1 THE CLARION CALL PREAMBLE The Clarion Call exists to provide the college community of Clarion University with regular newspaper coverage of important events and issues through news stories, feature and sports stories, reviews, editorials, letters to the editor, and advertisements. ARTICLE I, THE EXECUTIVE BOARD The Executive Board of The Clarion Call shall have sole and executive authority to formulate both editorial and non-editorial policy for the newspaper. Voting members of the Executive Board shall be Editor-in-Chief, News Editor, Features Editor, Sports Editor, Photography Editor, Advertising Sales Manager, Copy and Design Editor, Business Manager, Advertising Design Manager, Circulation Manager, Managing Editor, and On-Line Editor. The Editor-in-Chief will vote only in the case of a tie. The paid staff positions of The Clarion Call include Editor-in-Chief, News Editor, Features Editor, Sports Editor, Photography Editor, Advertising Sales Manager, Copy and Design Editor, Business Manager, Advertising Design Manager, Circulation Manager, Managing Editor, and On-Line Editor. Each editorial position is for the term of one full school year. This requirement shall be made clear to those seeking office during the electoral process. A contract shall be signed by those parties who become part of the Executive Board. The contract will state the following criteria: the understanding that the position is for a year, a minimum of ten hours of work each week must be provided, each elected member of the Executive Board must attend those executive meetings called by the Editor-in-Chief. ARTICLE II, ELECTIONS Section 1, Election Purpose Every board member must be elected. Any student elected to the Board must serve for the entire academic year unless otherwise decided by the existing Board. An academic year is considered to be the fall and spring semester designated by Clarion University of Pennsylvania, inclusive and in that order. Section 2, Standard Election Procedure Executive Board members shall be elected by a two-thirds majority vote of the Board for the academic year previous to that year in which they are to fill their positions. The election shall take place during the semester in which he/she is to take office, at a time designated as appropriate for training by the Board. At any election, a quorum of 2/3 of Board members is necessary to vote. The Board should discuss the candidates’ qualifications previous to any vote. 2 Section 3, Alternate Elections Procedure If the Board follows the Standard Election Procedure and fails to reach a 2/3 majority vote, then the Board shall vote again at a meeting to be set by the Board for the next convenient day after the original vote. At this meeting, the current Editor-in-Chief will act as moderator. Discussion concerning the election may be presented by Board members. At this time, all members except the Editor-in-Chief shall recast their votes for a candidate. If no 2/3 majority is reached, the Editor-in-Chief shall choose one of the top two vote-garnering candidates to fill the position. Every effort will be made to conform to the electoral guidelines established by the Executive Board for conducting the elections. Section 4, Emergency Elections If a Board position becomes available during the semester because a member cannot fulfill their job, resigns, or is fired, the Board may elect a new member to replace that member. The new member must be elected by the Standard Election Procedure, excluding the academic year requirements. ARTICLE III, THE EXECUTIVE POSITIONS Section 1, The Editor-in-Chief The Editor-in-Chief shall be a Clarion Student and shall be elected to the Board by the procedures in Article II. The Editor-in-Chief shall be elected by a 2/3 majority of the Executive Board of the Scholastic year previous to that year in which he/she is to fill the position. The election shall take place during the semester previous to that semester in which the Editor-in-Chief is to take the office, at a time designated as appropriate for training by the Executive Board. The Editor-in-Chief shall make decisions as to what shall be published and may limit material from publication due to lack of sufficient space or if such material is in violation of the law, or, if in professional opinion of the Editor-inChief the material does not have sufficient news value. He/she shall be responsible for initially informing the Executive Board members of their responsibilities. The Editor-inChief shall be responsible for posting hours and perform many other duties from time to time as they seem necessary and appropriate. The Editor-in-Chief shall be responsible for awarding co-curricular to those communications majors who merit it. Section 2, The News Editor The News Editor shall be elected in like manner to the Editor-in-Chief. The News Editor shall be responsible for recruiting and maintaining a staff of reporters. He/she shall be responsible for editing all news copy submitted for publication (this includes correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation, word usage, and syntax). He/she shall be responsible for making weekly news assignments, which shall be a minimum of ten (10) hours per week, posting office hours and shall perform other duties that he/she may be assigned by the Executive Board and/or the Editor-in-Chief. He/she shall be responsible for awarding co-curricular credit to those communication majors who merit it. 3 Section 3, The Features Editor The Features Editor shall be elected in like manner to the Editor-in-Chief. He/she shall be responsible for recruiting and maintaining a staff of writers, editing all feature copy in like manner to the News Editor, and for changing the feature assignment sheet every week. He/she shall be responsible for coordination of feature stories, generating ideas for assignments to feature writers. The Features Editor will limit such material for publication which is in violation of law. The Feature Editor shall be responsible for posting office hours, which shall be a minimum of ten (10) hours per week, and shall perform other duties that he/she may be assigned by the Executive Board. He/she shall be responsible for awarding co-curricular credit to those communication majors who merit it. Section 4, The Sports Editor The Sports Editor shall be elected in like manner to the Editor-in-Chief. He/she shall be responsible for the coordination of sports news relevant to the college, both intercollegiate and intramural. He/she shall be responsible for the recruiting and maintaining a staff of reports and for assigning sports beats to sports reporters. He/she may limit material from publication which is in violation of the law. He/she shall be responsible for editing all sports copy submitted for publication in like manner to the News Editor, and for changing the sports assigning sheet every week. He/she shall be responsible for posting office hours, which shall be a minimum of ten (10) hours per week, and shall perform other duties that he/she may be assigned by the Executive Board. He/she shall be responsible for awarding co-curricular credit to those communication majors who merit it. Section 5, Advertising Editor The Advertising Editor shall be elected in like manner to the Editor-in-Chief. The Advertising Editor shall be responsible for the design and layout of all advertising obtained for the newspaper. He/she shall be responsible for proofreading advertisements and making necessary corrections. He/she shall have the right to alter advertisements graphically and/or grammatically in the best interest of the advertiser and The Clarion Call. He/she may refuse advertisements for publication that may be in violation of the law, which have been submitted beyond the designated deadline, or which are not in keeping with Call policy. He/she shall be responsible for recruiting and maintaining a staff. He/she shall be responsible for posting office hours, which shall be minimum of ten (10) hours per week, and shall perform other duties that he/she may be assigned by the Executive Board. He/she shall be responsible for awarding co-curricular credit to those communication majors who merit it. Section 6, Photography Editor The Photography Editor shall be elected in like manner to the Editor-in-Chief. He/she shall be responsible for the coordination of photographs relevant to important 4 news, photo essays, sports events and feature stories. He/she shall be responsible for posting office hours, which shall be a minimum of ten (10) hours per week, and shall perform other duties that he/she may be assigned by the Executive Board. He/she shall be responsible for recruiting and maintaining a staff of photographers, and for changing the photo assignment sheet every week. He/ she shall be responsible for awarding cocurricular credit to those communication majors who merit it. Section 7, Copy and Design The Copy and Design Editor shall be elected in like manner to the Editor-inChief. The job of Copy and Design Editor is to ensure accuracy of the newspaper copy in terms of factual content, spelling, grammar, punctuation, style. The Copy and Design Editor is responsible for overall style, tone and texture of The Clarion Call. He/she shall be responsible for recruiting and maintaining a staff. He/she shall be responsible for posting office hours, which shall be a minimum of ten (10) hours per week, and shall perform other duties that he/she may be assigned by the Executive Board. Co-curricular credit will be awarded to those copy and design staff fulfilling the above criteria to the satisfaction of the Editor-in-Chief. Section 8, The Business Manager The Business Manager shall be elected in like manner to the Editor-in-Chief. He/she shall be responsible for such financial management necessary for the function of the newspaper in coordination with the Business Manager of Clarion Students’ Association. The Business Manager is responsible for seeing The Call’s revenues for submitting a monthly statement of financial transaction to the Editor-in-Chief. The Business Manager shall post office hours, which shall be a minimum of ten (10) hours per week, and perform other duties that he/she may be assigned by the Executive Board and/or the Editor-in-Chief. Section 9, Advertising Manager The Advertising Manager shall be elected in like manner to the Editor-in-Chief. He/she shall be responsible for recruiting and maintaining a staff. He/she shall be responsible for the solicitation of advertising, both local, national, display and classifieds for the newspaper and may refuse advertisements for publication that may be in violation of any legal technicalities. He/she shall be responsible for the correct sizing of the advertisements and for the delivery of the correct information to be contained in the ads to the Advertising Editor. The Advertising Manager shall oversee any other revenuegenerating activities and assume responsibility for innovative sales projects. He/she shall post office hours, which shall be a minimum of ten (10) hours per week, and perform other duties that he/she may be assigned by the Executive Board and/or the Editor-inChief. 5 Section 10, The Circulation Manager The Circulation Manager shall be elected in like manner to the Editor-in-Chief. He/she shall be responsible for recruiting and maintaining a staff, delivering copies of The Clarion Call to various academic and administrative offices on campus, mailing copies of The Clarion Call to subscribers, both local and national, and distributing copies at designated sites off-campus. He/she shall be responsible for posting office hours, which shall be a minimum of ten (10) hours per week, and shall perform other duties that may be assigned by the Executive Board. He/she shall be responsible for posting office hours, which shall be a minimum of ten (10) hours per week, and shall perform other duties that he/she may be assigned by the Executive Board. He/ she shall be responsible for awarding co-curricular credit to those communication majors who merit it. ARTICLE IV, DEPARTMENT POSITIONS Section 1, Sales Representative The job of a sales representative entails picking up copies of The Clarion Call every Thursday and distributing these to their various clients. The Clarion Call sales representative should dress and act professionally. The representative should be well informed about every aspect of the price, size, placement request, borders, and type of print that the advertiser requests. Each and every week they should show the client their ad for approval of design and accuracy. There should be an emphasis on getting new clients for The Clarion Call. Section 2, Other Department Positions The Executive Board may create or abolish such positions and/or offices as from time to time seem necessary and appropriate. The Executive Board may do this by twothirds (2/3) vote in favor of such an amendment at a meeting specifically called for such purpose, and after a one week waiting period. These positions receive financial compensation in an amount designated by 2/3 majority vote of the Executive Board. ARTICLE V, THE FACULTY ADVISOR The Faculty Advisor of The Clarion Call must be approved by 2/3 vote of the Executive Board in the scholastic year previous to that year in which he/she is to fill his/her position. The approval may be terminated by 2/3 vote of the Executive Board if the Faculty Advisor should try to exceed the position as advisor. The Faculty Advisor shall act only in an advisory capacity. This advisory capacity shall not be construed to constitute editorial control over copy content. ARTICLE VI, THE STAFF POSITIONS Any student enrolled at Clarion University who wishes to become a member of the staff of The Clarion Call may apply for such a position at The Clarion Call office. 6 He/she will then be assigned to a department of the newspaper where he/she will best function. It shall then be the responsibility of the staff member to attend staff meetings, to attend training sessions, to report to his/her respective editor for assignments every week, and to have these assignments submitted to The Clarion Call office by the deadline designated by the Editor-in-Chief. ARTICLE VI, REMOVAL OF STAFF MEMBERS Any member of The Clarion Call may be removed from his/her position due to neglectful behavior which is habitual and in a manner deserving of blame. In the case of an Executive position, negligence shall be defined as failure to comply with and uphold the responsibilities designated him/her in Article III. In the case of a staff position, negligence shall be defined as failure to comply with and uphold the responsibilities designated in Article V. Such removal must be approved by a secret ballot of 2/3 of the Executive Board; every member of the Executive Board should be present at the meeting specifically called and stated for such purpose. In the event a board member cannot attend, they may vote by proxy. At this meeting, the staff member must be given the chance to defend himself/herself. If the member in question is a member of the Executive Board, he/she has the right to vote. The prosecuting Executive Board must state the defendant’s negligence. Discussion shall take place, after which time a secret ballot vote shall occur. Such a meeting must be announced to the Executive Board and the member in question one (1) week prior to the time of the meeting. ARTICLE VII, LITIGATION OF AMENDMENTS All amendments to this Constitution must be presented in writing to the Editor-inChief. Such amendment(s) shall be discussed for a period of one week, after which time a vote shall be taken by the Executive Board and must be approved by 2/3 majority of the Executive Board. Such amendment(s) shall then be distributed to the general staff. The amendment(s) shall then be distributed to the Student Senate of Clarion University. If no countermanding or restraining order is promulgated by the Student Senate at either of the next two (2) meetings, such amendment(s) shall become effective upon approval by the President of Clarion University and the Vice-President of Student Affairs. 7 AMENDMENTS TO THE CLARION CALL CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT I In the event an Executive Board member is unable to fulfill his/her duties as described in Article II of the Constitution due to illness, personal injury, a transfer of college, or any unforeseen problem that may hinder the production of The Clarion Call, a written letter explaining the reasons for breaking the contract signed at the time of election must be given to the Editor-in-Chief and must be signed by the Advisor. After receipt of notice of resignation, a hearing will be conducted in which the party who wished to be exempt from his/her contract must provide valid evidence to support the wish to resign. The Executive Board will then vote in normal voting procedure, being 2/3 vote and the Editor-in-Chief only voting in case of a tie. AMENDMENT II In the event an Executive Board member is declined resignation, the party will then complete his/her duties as an Executive board member. In the event an Executive Board member is successful in the bid for a resignation, then several steps must be carried out before the one has finished his/her duties at The Clarion Call: (1). The party who wishes to resign must find a replacement for his/her position. (2). The replacement must be trained and be familiar with the job so that he/she may be able to carry out their expected duties as listed in Article II. (3). The incoming Executive Board member must also sign a contract that will be valid for the remainder of the school term year. (4). The Executive Board may oversee the transition between the resigning Executive Board member and his/her successor to ensure they are trained to meet Article II. AMENDMENT III The position of Business Manager is added to Article III, Executive Positions. The Amendment will be Section 11 and shall read: Section 11, Business Manager The Business Manager is responsible for upholding the yearly contract signed by the Student Senate and The Clarion Call in September 1989, which states that The Clarion Call generates ad revenue that does not revert to the Clarion Student Association. The Business Manager will provide a monthly financial statement to the Advisor and the Editor-in-Chief. 8 AMENDMENT IV At the end of the school term, each editor is responsible for training the newly elected Executive Board member. An Executive Board member who wishes to keep his/her position for another term may reapply and be voted on according to The Clarion Call voting procedure. Added October, 1997 AMENDMENT V Position of Managing Editor is added to Article III, Executive Positions. The amendment will be Section 12 and shall read: Section 12, Managing Editor The Managing Editor shall be elected in like manner to the Editor-in-Chief. He/she shall be responsible for coordination and collection of classified ads along with the layout and design of the Classifieds section and may limit material from publication which is in violation of the law. He/she will be responsible for assisting the Editor-inChief, Section Editors, and Managers in relevant situations relating to their positions when necessary. He/she shall oversee any positions of an Executive Board member in the event they are unable to fulfill their duties for a particular time period, and should possess the skills/training necessary to fill in for said Executive Board member. He/she shall be responsible for coordinating or assisting in special projects designated and related to The Clarion Call. AMENDMENT VI Position of On-Line Editor is added to Article III, Executive Positions. The amendment will be Section 13 and shall read: Section 13, The On-Line Editor The On-Line Editor shall be elected in like manner to the Editor-in-Chief. The On-Line Editor shall be responsible for the layout and design of The Clarion Call on-line on the World Wide Web. The On-Line Editor will recruit and maintain a staff that will assist in accomplishing this task. He/she will be responsible for editing the copy to ensure that it is within bounds of the law. He/she shall be responsible for awarding co-curricular credit to those communication majors who merit it. AMENDMENT VII The requirement that a student must serve on the Executive Board for an entire year (Article I, Article II Section 1) may be waived if (1) the student has already served for at least a year, and (2) the student is graduating, or pursuing an internship during the 9 second semester. The student must inform the Executive Board that they plan to serve for only a semester during the application process. Added May, 2005 AMENDMENT VIII In addition to Article II, Elections, the following sections will be added and shall read: Section 5, Secret Ballot Voting During all elections, resignation hearings and removal hearings, for positions on the Executive Board and for Faculty Advisor, the vote will be held through secret ballot and will require a 2/3 majority vote of the Executive Board to pass. Section 6, Quorum For all general meetings of the Executive Board, a quorum shall be six members of the Executive Board. For a vote regarding elections for Executive Board members or Faculty Advisors, or to amend the Constitution, a quorum shall be 2/3 of the Executive Board. Section 7, Voting All motions will be voted on by the Executive Board. A simply majority of quorum (the members present) will pass a motion unless another majority (such as 2/3 of the Executive Board) is indicated elsewhere in this Constitution. The Editor-in-Chief votes only in case of a tie. The Faculty Advisor(s) do not vote. Added November, 2005 AMENDMENT IX The positions of Ad Design Manager, Copy and Design Editor, Circulation Manager and Photo Editor shall be removed from The Clarion Call executive board employment structure. These positions shall be replaced with the positions named in sections 14, 15 and 16 of Article III, Executive Positions. Added April, 2006 AMENDMENT X The positions of Arts and Entertainment Editor, Design and Layout Editor and the Advertising Design and Graphics/Photo Editor shall be added to Article III, Executive Positions. The amendments shall be sections 14, 15 and 16 respectively and shall read: 10 Section 14, the Arts and Entertainment Editor The Arts and Entertainment Editor shall be elected in like manner to the Editorin-Chief. He/she shall be responsible for the coordination of entertainment news relevant to the college. He/she shall be responsible for the recruiting and maintaining a staff of reporters and for assigning stories in relation to events occurring on or around campus. He/she may limit material from publication which is in violation of the law. He/she shall be responsible for editing all entertainment copy submitted for publication in like manner to the News Editor. He/she shall be responsible for posting office hours, which shall be a minimum of five (5) hours per week, and shall perform other duties that he/she may be assigned by the Executive Board. He/she shall be responsible for awarding co-curricular credit to those communication majors who merit it. Section 15, the Design and Layout Editor The Design and Layout Editor shall be elected in like manner to the Editor-inChief. He/she shall be responsible for the coordination of the layout and design of the newspaper. He/she shall be responsible for editing all layout and design content associated with the newspaper. He/she shall be responsible for posting office hours, which shall be a minimum of five (5) hours per week, and shall perform other duties that he/she may be assigned by the Executive Board. He/she shall be responsible for awarding co-curricular credit to those communication majors who merit it. Section 16, the Graphics and Photo Editor The Graphics and Photo Editor shall be elected in like manner to the Editor-inChief. He/she will be responsible for the coordination of the pictures and graphics published in the newspaper. He/she shall be responsible for editing all picture and graphics used. He/she shall be responsible for posting office hours, which shall be a minimum of five (5) hours per week, and shall perform other duties that he/she may be assigned by the Executive Board. He/she shall be responsible for awarding co-curricular credit to those communication majors who merit it. Added April, 2006 AMENDMENT XI The position of Graphics and Photo Editor shall be removed from The Clarion Call executive board employment structure. This position shall be replaced with the positions named in sections 17 and 18 of Article III, Executive Positions. Added February, 2009 AMENDMENT XII 11 The position of Graphics Editor and the position of Photography Editor shall be added to Article III, Executive Positions. The amendments shall be sections 17 and 18 respectively and shall read: Section 17, the Graphics Editor The Graphics Editor shall be elected in like manner to the Editor-in-Chief. He/she shall be responsible for the coordination of all graphics relevant to publication including but not limited to section graphics, info boxes, page design and advertising. He/she shall be responsible for posting office hours, which shall be a minimum of ten (10) hours per week, and shall perform other duties that he/she may be assigned by the Executive Board. He/she shall be responsible for recruiting and maintaining a staff of graphic designers and assigning them graphics for publication. He/She will be responsible for creating all graphics necessary for publication and editing them to print specifications. He/ she shall be responsible for awarding co-curricular credit to those communication majors who merit it. Section 18, the Photography Editor The Photography Editor shall be elected in like manner to the Editor-in-Chief. He/she shall be responsible for the coordination of photographs relevant to important news, photo essays, sports events and feature stories. He/she shall be responsible for posting office hours, which shall be a minimum of ten (10) hours per week, and shall perform other duties that he/she may be assigned by the Executive Board. He/she shall be responsible for recruiting and maintaining a staff of photographers and assigning them photos every publication week. He/She will be responsible for gathering all photos necessary for publication and editing them to print specifications. He/ she shall be responsible for awarding co-curricular credit to those communication majors who merit it. AMENDMENT XIII As listed in Article III, Executive Positions, all editors and staff members listed shall no longer be expected to hold a minimum of ten (10) office hours per week. All editors and staff members as listed in Article III, Executive Positions, will be expected to hold a minimum of five (5) office hours. These office hours may only be completed on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Wednesday office hours must take place before 12 p.m. (noon) to count as official office hours. Office hours are not to be completed after 12 p.m. (noon) on newspaper publication day (Wednesday). Added February, 2009