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OWL Photography Club Constitution
ARTICLE 1: Formal name
● The name of this organization will be Owl Photography Club, also referred to as OPC.
ARTICLE 2: Purpose
This organization is for students to have a creative outlet; to allow students to learn an
artistic skill at their leisure or to enjoy the creative freedoms of the organization. The
goal is to help support any members who wish to pursue personal goals in the field of
photography from learning about exposure and the film development process to
directing models and exhibiting their work.
Furthermore, this student organization was created with the intention of promoting the art of
photography and creating and enhancing awareness in the following ways:
1. By meeting weekly to discuss different aspects of the photographic arts
2. By organizing photography­related events and workshops
ARTICLE 3: Membership
● Section 1 ­Membership in the organization shall be open to all FAU students and other
interested parties who share an interest in photography and photographic culture.
● Section 2 ­ Faculty, staff, and alumni may be associate members. Associate members cannot
vote or hold office, but are welcome to take part in all club activities.
● Section 3 ­ The Owl Photography Club shall be in full compliance with all Federal and State
nondiscrimination and equal opportunity laws, orders and regulations. Owl Photography Club
shall not discriminate against a Student Officer, member or prospective member on any basis
identified in FAU Regulation 5.010, except if specifically exempted by law. Owl Photography
Club shall be open to all currently enrolled FAU Students, except if specifically exempted by
law.
ARTICLE 4: Regulation
● Section 1­ Owl Photography Club will abide by all Federal, State and Local Laws and FAU
Regulations and policies, including but not limited to the Student Code of Conduct, Code of
Academic Integrity, Regulation 4.006, Alcohol and Drug Policy, and all requirements as
outlined in the Student Organization Manual.
● Section 2­ Owl Photography Club agrees to abide by the Florida Anti­Hazing Law in the
Student Code of Conduct and the Student Organization Manual.
ARTICLE 5: Officers and roles
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● Section 1 ­ The officers of this organization shall be
○ President
○ Vice­President
○ Secretary
○ Treasurer
■ Vice Treasurer
○ Events committee
■ Events committee chair
● Section 2 ­ All officers of this organization shall be registered FAU students who meet the
University's minimum requirements to serve as officers. These are:
○ All officers must be registered degree­seeking FAU students enrolled during this petition
○ All undergraduate officers must be enrolled for a minimum of 6 (six) credit hours for the
Fall or Spring term. (Refer to the Student Organization Manual or Regulation 4.006)
○ All graduate officers must be enrolled for a minimum of 3 (three) credit hours. (Refer to
the Student Organization Manual or Regulation 4.006)
○ All officers must be in good academic standing and not on probation, which is defined
as having a 2.5 GPA for undergraduate students and a 3.0 GPA for graduate students.
on course work attempted at Florida Atlantic University. The President must have
earned at least 12 college credits.
○ A student may serve in the same position or office for a maximum of two terms during
their academic career at FAU. A student’s academic career includes their
undergraduate, graduate, and professional course work.
● Section 3 ­ The duties of officers are as follows:
○ 1. President:
■ a. be the point­of­contact for OPC and will resolve all intra­club disputes.
■ b. know the programming handbook.
■ c. serve as liaison with the office of Student Involvement and Leadership (SIL)
■ d. select the faculty advisor and maintain connection
■ e. approve and oversee movements, and checks all paperwork of the
organization before it is submitted
■ f. hold other officers accountable for their specific duties
■ g. must commit to the academic calendar year of service in which they are
elected to run
■ h. serve as tie­breaker in any necessary votes from Events Committee; will also
serve as an Ex­Officio member of Events Committee.
○ 2. Vice President:
■ a. assume the duties and responsibilities of the President when they are absent.
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■ b. assist the President with liaison between the office of Student Involvement
and Leadership (SIL) and the OPC
■ c. assists with the liaison between the OPC and the club advisor
■ d. serves as the official point­of­contact for membership and recruitment
● 1. This will include recruiting new club members, inter­organization
involvement and networking on campus, affiliation with off­campus
organizations or persons, and other persons or organizations of interest
not specifically outlined.
■ e. fills out all official paperwork
■ f. serve as tie­breaker in any necessary votes from Events Committee, in
absence of President; will also serve as an Ex­Officio member of Events
Committee, in absence of President.
■ g. must commit to the academic calendar year of service in which they are
elected to run
3. Treasurer:
■ a. be the primary signatory for the funds of the organization
■ b. collect dues
■ c. be the point­of­contact for the COSO
■ d. deals with the acquisition of funds from Student Government
4. Vice Treasurer:
■ a. Position is held only by club advisor and is non­electable by vote
■ b. Acts as a backup and secondary treasurer
■ c. Performs all assigned duties of the Treasurer in order to assist the current
Treasurer or act as interim Treasurer when the elected position is vacant for any
reason.
4. Secretary/Historian:
■ a. take minutes and attendance at meetings
● Attendance will be maintained in an official roll, each meeting marked
by date and a running number of meetings held
■ b. forward minutes of meetings to President within 72 hours of each meeting
■ c. e­mail and otherwise communicate with members and officers.
■ d. keep and maintain member lists (and contact information) and dues (where
applicable)
■ e. helps to fill out paperwork of the organization, if necessary
■ f. must commit to the academic calendar year of service in which they are
elected to run
5. Events Committee Chairperson
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■ An events committee chairperson will be selected from within the events
committee members to act as both a liaison between the events committee and
the Executive Board and as coordinator of events committee.
■ The primary function of the chairperson within the confines of the events
committee is to aid in assigning and assisting event planning by the committee
and to make sure that all assigned tasks are completed.
● If a dispute should arise between the chairperson and another member
of the Events Committee, the dispute must be brought to the Executive
Board for immediate mediation and resolution. If said resolution leads
to the vacation of a position, a new member will be elected per Article
7, § 4, subsection 1.
● If a dispute should arise between members of the Events Committee,
the dispute must be brought to the Events Committee Chairperson for
immediate mediation and resolution. If the Chairperson is unable to
effectively mediate the dispute, it must be brought to the Executive
Committee for immediate mediation and resolution. If said resolution
leads to the vacation of a position, a new member will be elected per
Article 7, § 4, subsection 1.
■ ● Section 4 ­ Events committee
○ The members of the events committee are a subcommittee under the Executive Board
officers, who hold no executive board voting privileges or power. No Executive Board
officer of OPC shall be a member of the event committee in order to avoid collusion of
events proposal, voting, planning, or preparation.
○ The committee will consist of a mandatory number of 4 (four) persons. These members
will be selected during regular officer elections outlined in Article 6.
○ The Events Committee responsibilities are as follows:
■ Coordinate with President and Vice President on the approval and selection of
appropriate club events
■ Organize, plan, and coordinate all club events including but not limited to:
off­campus excursions, workshops and clinics, photography walks (on­ or
off­campus), on­campus tailgating events.
■ Coordinate with Treasurer to acquire necessary event funding from COSO.
○ All events committee meetings must be attended by a minimum of 3 (three) members if
any voting or decisions must be made as pertaining to the club’s events. In the event of
all 4 (four) members being in attendance, whereby a vote is held and results in a tie, the
President or Vice President will serve as tie­breaker.
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■ Any official Events committee meetings under the minimum of 3 (three)
members is automatically cancelled until the minimum can be met. This is by
design to avoid any potential of voting deadlock due to a lack of a majority.
ARTICLE 6: Officer elections
● Section 1 ­ Members meeting the correct university standards can be nominated to run by any
voting member, or by themselves. The nomination does not need to be seconded, and if a
nominee does not wish to run they can choose to decline. Elections will be held by the President
and Vice President. A simple majority will conclude the vote. Only active members may vote,
associate members are not eligible to vote in officer elections.
● Section 2 ­ In the event of a tie, the two candidates will give a 5 minute speech describing why
they are the best for the position, and re­vote will take place after the speeches. If there is a
second tie, the current executive board will hold a third majority vote amongst officers. There
will be no co­positions, each position will be filled by a single student per semester.
● Section 3 ­ Regular elections will be held at the beginning of each academic calendar year or
when there are vacancies on the executive board. Officers will take office directly after the
election. The term of office is one academic calendar year.
○ A. Treasurer exception: The term of the Treasurer will be held for one academic
calendar year due to the amount of training and knowledge of University process that is
required. If this position must be vacated before the end of the term, the outgoing
Treasurer must train, inform, and provide the newly elected Treasurer will all necessary
information, packets, access, and so forth necessary to complete and maintain the
position and role in the club.
● Section 4 ­ An officer may hold a position as long as they are still eligible as per Article 5, but
may not hold the position for longer than 1 (one) academic year consecutively.
● Section 5 ­ An officer may not hold more than one position.
● Section 6 ­ An officer may be re­elected if all criteria from § 4 are met (eligibility, and time limit
followed).
ARTICLE 7: Officer succession and vacation
● Section 1 ­ If an officer is to graduate or otherwise be absent from FAU, the position will be
considered vacant. Election process will follow the same majority vote process.
○ Presidential exception
■ If the presiding President is to graduate or be otherwise unable to fulfill their
club duties, the acting Vice President will assume the role of interim President
until a new President can be elected in the next official club meeting.
■ Outgoing President will properly train and transition Vice President/interim
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President on all necessary club business per Student Organization Manual
regulations.
Section 2 ­ If an officer is replaced, the new officer will hold position until the following
semester’s elections are held.
Section 3 ­ If the Executive Board is made aware of disputes between members and an officer,
an election must be held to vacate the seat. There will be a majority vote election to impeach the
officer in question. If the vote concludes that the officer will be impeached, they are given a one
week grace period before they must vacate their position.
Section 4 ­ In the event of a resignation, a special Officer’s meeting will be held at the earliest
possible date to discuss potential and appropriate candidates for the position, at which point
voting from Article 7, § 1 will apply.
○ Subsection 1: Events committee exception:
■ If the new officer voted to fulfill the vacated position is from the Events
Committee, that committee member will relinquish their role in the Events
Committee immediately and a new club member will be chosen by the executive
board to fill the position on the Events Committee.
Section 5 ­ Any officer vacating a position due to a failure to fulfill their outlined duties,
including meeting attendance, will be ineligible to hold any executive board officer or events
committee position for 1 (one) academic calendar year. If said officer is nominated for another
position after the 1 (one) academic calendar year ineligibility period is completed, full
documentation and mention of any and all previous ineligibility reasons must be presented during
nomination. Failure to do so will result in permanent ineligibility for any executive board officer
or events committee position in perpetuity for the duration of that officer’s time at FAU,
including undergraduate, graduate, and other professional course work.
ARTICLE 9: Officer attendance
● Section 1 ­ All executive board officers must attend a minimum of three­fourths of all organized
club meetings. Failure to do so will result in immediate and willing vacation of officer position
and the role shall be filled by special officer election outlined in Article 8, § 4.
○ Exceptions
■ Schedule conflicts (work­, class­, or school­related). Full documentation of
conflict must be presented to President at earliest possible date. President must
retain and document said conflict in official meeting attendance record.
■ Emergency situations. Must be presented to President at earliest possible date.
President must retain and document said conflict in official meeting attendance
record.
● Section 2 ­ In the event of an officer vacating their position due to attendance­related issues, the
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position will be vacated immediately and fulfilled by selection and voting outlined in Article 8,
Section 4.
ARTICLE 10: Advisor involvement
● Section 1 ­ The faculty advisor will assist with program and travel plans, know about the OPC’s
finances and procedures, be familiar with the constitution, motivate students and officers, and
help with creative planning for the OPC’s present/future goals.
● Section 2 ­ Advisor will be carefully selected by the President of the OPC.
● Section 3 ­ At least one advisor must be a full­time faculty, AMP or SP staff member at FAU.
ARTICLE 11: Official meeting information
● Section 1 ­ Regular meetings shall be held at a predetermined date and time as voted on by a
majority of active club members; however, this is subject to change dependent on members
availabilities. Any move to change the meeting date and time for a semester will be done by
majority vote of active club members.
● Section 2 ­ Special meetings may be called by the President or Advisor of the OPC, they may
be called once a month, or on a serious case basis.
● Section 3 ­ A quorum for any regular or special meetings will consist of at least a majority of the
members present.
● Section 4 ­ The meetings will be conducted under the “Robert’s Rules of Order”.
● Section 5 ­ All meeting minutes will be posted in a public forum (i.e. Facebook or FAU
Collegiate Link) by the Secretary for all members to see in unabridged and unedited format.
○ This will include the minutes of all regular meetings and all minutes of executive board
officers meetings.
ARTICLE 13: Club events order of operations
● Section 1 ­ Event proposal to executive board officers (President or Vice President), who then
brings the idea to the Events Review Board, which consists of President, Vice President, and
Treasurer.
● Section 2 ­ Executive Review Board reviews proposal as a group and votes on whether the
event can take place.
○ President, Vice President, and Treasurer review proposal and determine club
appropriateness, club relevance, and affordability of event. If approved, event is put
forth to club for vote.
● Section 3 ­ Democratic vote takes place among active dues­paying club members present at
next club meeting. If a quorum opts in favor of the event, it is then passed to the Events
Committee for planning and execution.
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● Section 4 ­ Events Committee works to organize event.
● Section 5 ­ Event organization is completed at the discretion of the Events Committee and
executive board officers. Any decisions that need to be made regarding location will be set
forth to the club for a democratic quorum vote, if necessary. If an appropriate location cannot
be determined by vote, further planning of the event will cease until a location is determined by a
quorum vote of active dues­paying club members.
ARTICLE 14: This constitution may be amended at any time and with majority approval of those
members, including the officers and organization advisor, present during the meeting called for the
specific purpose of amending the constitution.
BY­LAWS:
ARTICLE 1: Membership dues
● Section 1 ­ In order to be considered an active, voting member of the club, dues in the amount
of $10 will be paid each semester, or $20 for the academic calendar year, to the Treasurer.
These membership dues will be used for club funds in addition to those funds provided by
COSO, but only as a supplement and not as a main source of club funding.
ARTICLE 2: Meeting minutes and notes
● Every meeting must have minutes taken, to be taken by the Secretary, or in the event of an
absence, another member.
● All meeting minutes must be maintained in the following formats for posterity and for University
requirements and documentation
○ Typed and printed paper copies, in a binder maintained by the Secretary.
○ Electronic copy uploaded to OPC’s Collegiate Link organization portal.
○ Electronic copy uploaded to OPC’s Facebook Group page or some other public­facing
forum.
ARTICLE 3: Fundraising
● OPC should conduct or hold at least 1 (one) fundraising event per semester in order to
supplement club funds from membership dues and those allotted by COSO.
○ All fundraising events will be organized according to ARTICLE 5, § 4 of the club
constitution and in accordance with all rules and regulations outset by the University.
● OPC should participate in or organize at least 2 (two) volunteer events per semester.
○ Any funds raised from volunteer events are to supplement club funds from membership
dues and those allotted by COSO.
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This constitution was originally drafted on August 29, 2011, and amended on February 17, 2012, April
11, 2013.