Our Constitution

Article I. Name

1. This organization shall be known as Concordiensis.

Article II. Purpose

1. The purpose of Concordiensis is to compile and have published, by students, a newspaper serving the needs and interests of the Union College community.
2. Concordiensis is to be published weekly, every week of fall, winter, and spring terms with the exception of the first and last weeks of each term. There will be 24 regular issues published during the academic year.
3. Special issues of Concordiensis may be published during the academic year with funding to be determined by the Editor(s)-in-Chief at the approval of the Finance Committee.

Article III. Membership

1. All Union College students paying the Student Activities fee qualify to become members of Concordiensis.
2. Members of Concordiensis include all those students holding:
   1. Editorial positions during the given term
   2. Staff positions during the given term

    

Article IV. Officers

1. The elected positions are a three term (spring-fall-winter) post.
2. There may be no more than two Editors in each elected position.
3. If any Editor defaults his/her responsibilities as the holder of the position and leaves vacant his/her office, an interim Editor will be appointed by the Editor(s)-in-Chief, who will hold the office until the next regularly scheduled election.
4. The Editorial Board of Concordiensis shall include the following positions:
• Editor(s)-in-Chief
• News Editor(s)
• Science & Technology Editor(s)
• Features Editor(s)
• Opinions Editor(s)
• Art and Entertainment Editor(s)
• Advertising Coordinators(s)
• Sports Editor(s)
• Promotional Manager(s)
• Photography Editor(s)
• Distribution Manager(s)
• Copy Editor(s)
• World News Editor(s)
• Editorial Cartoonist(s)
• Layout Editor(s)
5. The staff of Concordiensis shall include any student who has contributed in any way to the publication of three issues of Concordiensis during one academic term or at the discretion of the Editorial Board.
6. The creation of additional editorial positions may be at the initiation of any member of the Editorial Staff, but must be approved by the Editor(s)-in-Chief.
7. Dismissal of editors and staff members shall be done at the discretion of the current Editor(s)-of-Chief.

Article V. Officer's Duties

1. The Editor(s)-in-Chief shall be responsible for overseeing the entire newspaper operation which includes:
   1. Conducting the entire election procedure for new Editors as outlined in Article VI of this constitution.
   2. Conducting editorial board meetings regarding any questions that might arise concerning the content or the procedure involved in the publishing of Concordiensis.
   3. Determining the best method available for publishing the newspaper which includes research of available printers, evaluating production costs, etc.
   4. Making any decisions and taking any action necessary to ensure the smooth and responsible operation of the newspaper.
   5. Maintaining and promoting an active membership list.
   6. Compiling and submitting the COC club status report.
   7. Overseeing the compilation and proofing of the entire newspaper before and after submission to the printer.
   8. Meeting with the newspaper's finance representative or Student Activities to acquire purchase orders and the like.
   9. Supervising the record of all financial transactions wile staying within the newspaper's designated budget.
   10. Drawing up a budget for the following academic year.
   11. Conducting at least one meeting per month with the members of the Editorial Board.
2. The News Editor(s) shall be responsible for finding the topics for news articles, as well as, assigning and editing such articles. Furthermore, the News Editor(s) shall be responsible for the layout of the news section, requesting photos for the section and entering in corrections to articles in the section.
3. The Features Editor(s) shall be responsible for assigning and editing articles. Furthermore, the Features Editor(s) shall be responsible for the layout of the features section and entering in corrections to the articles in the section.
4. The Arts and Entertainment Editor(s) shall be responsible for assigning and editing articles of concern to the arts and entertainment, both on campus and off. Furthermore, the A&E Editor(s) shall be responsible for the layout of the A&E section and entering in corrections to articles in the section.
5. The Sports Editor(s) shall be responsible for ensuring newspaper coverage of Union College sports as well as any other local or national sports. Furthermore, the Sports Editor(s) shall also be responsible for the layout of the sports section, requesting photos for the section and entering the corrections to articles in the section.
6. The Photography Editor(s) shall be responsible for assigning to his/her staff the taking of photographs assigned to them by any of the editors needing photographs to accompany their section articles, including sports. The Photography Editor(s) is/are responsible for obtaining a contract for the printing of such photos and for maintaining of Concordiensis photo file. Also, the editor(s) will be responsible for ordering photography supplies.
7. The Advertising Manager(s) shall be responsible for maintaining the weekly list of ads, inserting the ads into the appropriate pages and proofing the ads once they are in the paper. Also, the manager(s) will be responsible for overseeing advertising monetary transactions involving Concordiensis, such as sending out tear-sheets and bills to all advertisers and collecting accounts receivable checks on a weekly basis. On occasion, the manager(s) will create ads for those who only submit text.
8. The Distribution Manager(s) shall be responsible for the entire subscription process, which includes soliciting, billing, and mailing.
9. The Opinions/Editorials Editor(s) shall be responsible for the layout, editing, and printing of letters to the editor and commentaries. A signature must accompany all requests for names not to be printed. Letters and commentaries containing offensive language or innuendoes will not be printed, but must be saved on file by the Opinions Page Editor(s).
10. The Promotional Manager(s) shall be responsible for soliciting advertisements from local vendors and businesses. They will secure advertising space and keep accurate records of those with whom they have spoken.
11. The Copy Editor(s) shall be responsible for reading and editing all articles and advertisements. On occasion, the Copy Editor(s) shall enter in the appropriate corrections.
12. The World News Editor(s) shall be responsible for assigning and editing all articles. These articles should deal with local, national and international current events. These articles require research. Furthermore, the World News Editor(s) shall also be responsible for the layout of the world news section and entering the corrections to articles in the section.
13. The Science and Technology Editor(s) shall be responsible for assigning and editing all articles. These articles should deal with current scientific or technological issues. These articles require research. The S&T Editor(s) shall also be responsible for the layout of the S&T section and entering the corrections to articles in the section.
14. The Editorial Cartoonist(s) shall be responsible for providing a cartoon for the Opinions section each week and for any other section that requests a cartoon.
15. The Layout Editor(s) shall be responsible for assisting section editors with their layout and for instructing the editors on the logistics of layout.

Article VI. Elections

1. Tentative candidates for the editorial positions must submit their names to the Editor(s)-in-Chief two weeks before the election. Editor(s)-in-Chief must announce to the Editorial Board and to the staff the date of the election three weeks in advance. The list of candidates will be available to any Union College student to view upon request.
2. In the election for Editors, all current editors shall have the right to vote. Absentee ballots will be allowed only if the voter absent submits his/her vote to the Editor(s)-in-Chief prior to the election.
3. One week prior to the election, the Editor(s)-in-Chief will compile a list of candidates who are running for each position. Those running must accept or deny their decision to run at this time.
4. Voting must be by secret ballot. The votes will be counted by the Editor(s)-in-Chief Exception: if the current Editor(s)-in-Chief run for office again, the vote counting for this particular office will be carried out by designee appointed by the Editorial Board (excluding the Editor(s)-in-Chief running.
5. Before the election, the candidates for each position shall have the opportunity to address the Editorial Board. If the candidate is unable to attend the meeting, he/she may submit a written statement to be read by the Editor(s)-in-Chief. If a candidate is a staff member, the editor who oversees that individual will speak about them if asked by the Editor(s)-in-Chief. Other editors may also speak, when asked by the Editor(s)-in-Chief, if they know the person.
6. In the case of a stalemate the vote will be repeated until such time as the stalemate is broken.
7. If any member of the college community considers the circumstances surrounding the aforementioned election to be questionable, with legitimate complaint, then a request for re-election may be made. The voicer of the complaint must first notify the Editor(s)-in-Chief, who will in turn call a special meeting of the Editorial Board. The request for a re-election must then be presented to the Editorial Board for approval.
8. A re-election will take place if, by a 2/3 vote, the Editorial Board approves the request. This procedure is the only way that a re-election can take place. No other channel (i.e. the Student Forum or the Dean's Office) shall be used for the purpose of obtaining a re-election. The Editorial Board is the only body able to approve a request for a re-election. If a re-election request is approved, then the previously outlined rules will apply to the new election. However, a third, impartial party may be present to observe the second election. The re-election will then be considered the only valid election, thereby placing the winner(s) in the position(s) questioned.

Article VII. Non-Student Participation

1. Any member of the Union College Community has the right to submit for possible publication any contribution to Concordiensis and will be printed at the discretion of the Editor(s)-in-Chief.
2. There shall be no formal non-student advisors to Concordiensis. Informal faculty, staff, or administrative advising, as well as contribution from these groups may be sought after and/or made use of as the Editor(s)-in-Chief see fit.

Article VIII. Amendments

1. All of the current members of the Editorial Board of Concordiensis must sign a petition to effect the termination to the newspaper.
2. If Concordiensis is inactive for one year (i.e. the staff produces no newspapers), this constitution shall automatically expire, and a new constitution must be submitted and the normal approval procedures followed.
3. This constitution shall automatically expire three years after ratification.

Article X. Ratification

1. This constitution is effective when ratified by the Student Forum.

Article XI. Effective Date

1. This constitution is approved with/without funding by the student Committees on Committees
2. This constitution is approved with/without funding by the Student Forum
3. This constitution will automatically expire on which is three years after Student forum ratification.