Handbook
Club information
Constitution

Constitution

Article I. Name

The name of this organization will be the Computational Health Sciences Club.

Article II. Acceptance and Compliance to Registration Requirements and Limitations

The Computational Health Sciences Club and its membership accept and will fully comply with the requirements and limitations of registration.

Article III. Limits of Registration

Registered student organizations are student associations and are not official components of the University. Registration does not permit a student organization to use or act in the name of the University, to represent the University, engage in any contractual obligation in the name of the University nor represent the organization as being an official part of the University. Registered student organizations are permitted to have approved external affiliations. Registration expressly permits registered student organizations to only operate on campus. Off-campus activities of registered student organizations are the sole responsibility of the organization, officers and members, unless expressly approved in advance by the University. Membership in a registered student organization and participation in its activities are voluntary and all risks of personal injury, property damage or other losses incidental to membership or participation in activities are assumed solely by the student organization and/or individual member(s) or participant(s).

Article IV. Annual Re-registration

The Computational Health Sciences Club will submit its re-registration application once a year during the defined re-registration process.

Article V. Purpose

The purpose of this organization is foster interest in the computational health sciences, and for students to understand more about the field and its opportunities.

Article VI. Activities

Activities will include: Weekly meetings, with every other week having researchers in the field of the computational health sciences present their work. The other weeks will have members working on a larger scale project that the club decides on. For that larger scale project, club members will split up into smaller groups to work on different aspects of the project.

Article VII. Membership Requirements

  1. Membership is open to currently enrolled Pitt students as defined herein.
  2. All members must accept and comply with all of the requirements and limitations of registration as a condition of membership.
  3. Membership in the Computational Health Sciences is voluntary and all risk of personal injury, property damage or other losses that occur incidental to membership or participation in activities are assumed solely by the student organization and/or individual member(s) or non-member participant(s). Accordingly, the University of Pittsburgh, its officers and agents shall not be responsible nor liable for any claims or causes of action for damage or loss of property or personal injury of any kind or nature which may arise out of or are incidental to the conduct of any organization’s activities or that of any individual’s participation in any group-related activity. It is further understood and agreed that it is the responsibility of the officers of the organization to assure that all of the organization’s members and non-member participants in all activities sponsored by the Computational Health Sciences are fully informed and advised of this ASSUMPTION OF RISK, and in the event any individual member or participant should express or indicate non-acceptance, the organization’s officers shall forbid participation and/or membership of such individual. In regard to the organization member or non-member participant Assumption of Risk, the Computational Health Sciences acknowledges that the University recommends that the organization members and non-member participants make every effort to arrange for the acquisition of liability insurance sufficient to protect all participants against those risks being assumed. For sport-related organizations, the University recommends that each individual have insurance sufficient to allow for any risks by participation, accident or by deficiencies in physical health.
  4. No illegal discriminatory criteria may be used as criteria for membership including those listed in the University of Pittsburgh’s non-discrimination policy. These factors include race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, genetic information, disability, or status as a veteran. All groups, except those exempt by law, must permit male and female membership. Sport clubs involving physical contact or in which participation is based on competitive skill may limit participation in competition to one sex; provided that, for any for any such sport club engaged in a non-contact sport, unless there is a sport club available for members of the opposite sex, the club must permit try-outs for each sex. Membership can be limited by factors unrelated to status or beliefs and which are also not illegal. Membership can be limited by school, college, department, major and grades, etc. No hazing or illegal discrimination will be used as a condition of membership in the organization.
  5. Other membership requirements include being in good academic standing
  6. There are no financial obligations for membership

Article VIII. Membership Procedures

Recruitment for membership will take place in the Student Activities Fair. To express interest in joining, potential members must sign up on a Google Forms that will be provided to them during the Student Activities Fair. To maintain membership, members must attend meetings, sign in, and contribute some part in the semesterly group project. If a member does not attend at least one meeting or does not contribute at all to the semesterly group project, an email will be sent out to that member asking to confirm or deny their membership. If a member displays inappropriate verbal or physical behaviors, the president will meet with that member and evaluate their behavior. Afterwards, the president will determine whether the member will be removed from the club or be given a warning. To be reinstated, the member must reattend meetings, sign in, and contribute some part in the semesterly group project. For members that were removed for behavioral reasons, they must meet with the president to indicate that their behavior has improved, and the president will decide whether the former member can be reinstated.

Article IX. Voting Privileges

Voting privileges are limited to currently enrolled Pitt student members in good standing with the organization.

Article XI. Officers

The organization shall have the following officers:

President, Vice President, Business Manager, Education Chair, and group leaders.

Article XII. Terms of Office

The terms of office will be from April 15 to April 14th the following year.

Article XIII. Officers Responsibilities and Duties

The President’s responsibilities include: Managing the club and making sure every officer is doing their responsibilities, and also working with the officers with whatever responsibilities they have. The President must also continue to find ways to improve the club experience. The Vice President’s responsibilities include: Making sure the group leaders are doing their responsibilities and progressing the project well. The Business Manager’s responsibilities include: Handling the finances of the club, as well as reaching out to researchers to present their findings for the upcoming semester and creating a schedule of presentations before the semester start Education Chair’s responsibilities include: Finding different resources for the club members to learn more about the field of computational health sciences Group leaders’ responsibilities include: Making sure that the members within their group are working to contribute to the club project.

Article XIV. Election of Officers

  1. Members interested in running for office or nominating another member should place a bid in a google form that will be posted around elections
  2. To run for office members must write an essay on the google form saying why they should be an officer
  3. The election will take place online on a google form posted by the members. Votes will be cast by choosing a candidate on the google form, will be counted by the officers at the end of election day, and will be announced once the votes have been counted.
  4. To vote, members must be an active member of the club
  5. To be elected, a candidate must obtain simple majority of the vote.
  6. Officers cannot hold more than one position.
  7. Absentee and/or proxy votes be cast.
  8. A member can contest the election results by asking for a recount of the votes.

Article XV. Voting Powers of Officers

Officers retain voting rights.

Article XVI. Removal of Officers

If an officer does not do their responsibilities, or displays inappropriate verbal or physical behaviors, there will be a meeting held to determine if the officer should be allowed to continue to hold their position. In this meeting, the officer in question will be able to make a statement on their behalf, and after the statement the other officers will vote to determine if said officer will be removed. A majority vote from the other officers is required to remove an officer. To replace this officer, refer to the vacancies section.

Article XVII. Vacancies

If a position becomes vacant, an election will take place a week after the vacancy, and a majority vote will allow a new member to be the officer. The term of office for the new officer will be for the remainder of the current term of office.

Article XIX. Meetings

Meetings will be scheduled weekly and all members and students wishing to be members may attend. Special meetings may be called by an officer with majority vote. To conduct and approve official business of the organization, a quorum of 50 percent must be present. The officer who called the meeting will lead meetings. Their responsibilities include stating the purpose of the meeting and helping the meeting to progress smoothly. Meeting roles and expectations are as follows: conduct the meeting in a quick and orderly fashion.

Article XX. Finances

The Computational Health Sciences Club shall fully comply with the University fundraising policies and procedures for registered student organizations. The organization will not maintain an outside bank account if it receives funding from the Student Government Board

Article XXI. Publications Code

In compliance with the Publications Code for Student Organizations, all publications of the organization will comply with current copywriter laws, be distributed according to policies and procedures, refrain from expressions that are considered obscene or libelous according to current statute, advocate or insight the material interference or physical disruption of the educational process of the peace, order and decorum of the campus, or that advocate or insight imminent, lawless action or the violent overthrow of the government and identify the organization as publisher and specify that the group is a registered student organization at the University of Pittsburgh.

Article XXII. Advisor

The advisor is selected by the officers. The advisor can be removed by a 3/4 majority vote from members. The advisor’s role, responsibilities, duties, and authority are as follows: helps to provide guidance for the officers to promote the field of computational health sciences and gives insight into the field in order for the officers to better conduct the club.

Article XXIII. External Affiliations

This organization has no external affiliations at this time.

Article XXV. Amendments

All constitution additions, revisions and deletions must be reported to the SORC. The procedure for amending the constitution is providing a written or spoken request to the officers to change the constitution. Constitution changes require a simple majority vote.

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