Constitution

ARTICLE I: NAME

The name of this Association shall be the “Petroleum Engineering Graduate Students’ Association (PEGSA)".

ARTICLE II: OBJECTIVES

The objective of PEGSA is to improve the lives of Petroleum Engineering graduate students by enhancing their research environment, increasing the communication between members, faculty and the surrounding community, and facilitating social events.

ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP AND MEMBERSHIP DUES

Section I: Membership
Petroleum engineering graduate students at the University of Alberta, participating Alumni and associates of the petroleum engineering graduate students are qualified for the membership of PEGSA. Petroleum engineering graduate students will be defined as regular members, participating alumni are alumni members and associates of the petroleum engineering graduate students are associate members. Associate members will be accepted to PEGSA upon a majority vote from the executive council. A member in good standing is one who had paid the dues of the association and has respected all rules of the organization. A member can be voted in bad standing by the executive council if this member has not paid the dues of the association or has not respected the rules of the association. Once a member has been placed in bad standing for more than 3 months, the member can then be expelled from the association through the following actions:

1) The executive council will vote to initiate the process to expel a member. A majority vote is required by the executive council at this time.

2) The member in question will first be allowed to defend himself or herself at the Monthly General Meeting and will be given 1 week to prepare for the meeting. The member will be given no greater than 30 minutes to defend their case.

3) A vote will then take place by the members of the association. Upon a vote greater than 50%, the member will be expelled.

Section II: Membership Dues
Fees charged by PEGSA will be assessed on a per event basis. The fees will be charged to all members participating in the event and the fees are due at the commencement of the event. The treasurer will collect the dues. In a case where the treasurer is not present, another member of the executive council will collect the dues. Fees for regular, alumni and associate members will be of equal amounts.

ARTICLE IV:
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE’S SELECTION, IMPEACHMENT AND DUTIES

Section I: Executive Committee’s Selection
Executive members include President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Activities Coordinator and Webmaster. The executive is selected during the Annually General Meeting. One other voting member will support nominations for executive positions. The nomination procedure will be held one month prior to the vote at the Annually General Meeting. The votes will be silent and two officers will be chosen by the voting members to count the votes. All regular members are eligible to run for the executive office. The term of the office will be one calendar year and elections will take place in May.

Section II: Impeachment of Executive Committee Member
Impeachment of an executive member will abide by the following process:
1) The executive council will vote to initiate the process of impeachment. A majority vote is required by the executive council at this time.

2) The member in question will first be allowed to defend himself or herself at the Monthly General Meeting and will be given 1 week to prepare for the meeting. The member will be given no greater than 30 minutes to defend their case.

3) A vote will then take place by the members of the association. Upon a vote greater than 50%, the member will be impeached.

Nominations for unexpected vacancies will be made at the Monthly General Meeting immediacy following the vacancy. The vote will then take place at the next month’s general meeting.

Section III: Executive Committee’s Duties
The executive committee’s duties are listed as the followings:
President - The President shall chair and set the agenda for all regular and special meetings of the PEGSA. The President shall appoint members of all standing committees and other committees as the need arises. The President shall serve as the official PEGSA representative for all external matters on/off campus.

Vice President - The Vice President shall assist the President to handle matters related to PEGSA. In the absence of the President, the Vice President shall perform the duties of the President. The Vice President shall handle the internal matters within PEGSA.

Secretary - The Secretary shall keep full and accurate written minutes and attendance records of the PEGSA. The Secretary shall be responsible for emails or correspondences of PEGSA.

Treasurer - The Treasurer shall maintain a balance-sheet of the monetary activities of PEGSA. The Treasurer shall report at each meeting the balance of PEGSA. The Treasurer shall handle all transactions of reimbursement to members and maintaining a copy of all transactions for the PEGSA's records.

Activities Coordinator - The Activities Coordinator shall be responsible for the schedule and implementation of on/off campus activities in order to help student lives socially, intellectually, culturally. The Activities Coordinator shall report the budget and financial transactions of the activities to the Treasurer.

Webmaster - The Webmaster shall regularly maintain PEGSA’s website. The Webmaster shall post agendas of current and past meetings and activities. The Webmaster shall be responsible for publicizing the sponsorship information on the website.

ARTICLE V: COMMITTEES

Ad hoc or special committees will be formed on a needs basis. The formation of these committees will take place at the Monthly General Meeting and members may join through a volunteer process. Committee meeting will be held on a needs basis.

ARTICLE VI: MEETINGS

Meetings will be held on a monthly basis. A one week’s notice will be given for meeting times, date and venue. The meeting times, date and venue will be distributed among the members via email. An agenda will be given at the time of notification. Robert’s Rules of Order will be used as the format for the meetings.

ARTICLE VII: AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION

Amendments to the constitution will abide by the following process:
1) An amendment will be instituted if more than 50% of the executive council agrees.

2) Notice of the proposed amendment will be given to the membership at the Monthly General Meeting one month before the meeting of the vote.

3) A vote will then take place by the members of the association to approve the amendment at the Monthly General Meeting. Upon a vote greater than 67%, the amendment to the constitution will be accepted.