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BYLAWS OF UPSILON CHAPTER OF MU BETA PSI, NATIONAL HONORARY MUSICAL FRATERNITY

Article Ⅰ — Name and Purpose

Section 1

  1. The name of this Chapter will be Upsilon Chapter of Mu Beta Psi, National Honorary Musical Fraternity.

Section 2

  1. These By-Laws will govern the structure of Upsilon Chapter of Mu Beta Psi, National Honorary Musical Fraternity at Stetson University, in conjunction with the Mu Beta Psi Articles of Incorporation, National Constitution, National Policies, and Stetson University Policies.

Section 3

  1. Upsilon Chapter of Mu Beta Psi, National Honorary Musical Fraternity shall comply with all federal, state, local, and university laws, policies and procedures.

Section 4

  1. Upsilon Chapter of Mu Beta Psi, National Honorary Musical Fraternity recognizes its role and responsibilities as a member of an engaged and inclusive university community.

Article Ⅱ — Membership

Section 1 — Qualifications

  1. Students who have shown special interest in the musical life of Stetson University are eligible for Brotherhood.
  2. Brotherhood will not be denied to anyone on the basis of sex, disability,race, age, religion, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression,genetic information, physical characteristics, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law in its educational programs, admissions policies, financial aid, employment, or other school-administered programs. The policy is enforced by Stetson University and, where applicable, federal laws such as Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975. The university is an equal opportunity educational institution.
  3. Upsilon Chapter of Mu Beta Psi, National Honorary Musical Fraternity recognizes its role and responsibilities as a member of an engaged and inclusive university community.

Section 2

  1. Membership in this Chapter is of lifetime duration.

Section 3

  1. Mu Beta Psi, National Honorary Musical Fraternity has only one class of membership, that of Brotherhood; however, in order to distinguish between the activity statuses of Brothers in this Chapter, these terms are used for explanatory purposes:
  2. Active Brotherhood is defined as Brothers who:
    1. Are currently enrolled at Stetson University.
    2. Have paid required membership fees and other financial obligations to the Fraternity.
    3. Actively serve on at least one (1) standing or select committee(s).
    4. Have completed the new member education process.
    5. Have a minimum GPA requirement of 2.5
    6. Attend 80% of the scheduled Chapter meetings for the semester.
    7. Shall be afforded all the rights due to a Brother, which include, but are not limited to wearing Fraternity letters, attending meetings and Fraternity functions, taking Little Brothers, and voting.
  3. Associate Brotherhood is defined as Brothers who:
    1. Are former students of Stetson University who would have been eligible for membership while in college, had a Chapter of the Fraternity existed at Stetson University at the time, or any persons who attend Stetson University, but would be unable to complete the standard new member education process due to extenuating circumstances.
    2. Have been nominated by any Active Brother for Associate Brotherhood.
    3. Have been approved by a two-thirds (⅔) vote of the Active Brothers
    4. Hold the rights to attend Chapter meetings and Chapter events.
  4. Honorary Brotherhood is defined as Brothers who:
    1. Have considerably furthered the purposes of Upsilon Chapter of Mu Beta Psi, Honorary Musical Fraternity and/or the Fraternity as a whole.
    2. Have been approved by a two-thirds (⅔) vote of the Active Brothers for Honorary Brotherhood.
    3. Hold the rights to attend Chapter meetings and participate in Chapter events.
  5. Inactive Brothers are Brothers who:
    1. Have gone Inactive by failing to attend at least 80% of any Semester’s meetings.
    2. No longer meet the requirements of Active Brotherhood.
    3. Anticipate an inability to complete their duty to the Chapter for the upcoming semester and withdraw themselves from active Brotherhood status by notifying the Vice President of said change in status no later than one week after classes of said semester begin.

Section 4

- In order to return to Active Brotherhood, Inactive members must notify the current Vice President of their wish to return as an Active Brother no later than one week after classes of the current semester begin, and in good faith join at least one committee, attend at least 80% of Chapter meetings, and be up to date on dues.

Article Ⅲ — Officers

Section 1

  1. The Officers of Upsilon Chapter of Mu Beta Psi, National Honorary Musical Fraternity are:
    1. President
    2. Vice President
    3. Treasurer
    4. Secretary
    5. Member-At-Large
    6. Historian
    7. New Member Educator

Section 2 — Officer Qualifications

  1. Nominees to all offices must be Active.
  2. Must be in good standing with Chapter requirements and Good Conduct standings with the University having never been found responsible of infringement with the Stetson Code of Community Standards.

Section 3 — Elections

  1. Elections of Officers will be held once every academic year during the Spring Semester at the third to last Chapter meeting of the semester.
  2. Two-thirds (2/3) of the Active Brothers must be present at the time of elections. A simple majority vote of those present is required to win office.
  3. Prior to voting for a particular office, nominees must declare their qualifications for office in writing. Each nominee will be limited to five minutes of presentation time. Following the candidate’s presentation, there will be a five (5) minute period for questions for each candidate from the Brotherhood. Following the question and answer period, time shall be made for debate in the format of five (5) minutes for pros, followed by three (3) minutes for cons, followed by an additional two (2) minutes for pros. Speaking time may be modified by a motion to extend or limit speaking time.
  4. Votes in elections will be tallied and announced by the President of the Chapter
    1. The Secretary will tally and announce votes for the Presidential election.
  5. In the event that no nominee receives the required number of votes after the first round of balloting, balloting will be repeated as many times as is necessary to obtain a majority vote for a single candidate. If multiple rounds of voting are required, all candidates will remain on the ballot unless a nominee voluntarily withdraws their nomination.
  6. Officers-elect will be instructed in the duties of their offices by the incumbents prior to the installation of new Officers.
  7. New Officers will be installed at the final Chapter meeting of the Spring Semester.

Section 4

  1. The duties of the officers of Upsilon Chapter are as follows:
    1. President
      1. Preside over meetings of the Brotherhood.
      2. Chair the Executive Committee.
      3. Have the power to appoint select committees as deemed necessary for the proper operation of the Chapter.
      4. Serve as an ex officio member of all committees, with the exception of the executive committee, which the President presides over as Committee Chair with the exception of the Executive Committee.
      5. Serve as the Chapter representative on the Board of Trustees.
      6. The president shall appoint any committee representation that is not expressly stated in these bylaws.
    2. Vice President
      1. Assist in the execution of the President’s duties.
      2. Preside over the Chapter in the President’s absence.
      3. Notify a Brother of failure to comply with obligations to the Fraternity.
      4. Serve as the representative to the National Committee of Chapter Maintenance.
    3. Secretary
      1. Keep accurate minutes of all scheduled meetings to be reported to the Brotherhood within one (1) week.
      2. Handle all correspondence of the Chapter, with the public and the Brothers of Tau Chapter.
      3. Maintain an official roster of all Active, Associate, Inactive, and Honorary Upsilon Chapter Brothers.
      4. Take roll at all scheduled and special meetings and notify the Vice President concerning attendance infractions as stated in the Active Member attendance requirement in Article II, Section 3A, Number 6.
      5. Chair the External Affairs Committee
    4. Treasurer
      1. Collect and receive all funds due to the Chapter.
      2. Issue receipts for all funds received and keep duplicate copies with the financial records.
      3. Disburse funds as the Chapter designates.
      4. Maintain accurate records of all financial activities and render a report from them whenever called upon by the President.
      5. Present all financial records to the Chapter upon request made by majority vote of the Active Brothers.
      6. Serve as the representative to the National Finance Committee.
    5. Member-at-Large
      1. Represent Upsilon Chapter to the Legislative Council as a voting delegate and to the National Executive Committee as a non-voting member.
      2. Maintain correspondence with other Chapters and the National Executive Committee.
      3. Provide reports to The Clef at the request of the National Editor of The Clef.
    6. Historian
      1. Develop, implement, and maintain a system of filing and preserving historic records of the Chapter.
      2. Collect posters, advertisements, articles, and other material discussing Chapter activities and the Fraternal activities of the Brothers of Upsilon Chapter.
      3. Solicit from the Brotherhood photographs of Fraternal activities.
      4. Coordinate the creation of the annual Upsilon Chapter scrapbook.
      5. Assist with all required submissions to the National Historian.
      6. Serve as Upsilon Chapter's representative to the National History and Archives Committee.
      7. Storage and safekeeping of any items associated with formal initiation is the responsibility of the Historian.
    7. New Member Educator
      1. Guide the pledge class through a course of training that prepares the pledges to be accepted as Brothers into the Fraternity.
      2. Serve as a liaison between the Brotherhood and the New Member class during this period of training.

Section 5 — Order of Succession

  1. The order of succession is:
    1. President
    2. Vice President
    3. Treasurer
    4. Secretary
    5. Member-at-Large
    6. Historian
    7. New Member Educator
  2. In the event that an office is vacant, the duties of that office will fall to the next officer in the order of succession.

Section 6

  1. Any officer may be removed from office by two-thirds (⅔) vote of all the Active Brothers.
    1. This vote may be proposed by a properly seconded motion during the New Business portion of a regularly scheduled Chapter meeting. Any such motion will automatically be tabled until the next Chapter meeting.
    2. Votes will be tallied by the President and Vice President and announced by the President. Should the President be the Officer in question, the Vice President and Secretary shall tally the votes.
    3. No vote will be taken until the officer in question has had the opportunity to respond to all arguments raised in support of removal.

Section 7

  1. Vacant offices will be filled by an emergency vote by the Executive Committee, all Active Brothers must be notified of the results of said vote after the vote has been tallied. Emergency vote tallying and decorum should follow normal voting procedure. Nominations for an emergency vote shall open for two weeks prior to voting.

Article Ⅳ — Committees

Section 1 — Committees and Membership

  1. The following committees are designated as standing: Executive, New Member Education, Financial, External Affairs and any other committee which the Chapter so designates as standing by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Active Brotherhood.
  2. All Active Brothers must serve on at least one (1) committee.

Section 2 — Executive Committee

  1. The Executive Committee will:
    1. Consist of the President (as Chair), Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Member-At-Large, Historian, and New Member Educator.
    2. Set the agenda for each business meeting.
    3. Act as the Brotherhood Liaison to the College/University/Fraternity/Sorority Affairs Office.

Section 3 — New Member Education Committee

  1. The New Member Education Committee will:
    1. Consist of the New Member Educator (as Chair), Head of Traditions, and Brothers assigned or voted into said committee.
      1. Head of Traditions here is defined as any Active member of the New Member Education Committee who has seen at least one (1) New Member Class through to completion and shall have the job of documenting and preserving all National and Chapter traditions for posterity.
      2. Head of Traditions shall be appointed by a two thirds (⅔) vote of the New Member Education Committee.
    2. Organize all Rush events for the Chapter.
    3. Act as the keepers of the New Member Education process and all its activities and rituals. The committee is responsible for official Chapter copies of New Member Education documents, rituals, and the maintenance of those documents.

Section 4 — Finance Committee

  1. The Finance Committee will:
    1. Consist of the Treasurer (as Chair) and other Brothers assigned or voted into said committee.
    2. Set the Chapter’s annual budget.
    3. Oversee the payment of member dues to the National Office.
    4. Plan all fundraising events held by the Chapter.

Section 5 — External Affairs Committee

  1. The External Affairs committee will:
    1. Consist of the Secretary as Chair.
    2. Plan all Chapter events, excluding events directly related to New Member Intake, Fundraising, or Rush, in accordance to National and Stetson University events planning guidelines and policies.
    3. Oversee any event collaborations the Chapter may have with other organizations on campus.

Article Ⅴ — Meetings

Section 1 — Quorum

  1. Quorum for Chapter meetings is defined as a simple majority of the Active Brotherhood.

Section 2 — Scheduled Meetings

  1. Scheduled meetings will be held once per week during the fall and spring semesters. Meetings may be cancelled if necessary by either the President or a majority vote of the Active Brothers.

Section 3 — Special Meetings

  1. Special meetings may be called by the President or by a majority vote of the Active Brothers at any time. For attendance to be required, these meetings must be announced at least seven (7) days in advance. If not announced in a scheduled meeting, the Secretary shall contact all Active Brothers. A quorum is required at a special meeting to transact any business.

Section 4 — Parliamentary Procedure

  1. The basis of parliamentary procedure is the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order.

Section 5 — Order of Business

  1. Order of Business (unless amended):
    1. Call to Order
    2. Reading and approval of the agenda
    3. Reading and approval of previous meeting's minutes
    4. Reports of all standing and ad-hoc committees and Officers
    5. Consideration of Unfinished Business
    6. Consideration of New Business
    7. Announcements
    8. Adjournment

Section 6 — Attendance Policy

  1. The Attendance Policy shall be defined as follows:
    1. Missing three (3) or more Chapter meetings/events
    2. Missing one (1) or more mandatory meetings/events
    3. Excuses for absence shall be reported to the Secretary
    4. Upon reaching either threshold stipulated in sections 1 & 2, the Secretary shall report the infraction to the Vice President who shall make a determination as to whether or not a Brother is in violation of the Attendance policy.
    5. A Brother shall be in violation of the Attendance Policy if the Vice President deems the excuses they have provided for their absence(s) insufficient.
    6. A Brother found in violation of the Attendance Policy shall be punished as follows:
      1. First offence: Exclusion from the next social event
      2. All subsequent offences: Exclusion from next social event in addition to a $20.00 fine

Article Ⅵ — Brothers Court

Section 1 — Members of the Brothers Court

  1. The Brothers Court shall be chaired by a designee of the President. This position may be yielded to an alternate due to conflict of interest. This alternate must be voted on by the Chapter.
  2. Upon being convened, four (4) additional Brothers shall be elected to serve on the court. Membership is not restricted to Active Brothers at the calling Chapter, and in some instances, a Court may consist entirely of National Brothers, at the discretion of the Chair..
  3. Members of the Executive Committee of Upsilon chapter shall not serve on the court.
  4. If the question of conflict of interest arises, the Chapter must vote to allow or remove the Chair/ member from court proceedings. A simple majority of votes is required to approve/remove a member to/from Court.
  5. The tenure of the elected members shall be the duration of the case.
  6. Vacancies may be filled up until trial proceedings begin. A change in Court membership after the beginning of proceedings will result in a mistrial, and a new Court shall be elected to hear proceedings in its entirety.

Section 2 — Pre-Trial Procedure

  1. The trial date and location shall be set by the Court and announced to the Brotherhood and the defendant with minimum four (4) days notice before the beginning of the trial.
    1. If the presented date causes a hardship, or the defendant is unable to attend, they must submit a request, in writing (electronic or hard copy) to the Chair no later than forty-eight (48) hours before the scheduled start of proceedings.
  2. All Brothers Court proceedings shall be open to all Brothers to attend.  The defendant may request for proceedings to be closed, either in writing prior to trial, or on the record at any time during proceedings.  If such a request is made, only Brothers serving an active function in the proceedings may be present during the hearing.
    1. The accused may select defense counsel or defend themselves.
  3. Counsel is limited to Brothers of Mu Beta Psi, however, active status and Chapter affiliation is not restricted.
  4. If Court is activated from within a committee, said committee shall elect a representative from within its membership.
    1. If Court is activated at a Brother’s request, the requesting Brother may choose to advocate the case directly, or nominate a Brother in their place who must be approved by a simple majority vote.
  5. The Chair of the Court shall appoint someone to act as Secretary for the proceedings.
    1. Accurate minutes from the case shall be recorded and submitted to the Chair for submission to the National Vice President of Chapter Maintenance and a local record of all case proceedings shall be maintained.
  6. A list of all items other than testimony to be used in the trial must be presented to the Chairperson of the Court. It is the responsibility of the Chair to ensure all parties have adequate notice of all submitted evidence.
    1. This list shall be submitted to the Chair forty-eight (48) hours before the beginning of the trial.
    2. Copies of the evidence shall be submitted to the Chairperson twenty-four (24) hours before the start of the trial. Any evidence not submitted with proper notice shall be deemed inadmissible without contest.
  7. All evidence submitted to the Court shall be subject to review by the Chair. Any evidence that is found to be irrelevant, or the origins of the evidence cannot be substantiated, shall be deemed inadmissible and shall not presented to the Court.
  8. A list of all persons being called to testify in the trial must be submitted to the Chairperson. The Chairperson will then inform the party being called to testify. The list shall be submitted to the Chairperson forty-eight (48) hours in advance of the trial and the persons called to give testimony must be notified twenty-four (24) hours in advance of the trial.

Section 3 — Trial Procedure

  1. The Chairperson of the court shall call the trial to order and announce the members of the Court, the representatives of both parties and the audience members to the Court Secretary to record in the official minutes.
  2. Throughout the case, the defense shall present last.
  3. Opening Statements shall last no longer than 5 minutes each.
  4. Presenting the case.
    1. Both parties shall have the ability to call witnesses and present evidence to the Court related to the charges.
    2. Both parties shall have the ability to cross examine all witnesses called and conduct their line of questioning.
    3. Once either party has completely presented their case they shall rest, and the next commences.
  5. Closing Statements shall follow the same order as opening statements.
  6. The proceedings shall now recess to allow deliberation by the court.

Section 4 — Deliberation and Verdict

  1. Deliberations are closed and minutes shall not be taken.
    1. Any notes taken by members of the Court during deliberation must be collected by the Chair and destroyed.
    2. Court decision shall be made by majority vote.
      1. The Chair shall only vote in the event of a tie.
    3. Court decision should include a verdict and a recommendation of judgement. Judgements are at the discretion of the Court, and are intended to match the offense, up to and including revocation of membership within Mu Beta Psi.
  2. Court shall be reconvened, and the decision of the Court is to be read by the Brothers Court Chair on the record.  At the next scheduled meeting of the Chapter, the Brothers Court Chair, or their designee, shall report the charges and the verdict.
  3. The verdict shall be kept in the permanent records of the Fraternity as well as in the Brothers Court Binder.

Section 5 — Appeals

  1. Any appeals to the decision of Brothers Court shall be submitted in writing to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
  2. The decision of the Permanent Board of Trustees shall be binding.

Article Ⅶ — New Member Education Regulations

Section 1 — New Member Education Policy

  1. Upsilon Chapter of Mu Beta Psi, National Honorary Musical Fraternity at Stetson University values the equality of all people, recognizing its responsibility to protect human dignity and promote positive personal growth, hazing is strictly prohibited by any member of the university community. Stetson University defines hazing as an act that threatens the mental, physical, academic health, or safety of a student through actions or situations that endanger, embarrass, harass, demean or ridicule any person regardless of locations, intent or consent of participants.
  2. General New Member procedures will be subject to Chapter policy.
  3. Changes to the approved New Member Policy will be subject to the discretion of the New Member Educator unless overridden by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Active Brothers.
  4. New Member Intake Policy will be discussed in a New Member Education Committee report at all meetings during New Member intake.

Section 2 — Initiation

  1. Informal Initation
    1. The Informal Initiation Ritual is subject to review by the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees has final authority over the content of the Informal Initiation Ritual.
    2. Changes to the events of Informal Initiation must be approved by a three-fourths (3/4) vote of the Active Brotherhood.
  2. Formal Initiation
    1. The Formal Initiation will be as set forth by the National Office.
    2. The Formal Initiation will be conducted by the New Member Educator.

Article Ⅷ — Chapter Finances

  1. The fiscal year of Upsilon Chapter begins July 1 and concludes June 30.
  2. All monetary disbursements made by the Treasurer not associated with a budget item must be approved by a majority vote of the Active Brothers.
  3. The Treasurer and President will be cosigners on all Chapter bank accounts.

Article Ⅸ — Amendments and Document Governance

Section 1 — Vote

  1. The By-laws of Upsilon Chapter of Mu Beta Psi may be amended by a two-thirds (⅔) vote of the Active Brothers. All proposed amendments must be announced seven (7) days before the meeting at which they will be addressed.

Section 2 — Amendment Log

  1. All amendments made to these Chapter By-Laws and their current, and future appendices will be recorded in a log and must include the following:
    1. The date on which the amendment was made.
    2. The changes made by the amendment.
    3. The purpose of the amendment
  2. The Amendment Log will be attached as an appendix to these Chapter Bylaws
policies/chapters/upsilon/bylaws.1575822670.txt.gz · Last modified: 2019/12/08 16:31 by webmaster