Optional By-laws

[pathawks]

I am confused about the By-Laws in our constitution:

## BY-LAWS 

### (Optional) 
Constitutions may also include a “Provision for By-Laws”; Article or a clause pertaining to the establishment of by-laws. The By-Laws might include some of the following items: 

* The Web Page Submissions Committee shall be comprised of the officers who will select appropriate submissions for inclusion  on the Student Organization Web Page. 
* The officers shall be empowered to select a member to sit on the Web Page Submissions Committee. 
* The time and place of regular meetings may be changed by vote of the membership. 

Are we saying that following the by-laws are optional, or are we saying that including by-laws is optional?

Many of the sections in our constitution include a parenthetical subheading like this; was that just copied from the boilerplate? Were we supposed to remove that?

Are the bulleted items actual by-laws, or merely examples of what by-laws might look like? If these are not our by-laws, do we actually have any by-laws anywhere?

/cc @ChadH1971 @asterwolf

[pathawks]

Just trying to make sure that everything is solid before we transition to the new board.

[ChadH1971]

Somehow, I missed out on this discussion. The word "may" should be left out. The bylaws of an organization are an area of the Constitution whereby things that need to be changed periodically are included. The bylaws do not have the same legal weight as the constitution, but are still required to be adhered to. Changes to the Constitution require 2/3 ratification. If the board seeks to make changes to the constitution, they have to seek a motion for the specific change or proposed replacement of the entire constitution and that motion has to receive 2/3 affirmative to pass. If it doesn't pass, the discussion about changing the constitution cannot even begin. If the motion is passed, it would normally be referred to a committee. We have so many things wrong in our constitutions.

[ChadH1971]

I didn't finish answering the question - sorry about that. Those bulleted items are the bylaws of the former AICSC. Regrettably, I was not present for this past year and I have missed out on a lot.

[pathawks]

/cc @AICSC/board

[asterwolf]

I'll leave this one to Chad I guess? I want nothing to do with any changes(clarifications) to the constitution to be honest. 😆

[ChadH1971]

Working a little bit at a time so it's not an overwhelming project that will get bogged down in the voting.