Constitution and by-laws

From The Processor

Current revision as of 17:37, 28 August 2007

ARTICLE I: GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 1. Name of Publication. – The publication shall be hereby recognized as THE PROCESSOR.
Section 2. Purpose of the Paper – THE PROCESSOR is a publication aimed to inform, entertain, and educate engineering students of Asia Pacific College through the pillars of campus journalism guided by the principle of constructive criticism and balanced newsgathering. Primarily, the paper shall advocate social consciousness and uphold the interest of the Filipino people. It shall also advance students’ rights and responsibilities and promotes their general welfare. It is intended to be released once per academic term. Special editions are also intended to be released during and/or whenever the editorial board deemed it necessary.
Section 3. Editorial Policies –

1. The publication is a news organization under the Asia Pacific College Department of Engineering and Sciences.
   
2. The publication abhors any form of censorship from any student, staff or faculty of Asia Pacific College.
   
3. The publication does not tolerate envelopmental and sensational journalism.
   

ARTICLE II: OFFICERS AND STAFF MEMBERS

Section 4. Editorial Board. – The administrative body of the publication shall be vested in the editorial board. The editorial board consists of the chief, associate, managing, news, feature, literary, sports editors, and circulation manager.
Section 5. Responsibilities of the Editorial Board. – The editorial board shall be responsible to the college and to third parties for its decisions, actions, policies and legal consequences arising from such.
Section 6. Qualifications for the Editorial Board. –

1. No person may be a member of the Editorial Board unless he is an officially enrolled Engineering student of Asia Pacific College and should be a staff member of the publication for at least six (6) months (for the Editor-in-Chief, at least one academic year) immediately preceding the Editorial Board Exam.
2. Any person holding any major position in other school organizations in recognized by Asia Pacific College, especially being an officer of APCES shall be considered ineligible for the positions.
3. The selection of the members of the Editorial Board for the succeeding academic year shall be three (3) days after the regular elections of APCES.

Section 7. Selection of members for the Editorial Board. –The selection of the chief editor and other members of the Editorial Board shall be through competitive examinations prepared, conducted and supervised by a board of judges composed of two (2) faculty members (one from the English Resource Center and the Adviser), and two (2) past editors to be chosen by the outgoing editorial board, except those as provided for in their respective charters. The results of the exams shall be released at least one week after the examinations.

Section 8. Tenure of Office –

1. The members of the editorial board shall hold office for one full academic year.
2. The newly selected members of the editorial board shall assume office at the same time with the newly elected officers of APCES
3. Before entering the execution of office, the members of the Editorial Board shall take the following oath or affirmation:

"I, (state name), do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and conscientiously fulfill my duties as (state position) of THE PROCESSOR, uphold the duties of the tasks vested in me, and be responsible to the actions I make. So help me God."

1. Any member of the Editorial Board may be removed from office by a petition of at least two staff members of the publication. A vote of at least two-thirds of all the staff members shall be necessary to remove a member of the Editorial Board. In case of the Editor-in-Chief, a vote of at least three-fourths of all staff members, with the approval of the publication adviser, for him to be removed from office.
2. In case of removal from office, or resignation of the Editor-in-Chief, the Associate Editor shall become the Editor-in-Chief to serve the unexpired term.
3. In case of removal from office, or resignation of both the Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editor, the Managing Editor shall then act as Editor-in-Chief until an Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editor shall have been chosen and qualified. In case of vacancy of all three positions, the News Editor shall become the Acting Editor-in-Chief. The adviser then shall hold an editorial board exam as stated in Section 7, three (3) days after the vacancy occurred.
4. Whenever there is a vacancy in the position of Associate Editor or Managing Editor during the term for which he was elected, the Editor-in-Chief shall nominate an Associate Editor or Managing Editor from among the members of the Editorial Board who shall assume office upon confirmation by a majority vote of all the members of the publication.
5. In case of removal from office, or resignation of a Section Editor, the Editor-in-Chief may nominate any eligible staff member for the position upon confirmation by a majority vote of all the members of the publication or conduct an editorial board exam as stated in Section 7.
6. The Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editor and Managing Editor shall not, unless otherwise provided in this Constitution and by-laws, hold any other major position in other organizations recognized in Asia Pacific College during their tenure.

Section 9. Qualifications for Staff Members –

1. No person may become a staff member unless he is a currently enrolled student of Asia Pacific College. The publication may accept applicants who are not taking up an engineering course. The maximum number of non-engineering staff members should be fifteen (15) per centum of the total number of engineering members of the publication.
2. Engineering students under internship are eligible to become a staff member of the publication.

Section 10. Duties and Responsibilities of the Staff Members. –

1. A staff writer is required to write at least two (2) articles in one academic year. For non-engineering and intern staff writers, a minimum of one (1) article shall be written for the academic year. Literary works are not considered an article.

Section 11. Selection of the Staff Members. –

1. The Editorial Board shall conduct an entrance exam prepared by the Editor-in-Chief, the Associate Editor, and two (2) Section Editors every first Monday of July and anytime during the academic year if necessary. The results of the exams shall be released at least three (3) days after the day of examinations.
2. The Editorial Board shall choose at most five (5) examinees and then they should conduct an interview with them.

Section 12. Qualifications of the Publication Adviser. –

1. No person can be the Publication Adviser unless he is a member of the Engineering faculty of Asia Pacific College and should worked for APC for at least one (1) academic year.
2. The candidate for the Publication Adviser should have experience in campus journalism. (i.e. former editorial board member of a school publication, had experience in newspaper work, etc.)
3. The faculty adviser of the publication shall be selected by the Director of the Engineering Program, upon confirmation by a two-thirds vote of the staff members. The function of the publication adviser shall be one of the technical guidance, provided, however, that he shall not alter contents nor censor articles or determine allocation of funds.

Section 13. Editorial Board Consultant. – The Publication Adviser may appoint an Editorial Board Consultant to supervise the publication more closely. He should be a former member of the Editorial Board, preferably a former Editor-in-Chief of the publication.

Section 14. Special Positions. – The publication shall have at least two (2) photojournalists, one (1) circulations manager and two (2) cartoonists. The Editor-in-Chief shall set qualifications for the positions.

ARTICLE III: PUBLICATION POLICIES

Section 15. Regular Release of the Publication. – The publication shall release an edition of the news magazine once per academic term. The editorial board together with the publication adviser shall decide on when the publication will release a news magazine. The number of copies to be published for the academic term shall be at least 150 copies.

Section 16. Special Editions – Special editions are also intended to be released during and/or whenever the editorial board deemed it necessary.

Section 17. Literary Works – The publication may accept literary works from non-engineering students and those who are not members of the publication.

Section 18. Press ID– The publication shall issue a press ID for each of its members. The ID shall be worn while covering events and conducting interviews.

ARTICLE IV: FINANCING PUBLICATION

Section 19. Funding of Student Publication. – Student subscriptions, subsidy at the discretion of the school administration as may be determined by the Office of Student Activities, revenues realized from advertisements, donations and grants shall be the sources of funding for the student publication.

Section 20. Records and Funds of the Publication. – All records and funds of the publication shall be kept by the Managing Editor.

Section 21. Preparation of Student Publication Budget. – The managing editor shall prepare the budget for the student publication for each academic trimester. The budget shall include expenses for the printing costs of the student publication, photo supplies, workshops / seminars and other incidental expenses.

Section 22. Financial Report of Expenses. – A financial report of expenses shall be prepared by the Circulations Manager and Managing Editor at the end of every term and audited by the Asia Pacific College Engineering Society Auditor.

Section 23. Use of Student Publication Funds. – Savings, donations, grants and other funds collected from other sources for the student publication shall be for its exclusive use. The money collected shall not be spent for purposes other than those cited in Section 21. Violation of this rule by the editorial board, any student-staff, teacher-adviser, school administration/official shall be cause for administration/ official shall be cause for administrative and/or criminal action against the violator.

ARTICLE V: MEETINGS

Section 24. Regular and Special Meetings. – The publication shall meet every second and fourth Thursday of the month. Special meetings may be called by the Editor-in-Chief or the Publication Adviser if necessary at least three (3) days before the scheduled date.

Section 25. Procedures during the meeting. –

1. The Editor-in-Chief shall preside all meetings. The Associate Editor or the Editorial Board Consultant shall preside the meeting in the absence of the Editor-in-Chief.
2. The News Editor shall act as the secretary of all meetings of the publication. He shall submit a copy of the minutes of the meeting, three (3) days after the meeting, to the Editor-in-Chief and the Publication Adviser.
3. The publication shall constitute a quorum to do business; it shall be at least more than one half of the total staff members of the publication. The News Editor shall check the attendance during the meeting.
4. Staff members who are absent for three (3) consecutive meetings shall be sanctioned by the Editorial Board.

ARTICLE VI: AMMENDMENTS

Section 26. Amendments to this Constitution and by-laws may be proposed, upon a vote of two-thirds of all the staff members of the publication with the approval of the publication adviser.

ARTICLE VII: RATIFICATION

Section 27. A vote of two-thirds of all the staff members of the publication, with the approval of the Publication Adviser and the Engineering Program Director shall be necessary to ratify this Constitution and by-laws.