Tau Beta Pi

Section 1 The name of this organization shall be Tau Beta Pi, California Rho Chapter.

Section 2 The purpose of this organization is to honor engineering students at California State University, Fresno who have distinguished scholarship and exemplary character.

Section 3 This organization is recognized by California State University, Fresno and adheres to all regulations as set forth in the Handbook for Student Organizations and Use of Campus Facilities and Grounds.

Section 4 This document shall govern the proceedings of this chapter in all matters not expressly provided for in the Constitution and Bylaws of the Tau Beta Pi Association, Inc.

Section 5 In the event of conflict between the Constitution and the Bylaws of The Tau Beta Pi Association, Inc. and the rules and regulations of CSUF and/or the College of Engineering, the rules of CSUF and/or the College of Engineering shall prevail, and the Secretary-Treasurer of the Association shall be notified of the circumstances of the conflict.

Section 6 Abbreviated references herein to the Constitution and Bylaws of the Association and to the various sections of this document shall be made in the form illustrated by the following examples:

Section 1 Membership in this organization shall not be denied to any student of California State University, Fresno on the basis of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, color, age, gender, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, or disability.

Section 2 There shall be two type of membership in the organization: voting members and inactive members.

Section 3 Voting membership is limited to regularly enrolled students at California State University, Fresno.

Section 4 The Chapter shall be composed of members chosen from eligible students and alumni on the basis of distinguished scholarship or professional attainment and exemplary character, as enunciated in C-VIII and in the Eligibility Code of the Association.

Section 5 Only currently enrolled California State University, Fresno students who are scholastically eligible in the following curricula shall be considered for membership in the Chapter: Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, and Geomatics Engineering.

Section 6 Any member may be suspended or expelled from the organization for conduct obviously contrary to the Constitution of this chapter, or the National Constitution or Bylaws. After the alleged offense has been submitted to the organization, the accused member shall have a right to a hearing before the organization at a regular meeting and may be reported in writing to the Executive Council only upon the affirmative vote of the majority of the chapter’s voting members and the Advisory Board. Further discipline will be determined by the Executive Council in accordance with C-IX, 4 & 5.

Section 8 Any member removed by such a vote may file a grievance with the University Student Grievance Board by contacting the Dean of Student Affairs Office. A member of the Dean’s staff will review the procedures with the student.

Section 9 Voting members may become inactive under the provisions of B-VI, 6.06. Also, voting members who fail to attend at least one regular meeting during either the fall or spring academic semesters will automatically become inactive members for future semesters. Members who are unable to attend at least one meeting, but would like to remain active members, must set up a meeting with the President or Vice President to discuss the business conducted during the meetings and how they may remain involved. Inactive members will automatically return to voting member status at the beginning of the next meeting they attend. Only voting members shall have the privilege of voting.

Section 10 Candidates for initiation shall be selected in the Fall and Spring semesters as soon as possible after grades for the previous term become available.

Section 11 All provisions of C-VIII and B-VI shall be strictly followed.

Section 12 Transfer students shall be eligible for consideration at the third regular election after their registration, subject to CR-II, 13.

Section 13 The cases of students whose scholastic eligibility is in doubt because of irregularities in standing or curriculum shall be determined by the Advisory Board of the Chapter.

Section 14 As stated in B-VI, 6.02(e), the Chapter may elect to specify scholastic requirements higher than those stated in C-VIII, including the establishment of a minimum cumulative G.P.A. for election. This chapter does not currently have a minimum cumulative G.P.A.

Section 15 The membership committee shall periodically consult with the chairs of the various engineering departments to determine the names of graduate students, alumni, faculty members, and others who may be eligible for membership under the provisions of C-VIII, 3-6.

Section 16 Candidate Character Evaluation:

Section 17 Voting Procedures

Section 18 Official election letters shall be sent to the initiates within one week following the election meeting.

Section 19 All members shall keep the election results in absolute confidence so that no candidate shall learn of his or her election except by means of the official letter. Likewise, no candidates shall be informed of the details of the vote, especially concerning personal matters discussed at the time of voting.

Section 20 Each electee who refuses initiation due to financial reasons shall be interviewed by the Advisory Board, as required by C-VIII, 10(a).

Section 21 Each electee shall be required to take part in an activity recommended or approved by the Chapter officers to foster a spirit of liberal culture as specified in B-VII, 7.01. They shall also be required to read the Constitution and Bylaws of the Association and the chapter’s bylaws/constitution.

Section 22 The Chapter may assign additional duties to electees, subject to the provisions of B-VII, 7.02.

Section 1 The elected officers of the organization shall be the President, Vice President, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, Cataloger, Technology Officer, and Historian. Each of these officers, excluding the President, shall be elected near the end of each Fall and Spring semesters to be in office during the next semester.

Section 2 The powers and duties of officers shall be those prescribed by the Constitution and Bylaws of the Association, those prescribed in the following clauses a-h, or by those assigned by the Chapter’s action.

Section 3 Qualifications necessary to hold office in this organization are as follows:

Must be a voting member of the organization at the time the election meeting is announced. See CR-V, 5 for a possible exception to this rule.

The president and treasurer of the student organization are required to meet the minimum requirement established for Minor Student Representative Student Officers.

Minimum Academic Qualifications

Students must be matriculated and enrolled at a CSU campus and maintain a minimum overall 2.0 grade point average each term. The students must be in good standing and must not be on probation of any kind.

Incumbent Unit Load

This requires undergraduate students to earn six semester (nine quarter) units per term while holding office. Graduate and credential students must earn three semester (four quarter) units per term while holding office. Students enrolled at quarter campuses must attend a minimum of two quarters during the academic year to maintain eligibility.

Incumbent Maximum Allowable Units

Undergraduate students are allowed to earn a maximum of 150 semester (225 quarter) units or 125 percent of the units required for a specific baccalaureate degree objective, whichever is greater. Graduate and credential students are allowed to earn a maximum of 50 semester (75 quarter) units or 167 percent of the units required for the graduate or credential objective, whichever is greater. Students holding more than this number of units will no longer be eligible for minor student government office.

Section 4 Petition by one-third of the total number of voting members shall be cause for recall election. The offense must be in writing and submitted by a member. After the offense has been submitted to the organization, the accused officer shall have at least 48 hours before the hearing. A recall election shall be held at the next regular business meeting after the presentation of the recall petition and shall be conducted as a special election. Recall will require a favorable vote of three-fourths of the voting membership in attendance.

Section 5 In the event that an elected officer is unable to fulfill his/her term of office, there shall be a special election to fill the vacancy at the next regular meeting. Any eligible member, including those already holding office, may be nominated for a vacant office. If the President is unable to fulfill his/her term in office, the Vice President shall assume the Presidential position and will continue to hold the position of President the following semester as would have occurred had the prior President fulfilled his term. The position of Vice President shall be filled with an Interim Vice President, who will be elected as described above. An Interim Vice President will fulfill the duties of the Vice President until the next regular election, but will not be promoted to the presidency. All other new officer(s) will serve until the next regular election.

Section 6 If an officer has two unexcused absences they will automatically be removed from their office, unless a majority of the officers votes to keep the officer in question in office. The officer position will be filled as prescribed in CR-III, 6. A class conflicting with a meeting, medical absence, family emergency, or individual cases as determined by the President shall be considered excused absences provided the President is notified prior to the meeting, unless extenuating circumstances prohibit the officer from contacting the President.

Section 7 The President Shall be this chapter’s delegate to the Convention of the Association. The Vice President shall be the alternate delegate, followed by the Corresponding Secretary. If there is still a vacancy in either the position of delegate or alternate, the chapter’s officers must nominate and elect one of the officers to assume each vacant position. If all of the officers are unable or unwilling to be the delegate or the alternate, the officers will elect voting members of the chapter to these positions.

Section 8 As prescribed in B-V, 5.02, the chapter shall hold the following committees: Membership, Initiation, Program, Social Activities, and such other committees as the Chapter shall desire and establish. The President shall be a non-voting member of all committees. Appointments to chair positions shall be made by the president at the next meeting following each initiation of new members. Each chair shall make a report on the progress of his/her group’s activities at each Chapter meeting.

Section 1 Regular meetings shall be scheduled at least monthly during the academic year. The following regular meetings shall be scheduled and held once in the Fall and once in the Spring semesters: Organization, Candidate Information Meeting, Election of Candidates, Initiation of Electees, and Election/Installation of new officers, and one general meeting of a social, literary, or technical nature.

Section 2 Special meetings may be called by any elected officer or by 5% of the voting members of the organization. All members must be given a minimum of 24 hours notice, weekends and holidays excluded, prior to the meeting time.

Section 3 Business cannot be conducted unless a quorum of the membership is present. A quorum for this organization is defined as 50% 1 of the voting membership for consideration of routine business. A quorum shall be three-fourths of the voting members for the election of new members, the revocation of election, changing the initiation fee or Chapter dues, for passing an assessment on the members of the Chapter, for amending the Chapter Bylaws, and for approval or disapproval of a proposed amendment to the Constitution or Bylaws of the Association. A quorum shall be two-thirds of the voting members for election of new officers. A quorum for an Advisory Board meeting shall be five of members of the Board.

Section 4 The first meeting of each semester shall be held within two weeks of the start of the semester.

Section 5 The officers shall present a complete calendar of the regular meetings of the Chapter for the semester to the active members for their approval no later than the second meeting of the semester.

Section 6 Notices announcing meetings shall clearly state the time, place, and purpose of the meetings.

Section 7 Business meetings shall last no longer than one hour, unless extended by an affirmative vote of three-fourths of the voting members present.

Section 8 The order of business at regular meeting shall be as follows:

Section 9 The President Shall call a meeting of the Advisory Board at the beginning of each semester to discuss Chapter activities for the semester. The minutes of each Advisory Board meeting shall be read at the following regular meeting of the Chapter. Additional meetings of the Advisory Board may be called by any of its members or upon written request to the Chair of the Advisory Board signed by 20% of the active members of the chapter.

Section 1 Officers are elected once a semester. Elections are held near the end of each semester and shall take place at a regularly scheduled meeting of the organization at which a quorum is present.

Section 2 At least one week’s notice shall be provided for any meeting at which an election is to be held.

Section 3 Nominations for officers shall be made at the Election of Officers meeting by voting members. Nominations may also be emailed to the chapter President during the week prior to the Election of Officers meeting.

Section 4 The position of President is not elected, since the Vice President shall become the President in the following semester. The remaining officers shall be filled in the following order: Vice President, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, Cataloger, Technology Officer, Historian. Starting with Vice President nominees, each nominee for the office shall be allowed to make a brief oral presentation. Following the presentations, the voting members shall vote by secret ballot. A majority of the quorum shall be required for election. A vote by the members present will cause the nominee receiving the least number of votes to be dropped from further consideration until one receives a majority vote. If a member runs unsuccessfully for a position, they may run for other position(s).

Section 5 If after the elections have been held, there are positions remaining open due to a lack of interested members who meet the qualifications set forth in CR-III, 3a, a second election may be held at which all members are eligible to be nominated for the remaining officer positions, as long as they meet the conditions of CR-III, 3b.

Section 6 Officers-elect shall be formally installed at the last meeting of the semester. The Chapter’s Officer Installation Procedure given in the President’s Book shall be employed to install the new officers. The Vice President shall be installed as the President. Transfer of the financial records between the past and newly elected Treasurer is contingent upon an audit as required by CR-VII, 7.

Section 1 An individual employed on a more than half-time basis by California State University, Fresno and not a University Auxiliary employee, will serve as advisor to this organization as required by University guidelines.

Section 2 New Advisors shall be elected each spring, and shall serve four-year terms, as specified in C-VI, 7.

Section 3 If an advisor is deemed to be ineffective by the organization, the advisor(s) may be removed from their role by majority vote of a quorum of the membership at a regularly scheduled meeting. A minimum of seven days notice must be given prior to such a vote.

Section 4 There shall be a total of four alumnus advisors, preferably elected among the faculty of the College of Engineering, and preferably with each alumnus advisor representing a different program (i.e., Civil, Electrical, Computer, Mechanical, and Geomatics Engineering).

Section 5 The Advisory Board of the Chapter shall be composed of the President, Vice President, Corresponding Secretary, and four advisors of the Chapter. The Chair of the Advisory Board shall be elected by its members at the first Board meeting of the year.

Section 1 This organization has the ability to assess the membership. Assessments shall be determined by a quorum of the membership annually at a regularly scheduled meeting.

Section 2 There are no assessments on current members.

Section 3 All new initiates must pay to the organization the sum of $70.00 prior to their initiation into the organization to the chapter Treasurer. This amount covers the national initiation fee of $32.00, the Convention assessment of $5.00, an initiation banquet and all other activities of the chapter.

Section 4 Any person who pays the initiation dues and is not initiated may receive a refund in the amount of $65.00 upon their request for reimbursement to the chapter Treasurer or President.

Section 1 Proposed constitutional amendments or changes shall be presented to the organization, in writing, one meeting before it may be voted on.

Section 2 Approval by two-thirds of the voting members present at the regular meeting shall pass a proposed change. The change shall be put into effect immediately following approval of the Advisory Board, as provided in C-VI, 7(b), unless otherwise stipulated in the amendment.

Section 3 A copy of any alteration to this document must be filed within 90 days after any substantive change or amendment in the Student Activities Office at California State University, Fresno.

Section 4 The Corresponding Secretary shall send a copy of the Bylaws as amended, to the secretary-treasurer of the Association within two weeks after an amendment is adopted.

Section 1 In the event Tau Beta Pi should become defunct, all assets will be turned over to The Tau Beta Pi Association, Inc., a corporation organized and operated exclusively for educational and scientific purposes and exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c) (3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1954. Any assets not so disposed of shall be distributed to the College of Engineering at California State University, Fresno.

Section 1 This organization is affiliated with The Tau Beta Pi Association, Inc.

Section 2 Any copy of any alteration to The Tau Beta Pi Association’s Constitution and Bylaws must be filed in the Student Activities Office at California State University, Fresno.

Section 1 Tau Beta Pi accepts "Robert’s Rules of Order" as its rules of order.

Section 2 Any issue not directly spoken to in this document will be resolved by referring to the Rules of Order.

Section 1 The expenses of the Chapter shall be borne by the initiation fee and by such dues and pro-rata assessments as may be voted by the chapter. A three-fourths vote of the voting membership shall be required to change any fees or dues or to levy any assessment. Within one week the corresponding Secretary shall inform the secretary-treasurer of the Association of any changes in amounts of the Chapter’s initiation fee, dues, or assessments.

Section 2 Shortly after the Spring Semester’s Election of Officers Meeting, a committee composed of the current President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Treasurer-elect shall prepare an operating budget for the next year. The budget shall be submitted to the Chapter for approval by a majority vote at the first regular meeting in the Fall Semester. The budget shall include a recommended amount for the initiation fee to be charged during the year. Any additional expenses over $50.00 not provided for by the adopted budget must be approved by the Chapter, except that the Treasurer shall be authorized to advance to the convention delegate a sum sufficient to cover expenses he or she expects to incur in attending the annual convention of the Association.

Section 3 The Chapter shall use the official bookkeeping system of the Association.

Section 4 There shall be at all times a balance of at least $50.00 in the Chapter treasury. A sum of no more than $20.00 may be kept in petty cash by the Treasurer.

Section 5 Expenditures in excess of $20.00 shall be made by check, signed by either the Treasurer or President. Expenditures of less than $20.00 may be paid from petty cash by the Treasurer. All disbursements in excess of $100.00 require the majority approval of the organization’s officers.

Section 6 The chapter’s fiscal year shall be June 1 to May 31.

Section 7 Immediately following the end of the fiscal year, at least one alumnus member of the Advisory Board shall audit the Chapter’s books. If necessary the Treasurer and Treasurer-elect shall file the Internal Revenue Service’s Form 990.

Section 8 No part of the net earnings of the Chapter will inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to, members or officers of the Chapter or to any other individual.

Section 1 It is the intent of this disciplinary article to impress the membership with the seriousness of purpose of this Chapter and of the Tau Beta Pi Association, and to enable the officers and dedicated members of this chapter to accomplish necessary business in a manner not inconvenienced or encumbered by a lack of interest on the part of a few members.

Section 2 Discipline shall be in accordance with C-IX, 4 & 5.

Section 3 A uniform system of fines for habitual absence or tardiness may be established each year as desired by the Chapter. A majority vote of the active membership shall be required to establish this system of fines for a period of one year.

Section 4 Requirements to Purchase Tau Beta Pi Graduation Paraphernalia

a. Graduating members of Tau Beta Pi may only attain Stoles and Chords from Tau Beta Pi if he/she has maintained voting status for a minimum of two semester, one of which must be the semester of his/her graduation.

b. For the purpose stated in CR-XIII, 4a, initiates are considered active members for the semester during which they are initiated after the completion of the initiation ceremony.

c. Members initiated during the semester of his/her graduation will only be required to maintain active membership for that one semester.

Section 1 All permanent records of the Chapter shall be kept current and up-to-date.

Section 2 The initiation equipment shall be maintained in good order and in a secure manner by the Vice President, and the Ritual and its related materials shall be kept up-to-date and under lock and key when not in use.

Section 3 All records and an inventory of all physical equipment owned by the Chapter shall be turned over to the new officers at the Installation of Officers meeting.

Section 4 The Charter of this Chapter shall be prominently displayed at a location determined by the Dean of Engineering.

Section 5 All records of this Chapter shall be open for inspection to any member of the Association and to any official of the University who has received approval from the Advisory Board, except that the Ritual may not be inspected by non-members of the Association.

Section 1 These Bylaws/Constitution may be suspended by a three-fourths affirmative vote of the voting membership of the Chapter and by a four-sevenths affirmative vote of the Advisory Board, as provided in C-VI, 5.

Section 1 These Bylaws/Constitution was approved on:

Date: ______________________________

President Advisory Board Chair