PP Draft Constitution

Dear PP members,

Please go over the draft constitution of PP. We really appreciate any kinds of input and feedback. Please send your feedback to Jonathan (jon.jeong@gmail.com) by December 4, 2009. Once we got all feedback from PP Executive committee members, we will finalize the constitution and submit it.

pp Office bearers


[Draft] Constitution of Purposeful Penny
Date: November 28, 2009
Drated by Aya, Jonathan, and Khurram

Name of Organization
The name of the organization is Purposeful Penny. The abbreviated name is PP.

Purpose
The vision of Purposeful Penny is to demonstrate that even a small contribution can bring a big positive result. Purposeful Penny contributes to organizational efforts aimed at providing education to underprivileged children.

Activities
Purposeful Penny will collect donations in the form of loose change (pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters). This fund will be used to contribute to specific initiatives being undertaken by nonprofit organizations in the field of education for the underprivileged children.

Membership Requirements
Anyone who is interested in furthering the cause of the organization is welcomed as a general body member.

Financial Obligations of Members
There are no financial obligations of member, but the members are encouraged to donate loose change as often as they can, which will be greatly appreciated.

Associate Membership
Faculty, staff and alumni of the University and non-University persons may participate in the meetings and activities of the organization. An associate member may be given specific tasks and appointed as a special rapporteur by the executive committee. Such special rapporteurs will be the de facto executive members but will not have voting rights. Annual renewal of membership is a requirement for maintenance of associate membership status.

Membership Procedures
Recruitment takes all year around. A written application is required for membership, upon which a confirmation will be communicated. There are no methods of selection or approval. Privileges of membership include regular updates, an opportunity to participate in meetings, and access to annual financial records. Failure to renew membership for two consecutive years will results in membership status being made inactive.

Voting Privileges
Voting privileges are limited to active student members in good standing with the organization. General body members will have voting privileges for electing office bearers.

Officers
The membership of the organization is divided into three tiers: general body members, executive committee members, and office bearers. General body members elect office bearers in an annual election. The office bearers in turn appoint executive committee members. Four office bearers comprise of a president, a vice-president, a treasurer, and a secretary. The president is a public face of the organization, and is responsible for leading decision making and presiding committee meetings. The president will delegate authority where necessary to executive committee members. The vice-president supports the president in performing the day to day activities of the organization and specific tasks as given to him/her by the president. The treasurer is responsible for collecting and keeping track of loose change donated by members, and generating and maintaining financial records. The secretary will be responsible for logistical arrangements including but not limited to minute taking of committee meetings and disseminating minutes to all those concerned.

Election of Officers
Annual election of officers will take place during the first week of October. Election will take place through anonymous internet voting. Within seven calendar days, the successful candidates will be announced by the incumbent president. To qualify as a nominee, he/she must have been a general body member for six months. Voting will be limited to general body members. Adequate procedures will be undertaken by the executive committee to ensure that the elections are open, transparent, and fair. A simple majority of valid votes cast is required to be elected an officer. An officer cannot hold more than one position at the same time. Absentee or proxy ballots will not be accepted.

Terms of Office
Terms of office will be one year from the proclamation of election results to the date of election the following year.

Removal of Officers
Failure to comply with the responsibilities stated in the constitution shall be grounds for removal of officers. Unauthorized and/or unlawful use of organizational assets, monetary or otherwise, shall also be grounds for removal of officers.

Voting Powers of Officers
Important decisions shall be taken through a vote and each executive committee members except associate members with special rapporteur status shall have one vote each. The president will vote in the event of a tie.

Vacancies
Upon vacancy, the president will appoint an executive committee member to serve out the remaining terms of office. In the event that the president resigns, or is absent or incapacitated, the vice president shall assume the responsibility until the end of the term.

Committees
As in when required, the president shall appoint a subcommittee with specific task to be completed within a specific duration of time.

Meetings
Regular meetings will be held monthly. Office bearers will be expected to attend the meeting, executive committee members are encouraged to attend, and general body members are welcomed to attend. Quorum requirements are four attendees including at least two from the office bearers. The president shall call special meetings whenever necessary. Notice of such meeting shall be communicated via emails/phones. The president will chair all meetings. The powers of the chair are as follows: calling the meeting, setting agenda, initiating voting on particular decisions, breaking the tie, and coordinating dates and place of the next meeting.

Finances
The executive committee will make the decision in identifying the organization to whom Purposeful Penny will channel its collected donation. Once the decision is made, the decision will be communicated to the organization. The president will hand over the check to the organization. The president and the treasurer will make authorized signature. Hundred percent of the donations collected shall be channeled into the selected organization.

Advisor
An advisor shall be sought from Graduate School of Public and International affairs (GSPIA). The role of the adviser is to assist the group and to service as the group’s liaison with the University. The advisor shall become familiar with the University rules and regulations applicable to student to organizations.

External Affiliations
The only external affiliations the organization has is the organizations to whom donations are channeled. Relationship eligibility shall be governed by the mission of the organization

By-Laws
Attenda to this constitution if and when added shall be made a part of the original document.

Amendments
Amendments to this constitution shall be made through a regular meeting where office bearers and executive committee members are present. Minimum quorum will be five members including all three office bearers.

Thanksgiving notes to PP members and donors

November 24, 2009

Dear Purposeful Penny members and donors,

We want to express our appreciation for your support and interest in our initiative. Your support is more than an accumulation of coins. You, each participant, are a penny who makes a big change together in the local and global community. With your help, Purposeful Penny can collaborate with community based organizations to provide education to underprivileged children.

So far, we have collected about $200.00 through our initiative. Our group is in the process of setting up as a student organization at the University of Pittsburgh for further outreach into the community over and beyond the campus. Once we register PP as a student group, our initiative will be able to boost more participation, thereby extending our endeavors.

Please visit the following webpage if you are interested in our activities. This is the current site, but we will set up a new official webpage once we complete the registration process. We also would like to invite you to this online group if you are interested:

http://pennieswithpurpose.blogspot.com/

As Thanksgiving holiday approaches, we would like to deliver our gratitude to you for all your whole-hearted support. We will send you follow-up letters to let you know where our efforts are moving toward. Hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving holiday.

Best wishes,

Purposeful Penny Executive Committee

[Minutes] Executive Committee Meeting (November 7th)

Present: Jonathan Jeong, Aya Okada, Alla Khadka, Khurram Butt, Fangzhi Ye
Minutes Summarized by Alla Khadka
November 7, 2009

Minutes
I. Updates

a. Professor Kevin Kearns agreed to be our organization’s faculty advisor – now we can register with the University
b. Jonathan and Khurram introduced our organization to Professor Kearns and he is very supportive of our mission
c. Since he is our advisor, to keep him engaged and informed, we will provide him with a report of our organization’s activities once a semester – Jonathan will oversee that it’s done

II. Registering our Organization with the University of Pittsburgh
a. Jonathan and Khurram will fill out the forms and register our organization with the university
b. We will not register with GSPIA – since we don’t need funds from GSPIA –
c. The purpose of registering is to take care of the legal issues rather than in order to get the funds
d. To register our group we need at least 10 members (the number includes the officers) who are University of Pittsburgh students – we have seven people already
e. Once we register as a university group – we will get the website – we could translate our vision, mission etc. into different languages

III. New Members
a. Jonathan talked to David Bell and he agreed to join the organization – so David is officially in
b. Other potential candidates: Beate Antonich (Aya will ask her) and Alona Reva (Alla will ask her)
c. We need to think about what positions our new members will assume
d. After we talk to Beate and Alona we will e-mail the results to the other group members right away
e. If Beate and Alona will agree, we will proceed with registering us with the University. If they won’t accept we will ask some other people

IV. Structure and Transparency
a. How will we rotate the positions – are the officers elected for a year long term? Are we going to hold elections once a year?
b. Need to discuss this issue during our next meeting and decide –it’s a matter of transparency matter



V. Partnership Organization
a. Aya e-mailed to Kakenya several times – but did not really get any response – so we decided to go with another organization
b. Jonathan suggested another option – looking into Pittsburgh Foodbank connection to public schools – Jonathan will contact them and will give us the update (Duquesne school district)

VI. Finalizing the Name
a. Considering all the suggestions and comments we finalized Purposeful Penny as the official name of our organization – acronym PP


Next Meeting: Friday, December 18; Jonathan’s place; from 3:00 to 5:00

[Notice] PPs Executive Committee Meeting

PPs Executive Committee Meeting will be held on this Saturday together with celebrating Alla's birthday.

Where: Alla's place (3345 Parkview Ave, #2, 15213)
When: Saturday, November 7th, at 5 pm. - 6 pm.

Agendas are as follows.
i) Registering PPs as Pitt student group
II) 2009-2010 annual plan including selection of the partner group.
iii) Decision on accepting some new committee members