MRB By-laws
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MULTICULTURAL RELATIONS BOARD BY-LAWS
ARTICLE I. NAME , PURPOSE, AND CALENDAR YEAR (OPERATION)
Section 1. The name of this board shall be the Multicultural Relations Board, hereafter referred to as MRB.
Section 2. In conjunction with the Associated Students mission statement, the Multicultural Relations Board will actively and collaboratively advance issues, support programming, and provide resources for the purpose of promoting diversity, inclusion, and cultural awareness for the USD student body.
Section 3. The purpose of MRB is:
- Act as representatives for the student body in the areas of diversity, inclusion, and cultural awareness.
- To provide an opportunity for centers, departments, and student organizations to promote their programming and offer support to other multicultural programming on campus.
- To provide a forum for students to work collaboratively on multicultural issues by serving on committees dealing with these issues (i.e. Ethnic Studies, Hate Crimes), for discussion and finding solutions to issues, and to update one another on the work they are conducting.
- To provide a way for student multicultural programmers to be recognized for their work on a regular basis.
- To provide educational and leadership growth opportunities to its members.
- Develop issues to refer to AS Senate or work on issues that have been referred to by AS Senate in the area of diversity and inclusion.
Section 3. MRB shall be run from September through May.
ARTICLE II. MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. Membership shall consist of:
- The Vice President of Multicultural Relations, who shall be chair, Director of Multicultural Issues, Co-Directors of Multicultural Programming, an MRB representative from student clubs or organizations designated as cultural/ethnic or gender, a representative from the Women’s Center, and a student representative from the United Front Multicultural Center.
- The Director of Student Activities, who is the advisor to the MRB.
- AS Senators, representatives from University Ministry, Resident Hall Councils, Inter Fraternity Council, Panhellenic, USD Public Relations, and other clubs and organizations are encouraged to attend but may not have the right to vote.
- All MRB meetings shall be open to any member of the USD Associated Students and any member of the AS may speak upon recognition by the chair but may not have the right to vote or to make motions.
- All MRB meetings shall be open to all students of the USD community who wish to be involved with working in multicultural programming and issues.
Section 2. The MRB may vote for recommendation purposes only. If recommendation to another university body is deemed necessary, there may be a proxy vote provided that the chair accepts a written excuse from the absent member, in which the member shall advise the chair or the MRB of his/her views and vote.
Section 3. The MRB shall have the power to override the veto of the chair by a two-thirds majority vote of its entire membership.
ARTICLE III. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS OF THE BOARD
Section 1. The Chair shall:
- Be the AS Vice President of Multicultural Relations as designated in the Associated Students Constitution.
- Preside over all meetings of the MRB, establishing rules for its proceedings.
- Have the power to call emergency meetings or special sessions of the MRB.
- Be responsible for scheduling and distributing agendas and minutes appropriate to each meeting.
- Have voting power in the event of a tie and shall have veto power over any MRB recommendation he/she deems appropriate, subject to the existing channels of appeal.
- Have such other powers as are necessary for the fulfillment of the duties of this chair and are consistent with the other provisions of these By-Laws and the AS Constitution.
- Keep and regularly update a master calendar of multicultural events, including but not limited to events sponsored by AS, University Ministry, the United Front Multicultural Center, fraternities, sororities, university departments, other AS recognized clubs and organizations, and USD athletic contests.
- Report up-to-date statistics on campus demographics, incidents of sexual assaults and hate crimes, and admission rates.
- Present issues brought forward by AS Senate or any student to the MRB.
- Present issues brought forward by MRB to AS Senate.
Section 2. The Vice-Chair shall:
- Be an appointee of the Vice President of Multicultural Relations.
- Conduct the business of the MRB in the absence of the chair.
ARTICLE IV. MEETINGS
Section 1. The MRB shall meet bi-monthly during the regular school session, unless deemed inappropriate by the chair (i.e. conflicts with other university events).
ARTICLE V. PROCEDURE
Section 1. All members of the MRB shall:
- Submit programming information to the chair of MRB as well as present this information at MRB meetings.
- Work on multicultural issues either collectively as a board, by serving on committees (i.e. Ethnic Studies, Hate Crimes), or in conjunction with another Associated Students body, and evaluate and discuss plans for finding solutions to solutions for these issues.
- Work in conjunction with the Associated Students Marketing Board to inform the student body of upcoming AS sponsored programs.
- Evaluate and discuss activities and events after they have taken place in order to effectively offer feedback to the programmer of the event.
ARTICLE VI. AMENDMENTS
Section 1. These By-Laws may be amended in the following way:
- Any member of the MRB or the AS Senate may at the regular meeting of the MRB or Senate submit a proposed amendment.
- The MRB must then keep the proposed amendment posted publicly for a period of seven days.
- The MRB and Senate must approve or not approve the proposed amendment no sooner than the next scheduled meeting.
- A two-thirds majority of the members of this MRB and Senate shall be necessary for the adoption of any amendment to these By-Laws.
- Final approval of an adopted amendment lies with the Senate.
ARTICLE VII. RATIFICATION PROCEDURES
Section 1. The By-Laws shall be submitted by the Vice President of Multicultural Relations to the AS President yearly for administrative approval.
Section 2. Final ratification of these By-Laws will be affected by a two-thirds vote of the Student Senate, yearly.
Revised October 6, 2005