The Constitution of the Interfraternity Council
Of
Preamble
We the men associated with these fraternities in recognition of the necessity for a common union for the preservation of the best interests and to insure high standards for the strengthening of the fraternity community as a whole do hereby establish and ordain this as the constitution of the Interfraternity Council of Bowling Green State University.
ARTICLE I – NAME
SECTION I - The name of this organization shall be Interfraternity Council of Bowling Green State University (BGSU), which shall hereinafter be known as IFC .
Section 2 – The IFC Mission Statement shall be:
We, the Greek men of
ARTICLE II – Authority
SECTION I – This, the constitution of IFC in conjunction with the IFC bylaws, and judicial board constitution shall be considered as the guiding documents and fundamental rules in the governing of IFC.
Section II – IFC shall acknowledge and follow the policies, constitution, and bylaws of the North American Interfraternity Conference.
Section III – IFC shall acknowledge and follow policies set fourth by the Office of Greek Affairs, Office of Residence Life, and Office of the Dean of Students of Bowling Green State University.
Section IV - All meetings and business of IFC shall be conducted according to Parliamentary Procedure as outlined in the most current edition of Robert's Rules of Order in all cases not governed by this Constitution.
ARTICLE III – PURPOSE
SECTION I - The purpose of the Bowling Green State University IFC is:
A. To act as functional liaison between fraternities and the University as well as all other groups;
B. To promote effective leadership within member chapters;
C. To maintain and continually evaluate the method by which members are inducted into the fraternity system;
D. To foster and preserve good scholarship;
E. To stimulate interest in University programs;
F. To enforce its own rules, actions and decisions in association with the Office of Residence Life and
Greek Affairs;
G. To be the governing body of all social fraternities on the
ARTICLE IV - BASIC EXPECTATIONS
SECTION I - The IFC further recognizes the Basic Expectations of Fraternity Membership, as published by the National Interfraternity Conference, and includes these as expectations for conduct of every fraternity member at
ARTICLE V – MEMBERSHIP
SECTION I - All social fraternities existing at
SECTION II – A membership fee shall be paid by all member fraternities for every member of that organization.
SECTION III – An officially chartered organization may become a full active member with no colonization period following one full traditional academic semester of probationary membership.
SECTION IV – Probationary organizations have full speaking privileges in the Council and pay dues, but will not have voting rights.
ARTICLE VI – SCHOLARSHIP
SECTION I – Scholarship Requirements
A. All chapters must maintain a 2.50 term grade point average (GPA). Chapters’ deficient of a 2.50 GPA for the pervious academic semester shall be required to follow an IFC mandated scholarship program.
1. This program shall be developed by, and coordinated with the cooperation of the IFC Scholarship Chair and chapter scholarship officers. The IFC Executive Committee shall then approve the program.
B. All individuals wishing to join an IFC member fraternity must have a 2.50 previous semester college GPA (2.5 High School cumulative or 3.0 last term high school GPA may be used if 1st semester freshman) to join a member fraternity.
ARTICLE VII – OFFICERS
SECTION I - The elected officers of this council shall be a President, Vice President of Administration and Scholarship, Vice President of Recruitment and Public Relations, Vice President of Judicial Affairs, and Vice President of Service and Involvement. No other member of the Judicial Board may serve as an officer of IFC. No more than two members of the same fraternity may serve on the Executive Committee.
SECTION II - Any nominated, appointed, or elected IFC officer or cabinet member must have a 2.5 cumulative grade point average (GPA) at the time of election or must achieve a minimum previous semester GPA of a 2.5 to maintain his office or cabinet position. Members of a colony are unable to hold a seat on Executive board or Cabinet unless there chapter has a documented chartering date from their national headquarters.
SECTION III - Election of Executive Committee Officers
A. The nomination of the IFC Officers shall occur during the fall semester at the third meeting from the end of the semester. Nominations shall be made at the meeting and reopened on the day of election. The election of IFC officers shall take place at the next scheduled meeting. Candidates must be present in order to run for office.
C. Those officers duly elected shall be installed and assume all responsibilities as officers at or by the final IFC meeting of the semester and shall serve until their successors have been elected and take office. The oath of office described in the National Interfraternity Conference Model Officer Installation
Ceremony shall be administered to newly elected officers of IFC.
SECTION IV – All executive members of IFC must:
A. Attend all IFC meetings and a weekly executive meeting;
B. Maintain and turn over all necessary files pertaining to his office;
C. Arrange their schedules in order to efficiently carry out the duties of their offices.
Section V – Qualifications for holding office on the IFC executive board
A. A nominated officer must be an initiated member, in good standing with his chapter;
B. He must have completed one full semester in his fraternity prior to being eligible to run for a position, not including summer semester.
SECTION VI - Officer Removal and Vacancies of Office
A. In the event that an executive officer fails to sufficiently carry out the duties and responsibilities of his post, his officer status is subject to review, and if necessary, recall by IFC.
B. The procedure for review and recall of an executive officer shall be as follows:
1. A motion for review of an executive officer shall be approved by a two-thirds affirmative vote of the Council.
2. All discussion pertaining to the performance and potential recall of said officer will take place during a hearing, open to any IFC member fraternity or individual, at a meeting of the IFC Judicial Board to be scheduled prior to the next regularly scheduled IFC meeting.
3. The Judicial Board shall make a recommendation to the Council in support of or in opposition of the recall of the officer in question. The recommendation shall be presented at the first meeting of the Council
after the Judicial Board hearing.
4. After the compilation of the above process, a three- fourths affirmative vote by the Council in favor of recall shall result in the removal of said officer from his position on the Executive Committee.
C. Any vacancies will be declared by the President. Nominations for the empty officer position shall occur at the first regular IFC meeting thereafter unless the position is president. Nominations will be reopened on the day of election, which shall occur at the next scheduled meeting.
D. In the event that an officer resigns during the spring semester and there is no time to hold a regular election prior to final exams and the end of classes before the summer, an individual may be chosen and must be approved by all remaining officers of the Executive Committee and the Office of Greek Affairs IFC Advisor. The duties of the resigning officer must be of such a nature that the remaining officers of the IFC Executive Committee unanimously decide that the position cannot wait until the beginning of the next semester to hold an election.
5. Should the office of the president become vacated, the Vice President of Administration and Scholarship will serve as the de facto president until the next meeting of IFC. At that time, all executive members of IFC shall be eligible to run for the office of the president. The winner shall duly resign from his current position and nominations and elections will be held to fill the executive position at the following IFC meeting.
SECTION VII - The officers of the IFC shall make up the Executive Committee.
The Executive Committee shall:
A. Oversee the efficient and effective functioning of the entire Council and its activities.
B. Coordinate within the Council's framework all activities that are planned and approved by the Council.
C. Act as the official spokesman for the Council.
D. Receive any complaints from individual students, fraternities, the administration, the campus community, or the Council itself and deal with them as stipulated by Judicial Board procedure.
E. Meet prior to each IFC meeting to discuss all policies and proposals that will develop during the Council meeting.
F. Carry out all other duties as set forth for their respective offices.
SECTION VIII - Chapter Officers, Primary Delegates, and Secondary Delegates shall:
A. Offer consistent representation for their chapters.
B. Make decisions on behalf of their chapter.
C. Provide insight into internal support needs.
D. Provide perspective on recruitment, finances, new member management, and advisor relationships.
E. Be knowledgeable of recent history and activities of the fraternity community.
ARTICLE VII – MEETINGS
SECTION I- A regular meeting of IFC shall be designated prior to the beginning of the semester to be held on a certain day of the week during the scholastic year, except during periods of final examinations, periods of official University vacations, or other such times as the Council may decide to omit. Regular meetings of IFC shall be held every week on the designated day, unless otherwise stipulated.
SECTION II - Special meetings may be called at the discretion of the IFC President or the Greek Affairs designee with forty-eight hours notice to all fraternity chapter presidents. They shall consist of a quorum and follow the rules of procedure of regular meetings.
ARTICLE VIII – Judicial Board
SECTION I - By this Constitution, IFC establishes a student judicial board for the purpose of adjudicating alleged violations of IFC and/or University regulations. This Judicial body shall be known as the IFC Judicial Board.
SECTION II - All duties, guidelines, policies, and processes of the Judicial Board shall be contained in the IFC Judicial Board Manual. This manual shall be used and interpreted as an Article to the IFC Constitution.
ARTICLE IX - CONSTITUTIONAL AND BY-LAW AMENDMENTS
SECTION I - Any motion to amend, revise, alter, or revoke an article of the Constitution shall be tabled after an initial reading of said motion in front of IFC officers and representatives at any regular meeting. The said motion shall be voted upon at the next IFC meeting, providing that a quorum is present, and require a ¾ affirmative vote to be enacted. The proposed amendment must be presented in writing at least one regular meeting prior to said vote, provided that such an amendment meet with the approval of the IFC. After IFC passes an amendment, the Greek Affairs Office and the Dean of Students must approve it before becoming part of this Constitution.
SECTION II - The governing statutes shall be dictated and specified by the By- laws of IFC of Bowling Green State University. Any motion to suspend, alter, amend, or revoke the Bylaws of IFC of Bowling Green State University shall be tabled after an initial reading of said motion in front of the Council officers and representatives at any regular meeting. The said motion shall be voted upon at the next IFC meeting, provided that a quorum is present, and require a three- fourths affirmative vote to be enacted.
Updated: November 4, 2008