Purpose & Responsibilities
The Computer Science Majors' Committee (CSMC) exists to serve as a representative body for Computer Science (CS) students. The Committee shall, as necessary, set and enforce policy for the CS labs (games, noise food, et cetera), and will work to bolster the Oberlin Computer Science Community through activities, T-shirts, and special events (UNIX/Emacs night, Games Night, Hat Day, CS tea, etc.).
Membership
Members of the Committee are elected for a full or partial school year. All members' terms end at the close of the Spring Semester. Members must be declared CS majors. Members must attend all CSMC meetings except in special circumstances. A member who is absent from three meetings becomes "inactive" and may be removed from the CSMC by unanimous agreement among all active members. In addition, members are expected to participate in the activities of the CSMC.
Committee Anatomy
The Committee shall be made up of six CS majors, at least three of which should not be graduating at the end of their term. The Committee is responsible for selecting its own officers after elections, either at the end of the outgoing term or at the beginning of the new term. The Committee must elect at least Chair and Co-chair positions; the Committee may create and elect additional secondary positions for the duration of its term as necessary.
Meetings
The Committee shall hold meetings weekly that will generally be open to all students who wish to attend. The Committee shall publish important notes from meetings as necessary.
Elections
The Committee shall hold an election on the second week of April of its term to elect the Committee for the following year; the election may be held another week if special circumstances would depress attendance or turnout of CS students. The Committee shall publicize the election to CS majors in the weeks prior to the election. The date, time, and location of the election meeting shall be sent in advance to all majors and posted on msgs. The Committee chair or co-chair shall preside over the election; should neither the chair nor the co-chair be present, the most senior Committee member present shall preside over the election. The election shall be divided into three parts: nominations, candidate statements, and voting.
Majors may nominate themselves or be nominated by others as candidates for election. Majors who are nominated must be present to accept or decline except in special circumstances. If only six candidates accept nominations, candidates may be accepted as a single slate so long as there are no objections.
Subsequent to nominations, all candidates shall have time to make a brief personal statement regarding themselves and their candidacy to those present. Once all candidates have made statements, students present may engage in a brief question and answer session with the candidates as directed by the Committee member running the election.
Once candidate statements and questions have been completed, voting will proceed in two rounds. In the first round, up to three positions for members who will not be graduating at the end of the new Committee term will be elected first; if there are fewer than three such candidates, that number of such positions will be voted on first. Once these positions are filled, all unelected candidates run for the remaining positions. In either round, if there are fewer candidates than positions, those candidates may be accepted as a single slate so long as there are no objections. Each person voting may vote for as many candidates as there are positions in a given round, but may not vote for a candidate more than once. Voting shall be done by secret ballot. Candidates in each round shall vote first, and then shall step out from the meeting so the remaining majors can enter closed discussion. During closed discussion, majors shall have the opportunity to discuss the candidates in that round privately and at length and then vote by secret ballot. Candidates in a round may not count the ballots from their round. Once the incoming Committee has been elected, the new Committee membership shall be posted to msgs.
If a member chooses to resign, he or she will provide one week's previous notice at a Committee meeting. He or she will be required to continue to perform any requisite duties until the next Committee meeting. The Committee shall then call a special election in a prompt manner to fill the position according with the previously detailed election standards.
Amendments to this document
Any proposed amendment to this charter must be announced six days before it is to be voted upon. An amendment will be accepted if it is approved by two-thirds of the CS students voting on it.
Last update: 09/19/07 by nferrara