Constitution for the Student Game Developers at the University of Virginia

Article I: NAME.

The official name of the organization shall be 'Student Game Developers'.

Article II: PURPOSE.

Student Game Developers seeks to bring together students interested in game development to provide opportunities to gain experience in game development through team projects. In addition, SGD seeks to explore and increase knowledge of the game development industry, while simultaneously help establish networking connections for its members. The intention of the group is not to simply play games, but to be actively involved in the art and science of creating them, whether as a hobby or as preparation for a career.

Article III: MEMBERSHIP.

Only students enrolled at the University of Virginia are eligible for membership. An ACTIVE MEMBER is a member who has paid his or her dues for the year and joined a development team. An SENIOR MEMBER is an active member who has worked on a project for at least one full semester.

Article IV: OFFICERS and VOTING.

There are two types of officers: VOTING OFFICERS and NON-VOTING OFFICERS. VOTING OFFICERS are elected each spring, under Article V, and serve for one full year. The EXECUTIVE BOARD for a given year is the set of all voting officers elected for that year. A UNANIMOUS VOTE requires all sitting member of the executive board to assent in order for the motion in question to be passed. A UNANIMOUS LESS ONE VOTE requires all sitting members of the executive board except one to assent in order for the motion in question to be passed. A SIMPLE MAJORITY VOTE requires more than half of all sitting members of the executive board to assent in order for a motion to be passed. Any motion that is not explicitly said to require a vote other than unanimous is assumed to require a unanimous vote. Any motion that does not reach the required level of votes fails and may not be implemented.

NON-VOTING OFFICERS serve at the discretion of the executive board. The President may nominate any member of the club for a non-voting officer position, and this choice must be confirmed by a simple majority vote of the executive board.

The following is an enumeration of the voting officer positions (i.e. the executive board):

1. PRESIDENT: The President (P) shall maintain the overall health of the organization by organizing events and instructing and overseeing the other officers. The President is responsible for being the outward face of the organization and running group-wide events such as Mid-Semester Expositions, End of Semester Expositions, Crunch Nights, and Pitch Meetings. The President shall be aware, check, and assist with all book-keeping and paperwork done by the Treasurer to ensure competency. Finally, the President is responsible for dealing with any issues that arise that are not explicitly stated to be the responsibility of other officers.
2. VICE PRESIDENT: The Vice President (VP) is responsible for the maintenance of all physical assets belonging to the club. Further, the Vice President is responsible for overseeing a database of the current club membership and maintaining lists of active and senior members. The VP is also responsible for conducting elections, advertising executive roles, and oversee the electoral process. The VP shall also be responsible overseeing all travel efforts, such as to GDC, Pax, and ECGC. Finally, the VP shall administrate, organize, and advertise at least one game jam per semester (such as GGJ and Ludum Dare).
3. HEAD OF DIRECTORS: The Head of Directors (HOD) is responsible for the directors by staying up-to-date with the status of all ongoing projects. The HOD is also responsible for providing builds of games upon their completion to the Webmaster, along with writeups describing said games. The HOD shall also organize and run director meetings the first few weeks of any working semester and otherwise, when appropriate and necessary. Finally, the HOD shall oversee and execute the director application process, approval; general member signup process; and any new members wishing to signup for a game project.
4. TREASURER: The Treasurer (T) shall handle all tasks related to funding. This includes appropriations, dues, management of the bank account, and applying for funding from sources such as Student Council, Engineering Student Council, and the Office of the Vice-President of Student Affairs as well as the purchasing of anything required for club functions, such as food for events or t-shirts. Finally, the Treasurer shall handle all reimbursement forms for external funding and have discretionary power to wave dues for members on a person-to-person basis.
5. EXTERNAL RELATIONS: The External Relations Officer (ERO) shall oversee the contact and general scheduling of visits from members of the game design industry; this shall include inviting at least one guest speaker to workshop or lecture for SGD members per semester. The ERO shall also act as the chief liaison between SGD and its executive board to other CIO's at UVA as well as all games-industry experts. Finally, the ERO shall be responsible for all alumni relations including administration of the Alumni Slack channel.
6. INTERNAL RELATIONS: The Internal Relations Officer (IRO) shall communicate with membership about all club events via email and Slack. The internal relations officer is also responsible for planning the logistics of all club events, including specific scheduling and room reservations. The IRO shall also be responsible for organizing and executing at least one social event per semester including steaming days, game nights, and parties. Finally, the IRO shall run the Slack.
7. WEBMASTER: The Webmaster is responsible for maintaining the SGD website and documenting club activity via photographs or video. The Webmaster shall also be responsible for the games database behind the site. The Webmaster is also responsible for maintaining and expanding our social media presences and activity including LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Voting officer positions may be added or removed by a unanimous vote of the executive board. Any changes made in this way will take effect when the next year's executive board stands for election.

The responsibilities of voting officers may be changed by a unanimous vote of the executive board, effective immediately.

Any officer (voting or non-voting) may be impeached at any time by any other officer, in accordance with the following procedure: the PROSECUTING OFFICER, who is the officer who wishes to impeach, must provide justification to the entire executive board of the unsuitableness of the DEFENDANT OFFICER for carrying out his or her duties. The defendant officer must be present for this justification. Following the prosecution's justification, the defendant officer is given the opportunity to offer a rebuttal. A vote is then called. The defendant officer may request a recess of up to one hour before this vote is held. The vote requires a unanimous less one vote to impeach the defendant officer. If this succeeds, the defendant is removed from his or her position immediately and the President may nominate another member to fill in until the next election. This nominee must be confirmed by a simple majority vote of the remaining voting officers. In the event that the impeachment vote fails, the prosecuting officer may not attempt to impeach any other officer until his or her term has ended.

The following is an enumeration of non-voting officers. These positions may be changed at any time by the executive board with a simple majority vote. Those changes must be reflected here.

(NOTE: there are currently no non-voting officer positions)

Article V: ELECTIONS.

Elections are to be held at the Mid Semester Expo during the spring semester. In these elections, any senior member may stand for election to any voting officer position. The positions will be voted on in the order they appear in this constitution. No person may hold more than one position at any one time - that is, someone elected to a position may not stand for another position. Newly elected voting officers will shadow their predecessors during all SGD functions until the conclusion of the spring semester, and will take full responsibility for the club thereupon.

Votes may be counted in absentia if and only if an senior member sends his or her votes before the beginning of the Spring MSE.

Only active members may vote in the elections.

Article VI: FINANCE.

SGD will maintain a bank account. Only the treasurer may access the funds contained therein, and he or she may only do so with the express consent of the president. Dues will be assessed on a yearly basis; the usage of said dues is entirely up to the discretion of the relevant year’s executive board; the amount of dues must be set each year by that year’s executive board at the beginning of the academic year. All questions related to dues require a simple majority vote of the executive board.

Article VII. AMENDMENTS.

Amendments to this constitution may be proposed and broadcast to the club by any voting officer at least fifteen days prior to the club-wide event where voting shall be done. A unanimous vote is required to ratify any changes, unless it says otherwise elsewhere in this document. Any changes made are effective immediately, unless it says otherwise elsewhere in this document.

Article VIII: GAME RELEASE and INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.

Following the completion of the game at the end of the semester, all project assets will be moved to a publicly available repository under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC-BY-NC-SA) license. In the event that a game is continuing from the fall into a spring project as well, the assets will not be uploaded until the end of the spring semester. If a project is continuing from the spring into the fall, the assets will be uploaded at the end of the spring, and then updated following the end of the fall semester.

Article IX: NON-DISCRIMINATION.

Student Game Developers at UVA does not restrict its membership, programs, or activities on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity, marital status, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, veteran status, and family and genetic information.

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