. The President shall reserve the right to veto any decision by the Society or its Executive that he/she
feels might negatively affect the Society. The exception to this clause is the decision on the part of
the Society to pursue impeachment against him/her.
14. The President shall also carry authority to be a signing party on all cheques issued by the Society.

2.3.2 The Vice-President

1.

Be a current member of the Society living within Barnes House.

2.

Assume the duties of the President in his/her absence or at the direction of the president.

3.

Assume the duties of the President in his/her removal from the house.

4.

Chair all in-Society committees unless otherwise directed by the president.

5.

Acts as a representative for collaboration and organization of charity events with the charity
Committee

6.

Must be Present at the majority of charity meetings.

7.

Must participate in or be present at the majority of Society events.

8.

Must participate in or be present at all sporting events, if time permits.

9.

Must assume the role of boosting Society morale.

10. Carry out any other duties as the Society Executive shall assign.
11. Is in charge of house clothes in all respects, unless otherwise occupied. He/She must maintain
popular items availability and select new items to provide, as well as all accounting accosted with
the role.
12. Is required to come up with at least one new clothing item per semester.
13. The Vice-President shall also carry authority to be a signing party on all cheques issued by the
Society.

2.3.3 The Treasurer

1.

Be a current member of the Society living within Barnes House.

2.

Be responsible to the Society for the finances of the Society.

3.

Have ready a copy of the Society financial condition at the end of every month, or at such times
when requested by a Society Member.

4.

Collect and keep a record of all Society fees collected.

5.

Be responsible for any revenue from external sources.

6.

Must be available to collect payments from society members in all regards.

7.

Must participate and be present at the majority of Society events.

8.

Must participate in or be present at all sporting events, if time permits.

9.

Must assume the role of boosting Society morale.

10. Must collect all funds raised by the Charity Committee and distribute them to the cause at hand.
11. Carry out any other duties as the Society Executive shall assign.
12. The Treasurer must be one of the two required signing parties on all cheques issued by the Society.

2.3.4 The Social Chair(s)

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1.

Be a current member of the Society living within Barnes House.

2.

Be responsible for, and arrange all Society functions.

3.

Must precipitate and be present at all events organized by the Society Executive and must be the last
person to leave.

4.

Must participate in or be present at all sporting events, if time permits.

5.

Must assume the role of boosting Society morale.

6.

Carry out such other duties as the Society Executive shall assign.

7.

Must make available a list of Society events, approximate dates, and approximated associated costs
by the end of each month.

8.

The Social Chair(s) shall also carry authority to be a signing party on all cheques issued by the
Society.

Committees

3.1

Charity Committee

1.

The focus of the Charity Committee is to plan and organize charitable events in conduction with the
Society Executive to serve the public and community representing the morals and beliefs of the
Society.

2.

This committee will be represented by two chairmen and the Vice-President of the Society.

3.

The Vice-President will serve the purpose of overseeing all Charity meetings, and actions.

4.

The co-chairmen are responsible for planning all charity events, calling charity meetings and
conferring with the Society Executive on all plans.

3.2

Sports Committee

1.

The sports committee is to absorb the responsibilities of all intramural sports.

2.

This committee will be composed of 3 chairmen; one (1) male sports representative, one (1) female
sports representative and one (1) co-ed sports representative.

3.

The chairmen are required to maintain records of involvement in intramural sporting events for later
reference.

4.

The chairmen may organize additional sporting events for recreational enjoyment of the Society.

5.

In the event that absenteeism is directly the fault of negligence of the sports representative(s), they
will be dealt with accordingly (See Section 2.1).

6.

In all financial matters dealing with intramural sports, the sports representatives are to see the
Society Treasurer.

Society Meetings

4.1

General Rules

1.

The Annual Meeting of the Society shall be held the weekend after the year-end formal or equivalent,
each year before final exams begin.

2.

Staff Members have the right to call a meeting whenever they see fit.

3.

All Society Executive Members will agree upon the times of the Society meetings.

4.

Addressing issues during Society meetings has to be done in a mature formal matter. Accusations,
violent behaviour, derogatory terminology or threatening actions will not be tolerated and will
immediately void the persons complaint at the discretion of the Society President.

5.

The Society President reserves the right to maintain order at meetings and to suspend anybody from
the meetings who displays detrimental behaviour in the meeting.

6.

Within fourth-eight (48) hours of the receipt of a petition signed by at least one-half (1/2) of the
Society Members, calling for a general meeting, the President shall call such a general meeting.

7.

A quorum for general meetings shall be two-thirds (2/3) of the Society Members, and shall include at
least majority (3/4 or at least 3/5) of the Society Executive.

8.

The Society Executive shall meet at least once every two weeks to discuss ongoing Society business.

9.

The new Society Executives term of office shall begin the last day the last current Society Executive
Members move out of Barnes House in April and end the last day of winter semester or when they no
longer live in Barnes House; either leaving under ones free will or whatever reason, or being kicked
out by Housing.

10. Current Society Executive are full fledged members of the Society for their complete term.
11. Housing shall determine the date Society Members shall move in and the date they shall move out
and their membership will encompass these dates.
12. The Society will recognize the necessity to have a vehicle at its disposal on occasion and will use the
following formula to reimburse the owner of that vehicle for his/her associated costs:
(Current Price of Gas)*(Kilometres Driven)/(Number of Kilometres per litre)
13. Roberts Rules of Order 10th edition, or a later edition, shall govern The Barnes House Society in all
procedural matters not contained in this document and shall be interpreted by the Society President.

Elections of and Appointment of Society Figures

5.1

Election of the Society Executive

1.

The Society President shall call an election every year during the month of March.

2.

Each academic year the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Social Chair(s) of the next years
Society Executive shall be elected, in this election, at large by a vote of the Society Members. In each
case the candidate obtaining 50% + 1 of the votes shall be declared elected, on the sole exception of a
Social Chair where two may be elected when two candidates share, each, 50% of the votes.

3.

The Society Executive shall appoint an elections manager to oversee all electoral proceedings. The
elections manager must be a neutral party, not a Society Executive Member, and not running for any
position with the Society Executive.

4.

Nominations must be Submitted to any current Society Executive Member.

5.

The elections manager shall not cast a vote in any electoral proceedings.

6.

In the event that more than two individuals run for a position, preliminary elections will take place
with the top two in number of votes carrying on to the next round of voting. A speech session will be
permitted before such preliminary voting so that all potential candidates may have their voices heard
(this meeting shall follow the guidelines of all other electoral speeches).
1.

In the event of a tie whose outcome affects the top two places for all positions, in a
preliminary vote, a new deciding vote shall be cast between the tying parties unless the tie is
for first place in which both parties shall continue onto the final round of electoral
proceedings.

2.

In the unlikely event of a tie in the final elections for any position, on the exception of Social
Chair(s), the tie shall be settled by recounting the votes from the preliminary vote (only if
applicable) or by a re-vote. Only two Social Chairs may be elected in the unlikely event of a
tie in the final elections.

7.

If a person runs unopposed they must still campaign to receive the confidence vote which shall be
defined as 50% + 1 of the Society Membership.

8.

Candidates for Presidency of the Society Executive must be entering their second fill academic year
in the Society.

9.

In order to run in a Barnes House Society election, one has had to lived in Barnes House in the
previous year in order to run for the upcoming years Executive.

10. Every candidate has the choice to choose a scrutiny to be present at the counting of the votes.

5.2

Bi-Elections

1. Bi-elections shall be called within two weeks following the removal or resignation of any member of
the Society Executive with the sole exclusion of the President who will be replaced by the VicePresident.
2. Any current Society Executive Member wishing to campaign for a different position should it become
vacant, must first resign from their current position which will, subsequently, open that position for
bi-election as well.
3. Procedure for a bi-election shall be the same as outlined in Section5.
4. In the event the Society President is expelled temporarily, his/her chosen replacement shall return to
his/her former position when the President returns and the newly elected Society Executive Member
shall resign.

Campaigning

6.1

Campaigning

1.

A campaign period of no more than one week shall precede the voting.

2.

The Society Executive shall host a mandatory meeting with all the candidates to explain any and all
rules prior to the commencement of the campaigning period.

3.

Printed material (e.g., posters) must be approved by the RC prior to posting. Failure to follow this
guideline may result in the removal of such printed materials.

4.

Word-of-mouth and door-to-door campaigning is allowed.

5.

The end of the campaigning period shall be the beginning of the speech period.

6.

All candidates regardless of the outcomes are responsible for the expedient removal of all campaign
materials following the elections.

6.2
1.

Speeches
Prior to the polls being opened there shall be a mandatory general meeting where all candidates will
be given an opportunity to make a speech and answer questions from Society Members.

2.

Speeches will be a maximum of five minutes per candidate for a general election and three minutes
for a bi-election, unless otherwise determined by the Society Executive.

6.3

Voting

1.

Following the Society meeting, the polling station will be open for not less than two (2) hours.

2.

The polling station will be staffed by the elections manager and any current Society Executive
Members not running in the current election.

3.

Proxy voting is allowed in both the preliminary and final round of voting, but attendance to the
meeting where speeches are heard is mandatory (execpt in extenuating circumstances as judged by
the elections manager). Votes by proxy are to be sealed in an envelope with the Society Members
name on it and delivered to the Society Executive by the Society Member prior to the opening of the
polling station. Votes submitted by any other means shall not be considered valid

4.

The ballots shall be counted by the entire group selected to staff the polling station, as well as any
scrutineers appointed by the candidates.

5.

The candidates receiving the plurality of votes (50% + 1) shall be declared the winner of the position.

6.

See also Section 5 for additional clarification of election protocol.

Impeachment

Society Executive Members may be impeached if they are in contravention os their responsibilities and
duties, or act in a manner which compromises the integrity of the Society. Any Society Executive
Member is subject to this clause without exception.
1.

Impeachment must begin with a petition by two thirds (2/3) of the Society Membership. The petition
shall state why the Society Executive Member should be dismissed and have the signature and names
of the petitioners. The statement shall be limited to two-hundred and fifty (250) words. Petitions are
to be delivered to any other Society Executive Member.

2.

If the remaining Society Executive deems a petition to be valid, he/she shall call an emergency
Society meeting.

10

3.

The remaining Society Executive shall inform the subject of the petition of his/her right to a defence
at the meeting.

4.

The remaining Society Executive shall chair the meeting, which shall proceed as follows:
1.

The remaining Society Executive shall explain the impeachment procedure and read the
statement included with the petition.

2.

All Society Members are allowed to speak once during the meeting speeches, and are limited
to thirty (30) seconds each.

3.

The subject of the petition shall be allowed to make a speech on his/her own behalf limited to
ten (10) minutes at the end of the debate.

4.

The remaining Society Executive shall close the debate and subsequently allow voting on the
petition by method of secret ballot.

5.

The remaining Society Executive shall count the ballots; a two-thirds (2/3) majority of
Society Membership is required to ratify the petition.

6.

The results shall be announced immediately and the meeting adjourned.

7.

If the Society Executive Member is impeached, the position will immediately be deemed
vacant and the remaining Society Executive Members shall begin the bi-election process
outlined in Section 5.2.

Amendments to the Constitution

Any amendments, alterations, or suspension of a section or any part of a section of this constitution or any
addition thereto shall be implemented by the following procedure:

1.

A notice containing the proposed change shall be posted by the Society President.

2.

No Sooner than three (3) days following this notification, the Society President shall call a Society
meeting with all current Society Members to be invited to discuss the proposed change(s).

3.

The quorum at said meeting shall be two-thirds (2/3) of the Society Membership.

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4.

Quorum is required to ratify the proposed alteration, suspension, amendment, or addition to the
Constitution.

5.

Subsequent to ratification at the Society meeting, the Society Executive shall draft the final form of
the amended constitution and present it to MUNSU.

6.

The Society President, to maintain the integrity and future of the Society, holds the right to veto any
or all changes and suspensions presented by the Society Members. The veto is to be used only after a
formal consultation between the two parties and other parties that they see fit to input on the decision.

7.

Any Society Member has the right to refuse attendance to said quorum. However, in doing so forfeits
their right to vote on the propositions brought fourth therein, or, unless previously approved by the
Society President, to join the quorum late.

By-Laws

9.1

General House Information

1.

The official house colours are Royal Blue and White.

2.

The official crest is the Barnes family crest.

3.

The Motto is: FOR-BEAR.

4.

The house mascot was formally a Knight. The house Mascot is currently a Bear and/or Tarpy.

5. Tarpys jersey number is sixty-seven (67) and is retired and cannot be picked by Society Members.

12