Panhellenic Constitution

CONSTITUTION OF CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY

PANHELLENIC COUNCIL

ARTICLE I- Name

1. The name of this organization shall be the Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic Council and shall be hereinafter referred to as "Panhellenic."

ARTICLE II- Purpose

1. The object of this Panhellenic shall be to develop and maintain sorority life and intersorority relations at a high level of accomplishment and in doing so:

a. Consider the goals and ideals of member groups as continually applicable to campus and personal life.

b. Promote superior scholarship as basis to intellectual achievement.

i. Cooperate with member sororities and the university administration in concern for and maintenance of high social and moral standards.

2. Act in accordance with National Panhellenic Conference UNANIMOUS AGREEMENTS and policies.

a. Act in accordance with all rules established by Panhellenic as do not violate the sovereignty, rights, and privileges of member sororities.

b. Act in accordance with and support the Creed of the Case Greek Community and the Greek Community Standards.

ARTICLE III- Membership

1. The REGULAR membership of the Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic shall be composed of all Chapters so voted by the Panhellenic.

2. The ASSOCIATE membership of the Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic shall be composed of all members in good standing of such National Panhellenic Conference colonies and such local sororities at Case Western Reserve University as have been approved by its Panhellenic.

3. A member sorority shall not extend a bid to any initiated member of a member sorority of Case Western Reserve University

ARTICLE IV- Extension

1. When a number of female students are unable to affiliate with the existing chapters and existing chapters desire to remain at a manageable size, the Panhellenic shall vote on a motion to form an extension exploratory committee.

2. The extension exploratory committee (referred to as Exploratory Committee) shall be comprised of Panhellenic officers, chapter delegates, alumnae advisors, faculty advisors, and administrators.

3. The Exploratory Committee shall:

a. Analyze statistics regarding enrollment and statistics

b. Assess the needs of the campus

c. Consult the administration regarding the addition of another NPC organization

d. Compile an official report including a recommendation to the Panhellenic as to whether to extend at this time.

4. If the Exploratory Committee motions to the Panhellenic to open the campus for extension and the motion passes by a majority vote from the Panhellenic, the Exploratory Committee shall appoint an Extension Committee.

5. The Panhellenic shall contact the NPC area advisor and the NPC Extension Committee chairmen when an Extension Committee is formed.

6. The Extension Committee shall include a representative sample of the Panhellenic community including collegians, alumnae members/advisors and administrators. Each recognized organization shall be represented on the committee by a collegiate or alumna member. The VP Recruitment of the Panhellenic shall chair this committee. Responsibilities of the Extension Committee include:

a. The Extension Committee shall notify all NPC organizations of the extension opportunity and soliciting interest.

b. All groups wishing to be recognized as part of the Case Panhellenic Community must be recognized by a national organization.

c. Groups recognized as members of the community as of October 1st, 2006 are exempt.

d. The Extension Committee shall select organizations to be considered for extension onto the CWRU campus. Once selected, the committee shall make arrangement for each group to present on different days.

e. The Extension Committee shall notify organizations who are not selected to present.

f. The Extension Committee shall attend all presentations.

g. After presentations, the committee is responsible for making a recommendation to the Panhellenic regarding which group meets the needs of the campus.

7. The Panhellenic shall vote on the recommendation from the Extension Committee. If the motion passes with a majority vote, the Panhellenic shall issue an invitation to the selected organization. Upon acceptance, the Panhellenic immediately begins work with the selected organization to prepare a schedule for colonization.

8. Stacking Procedure

a. Stacking NPC groups may be considered if the Extension Committee believes there will be continued interest for growth in the next 2 to 4 years. Stacking must be approved through a vote of the Panhellenic.

b. The first organization to colonize shall be given at least 2 primary recruitments to stabilize before the stacked group colonizes.

c. The Stacking Agreement shall not be extended further than 4 years after the initial colonization of the first group.

9. Requirements for Regular or Associate Membership

a. When an NPC member organization has followed the NPC Unanimous Agreement on Extension, and a chapter has been installed, that chapter shall become a regular member of the University Panhellenic.

b. Once regular membership is established, all Panhellenic groups hold equal voting rights.

ARTICLE V- Officers

1. The officers of the Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic shall be President, Vice President of Administration, Vice President Citizenship, and Vice President of Recruitment.

2. The Vice President of Finance and Vice President of Marketing and Communication will be elected jointly by the Panhellenic and Interfraternity Congress. Both of these positions will be elected from among members of the fully recognized chapters of either body. They will be ex-officio members of both Executive Committees.

3. The officers of the Panhellenic shall constitute the Executive Committee.

4. The Greek Community Education Consultant (GCEC) shall be selected through an interview process conducted by members of the Greek Life Office and the Panhellenic and serve as an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee

5. The officers shall serve a term of one calendar year. The term of office is to begin at the last regularly scheduled meeting of the fall semester.

a. The interim period between elections and the first meeting under the new administration shall be a briefing period during which the former officers shall instruct the officers-elect as to the most efficient, effective, and responsible way to fulfill their new duties.

6. The officers shall:

a. Be members from sororities holding regular membership in the Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic Council.

b. Have had at least one semester of Panhellenic experience.

c. In order to apply for candidacy, members must be in good standing with their chapter. This includes but is not limited to academic standing, active membership, financially responsible with payment of dues, and not implicated in any chapter or Greek Life judiciary cases

d. Have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 in the semester prior to assuming office and throughout their term of office. In the case of the candidate having served the semester prior to the start of their term at an institution other than Case, the most recent semester at Case will be considered. In the event that the officer does not maintain a 3.0,theywill be required to resign immediately, they may opt to submit a letter of appeal to the scholarship commission who will then decide if the officer shall remain in their position.

e. Be able to attend the Panhellenic/Interfraternal Executive Board retreat in the spring, with dates as determined by the Presidents of the Panhellenic, Interfraternity Congress, and Greek Life Office staff. In the event that the officer cannot attend the retreat, they will be required to resign immediately.

f. Must not be co-currently serving as President, Delegate or head of recruitment of their chapter.

ARTICLE VI - Elections

1. Order of elections shall be: Slate, President, Vice President of Administration, Vice President Citizenship, Vice President of Recruitment, Vice President of Finance and Vice President of Marketing and Communication.

2. The election of officers each fall semester shall be facilitated by the Slating Committee as follows:

3. The committee shall consist of five (5) members. Those members shall include:

a. The Slating Committee Chair

i. The chair shall be appointed by the President and approved by a majority vote of the Panhellenic

ii. To be eligible to be Chair a candidate must have previously held one of the following offices: chapter president, chapter first vice president, any office of the Panhellenic, or an executive office in Order of Omega, Lambda Eta Mu or Gamma Sigma Alpha.

b. A member of the Panhellenic Judicial Board to be appointed by the Vice President of Administration.

c. Three (3) collegiate members from chapters unrepresented on the committee. These members are to be appointed by the Chair.

4. This committee shall be approved by the General Body prior to any elections.

5. The term for this committee shall be one (1) semester.

6. The Chair may take recommendations for committee membership from chapter presidents or representatives.

7. A member of this committee, in the event of mid-term elections, may run for the vacant position with:

a. The consent of the Chair, only if a replacement committee member is appointed before the committee's duties need be completed for that election.

b. A member of the committee may be removed by the Chair for cause if approved by the Executive Committee.

8. The duties of the Slating Committee will be hereafter listed:

a. Prescribe guidelines pertaining to the election of Panhellenic officers.

i. Said guidelines will aid the general body in selecting a candidate and discourage campaigning and political activities.

b. Assemble and determine these guidelines at the start of each semester.

c. Report these guidelines to General Body

d. Conduct interviews:

i. For each election, the committee will schedule interviews with each candidate that intends to run for the position in question.

1. Candidates may apply for multiple positions, but may only receive a recommendation for one (1).

2. Elections will open four (4) weeks before resumes are due to the Committee

3. These candidates must submit a resume and letter of intent to the Chair and the Director of Greek Life or their designee at least one (1) week in advance of their interview with the Slating Committee.

4. The necessary information for that resume will be qualified in the guidelines established each semester.

5. Interviews must be conducted at least 3 days before the day of elections, on that given weekend.

6. The candidate must provide two (2) letters of recommendation. Letters of recommendation must come from sources outside of the Panhellenic Executive Committee, and be sent to the committee by the date of their interview.

7. Final deliberations must conclude at least three (3) days before the election. If a candidate has failed to be interviewed before said time, they may not run for the position.

a. Interviews are open to community members to attend, however questions and answers must come only from the candidates and committee members.

b. Interviews must have at minimum of four (4) of the five (5) members present.

ii. Once all interviews have been conducted, the Slating Committee must meet to agree on a recommended candidate.

1. Final recommendation deliberations are conducted in a closed meeting.

2. All five (5) members must be in attendance for final deliberations.

iii. The vote to approve a recommendation must be unanimous

iv. Notify each candidate of the committee's decision directly after the deliberations

1. If the committee determines two (2) or more equally qualified candidates desire the same position, the committee may recommend a runoff election on the floor, and provide all relevant information from the interview process.

v. If the committee determines that no candidates are adequately qualified for the position, they may choose to not give a recommendation.

e. Recommend a Candidate during Elections:

i. At the meeting in which elections will take place, the Chair will report the committee's recommendation to the General Body, along with the committee's reasoning.

f. Election procedure:

i. After the recommendation has been given by the committee, any present voting member may make further nominations, limited to those considered, but not selected, by the committee.

ii. If a floor-nominated candidate accepts their nomination, they may speak on behalf of themselves

iii. A question/answer period may be granted by the meeting Chair

iv. The recommended candidate may then speak on behalf of themselves

v. A question/answer period may be granted by the meeting Chair

vi. A simple majority election will follow a discussion period

vii. If no candidates are recommended by the committee, the Chair may determine the appropriate election procedure.

9. Procedure for Election of Vice President of Finance and Vice President of Marketing and Communicatin

a. The same procedure for election will be followed for the Vice President of Finance and Vice President of Marketing and Communication but will be done in conjunction with the IFC Election Committee.

b. Interviews must have at least two (2) members of the Slating Committee and two (2) members of the IFC Election Committee present.

c. Final deliberations for these two positions must be done at a joint meeting of the IFC Election Committee and the Slating Committee.

d. Candidate Reports for jointly elected positions will follow the following procedure

i. Once all interviews have been conducted, the Joint Election Committee must meet to assess and agree on candidate suitability.

1. Final candidate deliberations are conducted in a closed meeting.

2. At least four (4) members (2 IFC, 2 PHC) must be in attendance for final deliberations.

ii. The Joint Election Committee must submit a brief written assessment of every candidate to be read aloud after speeches have been given

1. This document will contain a brief section describing the committee's objective assessment of each candidate (can include past experience, interest level, etc.)

2. At the end of the document the committee may include a single sentence summarizing the most suitable candidate(s) for the position.

e. Voting for these two positions will follow the joint voting procedures outlined in Article VII Section 11.

ARTICLE VII- Meetings

1. The president of a chapter must attend meetings held by the President of the Council.

a. If a president cannot attend a meeting, their absence may be excused by the President of the Council. The unexcused absences will have consequences as outlined in Article VII, section 9.

b. Meetings are defined as Joint General Body Meetings and President Meetings.

2. Regular meetings of the Panhellenic shall be held once every other week during the Academic Year.

3. Each Chapter and Colony is required to have a delegate and president, or appropriate substitute(s), attend each regular meeting.

4. All meetings of the Panhellenic shall be conducted according to Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, except where specified otherwise in the Constitution or Bylaws

5. A simple majority of the voting member chapters of the Panhellenic shall constitute a necessary quorum for the transaction of business

6. The Secretary shall be responsible for distributing an agenda for and to the General Body at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting start time. Minutes from the General Body and Executive Committee meetings will be made available to the General Body representatives no more than 24 hours after the meetings occur.

7. The Executive Committee of the Panhellenic shall hold weekly joint meetings with the Executive Committee of the Interfraternity Congress during the Academic Year.

8. Special meetings of the Panhellenic may be called by the President or at the request of three or more members of the Panhellenic. The Panhellenic shall be given sufficient notice of special meetings.

9. Absences from meetings of the Panhellenic by either of a chapter's representatives or absences of Presidents from President's Meeting within the calendar year, shall have the following consequences:

a. The first absence of a member chapter shall result in the issuance of a written warning to that chapter.

b. Second and subsequent absences during the same semester shall result in a letter being sent to that chapter's national organization notifying them of the situation.

c. The third absence during the same semester will result in a meeting between the member fraternities/sororities President, Representative/Delegate, the President of the Congress, and the Director of Greek Life or their designee. In the event of a member chapter missing more than three meetings in any given semester, the President of the Congress shall be responsible for bringing that chapter before the Interfraternity Judicial Board with a recommended minimum outcome of a suspension of that chapter's voting privileges for at least sixteen academic weeks.

d. In the event of a member chapter missing more than three meetings in any given semester, the President of the Panhellenic shall be responsible for bringing that chapter before the Panhellenic Judicial Board.

e. The President of the Panhellenic has the prerogative to excuse absences in accordance with policies established upon their election to office.

10. Voting

a. The voting body of the Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic Council shall be the regular members of its Panhellenic Council.

b. The voting members of the Panhellenic shall be the delegates of each sorority holding regular membership and the delegates of such associate sororities as have been granted voting status. If a delegate is absent, the vote of the sorority shall be cast by its alternate. Ballots will be tallied by the Panhellenic Advisor

c. Three-quarters of the voting members of:

i. the Panhellenic body are required to amend the Constitution of the Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic Council or to grant Case Panhellenic membership to social sororities.

ii. the Panhellenic Recruitment Council are required to establish recruitment rules

d. In the event of a tie, the tie will be broken by members of the Executive Board, excluding all ex-officio members.

11. Joint Body Voting

a. At a joint meeting with the Interfraternity Congress of Case Western Reserve, a community wide motion may be introduced in business, to be discussed and voted on by all member organizations of both groups acting as one body.

b. The necessary quorum shall be constituted of a simple majority of all member organizations of both councils.

c. The voting process and success shall follow Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, with both groups acting as one body. This is done so that a vote is passed or declined as a community rather than as a Panhellenic or Interfraternal matter.

d. Sorority votes would be weighted by multiplying each sorority vote by the value obtained by dividing the number of voting IFC chapters by the number of voting Panhellenic chapters.

e. For business that calls for joint changes to the bylaws, a motion will pass with 2/3 vote in favor of the motion.

f. For business that calls for joint changes to the constitution, a motion will pass with 3/4 vote in favor of the motion.

g. For all other joint business, a motion will pass with a simple majority vote in favor of the motion.

ARTICLE VIII - Representation

1. MEMBERSHIP. The Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic Council shall be composed of one delegate from each regular and associate member of the Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic.

2. SELECTION OF DELEGATES. Delegates shall be selected by their respective sorority chapters to serve for a term of one year coinciding with their respective elections.

3. DELEGATE VACANCIES. When a delegate vacancy occurs, it shall be the responsibility of the sorority concerned to select a replacement and notify the Panhellenic of their name, email address, and telephone number. When a meeting of the Panhellenic occurs while a delegate vacancy exists, an alternate delegate of the sorority concerned will fulfill the duties of the delegate in all cases.

4. OFFICERS. These officers shall serve as the Executive Board of the Panhellenic and shall have such powers and duties as are prescribed in the Bylaws of the Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic Council.

ARTICLE IX - Panhellenic Advisor

1. The Panhellenic Advisor shall be appointed by the Director of Greek Life.

2. The Panhellenic Advisor shall serve in an advisory capacity to the Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic Council.

ARTICLE X- Standing Committees

1. Such Standing Committees and special officers as may be necessary to carry out the work of the Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic shall be appointed by its Executive Board to serve during the tenure in office of the Board which appoints them.

ARTICLE XI - Agreements, Rules, Policies

1. All members of the Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic Council shall act in accordance with fundamental Panhellenic rules and policies established by National Panhellenic Conference in the UNANIMOUS AGREEMENTS (The Panhellenic Compact, Standards of Ethical Conduct, College Panhellenic Agreements, Agreements on Questionnaires and Constitutions, and the Jurisdiction of a College Panhellenic Council) and the Case Student Services Guide.

2. All Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic Council rules and policies shall be in harmony with those currently established by National Panhellenic Conference and/or the Case Student Services Guide.

ARTICLE XII - Enforcement

1. Violations of any regulations of this Constitution of its related Bylaws, of recruitment rules, of the rules concerning matters other than recruitment, or of the National Panhellenic Conference UNANIMOUS AGREEMENTS (The Panhellenic Compact, Standards of Ethical Conduct, College Panhellenic Agreements, Agreements on Questionnaires and Constitutions, and the Jurisdiction of a College Panhellenic Council) shall be the occasion of penalties established by the Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic Council in conformity with those recommended by National Panhellenic Conference. Constitution of the Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic Council

2. Any dispute growing out of the violation of Panhellenic rules and regulations shall be adjusted through arbitration as prescribed by the principles of the Panhellenic Conference.

ARTICLE XIII - Amendment

1. This constitution may be amended by a three-fourths vote of the regular voting members of the Case Western Reserve University Panhellenic Council, provided notice of the proposed amendment has been given in writing at a preceding regular meeting. Changes which would require a corresponding change to Interfraternity governing documents in order to maintain consistency must also be voted on and passed by the Interfraternity Congress.

2. This Constitution and all amendments thereof must be approved by the Vice President of Student Affairs and/or their designee

Last updated November 2019 by Charlotte Osborn, Panhellenic Vice President of Administration