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Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Team Constitution

Preamble

This document serves to outline the structure of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Team. This organization is designed without a single president running all branches, but rather people are chosen to run each of the administrative, hardware, and software branches of this organization.

1 - Name

  • 1.1. In official contexts, the organization shall be referred to as the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Team and
    • 1.1.1. should be stylized as "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Team | The University of Texas at Austin"—or similar—when the university of this organization is not known in context.
  • 1.2. In unofficial contexts, this organization should be referred to as UAV Austin, however
    • 1.2.1. if the use of an acronym is desired, UAVA should be used.

2 - Purpose

The objective of this organization is to design an unmanned aerial system(s)—or UAS(s)—where:

  • 2.1. a UAS consists of an unmanned aerial vehicle(s) or UAV(s) and other systems—such as a ground station and other communication devices—designed to communicate with the UAV(s) and
  • 2.2. this organization should attend the annual AUVSI SUAS Competition and compete against other teams with the designed UAS(s), however
    • 2.3.1 this organization may take part in other activities and implement features in its UAS(s) that are not related to the AUVSI SUAS Competition.

3 - Membership

  • 3.1. In accordance with §6-202(a)(2) and §6-302 of the Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities and Information on Students' Rights and Responsibilities, this organization restricts membership to students, faculty members, and staff members of the University.
  • 3.2. In accordance with §6-202(a)(3) of the Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities and Information on Students' Rights and Responsibilities, this organization shall not deny membership on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, citizenship, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, except that a registered student organization created primarily for religious purposes may restrict the right to vote or hold office to persons who subscribe to the registered student organization’s statement of faith; and a registered student organization may restrict membership based on the provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
  • 3.3. This organization may restrict membership based on criteria not prohibited by §3.1 and §3.2. except for reasons noted in bylaws.
  • 3.4. Members shall be removed from either:
    • 3.4.1. the member is no longer eligible to be a member of this organization per §3.1—such as a member graduating—,
    • 3.4.2. the member indicating in writing to an officer that they recind their membership,
    • 3.4.3. the member being removed by an officer vote per §5.5, or
    • 3.4.4. the member being removed is not an officer and is removed by a senior officer vote per §5.6.

4 - Officers

  • 4.1. This organization shall be composed of three branches: the administrative branch, the hardware branch, and the software branch, where:
    • 4.1.1. the administrative branch is led by the program manager,
    • 4.1.2. the hardware branch is led by the chief engineer, and
    • 4.1.3. the software branch is led by the chief software engineer and
  • 4.2. the program manager, chief engineer, chief software engineer are referred to as senior officers, where:
    • 4.2.1. the senior officers have the three highest positions in this organization at equal height; that is, no senior officer has a position higher than another, and
    • 4.2.2. no other senior officers exist besides the three listed here.
  • 4.3. The administrative branch may also contain admisitrative positions where:
    • 4.3.1. each administrative position shall be created by a bylaw establishing the position and
    • 4.3.2. each administrative position shall be filled by an administrator.
  • 4.4. The hardware branch and software branch are composed of teams, where:
    • 4.4.1. each team shall be created by a bylaw establishing the team and
    • 4.4.2. each team shall be led by a team lead.
  • 4.5. Teams in the hardware branch and software branch may contain subteams where:
    • 4.5.1. each subteam shall be created by a bylaw establishing the team,
    • 4.5.2. when establishing the subteam the subteam may be designated in its bylaw as being led by a subteam lead, and
    • 4.5.3. if the bylaws do not indicate that the subteam has a subteam lead then either the team lead for the team that subteam was created within or the senior officer for that subteam's branch acts as the lead for the subteam.
  • 4.6. The hardware branch and software branch may contain management positions where:
    • 4.6.1. each management position is created by a bylaw establishing the position and
    • 4.6.2. each management position shall be filled by a manager.
  • 4.7. Collectively, all administrators, managers, team leads, and subteam leads are junior officers where:
    • 4.7.1. a senior officer is not eligible to hold a junior officer position and
  • 4.8. senior officers and junior officers together are collectively known as officers.
  • 4.9. Officers shall be removed from either:
    • 4.9.1. the officer being removed as a member per §3.4.
    • 4.9.2. the officer indicating in writing to a senior officer that they recind their officer position, or
    • 4.9.3. the officer being removed from their officer position by an officer vote per §5.7.
  • 4.10. In contexts where this organization must specify an organization president:
    • 4.10.1. the program manager shall be referred to as President,
    • 4.10.2. the chief engineer shall be referred to as VP, Engineering,
    • 4.10.3. the chief software engineer shall be referred to as VP, Software Engineering, and
    • 4.10.4. junior officers shall not have an alternative title.

5 - Voting

  • 5.1. The voting classifications used throughout all voting procedures are as follows:
    • 5.1.1. A Class A vote shall be referred to as a unanimous decision among senior officers in a binary vote where abstentions are not allowed.
    • 5.1.2. A Class B vote shall be referred to as a two-thirds majority among senior officers in a binary vote where abstentions are not allowed.
    • 5.1.3. A Class C vote shall be referred to as a two-thirds majority among officers in an anonymous binary vote where abstentions are allowed.
    • 5.1.4. A Class D vote shall be referred to as a simple majority among officers in an anonymous binary vote where abstentions are allowed.
    • 5.1.5. A Class E vote shall be referred to as an instant runoff vote (IRV) among officers in an anonymous vote where abstentions are allowed.
    • 5.1.6. A Class F vote shall be referred to as a single transferable vote (STV) among members in an anonymous vote where abstentions are allowed.
  • 5.2. A senior officer shall be appointed by the following:
    • 5.2.1 A Class F vote selects three candidates—or fewer if there are not enough— where candidancy is declared by a campaign speech no longer than 3 minutes in length in a general meeting, and following
    • 5.2.2. hearings are held for each candidate where:
      • 5.2.2.1. the candidate is made available to questioning by members and
      • 5.2.2.2. candidates who are not currently being questioned are not permitted to be present at the hearing of a candidate running for a position the candidate is running for and
    • 5.2.3. no less than a week following the hearings a Class E vote selects a single candidate for each position which has at least one candidate running for it.
    • 5.2.4. The term of the appointed senior officer begins when the current senior officer's term ends if the senior officer position is not vacant or
    • 5.2.5. the term of the appointed senior officer begins immediately when the senior officer position is vacant.
  • 5.3. A junior officer shall be appointed with a Class B vote. Bylaws may add restrictions on qualifications or procedures required for candidates or senior officers during voting where:
    • 5.3.1. The term of the appointed junior officer begins when the current junior officer's term ends if the junior officer position is not vacant or
    • 5.3.2. the term of the appointed junior officer begins immediately when the junior officer position is vacant.
  • 5.4. Officer term limits are as follows:
    • 5.4.1 Senior officer appointment shall last until the next August 1st following their appointment or until the senior officer loses officer status as detailed in §4.9; whichever occurs first.
    • 5.4.2 Junior officer appointment shall last until the start of the next semester following their appointment or until the junior officer loses officer status as detailed in §4.9; whichever occurs first, unless a Class A vote reconfirms their appointment before their appointment ends to extend their appointment until the start of the semester after.
  • 5.5. A member shall be removed upon a Class C vote. If the member is an officer the officer voted upon may also vote.
  • 5.6. A non-officer member shall be removed upon a Class A vote.
  • 5.7. An officer shall be removed from their position upon a Class C vote. The officer voted upon may also vote.
  • 5.8. To introduce a constitutional amendement, a Class C vote shall be met where each vote on a constitutional amendment shall be recorded with anonymous voting counts.
  • 5.9. To introduce a new bylaw(s) and/or a change to an existing bylaw(s), a Class D vote shall be met where each vote on bylaws shall be recorded with anonymous voting counts.
  • 5.10. Electronic voting may be used as a substitute for ballot voting.
  • 5.11. The following apply in cases of vacancies:
    • 5.11.1. During a senior officer vacancy, a special election shall be held with the same procedure as §5.2.1, no later than 10 class days after the vacancy has been open, if there are at least 15 class days left during the senior officer term. The term of a senior officer elected in a special election shall start immediately after election.
    • 5.11.2. During a program manager vacancy, the current administrator who has served as an administrator for the longest amount of time, shall be the interim program manager.
    • 5.11.3. During a chief engineer vacancy, the current hardware team lead who has served as an hardware team lead for the longest amount of time, shall be the interim chief engineer.
    • 5.11.4. During a chief software engineer vacancy, the current software team lead who has served as an software team lead for the longest amount of time, shall be the interim chief software engineer.
    • 5.11.5. During an administrator vacancy, except for the program manager, the program manager shall be the interim administrator for that position.
    • 5.11.6. During a manager vacancy, except for the senior officers, the senior officer of the branch which that management positions falls within shall be the interim manager for that position.
    • 5.11.7. During an hardware team lead vacancy, except for the chief engineer, the chief engineer shall be the interim hardware team lead for that position.
    • 5.11.8. During an software team lead vacancy, except for the chief software engineer, the chief engineer shall be the interim software team lead for that position.

6 - Finances

  • 6.1. This organization may require members to pay dues and/or fees, where:
    • 6.1.1. if members are required to do so, this organization shall give a warning no less than 2 weeks before the money is due,
    • 6.1.2. exemptions for paying dues and/or fees may be outlined in bylaws,
    • 6.1.3. members shall only be required to pay dues and/or fees if a bylaw has created it, and
    • 6.1.4. prospective members shall not be required to pay dues and/or fees unless the payment of the dues and/or fees immediately qualifies the prospective member to become a member.
  • 6.2. The program manager is responsible for financial duties including, but not limited to, collection of dues and/or fees, budgetary management, and processing spending requests, however these duties may be delegated
    • 6.2.1. by a bylaw indicating an administrative position may take on the responsibility in cooperation with the program manager,
    • 6.2.2. by a bylaw indicating an administrative position shall soley take the responsibility and therefore remove the responsibility from the program manager, or
    • 6.2.3. by the program manager directly assigning the task to another member unless a bylaw indicates otherwise.

7 - University Compliance

This organization is a recognized student organization at The University of Texas at Austin and shall comply with all campus policies as set forth in the Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities and Information on Students' Rights and Responsibilities.

8 - Prohibition of Hazing

Hazing in this organization is prohibited where

  • 8.1. state law and §14-103(3) of the Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities and Information on Students' Rights and Responsibilities define hazing as any intentional, knowing or reckless act, occurring on or off the campus of an educational institution, by one person alone or acting with others, directed against a student, that endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student for the purpose of pledging, being initiated into, affiliating with, holding office in or maintaining membership in any organization whose members are or include students at an educational institution.

9 - University Advisor

In accordance with §6-101(14) and §6-101(15) of the Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities and Information on Students' Rights and Responsibilities, this organization may have a University Advisor who is at least twenty-one years of age, is not enrolled as a student at the University, and serves as either:

  • 9.1. a part-time or full-time employee of the University or
  • 9.2. a representative of a national organization that is associated with the registered student organization.

10 - Amendments and Bylaws

  • 10.1. Constitutional amendments shall only be created per §5.8.
  • 10.2. If a bylaw created by the officers contradicts this constitution, the language of this constitution shall override the bylaw.
  • 10.3. All revisions of this constitution and bylaws shall be kept and be available upon request and/or be publicly available.
  • 10.4. The current revision of this constitution and bylaws shall be publicly available.
  • 10.5. All amendments or changes to this constitution must be reflected in an updated constitution that must be submitted to Student Activities in the Office of the Dean of Students at 2609 University Ave., Suite 2.112 within 14 days of its approval.

11 - Implementation

This constitution shall be passed—and be effective immediately—only if all the following conditions are met at the time of implementation of this constitution:

  • 11.1. A list of officers accompanies this document, where:
    • 11.1.1. all officers are given a position, which implicitly creates the position—and team and subteam, if applicable—without needing a bylaw, however:
      • 11.1.1.1. after removal of the officer from that position, unless the position been established in the constitution or bylaws, the position cannot be refilled and
      • 11.1.1.2. any implicitly created position—or team or subteam, if applicable—shall no longer exist after the officer is removed from that position.
    • 11.1.2. all junior officers listed are eligible to be junior officers,
    • 11.1.3. the total number of junior and senior officers is at least ten percent of the membership of this organization, and
    • 11.1.4. all officers are given a position listed in §11.1.
  • 11.2. A two-thirds majority anonymous vote among senior and junior officers listed with this constitution enacts this constitution.
  • 11.3. A list of current senior officer candidates accompanies this document—if applicable—which bypass the selection process in §5.2.1 and constitute the pool of senior officer candidates to be voted upon per §5.2.3.