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Virginia Pep Band Government

What separates us from other less advanced bands? Student governance! Here you'll find the students that are ostensibly in charge of the chaos, and the constitution that we've set down for ourselves.

Directory Of People Ostensibly In Charge

Director: Alexander Houck
vapepband@virginia.edu


Managing Board:

Sara Herbst

Ellen Reifler

David Leon

The Virginia Pep Band Constitution of 2008

Preamble

We the members of the Award-Winning Virginia Fighting Cavalier Indoor/Outdoor Precision(?) Marching Pep Band and Chowder Society Revue, Unlimited!!!  do hereby establish the following constitution for the efficient operation of this organization.

Article I - Name

This organization shall be named the Award-Winning Virginia Fighting Cavalier Indoor/Outdoor Precision(?) Marching Pep Band and Chowder Society Revue, Unlimited!!! - hereafter referred to as the VA Pep Band.

Article II - Purpose

The purpose of this organization shall be to provide entertainment to the University of Virginia and Charlottesville communities through music, scrambling, and creative displays of humor at events named at the discretion of the Director and Managing Board. The Virginia Pep Band remains dedicated to the goal of providing spirited music and entertainment at UVA athletic events. In addition, the Pep Band shall provide its members an environment conducive to the pursuit of happiness.

Article III - Membership

A.  The size and distribution of the membership of the VA Pep Band shall be at the discretion of the Director and the Managing Board.  The Conductor(s) may be consulted regarding the distribution of instrumentation.  Auditions/interviews for membership are open to any individual and shall be held during Orientation Week and at any other time deemed necessary by the Director and the Managing Board.  Returning members shall be considered exempt from the auditions/interviews.  A returning member is defined as any member who has paid dues and maintained acceptable attendance during their most recent year in the band.

B.  Each member shall be expected to maintain reasonable attendance as determined by the Director and the Managing Board.  Any member failing to meet such requirements shall be dropped from the band at the discretion of the Director and the Managing Board.  Under extreme or unusual circumstances, attendance requirements may be waived on an individual basis by the Director and the Managing Board.

C.  Dues shall be charged annually at a rate determined by the Director and the Managing Board in consultation with the Treasurer.   Members who do not pay dues shall not be permitted to place financial burdens on the band during travel, vote in elections, run in elections, or serve as Director or on the Managing Board.   Failure to pay dues by a date determined by the Director and the Managing Board could result in dismissal from the band.  Any individual removed from the band is permitted to re-audition for the band.

D. The Pep Band shall not restrict its membership by reason of age, citizenship, color, disability, gender, race, religion, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or status as disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam era.

Article IV - Administration

The administrative duties of the Pep Band shall be vested in the Director and a board of three members, referred to as the Managing Board.  A number of committees shall exist to aid the Director and the Managing Board in carrying out day to day functions.  The chairs of these committees shall make up the Executive Board.  In formulating policy, the Director and the Managing Board are expected to take reasonable steps to determine the wishes of the Pep Band membership at large before implementing decisions.

A.  Director

1.  The Director shall be elected by the membership at large.

2.  The Director shall serve as chief administrative and executive officer of the Pep Band.  The Director shall also be responsible for the public relations and be the official representative of the Pep Band. The Director is the only official spokesperson of the band unless he/she designates otherwise. At no time shall any organization speak or act on behalf of the Pep Band.

3.  The Director shall call regular meetings with the Managing Board.  During these meetings, actions taken or new information gathered by the Director and/or the Managing Board shall be made available in an open forum for discussion.  Additional meetings with the Managing and/or Executive Board may be called at the Director's discretion.

B.  Managing Board

1.  The Managing Board shall consist of three band members elected at large from the membership of the band.

2.  The members of the Managing Board shall aid the Director in the execution of his/her duties.  The Managing Board shall also undertake any special projects as appointed by the Director.

3. The head conductor of the band shall have the right to attend all regular and scheduled meetings of the managing board. The head conductor shall have the right to speak and participate fully, but shall not have a vote.

C.  Process or Policy Decisions

1.  The Director shall make no policy decisions on behalf of the Pep Band without conferring with the Managing Board, unless time does not permit such a conference.

2.  When the Director and the Managing Board formulate a policy in conference, including but not limited to:  attire at events, dues, appointment to the Executive Board, disciplinary matters, travel, and interpretation o this constitution, final policy decisions shall be reached by consensus.  If consensus is unreachable, final policy shall be reached by a vote, under the following guidelines:

 a.  Each Managing Board member shall have one vote to cast, while the Director shall have two.

D.  Executive Board and Committees

1.  The Director and the Managing Board shall establish committees and appoint committee heads for the efficient operation of the Pep Band.

2.  The Executive Board shall consist of the Treasurer, Conductors, and these committee heads.  The Director and the Managing Board shall maintain regular communication with the Executive Board.

3.  Each committee will have an administrative liaison.  The Director will be the liaison to the Treasurer and to the Conductor(s).  A Managing Board member will serve as the liaison to the other committees.

4.  Committee chairs shall be responsible for the selection and administration of their committees.

5. Committee heads normally serve a term of one year or until Spring elections.  A committee head may leave their position willingly with the approval of the Director and the Managing Board, or at the decision of the Director and the Manging Board.

Article V - Elections

A.  Election Procedures

1.  The general membership of the Pep Band shall hold general elections to select one Director and three Managing Board members from the membership at large. One Managing Board member and the Director shall be elected at the end of Fall semester, and the other two Managing Board member shall be elected at the end of the Spring semester.

2.  All candidates for the elected offices of Director and Managing Board shall be full-time students of the University of Virginia during the following year.  If at any time an elected officer becomes a non-student, a special election shall be held to fill that post.

***3.  Elections for each position should take place no later than thirteen months after the date that the position was filled.  In the Fall, election of the Manging Board shall be held one week following the election for Director.

Elections shall be scheduled at the discretion of the incumbent Director and Managing Board.  These elections should take place no later than thirteen months after the date that the incumbent Director and Managing Board took office.  Election of the Managing board shall be held one week following the election for Director.

4.  Selection of new officers shall begin with short speeches, three minutes in length, by each candidate. An extra minute can be given upon the conductor's discretion. This shall be followed by a question and answer period.  Preceding the vote in the candidates' absence, an open forum discussion shall be held by members of the band.  The open forum discussion will not last longer than fifteen minutes.  After the fifteen minutes has expired, the discussion may be extended by a carried motion from the floor.

5.  Any candidate receiving fifty percent or more of the votes cast for the office of Director shall be considered elected.  If no one candidate receives at least fifty percent, the candidates with the highest percentage of votes whose total exceeds fifty percent shall be considered in a run-off election.

6.  Elections for Managing Board

a. Each member of the Band may vote for as many candidates for the Managing Board as there are positions open.  If there is only one open position on Managing Board, any candidate receiving fifty percent or more of the votes cast shall be considered elected.  If no one candidate receives at least fifty percent, the candidates with the highest percentage of votes whose total exceeds fifty percent shall be considered in a run-off election.

b. If two positions on the Managing Board are open, each member of the Band may vote for two candidates.  The two candidates with the most votes shall be considered elected.  If the candidates with second and third most-votes are tied, all the candidates with that many votes will have a run-off election for the open spot.

c. If the run-off election still results in a tie, there will be an additional one minute statement by each candidate.

d. If the run-off election still results in a tie, there will be an additional question and answer period, and open forum in the candidate's absence.  Then there will be a run-off election between the candidates still tied.  If the vote remains tied, continue this process until all open positions are filled.

7. All votes will be collected and counted by the Conductor(s).  Election proceedings will be overseen by the Conductor(s).  Votes will be counted by a Conductor in the presence of two other witnesses.  When the results of an election are announced, the final vote count will be kept secret, and all ballots destroyed.  The person(s) presiding over elections must remain impartial and is not allowed to speak about any candidate.  If no Conductor is available or willing to preside over elections, the incumbent Director and Managing Board shall choose a member of the band to do so in the Conductor's stead.

8. The year this amendment takes effect, the Director and three Managing Board members shall be elected at the end of the Spring semester.  The Board Member receiving the fewest number of votes in the election and the Director shall have their positions up for re-election in the Fall.

B.  Recall

1.  An elected official shall be considered recalled when 2/3 of the dues-paying members of the Pep Band have signed a petition that states, "We, the undersigned members of the Pep Band, do hereby support the removal of (name) from the office of (office)."  The officer who is being recalled must be notified before any signatures are gathered.

2.  The membership of the band shall be determined by counting the members of the band who have paid dues for the academic year.  Only such members may sign the petition of recall.

3.  In the event of a recall, a special election shall be held to fill the office, and the recalled candidate is eligible to run for re-election to the vacated office.

Article VI - Right to address the band

At any meeting of the general body of the VA Pep Band, any dues-paying member who wishes to do so will be allowed to address the membership on any topic pertaining to the Pep Band.  The speaker will have a time limit of three minutes.  The Director and the Managing Board may, with Pep Band approval, limit the number of speakers once both sides of an issue have been expressed, if necessary.

Article VII - Faculty Liaison

If there exists a faculty liaison for the Pep Band to the Athletic Department, this liaison will not speak or act on behalf of the band without first obtaining the consent from at least the Director and, if possible, the Managing Board.  The Director and the Managing Board shall have the power to define the faculty liaison's role in the band.

Article VIII - Amendments and Ratification

This constitution may be amended by ¾ of those present at a meeting to which all members of the Pep Band have been invited to and notified of a reasonable amount of time in advance.  A reasonable amount of time is defined as not less than 2 weeks.  This constitution must be ratified by the written approval of ¾ of the total membership, as defined above and shall take effect immediately upon ratification.