Kenyon College Ballroom Dance Cl

Kenyon College Ballroom Dance Club Constitution Drafted in Spring 2004 by Ksenia Sokolyanskaya and Taryn Myers Edited and Approved by All Officers and Board Members (Spring 2004)


Mission Statement
This club provides ballroom dance instruction from skilled students and professional teachers to all interested
students and members of the Kenyon and Gambier community. The club is not exclusive to any experience or
interestlevel. Both American and International styles are covered in lessons, aswell as most fun dances such as
salsa, meringue, lindy hop and hustle.
Students can choose to be only in the social club that focuses more on the social aspects of dancing or to also
be on the competitive team that focuses more on technique and skill and travels regularly to intercollegiate
competitions.

Officers
This club is run by a team of officers and board members, who meet once a week to discuss the progress and
needs of the club. These officers are electedeach semester by all members of the club. Any dues-paying member
can run forany office, however the candidates for the positions of President and Competitions Coordinator must
be members of the competitive team.

PRESIDENT/TEAM CAPTAIN - The job of the president, in general, is to run the club. The president
presides over officers meetings and ensures that all other officers are doing their jobs. The president represents
the club to the campus and will attend events where a representative of the club is requested, with other officers
if necessary or possible. The president will oversee the day-to-day business of the club and also meet with
members of the administration as need be. The president also serves as team captain and the representative of
the team at competitions, meaning they set team match with the input of the competition coordinator and based
on the day's placings and can also help set partnerships if necessary.
VICE PRESIDENT - The vice president's primary job is to serve as an assistant to and a helper for the
president. The vice president focuses mainly on the social side of the club and is responsible for planning dances
and other social events, with the help of the rest of the officers and the rest of the club. The vice president will
also help out the other officers as need be.
COMPETITION COORDINATOR - The competition coordinator is in charge of finding out when competitions
are and which are feasible for us to attend. The comp coordinator also is responsible for running meetings for
competition registration and registering team members for comps. In addition, the comp coordinator must organize
housing and transportation for all competitions, including procuring Kenyon vans. The comp coordinator will also
help out the other officers as need be.
TREASURER - The job of treasurer is a challenging and vital one. The treasurer is responsible for overseeing all
of the club's finances - including our BFC budget and our outside account. The treasurer collects all dues and fees
for competitions. The treasurer is also responsible for getting checks for Igor and any other outside groups (i.e.,
bands for dances). As with all offices, the treasurer also is responsible for helping the other officers as need be.
SECRETARY: The secretary's main job is to attend the weekly officer's meetings, take the minutes at these meetings,
and send the minutes to the rest of the club. It is highly recommended that these minutes be amusing, and thus the
secretary should have a good sense of humor. The secretary is also responsible for sending notices to the club as need
be or as instructed by the rest of the officers. The secretary's other main job is to assist the other officers.
WEBPERSON: The webmaster or webmistress is responsible for maintaining the club's webpage. This includes adding
pictures, competition results, minutes, notices, and other information in a timely manner. The webperson should have a
strong knowledge of html and the Internet in general and should be creative.The webperson should also help the other
officers as need be.
HISTORIAN: The historian is responsible for maintaining the club scrapbook.The historian should also take pictures
at or collect pictures from competitions. The historian is also responsible for making any posterboards of club pictures
necessary for things such as the Activities Mart and to make posters, sheets, or banners supporting the club, activities
we might be holding, or others. Again, the historian should also assist the other officers as need be.
Elections
Elections are held at the end of each semester in order to elect officers for the following semester. The election is a
rolling election and students may run for more than one office. The offices are elected in the following order:
President, VP, Competition Coordinator, Treasurer, Secretary, Webmaster and Historian.
The election can be secret ballot or open or closed hand election, depending on the preference of the majority of the
members of the club at the time.
Nominations must be sent to the club account before the designated date. Any member can send in nominations.
A person can be nominated for multiple offices, multiple people can be nominated for the same office and each member
has the option of nominating himself/herself for any office.
Each candidate is required to make a short speech as to why they wish to be elected to this position and why they are the
best candidate for it. After the speech, members have a chance to ask the candidate any questions that might arise. The
candidate is not required to answer any questions that he/she feels are irrelevant or inappropriate. After all candidates for
a specific position make their speeches and answer all questions, they leave the room. At that point the members of the
club hold a short discussion that centers around the qualifications and dedication of the candidates. (Note: No personal
attacks or personal issues should be mentioned at this time. The discussion is only a means of helping people decide who
will be the bestcandidate for the job.) After the discussion, the vote takes place. Allpresent members must vote and there
may be no abstentions. At that point the votes are tallied up and the candidates are called into the room. The winner is
announced and the election continues in the same manner.
The first office to be elected is that of the President. That election is run by the current President of the club unless he/she is
running for that position again. In that case the duty goes down to the Vice President and so on. After the new President is
elected he/she continues to run the rest of elections.
For members who are abroad or have a serious (academic, health) conflict that prevents them from attending elections, there
is an option of a vote by e-mail. The votes must be sent to the designated officer (Secretary, unless he/she is running in the
next election) by e-mail before the election so that it can be counted into the general vote at the time of the election.