Constitution

Section 1 – Name

1-1:  The name of the organization shall be SFU Accounting Student Association.
1-2:  The short form of the organization shall be ASA.

Section 2 – Objectives

2-1:  The objectives of the Association are to:

  1. Initiate and maintain fellowship between SFU students who are interested in the field of accounting.
  2. Establish close ties between SFU and the accounting profession.
  3. Assist in job search and career direction.
  4. Maintain an appropriate level of professional competence through ongoing development of knowledge and skills of the accounting designations.1
  5. Contribute back to the community.

1 – These designations include Chartered Accountants (CA), Certified General Accountants (CGA) and Certified Management Accountants (CMA).

Section 3 – Membership

3-1:  Membership of the Association shall be extended to all students who register on the ASA mailing list.
3-2:  The membership fee shall be at the cost of nil.

Section 4 – Steering Committee

4-1:  This committee shall consist of:

  1. President
  2. Vice-President – Communications
  3. Vice-President – Finance
  4. Vice-President – Internal Relations
  5. Vice-President – External Relations

4-2:  The power and duties of the Steering Committee shall be limited to the following:

  1. Convening all general meetings, having ensured that an agenda has been prepared and that due notice has been given.
  2. Ensuring that the directives of this Constitution and decisions made by general meetings are carried out.
  3. Maintaining communications between the Association, the Business Administration Student Society, and other student unions, the SFSS, the Department, Faculty, and other University organizations as needed.
  4. Guide and support the project managers.

Section 5 – Other Members

5-1:  Two other classes of members are formally recognized and they are as follows:

  1. General Executives
  2. Active Members

5-2:  Requirements for these two classes are outlined in 7-3.

  1. Active members are recognized after the accumulation of 4 points.
  2. General Executives are recognized after the accumulation of 8 points.
  3. 1 point is awarded to a person for each general meeting that is attended during the semester; 2 points are awarded to a person for every club event they volunteer in during the semester.

Section 6 – Meetings

6-1:  Meetings shall be conducted as follows:

  1. General meetings shall be held once per week, or more frequently if required, at the call of any Steering Committee member. ASA members are welcome to attend and attendance of all Steering Committee members is required.
  2. Quorum for a general meeting shall be a majority of the seats filled of the Steering Committee. Proxy votes are not allowed.
  3. The Steering Committee shall meet once per week, or more frequently if required, at the call of the Chair. Quorum shall be a majority of the seats filled.
  4. If, at any time, no member of the Steering Committee is able or willing to call a general meeting at the request of the membership, any member may do so providing proper notice is given.

Section 7 – Officers

7-1:  There shall be the following officers:

  1. President
  2. Vice-President – Communications
  3. Vice-President – Finance
  4. Vice-President – Internal Relations
  5. Vice-President – External Relations

7-2:  The powers and duties of said officers shall be:

President

  1. To prepare agendas, chair meetings, and co-ordinate activities of the Club.
  2. To ensure that the requirements of the Constitution and the decisions of the Club are carried out.
  3. To represent the Club to the Department in general, or to any Departmental Committee where a representative has not been elected, or cannot attend.
  4. To coordinate the formulation and implementation of objectives and strategies.

Vice-President – Communication

  1. To maintain contacts with all members of the Association, faculty, SFSS, BASS, and other clubs.
  2. To maintain and update the Club web page.
  3. To maintain the email lists.

Vice-President – Finance

  1. To maintain all financial records of the Club, including an accounting of all funds received and spent;
  2. To prepare a budget;
  3. To make regular reports to the membership; and
  4. To provide liaison between the Association and all sources of funding.

Vice-President – Internal Relations

  1. To keep minutes of meetings; and
  2. To manage the internal affair of the Steering Committee, including scheduling of meetings and scheduling of booths; and
  3. S/he shall assume and carry out duties of the President during his/her absence or in the event of the resignation or impeachment or abandonment of office of the President.
  4. To establish and maintain communication and rapport with SFU faculty, clubs, and other SFU personnel.

Vice-President – External Relations

  1. To establish and maintain sponsorships, communication with any public organizations, or entities; and
  2. To update organization contact information.

Signing Officers

  1. President and VP Finance shall be designated as signing officers, with the power to sign cheques for authorized expenditures.

7-3:  Notes

  1. All Vice-Presidents are to assist the President in carrying out responsibilities.
  2. Upon a vote of majority from the Steering Committee, there may be a maximum of two officers sharing any VP position (except for VP Finance).
  3. Members: anyone on the association mailing list at the time of elections.
  4. All executives and steering committee members are eligible to become project managers.
  5. Active members and general executives who do not show up to meetings or help out at club events in the following semester will retain their title until the end of week 6.2
  6. Final decision of removal or addition of club members to the active members or general executive list will be made by the steering committee.

2 – Re-instatement of previous title will be given after attendance of 2 meetings or assistance with at least 1 event. Exception made for students on co-op work terms until they return for a study semester.

Section 8 – Elections

  1. General Elections shall take place in the fall semester. The notice of elections shall be given two weeks before the election. Nominations are open until a week before elections are conducted.
  2. Only general executives and officers are eligible to run for VP and president positions.
  3. Only active members, general executives and steering committee members are eligible to vote for new steering committee members.
  4. EAn eligible person may run for no more than one position.
  5. Voting shall be by secret ballot, and official ballots which are numbered and signed by a responsible member from Steering Committee will be used, unless otherwise agreed upon.
  6. Email voting may be used if so deemed by the steering committee.
  7. A person who receives a majority vote will be elected. In case of a tie-vote, another speech and the second vote take place at the following meeting. If there is a tie-vote again, there will be the second vote on the same day and the current president gets two votes.
  8. In the event that a vacancy occurs on the steering committee, an election shall take place at the discretion of the president. If the presidential position is empty, responsibility will lie on a majority decision by the current officers. Notice of this meeting shall include notice of the election.
  9. Only Steering Committee members may recall any person elected to represent them by 2/3rd vote of the members present at a meeting called for the purpose. Notice of the meeting must contain the purpose and 2 weeks notice must be given through email to both general and executive club email lists.

Section 9 – Amendments

  1. This constitution may be amended by the membership of the Association by a 2/3rd of those present and voting at a general meeting called for the purpose.
  2. Attendees of such general meeting must include 2/3rd of the current officers.
  3. The proposed amendment must be posted prominently on a minimum of one ASA bulletin board in the WMX 2nd floor for a minimum of two weeks prior to the meeting, and all amendments must be posted on the club website.

Section 10 – Dissolution

  1. In the event that the members decide to dissolve the Association, or in the event that the Association becomes inactive, all assets of the Association become the property of the Simon Fraser Student Union, to be held in trust for a minimum period of two years.
  2. If, during this period, the Association becomes active again, the trust shall be dissolved and all assets shall become the property of the Association.
  3. After two years, if the trust has not been dissolved, the Simon Fraser Student Society may dispose of the assets as it sees fit.
  4. For the purpose of this article, the Association shall have become inactive if, for two consecutive semesters, the membership does not hold the minimum number of general meetings as required by this constitution.
  5. This article shall not be altered except with prior written consent of the Simon Fraser Student Society.