Pitt 4 Square Club

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Name:

4 Square Club

Purpose/Mission Statement:

To create a social organization around the game of 4-square, encouraging members to be physically and socially active, and to incur school spirit.
To reignite the joy and entertainment found in the simple pleasures of the game(s).
To spark a contagious release of the desire for 4-square in our school, in our city and maybe even the whole nation.

Activities:

We will first and foremost hold 4 square games at any time we meet, and will encourage members to have games as often as they desire.
There is also a plan for larger scale games, a possible annual tournament.
There is talk and willing spirit to expand beyond 4-square and branch into other related games, including but not limited to dodgeball, kickball, hacky-sac, and/or potentially red rover. Any and all such games if to be fully incorporated into the club would be amended to this document and would share the same purpose as listed above.

Membership Requirements:

There will be no discrimination (legal or illegal) for membership on any basis, including race, creed, age, sex and nationality, school, college, department, major or grades.
Students and non-students are welcome to join, and non-members are not only welcomed but encouraged.
No hazing or illegal discrimination will be used as a condition of membership in the organization.
All members must promote and keep sportsmanlike conduct in their actions.

Unsportsmanlike conduct includes but is not limited to: swearing, physical contact after the play is dead, kicking the ball intentionally into the road or out of play, name-calling, whining, excessive pouting and/or sabotage

All members must adhere to the rules of the game as stated at each game, and are required to make such rules in fairness when it is within their power to do so.
A membership will be denied or removed:

If any member is discriminating against other members or non-members.
If any member attempts to haze another member or a non-member.
If there is an excessive complaint against an individual for unsportsmanlike conduct.
If offensive behaviors including but not limited to excessive vulgarity, profanity, or purposeful disruptions to meetings or activities continue after given fair warning.

Fair warning procedure: at time of complaint, someone may address the issue strait between member and member. If that fails to correct the issue, then it can be taken to an officer, who then intercedes. If at that time a party is distinctly guilty of offense, they will be given a formal warning. Membership will be removed after 3 formal warnings have been made, for any reasons, not necessarily for the same reason.
Formal warnings must by documented and submitted to file with a summary of offense and the signatures of the officer and the offending member. Failure of a member to sign a warning when given is grounds for removal of membership.

Financial Obligation of Members:

Membership will require NO fees or dues, but the club retains their right to ask for them if deemed necessary or needed for club purposes, and this decision would have to be proposed and ratified by the officers and advisor and would be modified to this document. This decision would not be made retro-active and all members would be informed well in advance of this slight possibility.
There will be an opportunity for members to collectively purchase apparel at which point a fundraiser or individual monies could be requested – but these purchases are NOT required by any means and are purely additional.

Associate membership:

Faculty, staff and alumni of the University and non-University persons may participate in the meetings and activities of the organization but may not vote, hold office, or serve in formal leadership positions.
Associate membership is not only permitted, it is encouraged.
Associate members will be required to be considered active and in good standing with the club.

Active means that there is some desire and participation of the member to be within and part of the organization.
Good standing means that the membership has not been removed due to violation of the guidelines established later in this document.

Membership Procedures:

There is an open door for new membership, and at anytime a non-member can become a member by signing up with an officer who will update the officer member roster, which will be kept on file and made available to all officers.
There is no application procedure, but the applicant must be aware of the policies outlined in this document, which will be made available in its entirety to them at the time of application.
Privileges of active members include, but are not limited to:

Documented association with the organization,
The right to purchase club sanctioned apparel or merchandise
The right to vote in election of officers
The freedom to run for an office
The right to make a complaint against a member for reasons above
The potential for non-official leadership and subsequent recognition

A member will be considered active if he/she participates in the meetings and activities of the club at least once a semester. Otherwise, they will be declared inactive.
Inactive members are reinstated at the time in which they begin to again attend and participate in activities and/or meetings.
Inactive members will be encouraged to reactivate membership and to keep active within the group.

Voting:

Voting privileges are limited to active student members in good standing with the organization
At any issue that requires a member vote (that is, one in which a decision cannot be made by the officers, see below) and elections will follow a blind ballot style vote.
All active members will be allowed (and encouraged) to vote
The date and time of the vote will be made in sufficient time and planning so members can be aware.
Members must be present at the time and place of the vote in order to vote.
Ballots will be tallied by the staff advisor.
The right to vote is lost if a member becomes inactive as defined above, or if they have been removed from membership. If removed from membership for violations, the right to vote (and run for office) is permanently revoked.

Officers:

Members currently enrolled and in good academic and social standing at the University of Pittsburgh are permitted and invited to run for office.
Faculty, staff, alumni and external affiliates may NOT serve as officers.
A minimum of three officers will be held at all times: President, Vice President, and Business manager, while the club holds the right to add but not subtract from that list in an amendment to this document at a later date.
In addition, foreseeing the desire for a website and potential web based applications, the role of webmaster for the officer site will be an office to be held.
The organization holds the right to create new positions or modify or eliminate existing positions as defined below (see decisions)
There is to be expected a proportional amount of officers to members, so that when membership increases, positions for officers should also increase to prevent overworking current officers
Roles of President:

To oversee the formation, growth, general well being, fairness, and adherence to the procedures and attitudes presented in this document of the organization and its members
To maintain the list of members
To be active within the body of the group
To setup and maintain the group community web-based operations, which may take the form of an internet based community
To be a spokesperson for the organization to outsiders
To keep members informed of changes and or additions to organization policies, procedures, and organization documents
To encourage members and non-members alike in the purpose and mission of the organization
To keep in order all the documents of the organization (hereafter referred to as the file)

Role of Vice President:

To aide the president in his listed responsibilities
To make arrangements for group gatherings as needed
To be a contact point if the president is unavailable
To be capable of leading and organizing events that will come up

Role of Business manager:

To be in charge of all monetary aspects of the organization
To lead fundraisers if/when they are needed
To ensure proper use and allocation of funds for the purposes of the organization

Role of Public Relations Officer:

To spread the word about the organization
To organize recruitment events
To create and distribute publications

Role of Webmaster:

To start and maintain an official website for the organization
To keep the site in working order and have it functioning as best as possible
Aide in the streamlining of data within group, possibly via forums, or email contacts, or suggestion/message boards or another avenue

Decisions & non-election issues:

The president, vice president, and business manager will work closely on most aspects and will collaborate as a unit to make decisions for the organization
Any policy change or amendment to this document or other organization document must be signed off on unanimously by the president, vice president, and business manager.
If a unanimous decision cannot be reached, it will reside on a majority vote (51%) of the members at a meeting held for that purpose.

Each officer gets a single vote within that issue.
The staff advisor will oversee this vote and count the ballots and be responsible for announcing the resolution in a timely manner.

Charter Officers:

The charter president will be assigned as Justin Keogh.
The charter webmaster will be assigned as Don Koenig II.
The charter vice president will be assigned as Mark Szymecki
The charter business manager will be assigned as Ashley Leonzio
The charter public relations will be assigned as Michael Daloni

Running for office:

At the beginning (first 2 weeks) of each semester, a member in good standing may run for an office.
He must announce his/her intention to do so within the first 2 weeks of the semester, and a group meeting will be held, with each new running candidate and the current officer for the position in question may address the members before the vote.
There will be only one voting session for offices per term.
Each member (and officer) gets one vote and it will be tallied by the staff advisor, the winner being the one who holds the majority vote (>51%).
There will not be mandatory elections, if there are no members who wish to challenge a current officer for their title, the officer will remain in their position.

Terms of office:

A term in office lasts indefinitely until the officer:

Resigns, is removed, becomes unassociated with the University, becomes inactive, or losses an election when a member runs for the office as defined above.

Removal of office:

Removal can be done by resignation, loss of election, or a majority vote on the issue when necessitated by poor conduct or lack of adherence to position guidelines.
Resignation must coincide with the beginning of a semester and with proper notice of a month’s time so proper notifications to the members may be made.
If an officer fails to meet the expectations of office, the other officers may bring the issue to a vote for the members to decide.
If the vote is against the officer, a new officer will be assigned or volunteered to replace as temporary until the next semester’s elections.
If the vote is in favor of the officer, he/she remains in office with no complications.

Vacancies:

Vacant positions, if encountered, will be filled with a person who voluntarily takes the responsibilities of office and is decided upon by the remaining officers
A replacement officer will hold the office as defined for any officer, but with the minimum time that is from the date they enter until the beginning of the next semester

Election of officers:

(1) Nomination:

a. Any member may nominate himself and run for office at the beginning of each new semester

b. This must be submitted in writing to the advisor within the first 2 weeks of the semester

(2) Eligibility for running

a. A member must be active, and have no (0) official warning imposed upon him for misconduct

(3) Process

a. A large body meeting will be held if a candidate wishes to run for an office.

b. The vote will be a blind ballot, each member (and officer) getting a single vote

c. The votes will be tallied by the staff advisor

d. The advisor must give the results within one (1) week of the vote itself

(4) Eligibility for voting

a. All active members and officers can vote

(5) Vote required

a. A 51% or greater majority vote from voting members will make for a winner

(6) An officer CANNOT hold more than one position

(7) Absentee and proxy ballots will NOT be given

Committees:

There are no defined committees at this point in time
When there becomes a need for committees, they will be compromised of volunteering active members
At the birth of a committee the officers and the members of the committee must draw up a purpose and goal for the committee and agree on how they will run the committee in order to achieve said goal, it must be signed by members of the committee and the officers
Committees will be established by the officers when deemed necessary
They will be terminated when the goal has been met, or it becomes evident that it cannot be met
The officers must unanimously agree to start and terminate a committee and there must be documentation for each decision with signature of the officers

Meetings:

The president will act as chairperson for the meetings and will be responsible for keeping order in and throughout the meeting

Also he/she will have the ability to conclude the meeting at a give time if it is deemed necessary
He/she will be responsible for facilitating discussion on the issues at hand and clarifying the resolutions as they are made

All members are invited to attend meetings
A meeting will start with a definition of purpose for the meeting and will adhere to that purpose and conclude when said purpose is achieved
Meetings will be called by the officers for any issue that requires voting including elections
Notice will be made to members via email and through the website, with 2 weeks notice
The officers will be responsible for conducting and approving the business in a meeting
The staff advisor must be in attendance for any meeting that will require a vote
There shall be at least one (1) official meeting each semester, even if there is no one running for office.
There will be a scribe designated for each meeting

The scribe shall take minutes and make them available for file
He/she will also verbally confirm when a consensus or decision is made

Finances:

The monies allocated to the organization must be spent within reason in the pursuit/fulfillment of the purpose and mission of the organization.
ALL spending must be approved unanimously by the officers with signatures and documentation on file
The Business manager will be responsible for keeping a log of all activity and uses of funds.

Liability:

All players will sign a waiver dismissing the organization, the university, and members of any liability for injury incurred during play
The signed waivers will be held on record by the business manager and he/she will be responsible for ensuring that new members have signed said waiver.

Advisor:

The advisor will serve as a guide and liaison for the organization and will work closely with the officers of the group
The advisor is encourage to participate in the activities of the organization
The advisor has the authority to give official warnings to members if necessitated as described earlier

External affiliations:

There are no current affiliations
Affiliations are welcomed, but must be ratified by the officers and the advisors and documentation must be provided with their signatures to have on file

By- Laws:

The following are the most basic rules of 4 square that must be met when the game is played:

The player in the #4 square shall be known as King or Queen by default, but may require members to address him/her in a manner they specify
The King/Queen has the authority and responsibility for deciding any issue (related to rules of engagement) that comes up during play
The King/Queen has the ability to make any (reasonable) rule before they serve and it stands as decree
The serve must always be underhand and bounced first in the #4 square
Any violation of a rule (spoken or unspoken) results in being eliminated in play and returning to the end of the line
A questionable play will result in discussion and consensus of the members playing and those watching
If no rules are stated, it is assumed that a double bounce, a double hit, and out of bounds hit, or unsportsmanlike conduct will result in losing one’s square and returning to the end of the line
In consensus cannot be formed a “redo” is called and the play is repeated
Additional rules made by the King/Queen may not capitalize upon any specific hindrance of a specific member

Other by-laws can be added with documentation and consensus of the officers

Amendments:

Any and all amendments must be added with signature of the officers in unanimous agreement or following a group vote on an issue.
They will be added to this document and made available to the members and will be kept on file

Signed: Justin Keogh _____________________ Jill Harvey ______________________

Date:

Pitt 4-Square Club