F.S.H. Tenants' Association

By-Laws (approved 1-14-05)

I. Name & Purpose

A. The purpose of the Family Student Housing (F.H.S.) Tenants' Association (T.A.) is to represent the needs of
residents to University Of California, Santa Barbara and non-University organizations and individuals, and to assist residents for
whom the University system or process has not been effective.
 

II. Members/Membership

A. 1. Membership in the F.S.H. Tenants' Association is open to all residents of F.S.H. who have signed a F.S.H. contract and none of their household members earn $200 per month in salary and/or compensation from Housing and Residential Services.
2. A household whose member/members earn $200 or more per month in salary and/or compensation from Housing and Residential Services are not F.S.H Tenants' Association members.
3. Housing and Residential Service employees and their household members earning less than $200 per month in salary and/or compensation from Housing and Residential Services are voting-only members of the T.A., but cannot serve on the T.A. board.
4. Should a resident of F.S.H or a member of their household cease employment with Housing and Residential Services, they will eligible for a full T.A. membership.
B. All members shall pay a Tenants' Association fee for the amount per apartment approved during the general election, which will follow the guidelines set forth in Section IV.
C. Membership shall terminate when a member moves from F.S.H. or is no longer a signer on a valid contract or any member of their household starts earning $200 or more per month from Housing and Residential Services in salary and compensation.
D. Members shall adopt, amend, or repeal bylaws, change all fees and stipends by a 2/3 vote of those who are in attendance at a scheduled meeting for which notification of the date, time, proposed changes and agenda were made public one week prior to the meeting date.
E. Members shall have the right to present new business during the New Business time of General Membership meetings and to volunteer to serve on committees researching specific resident issues.
F. General Membership meetings
1. A General Membership meeting will be held during Fall, Winter,and Spring Quarters.
2. The date, place, time and agenda will be announced to residents a minimum of one week in advance of the meeting, which will be held only while UCSB classes are in session and not during weekends and state observed holidays, unless the Board determines an emergency meeting is required, in which case notification of the meeting will be publicized to the broadest extent possible.
3. 20% of the general membership can have the Board add an item to the agenda at least two weeks before the general membership meeting.
4. The President of the Board will chair the meeting. In the event the President is unable to attend the meeting, the Vice President will serve as the chair.
5. Robert's Rules of Order will govern motions, voting, and other conduct of the meeting.
6. The general membership discusses the changes, modifies the amendment if necessary and votes with a 2/3 majority to put the amendment before the general membership to consider.
7. After consideration over an agreed upon time, the general membership meets again and votes and changes bylaws with a 2/3 majority of the votes tallied.
 

III. Board of Officers

A. The Board will consist of no more than 7 officers: 1 President, 1 Vice President, 1 Secretary, 1 Treasurer, 1 Storke I Representative, 1 West Campus Representative, and 1 Storke II Representative.  The offices of Secretary and Treasurer may be combined with the approval of the Board.
B. The Officers of the Board will be elected through a general election held in May of each year. A simple majority of those who choose to vote will be sufficient for the election of all Board members.
C. Current F.S.H. residents who have signed a contract and are not themselves nor any member of their household employed by Family Student Housing and Residential Services are eligible to be on the F.S.H. Tenants'Association Board of Officers. One must be in residence at Family Student Housing for at least three consecutive months prior to the close of general elections' nominations and meet all other eligiblity requirements to be a Tenants' Asociation Board Member.
D. Board Members shall intend to serve one year, July 1st through June 30th, and will be elected by a simple majority of those who choose to vote in a general election held in May each year.
E.Should a Board member resign or be removed, the Board may appoint, after advertising and interviewing for the position, an interim replacement for the said board position until the next general membership meeting, at which time the position will be voted on and approved for the rest of the term by a simple majority of the general membership present.
F. Any board member may motion to have any other board member removed from the board. Before deliberation regarding the potentially removed board member begins, the member in question must have the opportunity to present his or her case to the board with at least one week to prepare. After the member in question presents his or her case, all board members will deliberate and vote in the absence of the member in question. The member in question will be removed if the Board reaches a three quarters majority decision to remove.

 

IV. General Election Procedures

A. The Board Shall:


1. Appoint an Election Committee at its February board meeting, of at least 3 members, of which at least 2 members should be T.A. members at large not running for an office and perferably 1 board member who is not running for reelections.

2. Declare one of the members of the Election Committee chair, voting only in case of a tie.

3. Provide the following to the Election Committee and to the general membership no later than 4 weeks before the date of the elections-
a. Job Descriptions for Officers (section VI D).

b. Following information about the nominations-
i. The statement of candidacy should be no more than 200 words,
ii. The statement of candidacy should contain the name of the candidate, contact information, position for which they are running and the reason for running.
iii. The statement of candidacy is due no later than April 30th, midnight.

c. Following information about the elections-
i. Election shall take place on the 3rd Tuesday and Wednesday of May.
ii. Polls shall be open in only one location at a time.
iii. Polls shall be open for at least 4 hours each day at Storke and West Campus with at least 2 hours during the evening.
iv. A photo I.D. is required to authenticate the voters.
v. Tenants can vote at either location at any time slot.

d. A detailed description of any other issues being voted on at the elections.

4. Post the statements of candidacy no later than 3 days after receiving them from the election committee.

5. Provide the statements of candidacy, date and time of the elections and voter's identification needed to the entire membership no later than a week before the elections.

6. Post the results of the election no later than 6 days after the elections after receiving the tallied results from the election committee.

B. Campaigning shall comply with the following:


1. No campaigning at a Housing and Residential Services sponsered event.
2. Campaign materials must comply with all Housing and Residential Services' posting rules.
3. Posting no bigger than an 8 1/2 x 11 poster encouraged on the sandwich boards.
4. No campaigning within 100 ft. of the polling places while the polls are open.

C. The Election Committee shall:


1. Receive and verify the eligibility of the candidates and provide the Board with all the statements of candidacy from the eligible candidates no later than 3 days after the deadline for nominations, May 3rd.
2. Procure a ballot box for which only an impartial third party has the keys.
3. Obtain a single list of eligible voters from F.S.H.
4. Schedule at least 2 volunteers for each location to check voter's identification and ensure confidentiality of each vote such as GSA or Associated Students.
5. Make available all candidacy statements for the polling places.
6. Find an impartial third party, to take possession of the sealed ballot box in between polling times and following the last voting period.
7. Find an impartial third, such as GSA or Associated Students, to check the eligibility of the candidates, count ballots, ensure that the number of ballots handed out, number of ballots casted and the number of signatures obtained are the same and submit the results of the elections to the election committee no later than 2 days after the elections.
8. Validate the election results and provide the board with the election results of all the items voted on no later than 4 days after the elections.

D. Election disputes shall be resolved in the following manner:


1. The Election Committee shall-
a. Have an impartial third party to make an automatic recount in case the margin of victory of an item is less than 5% or if the number of ballots doesn't match the number of signatures.
b. Call for reelections by a simple majority of any item or candidate if fraud or significant discrepency is suspected.
2. The Board may invalidate the entire election, not a part of the election, by a 3/4 vote if fraud is suspected or if the Election Committee has failed to adequately fulfill their responsibilities.

E. Re-Elections shall be conducted in the following manner:


1. The Board shall call a general membership meeting two weeks after the invalidation of the elections, and the members present shall nominate and vote on all the positions with a simple majority.
2. All ballot initiatives shall wait until the next elections.
 

V. Meetings of the Board

A. The Board shall meet a minimum of one time each month.  The President shall set the time, date, and location of the meetings as well as provide notification of the meeting to the Board one week prior to the meeting date.
B. Special meetings may be called upon the request of any 3 Board members as needed.  Written or verbal notification of these meetings shall be given to all Board members as soon as possible.
C. The president of the Board will chair Board meetings.
D. At all Board meetings, at least 50% of Board members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
E. The affirmative vote of a majority of the Board members present at a duly held meeting shall be sufficient for any action.
F. Any action required or permitted to be taken at a meeting of the Board may be taken by a written action, provided that all Board members approve the action.  Written notification of approval shall be sufficient.
G. Robert's Rules of Order will govern motions, voting, and other conduct of the meeting unless a majority of those present agree to waive this stipulation.
 

VI. Officers' Duties

A. All Board members are voting members of the Board.
B. Accountability:  All Board members shall have stipend reduced by 40% for failure to attend a General membership or Board meeting (one meeting may be missed per year without penalty) or failure to produce a document listed in his/her job description by deadline or failure to perform tasks listed in his or her job description by the designated deadline. However, the 40% reduction can be increased or decreased by an amount approved by the Board with 75% majority vote. The Board also can vote (with 75% majority) to increase the stipend of any board member who performs the task(s) of another board member up to 60% of the other board member’s stipend.
C. Revealing the identity of a resident without the residents' permission while attempting to resolve an issue is expressly prohibited.
D. The duties of each Board member are as follows.


1. President:


a.  Shall schedule, write agendas for and preside over all General Membership and Board meetings.
b. Shall attend scheduled meetings with Housing and Residential Services staff to discuss residents’ concerns and alternate writing minutes with the Vice President.
c. Shall be a member of and attend all Policy Review Board meetings.
d. Shall represent F.S.H. Tenants' Association in consultation with University and non-University organizations and individuals, and communicate the needs and interests of F.S.H. residents to them.
e. Shall oversee the work of all other Board members, and inform the treasurer any time an officer has not fulfilled a job responsibility which merits a fine.
f. Shall be a signature on the checking account and be responsible for all expenditures.
g. Shall keep a general record of documents and pertinent information.
h. Shall field phone calls from residents as necessary (and delegate questions/concerns to the appropriate officer when appropriate).
i. Shall receive a stipend as stipulated in Bylaws, section IX.


2. Vice President:


a. Shall attend all General Membership meetings, Board meetings, and Policy Review Board meetings
b. Shall attend scheduled meetings with Housing and Residential Services staff to discuss residents’ concerns and alternate writing minutes with the President.
c. Shall fill in for the President at meetings when she/he is unable to attend.
d. Shall write at least one newsletter article a quarter for the Tenants' Advocate.
e. Shall research policies and issues and assist President in coordinating issues assigned to each complex representative.
f. Shall receive a stipend as stipulated in Bylaws, section IX.


3. Secretary:


a. Shall attend all General Membership meetings and Board meetings and record meeting minutes.  A copy of these minutes will be available to all two weeks from the date the meeting occurred.
b. Shall attend all Policy Review Board meetings and record meeting minutes and distribute to attendees within two weeks of the meeting date.
c. Shall have knowledge of website development in order to maintain, update, and design the FSH TA website.
d. Shall compile and edit the T.A.'s bimonthly newsletter.
e. Shall write at least one article a quarter for the Tenants' Advocate.
f. Shall receive a stipend as stipulated in Bylaws, section IX.


4. Treasurer:


a. Shall attend all General Membership meetings and Board meetings.
b. Shall be a signature on checks.
c. Shall submit to the Board monthly written reports of all expenditures and incomes.
d. Shall submit an annual budget with the assistance of the Board to the General Membership.
e. Shall write monthly stipend checks after conferring with the President regarding all possible fines to be subtracted from stipends.
f. Shall submit the TA budget at all General Membership meetings.
g. Shall maintain financial records necessary for audits and any other required financial documents.
h. Shall receive a stipend as stipulated in Bylaws, section IX.


5. Complex Representatives:


a. Shall attend all General Membership meetings and Board meetings.
b. Shall communicate with complex residents utilizing building/block captain system, written announcements, flyers, door-to-door visits (every Fall and throughout the year for new move-ins), meetings,or any other method deemed necessary by the Officers to share or receive information.
c. Shall be responsible for addressing a specific issue or concern,by researching, investigating, reporting on, serving on a task force or committee, and/or suggesting solutions, as assigned by the President, and as coordinated by the Vice-President.
d. Newsletters and other documents must be distributed or posted by the specified deadline.
e. Storke I and Storke II households will be combined and divided equally among the Storke I and Storke II representatives.
f. Storke II will remain together as one unit and it will be the responsibility of the Storke II representative to present the needs, concerns and perspectives of Storke II.
g. Shall receive a stipend as stipulated in Bylaws, section IX.
 

VII. Committees shall be set up by the Board as appropriate, with structure and authority to be determined by the Board in each case.

 

VIII. The fiscal year shall be the same as the term of the officers.

 

IX. The monthly stipends for the officers are as follows:


President-$395.00, Vice President-$345.00, Secretary/Webmaster-$150.00, Treasurer-$100.00, West Campus Representative-$100.00, 2 Storke Representatives-$90.00.  


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Last updated 04/14/05