Student OrgsOrganization for Latin American Students (OLAS)

Article I: Name and Purpose

Section 1:  The name of this organization shall be the Organization for Latin American Students (hereby referred to as OLAS).

Section 2: The mission of OLAS is to foster trans-cultural competence through community outreach by promoting empathy, inclusion, and belonging. 

Article II: Membership 

Section 1: Membership in this organization is open to all students who enjoy and display interest in Latin American and Spanish culture. 

Section 2: No member of OLAS shall be considered "superior" to any other member.

Section 2a: no categories of membership shall exist other than the executive board. 

Section 3: Members are accepted continually throughout the year so long as they are in good standing with the College. A student may become a member of OLAS by requesting they be added to the email based alias and attending the majority of the OLAS meetings. 

Section 3a: Students shall be added to the alias by contacting the current secretary of OLAS. Membership shall be reviewed on a regular basis by the current OLAS Co-Presidents and Secretary to stay consistent with regulations on active membership in OLAS as outlined in this constitution. 

Section 4: With the agreement of all officers and a majority of the members (excluding the member in question), a member may be removed from membership by being removed from the alias and so informed by the President or designated executive board member. Reasons for removal may include but are not limited: to violation of school policies, excessively rude behavior, and abuse of OLAS resources. Of course, members themselves may request that they be removed from membership. 

Section 5: Attend at least fifty percent of OLAS events. This includes weekly meetings, activities, fundraisers, and/or campus events organized and paid for by OLAS. 

Section 5a: 

1. Only OLAS members –as constituted above– may be eligible to nominate and vote for officers in OLAS board elections. When it comes to nominating and electing executive board members, the current OLAS Co-Presidents will review membership and decide who shall be eligible to participate. 

Article III: Executive Board Section; Titles & Duties and Regulations

Section 1: The following executive board positions shall exist: (2) Co-Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, Public Relations Chair, Risk Manager, and Diversity Leadership Council Representative (hereby referred to as DLC Rep) and Social Chair. 

Section 2:

• Co Presidents: to work together to organize, initiate, and facilitate meetings; to meet together once a week to create meeting agenda; to act as a spokesperson for OLAS; to facilitate communication among members; to help in organizing events; to meet regularly with advisors and other members of OLAS. Should the Co-Presidents not have any current responsibilities, they shall assist any other executive board member with their duties.

• Secretary: to take minutes at the meetings; to send out emails within 48 hours; to keep members informed of what's going on; to assist in the organization's goals; to attend board meetings; to consistently update the OLAS alias & OLAS membership; The Secretary has the right to appoint as many assistants as necessary to assist them in performing the assigned duties. Should the secretary not have any current responsibilities, they shall assist any other executive board member with their duties.

• Treasurer: to maintain finances and accurate records of those; to keep track of fundraising efforts; to abide by finance by-laws–dependent on whatever organization OLAS is currently funded by–to create and submit event budgets; to attend yearly finance training; to assist in the organization’s goals; to attend board meetings. Should the treasurer not have any current responsibilities, they shall assist any other executive board member with their duties.

• Public Relations Chair: to take charge in all advertising of OLAS, including but not limited to: posters, social media posts and meeting presentations; to keep all students informed of campus-wide OLAS events; to keep OLAS social media up-to-date with all OLAS endeavors. Should the public relations chair not have any current responsibilities, they shall assist any other executive board member with their duties. 

• DLC Rep: to attend the Diversity Leadership Council (hereby referred to as DLC) meetings each week and bring updates from these meetings to every OLAS meeting; to abide by the constitution of DLC; to attend executive board meetings. Should the DLC Rep not have any current responsibilities, they shall assist any other executive board member with their duties. 

• Risk Manager: to maintain intrapersonal and interpersonal relations amongst executive board members and general members. The risk manager is in charge of resolving any issues/disputes/disagreements that have to do with the well-being of the organization. Should the risk manager not have any current responsibilities, they shall assist any other executive board member with their duties. 

• Social Chair: to initiate planning and organization of social events hosted by OLAS; to act on behalf of OLAS in communicating with other organizations to host collaborative events; to delegate responsibilities of said events to each executive board member; to gain insight from executive board members and general members on ideas for events. Should the social chair not have any current responsibilities, they shall assist any other executive board member with their duties.

Section 3: In instances where events contain individual prizes to be won by the student body, executive board members are prohibited from entering to win said prizes. 

Section 3a: Only applicable to Executive Board Members, general OLAS members are still eligible to participate.

Article IV: Nominations & Elections, Removal from Office/Vacancy.

Section 1: Candidates for office must be nominated by current members of the organization (refer to Article II Sections 3a & 5a). Members eligible to vote must have demonstrated an interest in the organization and must have had regular attendance throughout the year. Elections can be done at the end of the school year. However, in the event of a vacancy in the executive board, special elections can be held at the discretion of the executive board. Nominated candidates can either accept or decline their nominations. A nominee will be elected if they receive a simple majority of the votes. 

Section 1a: Nominations for all positions will be submitted during the spring semester. Any current OLAS member may nominate any other member, including themselves. 

Section 1b: Elections will be held as soon as possible after the nominations have been received.

Section 1c: A simple majority of all current OLAS members (refer to Article II Section 5a) will be sufficient to elect an executive board member.  

i : If there are more than two candidates and no candidate receives a majority one of the following can occur: a run-off election shall be held at the next general meeting between the 2 candidates that received the highest number of votes; or one of the candidates with the highest number of votes can withdraw leaving the runner up as the elected executive board member.  

Section 1d: During the election, only active members have the right to vote (refer to Article II Section 5a). As is predetermined by the current Co-Presidents. 

Section 1e: Elections should be held in the first half of the spring semester, prior to Latinx Night! 

Section 2: Election information will be relayed within 24 hours of obtaining the election results. It will be relayed as follows:

Section 2a: Results will be announced to winning candidates via email.

Section 2b: Should a tie occur, the current co-presidents will meet with the candidates individually to provide information about a potential run-off election. (Refer to Article IV Section 1Ci)

Section 2a: Candidates will be given the opportunity to accept the position they were elected for prior to it being announced to the entire organization. 

Section 2: Officers may be removed from office for failure to perform duties as outlined in Article III Section 2, or for violation(s) of membership clause as outlined in Article II. 

Section 2a: First, mediation procedure shall be followed by the Risk Manager to address issue with the board member, if this does not succeed then the executive board member that shall be voted upon in this regard will be notified of intention to do so in writing at least one week prior to the meeting at which the vote shall be taken. 

Section 2b: A two-thirds majority of current board members shall be sufficient for removal from office. 

Section 2c: Any executive board member may resign at any time by submitting a letter with a 2 week notice to the Co-Presidents. 

Section 2d. Current Risk Manager and Co-Presidents will be present for the meeting to remove the officer.

Section 3: The term of office shall be from the moment they receive the position after the election during the spring term, until whichever comes last; the elections the following year or the end of the next spring term the following year. 

Section 3a: Newly elected executive board members will attend weekly board meetings, observe for the rest of the term, and receive training from the prior board member in their respective position. 

Section 4: Should a vacancy occur, the executive board can choose one of the following procedures to fill the vacancy: 

Section 4a: With the exception of the Co-President position, the board can unanimously agree to appoint a current member of the organization to fill a vacancy (refer to Article II)  or, there will be a regular nomination procedure and election for the vacant position. 

Section 4b: In the meantime, should the Risk Manager and DLC Rep positions be vacant the Co-Presidents shall assume the duties,  should the Co-President positions be vacant the Secretary/Treasurer shall assume the duties, should the Secretary/Treasurer positions be vacant the the Risk Manager and DLC Rep shall assume the duties (refer to Article III Section 2), should those offices be vacant. 

Article V: Meetings

Section 1: Meetings will be held on a weekly basis. The Secretary will be responsible for informing members of upcoming meetings and sending out meeting minutes to the OLAS alias. 

Section 2: Regular meetings will be held on the day that is determined by the majority of votes on an availability form sent out to current OLAS members at the beginning of each term. 

Section 3: Special meetings may be called by any combination of three of the executive board members

Section 3a: Notice of special meetings must be communicated to all members at least 72 hours in advance of the meeting. 

Section 3b: All executive board members must be present at special meetings. 

Article VI: Finances 

Section 1: The organization’s funds shall be raised through fundraisers. 

Section 2: The following responsibilities are outlined for each consecutive year;

Section 2a: The current board must save $400 for the incoming board, the current treasurer will keep track of this amount and will relay any deviations of said amount to the executive board.

Section 2c: Regardless of balance, a fundraising event should be hosted once a semester. 

Section 2c: Should the current executive board’s account balance deviate from the previously determined amount, the board must plan additional fundraising event to reestablish the amount of funds. 

Section 3: In the event that an executive board member is called to use their own money to fund any portion of an OLAS sponsored event, it is the responsibility of said board member to provide all necessary information including but not limited to: receipts and or invoices, to the current OLAS treasurer within a week’s time for proper reimbursement. 

Article VII: Amendments

Section 1: All members in good standing are able to propose amendments to the OLAS constitution. A simple majority of votes from members present and voting on the executive board are needed to pass the amendment, which will take effect immediately once passed. 

Section 2: All members of OLAS will be immediately notified of the amendment of the constitution. 

Co Presidents: Anthony Hernandez  & Andrea Cruz Bracamontes 

Treasurer: Maritza Beltran

Secretary: Rebeca Bonilla

PR: Serenity Knott

DLC Rep: Izabela.Taylor  

Risk Manager Brigette Ruacho Coronel