KAIBIGAN

Filipino American Student Association

Portland State University

CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE I: NAME / VISION / MISSION

SECTION 1. NAME

The name of this organization shall be formally known as KAIBIGAN – Filipino American Student Association (FASA) of Portland State University (PSU). Kaibigan in Pilipino (Tagalog) means ‘friend.’

SECTION 2. VISION

PSU Kaibigan was founded by Filipino American students at PSU during the school year of 2002-2003. Having founded Kaibigan in the principles of progressive values and ideals, they came together with a vision to form a student organization that works to advance the educational, cultural, social, and political development of Filipino students through collective organizing towards social justice and social change.

SECTION 3. MISSION

The mission of PSU Kaibigan is to unite and empower Filipino American students at PSU through educational, cultural, political, and social activities, while celebrating the Filipino American experience.

ARTICLE II: MEMBERSHIP

SECTION 1. MEMBERSHIP

Kaibigan is open to anyone interested in learning more about the culture and heritage of Filipino Americans, and the important issues facing Filipino Americans today. Membership shall be open to undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, PSU alumni, and others who promote, support, and uphold the purpose of this organization as provided for in Article I of this constitution:

a.) Official Members – All students of PSU who have filled out, signed a Kaibigan membership form, and fulfilled membership obligations.

b.) Unofficial Members – All students of PSU who have filled out and signed a Kaibigan membership form but not fulfilled membership obligations.

c.) Honorary Members – All non-PSU students who signed a Kaibigan membership form and fulfilled membership obligations.

SECTION 2. MEMBERSHIP OBLIGATIONS

Membership obligations shall be based on the following:

*Members who have paid membership dues annually.

*Members who have at least attended one entire meeting, event, workshop, or activity.

SECTION 3. NON-DISCRIMINATORY STATEMENT

Membership to this organization shall not be discriminatory on the basis of race, class, gender, age, size, ability, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, or political affiliation.

SECTION 4. MEMBERSHIP DUES

An amount for dues may be proposed by the Executive Board at the beginning of the academic year.

SECTION 5. MEMBERSHIP RIGHTS & RESPONSIBILITIES

a) All members shall have the right to attend any of this organization’s general and officers’ meetings, events and activities.

b) All members must abide by the constitution of this organization.

c) All members shall have the right to express their opinion with regards to this organization’s leadership.

d) All members shall have the right to initiate the impeachment process as laid out in Article VI of this constitution.

e) Only official members are allowed to vote in elections.

f) Only official members and honorary members shall receive rewards such as discounts on events and merchandise.

ARTICLE III: EXECUTIVE BOARD

SECTION 1. EXECUTIVE BOARD

The Executive Board of this organization shall include:

President Cultural Chair Communications Coordinator

Vice-President Educational Chair Fundraising Coordinator

Secretary Political Chair Publicity Coordinator

Treasurer Social Chair Recruitment Coordinator

SECTION 2. TERMS OF OFFICE

a) The elected Executive Board will undergo training after elections and hold office for one year from the date of their inauguration.

b) An Executive Board member may not hold the same position for three consecutive years, but may hold a different position.

SECTION 3. NOMINATIONS

Nominations shall be held in Spring term. Nominations shall be held at least one week prior to the election. Candidates for office may not accept nominations for more than two positions.

SECTION 4. ELECTION

Election shall be held in Spring term. Votes shall be cast by secret ballot. Candidates must receive a simple majority of the votes cast. Absentee ballots will be provided to members who have given prior notice and made arrangements. In the event of a tie-vote, the current Executive Board shall conduct a final election.

SECTION 5. QUALIFICATIONS OF OFFICERS AND REPLACEMENT

a) Only PSU students may hold an Executive Board position.

b) Only current and previous Executive Board members may run for the President or Vice-President position.

c) Should there be a vacancy in the Presidency during the year, the Vice President shall act as President until a new President is elected. Open nominations shall be held at the next officers’ meeting. Official members will then elect the new President by a simple majority vote.

d) Should there be a vacancy in any position during the year except the Presidency, open nominations shall be held at the next general members’ meeting. Official members will then elect the new Executive Board member by a simple majority vote.

e) In the event of a position having one nominee, he or she must have a simple majority vote.

f) Should there be a vacancy in any position during the year, the Executive Board has the option to appoint an official member to an officer position by a simple majority vote.

SECTION 6. EXECUTIVE BOARD DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Elected Executive Board members are expected to attend weekly Executive Board meetings. They are also encouraged to attend and support all other Kaibigan events, activities, general members’ meetings, workshops, conferences, and other functions. All 12 Executive Board members should act as the main ambassadors of Kaibigan – Filipino American Student Association by upholding Kaibigan’s mission, vision, and purpose at all times.

a) President

• Oversee Kaibigan activities, events, and projects.
• Construct, e-mail, and print weekly meeting agendas; facilitate weekly officers’ meetings and bi-weekly general meetings.
• Must strive to be present in all Kaibigan events and activities.
• Serve as the spokesperson of the organization.
• Must meet regularly with the Kaibigan committee Chairs and hold all of them accountable for their duties and responsibilities.
• Must be familiar with all of the Chair’s responsibilities and must be ready to preside if any of the Chairs are absent.
• Must be ready to preside if the Treasurer is absent.
• Must meet regularly with the Kaibigan Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer and must be familiar with all of their responsibilities.
• Regularly communicate with other officers and offer help or guidance if they need assistance.
• Will be the link and ambassador of Kaibigan to the Northwest Filipino American Student Alliance meetings and NWFASA affairs.
• Will represent Kaibigan at Multicultural Cluster meetings and be a link or liaison to the club advisor and Student Activities and Leadership Programs (SALP).
• Be familiar with the rules and regulations of SALP, SFC and Scheduling guidelines.
• Must be an officer the previous year to be able to run and serve as President.

b) Vice-President

• Work in close cooperation with the President
• Construct, e-mail, and print weekly meeting agendas; facilitate weekly officers meetings and bi-weekly general meetings.
• Must strive to be present in all Kaibigan events and activities.
• Must be familiar of all the responsibilities of the President and must be ready to preside when the President is absent.
• Must meet regularly with the Kaibigan Coordinators and hold all of them accountable for their duties and responsibilities.
• Must be familiar with all of the Coordinator’s responsibilities and be ready to preside if any of the Coordinators are absent.
• Must be ready to preside if the Secretary is absent.
• Must meet regularly with the Kaibigan President, Secretary and Treasurer and must be familiar with all their responsibilities.
• Communicate to other officers and offer help and support if they need assistance.
• Will be the link and ambassador of Kaibigan to the Northwest Filipino American Student Alliance meetings and NWFASA affairs.
• Will represent Kaibigan at Multicultural Cluster meetings, and be a link or liaison to the club advisor and SALP.
• Be familiar with the rules and regulations of SALP, SFC and Scheduling guidelines.
• Must be an officer the previous year to be able to run and serve as Vice-President

c) Secretary

• Must meet and report back to the President and Vice-President weekly.
• Take detailed minutes and notes during the officers’ and general meetings.
• E-mail minutes to Kaibigan listserv.
• Reserve meeting rooms and equipment needed for all Kaibigan events, officers meetings, and committee meetings through the scheduling office.
• Archive the minutes on the Kaibigan hard drive
• Maintain the Kaibigan folder or archives of past events/activities.
• Process paper work regarding liability forms, food waivers, food catering, and food supplies, etc. Must be familiar with SALP and Scheduling guidelines.
• Keep track of Kaibigan’s calendar of important dates, events, and activities and e-mail to the general listserv monthly.
• Manage Kaibigan’s e-mail account weekly.
• Must check Kaibigan’s student group mailbox weekly.
• Work in close cooperation and collaboration with all Executive Board members.

d) Treasurer

• Must meet and report back to the President and Vice-President weekly.
• Manage all Kaibigan accounts including Student Fee Committee (SFC) and Kaibigan Scholarship Fund
• Provide a bi-weekly report of the Kaibigan budget.
• Process all paperwork needed for financial transactions, reimbursements, withdrawals, purchases, and travel.
• Take care of all transactions and financial statements by keeping an accurate record of all money received and disbursed. Must be responsible to the access of the organization’s account.
• Will take leadership on creating an annual proposal for SFC budget request.
• Must receive approval from Kaibigan officers before making financial transactions, reimbursements, withdrawals, and purchases.
• Process paper work regarding office supplies.
• Must be the liaison to SFC.
• Must be familiar with SFC guidelines.
• Work in close cooperation and collaboration with the Executive Board members.

e) Cultural Chair

• Must meet and report back to the President weekly.
• Will preside & facilitate the cultural committee meetings and committee breakout sessions.
• Will work closely with all committee chairs to organize events and programs during the National Filipino American History Month (October) and Pilipino Cultural Night (second weekend of May).
• Will organize workshops and events that promote Filipino cultural awareness including Filipino American History, Filipino traditional dances, Alibata, Parol-making, etc.
• Will serve as the chair person for the Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN) planning committee.

f) Political Chair

• Must meet and report back to the President weekly.
• Will preside & facilitate political committee meetings and committee breakout sessions.
• Will work closely with all committee chairs to organize events and programs during the National Filipino American History Month (October) and Pilipino Cultural Night (second weekend of May).
• Will organize workshops, forums, and other activities in response to the issues facing the Filipino American communities in the U.S. and in the Philippines including Filipino veterans equity, immigration rights, human rights violations, student’s and worker’s rights, domestic violence, PSR, and child labor.
• Will take leadership on writing press releases and resolutions on Kaibigan’s stance on certain issues (i.e. Coca-Cola, Nestle boycott, No to HR 4437 resolution, ASPSU slate endorsements, letters to legislators).
• Must be the liaison to Portland Committee Human Rights in the Philippines (PCHRP) and Anak-Bayan Seattle (AB Seattle).

g) Educational Chair

• Must meet and report back to the President weekly.
• Will preside & facilitate the educational committee meetings and committee breakout sessions.
• Will work closely with all committee chairs to organize events and programs during the National Filipino American History Month (October) and Pilipino Cultural Night (second weekend of May).
• Will take leadership on a Kaibigan Book Club, reading activity series, and workshops.
• Must be the liaison to the PSU Foundation to manage the Kaibigan Scholarship Program.
• Will organize workshops or events that will promote academic achievement within Kaibigan including study skills, time management, or test taking strategies (facilitators of these type of workshop can be contacted through www.setc.pdx.edu).

h) Social Chair

• Must meet and report back to the President weekly.
• Will preside and facilitate social committee meetings and committee breakout sessions.
• Will work closely with all committee chairs to organize events and programs during the National Filipino American History Month (October) and Pilipino Cultural Night (second weekend of May).
• Will take leadership on the planning and coordinating of the annual Kaibigan Showkase (fall term) and FASA Formal (winter term).
• Will take leadership on organizing a team for the annual FilipinOlympics and Shield Games.
• Will take leadership on organizing the Memorial Day Barbecue.
• Will organize events and activities that promote interaction and bonding between members (i.e. movie nights, potluck gatherings, game nights, karaoke nights).

i) Publicity Coordinator

• Must meet and report back to the Vice-President weekly.
• Create and distribute flyers and calendar of events to promote the organization, activities, or events to the PSU student body (ie. student group mailboxes, SALP display boards, etc).
• Create a promotional video for Kaibigan’s main events (Showkase, FASA Formal, PCN, NWFASA Conference).
• Will create and maintain SALP display cases for Kaibigan’s main events.
• Research additional creative ways to publicize events.
• Will compose and send out press releases to various media contacts on and off campus.
• Will e-mail out reminders to Kaibigan members of any ongoing Kaibigan events or activities.
• Inform the communications coordinator of what should be added to the Kaibigan website in terms of publicity.
• Will create the NWFASA Conference multimedia.
• Must be the liaison to the Graphics Design Center in the SMSU sub-basement.

j) Recruitment Coordinator

• Must meet and report back to the Vice-President weekly.
• Must be in charge of recruitment to help increase Kaibigan membership by encouraging and calling to remind current members to participate in events and activities.
• Will take leadership on the New Student Week event for Kaibigan.
• Will take leadership on the Kaibigan table at Party in the Park.
• Will take leadership on setting up, staffing, and cleaning a Kaibigan informational table at all Kaibigan functions.
• Will take leadership on designing and ordering Kaibigan membership cards.
• Will maintain the official Kaibigan membership roll.
• Will make sure membership forms are up to date and available at all Kaibigan functions.
• Will communicate with the communications coordinator of new members to be added on the listserv.

k) Communications Coordinator

• Must meet and report back to the Vice-President weekly.
• Will maintain the Kaibigan website www.kaibigan.groups.pdx.edu.
• Will maintain the Kaibigan listserves psu-kaibigan@yahoogroups.com and kaibigan-execboard@yahoogroups.com.
• Will update Kaibigan about events/projects that other clubs at PSU are doing, as well as other news/events/opportunities around PSU in general (scholarships, PSU events, jobs, campus issues, campus calendar, etc.) on the Kaibigan website.
• Will maintain, update, and create events through the Kaibigan accounts at MySpace.com, Facebook.com and other networking accounts with the purpose of making sure Kaibigan members are updated with what’s going on with Kaibigan.
• Work in close cooperation and collaboration with the Secretary.

l) Fundraising Coordinator

• Must meet and report back to the Vice-President weekly.
• Will take charge, plan, and coordinate fundraising events in order to raise funds for the organization.
• Will be the grant researcher and grant writer of the organization.
• Will organize events to fundraise for the Kaibigan Scholarship Fund.
• Must meet annual fundraising goals set by the Executive Board.
• Will take leadership on the donation box at Kaibigan events and functions.
• Will be in charge of donation letters for all events.
• Work in close cooperation and collaboration with the Treasurer.

SECTION 7. VOTING

Official members present at an Executive Board meeting may cast their vote on any non-budget matters.

ARTICLE IV: KAIBIGAN ALUMNI

SECTION 1. ALUMNI

Membership to the Kaibigan Alumni shall be open to former Kaibigan members who are also PSU alumni.

SECTION 2. ALUMNI ADVISORY BOARD

Membership shall be open to former Executive Board members who are also PSU alumni. The Executive Board will appoint three to five alumni to become members of the Alumni Advisory Board at the beginning of each academic year.

SECTION 3. ADVISORY BOARD DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

a) Advise current Executive Board members.

b) Be available for questions and other consultations.

c) Promote, support, and uphold the purpose of Kaibigan.

d) Act as moderator during conflict resolution.

e) Serve as the main representatives of the Kaibigan Alumni.

f) Serve in the PSU Foundation Scholarship Selection Committee (maximum of 2 representatives).

g) Take leadership on organizing Kaibigan Alumni events.

SECTION 4. ADVISORY BOARD CHAIR

a)    The Alumni Advisory Board Chair will be appointed by the members of the Advisory Board.

b)    The primary responsibility of the Advisory Board Chair is to manage the Advisory Board and take leadership on organizing Alumni events and functions.

ARTICLE V: MEETINGS

SECTION 1. GENERAL

A general meeting shall be held at least every other week. The date and time of the meetings shall be decided by the Executive Board. During general meetings, there shall be committee breakout sessions. Events and activities put on by Kaibigan shall be organized through committees, which will be responsible for implementing decisions. The Cultural, Political, Educational, and Social Chair shall lead their respective committees.

SECTION 2. EXECUTIVE BOARD

An Executive Board meeting shall be held every week. All Executive Board members must be present. Failure to attend meetings without notice may be grounds for impeachment as laid in Article VI, Section 1.

ARTICLE VI: IMPEACHMENT

SECTION 1. GROUNDS

a. Any Executive Board member may be removed from office for failure to fulfill his or her duties and responsibilities as outlined in Article III, Section 6.

b. Charges against any Executive Board member must be brought up in writing to the Executive Board, the student club advisor, and the Alumni Advisory Board. If the charges are found reasonable for dismissal, the Executive Board shall proceed with impeachment procedures.

SECTION 2. PROCEDURES

a. A special meeting will be called in which all official members shall be informed of the charges brought out against the Executive Board member in question.

b. Impeachment of any Executive Board member must have a two thirds majority vote of all official members present.

c. The Executive Board member in question will not have the right to vote, but will be able to defend himself or herself in an open forum moderated by a member of the Alumni Advisory Board.

ARTICLE VII: AMENDMENTS

SECTION 1. AMENDMENTS

a. Amendments may be brought forth by any official member during an Executive Board meeting. The amendment shall be put to a vote at the following meeting.

b. Article 1: Name/Vision/Mission in the Kaibigan Constitution shall remain permanent and non-amendable.

SECTION 2. PASSING AMENDMENTS

a. Amendments to the Constitution will be made with a two thirds majority vote of the official members present.

b. Any amendments in the Constitution must be reviewed by the Kaibigan Executive Board.

ARTICLE VIII: CONSTITUTION VERSION

The original version of this Constitution was written by Rolan Veniegas and Patrick Villaflores on November 28, 2004 and was ratified on November 30, 2004. The original version was last amended by the Kaibigan Executive Board on September 9, 2006 and was ratified on October 20, 2006. The October 20, 2006 version was last amended by the Kaibigan Executive Board on September 14, 2007 and was ratified on March 21^st, 2008. The March 21^st, 2008 version was last amended by the Kaibigan Executive Board on September 12, 2008 and was ratified on October 3^rd, 2008. This version is superior to all prior versions. Any new changes must be made according to Article VII of this constitution.