Constitution Bill 2016
AN ACT to establish a new Constitution for the Open Computing Facility, revise Bylaws in light of the new Constitution, and for connected purposes.
WHEREAS, over the past 27 years the Open Computing Facility has greatly evolved from its original political structure; and
WHEREAS, the OCF’s current constitution does not accurately reflect its actual workings anymore; and
WHEREAS, it is necessary and expedient to revise the Constitution to account for the great recent growth in the size and complexity of the OCF;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED by the Board of Directors and the membership of the Open Computing Facility:
The Board of Directors may select and recall a Faculty Sponsor for the OCF.
Schedule A
We, the computer-using community of the Berkeley campus of the University of California, provide by this Constitution an organization dedicated to the pursuit of obtaining and managing open computing resources. The intent of this organization is to provide an environment where no member of Berkeley's campus community is denied the computer resources they seek. This group's spirit can be traced directly to the former Undergraduate Computing Facility; however, this organization's membership is much more widely open. It is also the intent of this group to appeal to all members of the Berkeley campus community with unsatisfied computing needs and to provide a place for those interested in computing to fully explore that interest. It is the intention of this group that any OCF-sponsored computing facility always be controlled and maintained by an open and inclusive group of students.
This organization shall be called the *Open Computing Facility* and may also be referred to as the *OCF*.
Any UC Berkeley student, faculty or staff member may be an OCF Member. The eligibility of other UC Berkeley affiliated groups shall be subject to the OCF Decision Making Process.
The Board of Directors shall normally be responsible for the creation, implementation and discussion of the majority of OCF actions. Also the Board shall review all of the actions of the General Manager, Site Manager, and their appointees at its discretion.
The Board of Directors shall be the “executive committee” as defined by the ASUC bylaw on ASUC chartered programs.
The General Manager and Site Manager shall be ex officio members of the Board and shall have no more and no less power than any other member of the Board in their capacity as Directors.
All ex officio members of the Board other than General and Site Managers will be non-voting members of the Board, and shall not be considered in computing quorum.
Other Directors shall be appointed and removed as provided for by bylaw.
Quorum consists of 2/3 of the Board of Directors. Quorum must be met at Board meetings for Board votes to be valid.
The only elected offices are General Manager and Site Manager.
It is allowed for two members to jointly hold the offices of General Manager or of Site Manager. In this case, the two officeholders will equally hold the authority and responsibility of their office. Neither of these offices may be jointly held by more than two people.
Only Board members may run for office.
The General Manager and Site Manager shall be elected at each Elections Meeting.
The terms of officers elected at a regular elections meeting shall begin on the first day following the end of the semester in which they were elected. The terms of officers elected at a special elections meeting shall begin immediately upon election.
In both cases their terms shall end after the last day of a Fall or Spring semester, or immediately if they resign or are removed from office by a vote of no confidence.
An officer shall be removed from office if, at a Board Meeting, the Board members pass a vote of no confidence in them. An officer shall not be eligible to preside over a debate concerning a vote of no confidence in themself.
If an elected office becomes vacant, the OCF Decision Making Process shall designate a member to act in that position until the office can be filled by election.
If an elected officer becomes incapable of discharging the powers and duties of their office, the OCF Decision Making Process shall designate a member to act in their position for the duration of the incapacity.
The General Manager is the chief political and executive officer of the OCF and the chair of the Board of Directors.
The Site Manager is the chief system manager of the OCF.
The OCF is formally in session during the Fall Semester and the Spring Semester. The OCF is informally in session between the semesters.
The Board of Directors shall meet to elect officers at its final or penultimate meeting of the Fall and Spring semesters. Elections are exempt from the quorum requirement.
The Elections Meeting shall, in this order,
If an elected office becomes vacant, a special election shall be held at the next Board meeting to elect a replacement, unless a regular election is being held at the next Board meeting.
The election of officers shall be by secret ballot. A simple majority of those casting votes is required. If on the first ballot no candidate receives a simple majority, then there will be a runoff between the top two candidates. The voting will continue until one candidate receives a simple majority. Nominations can take place either at the Board meeting before the election, or two Board meetings before the election. Nominations can only come from Board members, and every nomination requires the approval of one other Board member who is not on the ticket and the approval of the nominated ticket to be placed on the ballot. Self-nominations are allowed. Write-in votes shall not be counted during the election.
All other votes require a simple majority to pass unless otherwise specified.
Only Board members present at a meeting may vote.
The OCF Board of Directors shall have authority over any OCF actions.
The OCF General Manager shall have authority over any OCF actions except where such action conflicts with Article 5.1.
The OCF Site Manager shall have authority over any OCF actions except where such action conflicts with Article 5.1 or 5.2.
The OCF shall not interfere with the rights of members to freedom of speech or freedom of the press, subject to applicable legal regulations.
Any individual who has a grievance with the OCF shall first contact the General Manager who will notify the Board if necessary to resolve it. If an individual is not satisfied with the resolution of their grievance, they must be allowed to present their case at a Board of Directors meeting for further discussion.
All documents that constitute the OCF operating procedures, policies, Board meeting minutes of open sessions, and expenditures must be made publicly available online or upon request.
Individuals' rights of privacy shall not be violated without their consent except when necessary to maintain the functionality of shared services.
OCF members have the right to attend and be appointed to the Board of Directors, subject to reasonable requirements that can be demonstrably justified for an inclusive and open computing facility.
The enumeration in this Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage other rights retained by individuals.
All users of OCF managed facilities shall comply with University of California regulations, including the UC Berkeley Student Conduct Code and any OCF regulations. The OCF reserves the right to deny services to any user who fails to follow any such regulations.
A proposed amendment to the Constitution must be presented and seconded at a Board of Directors meeting at least one week before the meeting at which it is to be voted upon. At the Board meeting where it is voted on, there shall be a discussion period prior to the vote where concerns and comments can be raised. A 2/3 majority of the Board is required for the vote to pass.
Whenever this Constitution is amended, an annotation of the date of ratification shall be added to the beginning of this document and shall be further noted immediately following the new amendment.
Bylaws may be created or modified as needed by the Board of Directors.
The assets of the OCF constitute a continuing trust for the benefit of all members of the Berkeley campus community interested in open computing facilities.
In the event of dissolution, all unspent ASUC funds shall return to the ASUC; all Graduate Assembly funds shall return to the Graduate Assembly. If the OCF is defunct for five (5) or more years, any privately obtained funds (including any funds left in miscellaneous accounts) shall be donated to The Electronic Frontier Foundation.
In the event that the Electronic Frontier Foundation no longer exists or has ceased to be a nonprofit, then the unspent funds shall be donated to the ASUC.