Bylaws

Proposed until the Founding Meeting on Tuesday, March 30, 2027, which adopts them.

Section 1. Elections

1.1 The Elections Committee. The Council appoints an Elections Committee of three voting members who will not stand, at least six weeks before voting opens. The Committee chooses its chair and runs every election. The Faculty Advisor may observe.

1.2 Notice. The Committee gives notice of the election to all members at least two weeks before voting opens, listing the seats, the eligibility rules, and the timetable. The list of voters is the list of voting members on the day notice is given.

1.3 Nominations. Nominations stay open for one week. Any eligible Member may nominate themselves on the nomination form on auibsal.org, with a statement of up to 200 words. On the form, each candidate consents to Student Life checking their eligibility, including their cumulative GPA; no one asks a candidate for grades. Before the ballot opens, the Committee sends the list of candidates to Student Life to confirm eligibility under Constitution section 5.4. Student Life answers only “eligible” or “not eligible”; a candidate found not eligible is told privately and is removed from the ballot. The Society never sees or stores grades.

1.4 Candidates meet members. Before voting opens, candidates meet members at a general meeting: each speaks briefly and answers members’ questions.

1.5 Campaigning. Campaigning runs from the close of nominations to the close of voting. Candidates may not offer gifts or favors for votes, use Society property or member data, or campaign on party, religion, sect, or ethnicity. The Society’s channels carry one equal post for each candidate, made by the Committee.

1.6 Voting. Voting is by secret ballot online on auibsal.org over a window set by the Committee, with a voting point in person at the meeting where the vote closes. Each voting member has one vote for each seat.

1.7 Counting. A candidate who wins a majority of votes cast is elected. If no candidate wins a majority, a runoff between the two leading candidates is held online within three days. Where one candidate stands, members vote to elect the candidate or to reopen nominations. A tie after a runoff is decided by lot at a public meeting.

1.8 The Editor-in-Chief. The Editor-in-Chief is elected by the staff of Qirtas (its editors and contributors with at least one term on Qirtas) in the same window and by the same procedure. The Committee keeps the list of staff voters.

1.9 Complaints. A complaint about an election goes in writing to the Committee within 24 hours of the conduct or of the results. The Committee decides within 48 hours. Its decision may be appealed once to the Faculty Advisor, whose decision is final.

1.10 Results. The Committee announces the results with the vote counts. From 2028, elections are held each April, and the results are announced at the Annual Meeting. Ballot data is kept for one year, then deleted.

1.11 The first elections. The first elections are held in October 2027. The Council sets their dates in September 2027.

Section 2. Electronic Voting

2.1 Electronic voting is authorized for any vote of members, including elections and amendments. Members vote on auibsal.org, signed in to their accounts, and each voting member votes once.

2.2 An online vote is announced with the same notice as the meeting it belongs to, and its window closes no earlier than the end of that meeting. Online and in-person votes are counted together.

2.3 Votes that must be secret, including elections and removals, are secret online as well: the site records who has voted, never how.

2.4 Between meetings, the Council may vote online on a matter that cannot wait. The vote stays open for at least 24 hours and passes with a majority of the seats filled. It is recorded in the next minutes.

Section 3. Meeting Procedure

3.1 Events. Every Council meeting, general meeting, Annual Meeting, and special meeting is made as an event in the events manager in the Society’s Notion workspace and copied to auibsal.org, which shows it and takes RSVPs and check-in. Council meetings are private; members’ meetings are open to members.

3.2 Notice. The General Secretary sends the agenda for a Council meeting at least 48 hours before it. General meetings are announced on What’s on and the Society’s channels at least one week ahead. The Annual Meeting and special meetings are announced at least two weeks ahead, with their business.

3.3 Special meetings. A special meeting of members is called by the Council or by a written petition of one-tenth of voting members. The notice states its purpose, and it considers only that business.

3.4 Agendas. The standard agenda of a Council meeting is: conflicts of interest; minutes of the last meeting; reports; requests to Student Life; events, Qirtas, the Company, and Next Stop; decisions; other business. The order of business at the Annual Meeting is: the election results; the President’s report and the year’s reports; the Mutanabbi Prize; motions; other business.

3.5 Motions. Any voting member may bring a motion to a members’ meeting by sending it to the General Secretary at least five days before, with a second from another voting member.

3.6 Conflicts of interest. A Council member with a conflict of interest declares it and does not vote on that item.

3.7 Closed session. Items about individuals, such as conduct cases and appointments, are taken in closed session and minuted separately.

3.8 Minutes. The General Secretary keeps the minutes and resolutions of every meeting as records linked to the meeting’s event. Draft minutes are shared within 72 hours and approved at the next meeting. Approved minutes are available to members, except for confidential items.

Section 4. Hiring and Appointments

4.1 The Director of Membership runs hiring for every role. Open roles are posted on Get involved with what the role does, the time it takes, and the closing date, and people apply in one step.

4.2 The owner of each role picks the person: the President picks the five appointed directors, after an open call and with the Executive Board’s approval; the Editor-in-Chief the masthead of Qirtas and the Qalam lead; the Artistic Director the Company’s team, casting by open audition; the Director of Media the media team and Next Stop’s team; each other director their own team; and each event’s lead the event’s team.

4.3 Anyone with a conflict of interest in an appointment steps aside from it.

4.4 The first term. Everyone newly joining a team or appointed to a role serves their first term on probation, which is also their trial. At the end of the term, the person who appointed them confirms them or ends the appointment. Elected seats have no first term.

4.5 Every appointment is announced on the Society’s channels.

4.6 GPA checks. Every Council seat needs a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 (Constitution section 5.4), checked only through Student Life, never by asking students for grades.

1. An applicant for an appointed Council seat consents to the check on the role application. Before the appointment is confirmed, the General Secretary sends the name to Student Life, as for elected candidates under section 1.3.
2. At the start of each term, the General Secretary sends the full Council list to Student Life.
3. Student Life answers only “eligible” or “not eligible”; the Society never sees or stores grades, and the answers are kept only as long as the check needs.
4. A Council member found not eligible is told privately and has one term to recover. If they are still not eligible at the next start-of-term check, the seat is declared vacant and filled under Constitution Article VI.

Section 5. Votes of the Council

5.1 Honorary Members. Any Council member may propose an Honorary Member. Honorary Members are named by a majority vote of the Council.

5.2 Partners. The Director of Partnerships checks each proposed partner, including each charity, and brings it to the Council. Partners are approved by a majority vote of the Council and kept in the partner register in the Society’s Notion workspace.

5.3 Removals. Removal from a Council seat or from membership requires a two-thirds vote of the Council, after written notice of the reasons and a hearing, as Constitution Article VI provides.

Section 6. Needs Procedure

6.1 Every event, the Company, Next Stop, the Typewriter Tour, Second Chapter, Qirtas, Qalam, and the Council keep a needs list: the item, the quantity, the date it is needed, and what it is for.

6.2 The owners of the needs lists are: the Director of Events for each event; the Director of Membership for the Typewriter Tour; the Director of Partnerships for Second Chapter; the Editor-in-Chief for Qirtas and Qalam; the Director of Media for Next Stop; the Artistic Director for the Company; and the General Secretary for the Council.

6.3 The General Secretary sends every request to Student Life, through its Campus Recreation Officer, and logs what was asked, what was provided, and when.

6.4 Anything not provided is dropped or found through a partner, with the Council’s approval. Partners give in kind only.

Section 7. Records

7.1 The General Secretary keeps the Society’s records: the minutes and resolutions, the needs log, and each document’s adoption record in the Diwan.

7.2 The Director of Membership records the hours and service of the Council, the Qirtas masthead, and team members in the Diwan. On request, the Society writes a service letter from that record.

7.3 Student Life’s own logbooks record event volunteers and professional-development trainees.

7.4 The Society gives certificates only for finishing Qalam and for the Mutanabbi Prize.

7.5 At the end of each term of office, every outgoing holder hands over in writing to their successor: open work, contacts, and where things live. Access to the Society’s accounts moves with the role.

Section 8. Amendment

8.1 These Bylaws are amended as Constitution Article XI provides. A Bylaw that conflicts with the Constitution or University policy has no effect.