Yale Drama Coalition Constitution

The Yale Drama Coalition (YDC) was founded in 1999 to foster a union of student voices impassioned by theater at Yale. The YDC seeks to foster communication and collaboration within the undergraduate theater community and provides resources to students who wish to enhance their theatrical experience at Yale. The YDC offers the means, in the form of the YDC board, through which students can actively engage in work on year-long projects to better theatrical life on campus. The YDC board consists of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Publicity Chair, Events Coordinators, Freshman Coordinators, YSD Mentorship Officer, Social Chair, Outreach Coordinator, Webmaster and Members- at-Large. Board members appointed at the beginning of spring semesters. The organization has an open membership and welcomes input and participation from all interested Yale students. Roughly 650 undergraduates will be actively involved with YDC activities per year.

Constitution

Preamble

In order to foster communication and collaboration within the undergraduate theater community and provide resources to students who wish to enhance their theatrical experience, the Yale Drama Coalition (YDC) is dedicated to acting as an organizational body in support of the performance community at Yale.

Article 1 - Membership

Section 1

The general membership of the YDC consists of enrolled Yale undergraduates who are subscribers to the YDC newsletter.

Section 2

General Members who attend two regular meetings of the board during the board’s term of office, at least one of which must be during the second semester of a board’s term of office, become Voting Members and are eligible to vote in the elections of the five elected board positions.

Article 2 - Composition of the Board

Section 1

The YDC board is to be composed of five elected positions and other appointed positions as the outgoing board sees fit. The five elected board positions are the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Publicity Chair.

Section 2

The YDC is to be led by a President, who is responsible for maintaining the day to day operations of the organization and for delegating these tasks when appropriate. The President must re-register the organization at the beginning of every academic year and is the organization’s primary liaison to the Dean’s Office. The President prepares a weekly meeting agenda, presides over weekly board meetings, and serves as a primary source of support for individual board members by supervising coordination among board members. The President also serves as the Elections Chair unless he or she is running for a position, in which case the Vice President will preside. If both officers are running in elections, the President must nominate an Elections Chair who will oversee elections with the approval of the majority of the outgoing board. The President must work to shape the overall mission of the YDC based on the sentiments of the entire board and the Yale undergraduate theater community.

Section 3

The Vice President assists the President in his/her responsibilities and presides over board meetings when the President cannot attend. The Vice President becomes the Elections Chair if the President is running for an elected position, unless he or she is also running.

Section 4

The Secretary supervises communication with the YDC membership by sending out a weekly newsletter from the YDC that contains information pertinent to the Yale theater community. The Secretary maintains the YDC email list, whose registered enrolled students constitute the YDC membership, and the Secretary is responsible for adding or removing subscribers. The Secretary facilitates communication within the YDC board by taking meeting minutes and sending the meeting minutes out to the board after the meeting. The Secretary is also responsible for maintaining any spaces that the YDC possesses.

Section 5

The Treasurer handles the finances of the YDC. The Treasurer is responsible for maintaining a record of all income and expenses and supporting documentation. In addition, the Treasurer is required to file a Comprehensive Financial Report with the Office of Student Affairs whenever required. The Treasurer is also responsible for maintaining the organization’s bank account and for reimbursing board members for YDC related expenses by collecting receipts and writing out reimbursement checks to the individuals who spent the organization’s money. The Treasurer drafts a yearly budget and approves all spending. The Treasurer submits Undergraduate Organization Funding Committee funding applications when necessary.

Section 6

The Publicity Chair supervises all non-newsletter communications from the YDC. He or she is responsible for providing a poster for each YDC event, distributing posters, updating the Yale Arts Calendar, and maintaining the YDC Facebook page and other forms of social media. The Publicity Chair is responsible for the YDC’s brand and promoting the YDC’s efforts and initiatives to the Yale community.

Section 7

Appointed positions can be created or removed by a majority of the outgoing YDC board. There must be a minimum of four such positions.

Section 8

A quorum is hereby defined as two-thirds of the YDC board.

Article 3 - Procedure for Board Succession

Section 1

The outgoing board is to create a list of positions that will be included in the incoming board. The outgoing board is to vote on the removal of existing positions and creation of new positions. A simple majority is to be used to determine whether a position will be removed or created in the succeeding board. The list of positions must include President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Publicity Chair.

Section 2

The President is to be the Elections Chair, unless he or she is running for one of the following positions: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Publicity Chair. In that case, the Vice President is to be the Elections Chair, unless he or she is running for one of the following positions: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Publicity Chair. If both the President and Vice President are ineligible to serve as Elections Chair, an Elections Chair will be selected by the President and approved by a majority of the outgoing board.

Section 3

The list of positions created under Section 1 and descriptions of the tasks assigned to each position are to be included in a written application that is to be distributed to the Yale College theater community by the Elections Chair four weeks before elections.

Section 4

Any YDC member may apply for a position on board. All applicants to the new board must fill out the written application described under Section 2.

Section 5

Elections for the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Publicity Chair are to be open to all members of the outgoing board board and all Voting Members (as defined by Article 2, Section 2) who wish to participate.

Section 6

The written applications of all members running for the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Publicity Chair will be shared with all outgoing board members and all voting members of the YDC reasonably prior to elections. Everyone eligible to vote in elections who attends elections is expected to have read these applications.

Section 7

All applicants will have the opportunity to present themselves. The Elections Chair shall have the authority to determine the rules of these presentations, including their form and any time restrictions. The presentations shall take place before the voting electorate. Following these presentations, applicants for that position will leave the room, and the electorate may engage in a discussion of the applicants that is moderated by the Elections Chair.

Section 8

The Elections Chair is to distribute secret ballots to voting members, and an instant runoff voting procedure is to be used. This process will be repeated for each of the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Publicity Chair. The elections process is to go in this order of positions.

Section 9

Within 7 days of elections, the newly-elected President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Publicity Chair will meet with a quorum of the outgoing board board to select all other new board members through a deliberations process, also to be led by the Elections Chair.

Section 10

Elections and deliberations are to be held in the month of December.

Article 4 - Board Transition

Section 1

In January, two transition board meetings are to be held in which both the outgoing board and the incoming board are invited to attend. A quorum of both boards is required to be present at these meetings.

Section 2

On a date agreed upon by both the outgoing and incoming boards by a simple majority vote, the incoming board will assume power. This date is to be between the two transition board meetings described in Section 1.

Section 3

The term of a YDC board runs from January to the January of the succeeding year.

Article 5 - Amendment Procedures

The constitution can only be amended with affirmation from three-fourths of all YDC board members. All board members must be informed of the change and be provided with the opportunity to vote absentee if necessary.

Article 6 - Ratification

A two-thirds majority vote of the current YDC board is required to ratify this constitution.

Article 7 - Dissolution Clause

Should the YDC board disband, then all remaining funds are to be given to the Yale College Theater Studies Program. A unanimous vote of the board is necessary to disband.