ASCIT Bylaws

ARTICLE I--PURPOSE

SECTION 1. The Associated Students of the California Institute of Technology (ASCIT) shall exist for the benefit of undergraduates as given in the Articles of Incorporation. ASCIT shall provide representation for students to the Institute, seek to improve academic and nonacademic aspects of student life, provide universal student resources, support publications, and uphold the Honor System.

ARTICLE II--HONOR SYSTEM

SECTION 1. No member of the Caltech community shall take unfair advantage of any other member of the Caltech community.

SECTION 2. The Honor Code shall be the fundamental principle of conduct of all members of the Corporation. It shall apply to all scholastic activities as well as to relations with other members of the Caltech community.

ARTICLE III--OFFICERS

SECTION 1. CORPORATION OFFICES. The following are the elected general offices of the Corporation. Only registered undergraduates who are Corporation members shall be appointed or elected to an office of the Corporation. Undergraduates must be either a junior or a senior in the fall term immediately following their election to be elected to the offices of President or Vice President.

Office of the President: The President shall be the official representative of the Corporation, and he shall preside at its meetings. He shall be chairman of the Board of Directors and have ultimate responsibility for proper observance of all responsibilities delegated to officers of the Corporation.

Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs: The Vice President shall serve as chairman of the Academics and Research Committee and shall be responsible for improving the academics of the Institute for all undergraduates. He shall work with the Board of Control Chairman towards the continuance and improvement of the academic aspects of the Honor System.

Office of the Vice President of Non-Academic Affairs: The Vice President shall serve as chairman of the Interhouse Committee and shall be responsible for liaison between ASCIT and the various House organizations. He shall work with the Conduct Review Committee Student Chairman towards the continuance and improvement of the non-academic aspects of the Honor System.

Office of the Director of Operations: The Director of Operations shall act as liaison to publications officers and ensure they comply with the Bylaws and policies of the Board of Directors. He shall have direct charge of all Corporation property. He shall act as liaison to and maintain a running file of all ASCIT supported and related student organizations.

Office of the Treasurer: The Treasurer shall receive all money belonging to the Corporation and shall deposit it to the credit of the Corporation. He shall keep a full account of money expended and received and make a report of such account once a term at a regular meeting of the Board of Directors, and at such time as the Board of Directors may desire. The Treasurer must make public the details of the organization funding and reimbursement processes at the beginning of each academic year.

Office of the Director for Social Activities: The Director for Social Activities shall be chairman of the Executive Social Committee. He shall be responsible for the organization of the Corporation's social activities and shall coordinate them with the social activities of the undergraduate Houses.

SECTION 2. APPOINTED OFFICES. The following are the appointed offices of the Corporation.

Office of the Secretary: The Secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of the meetings of the Corporation and the Board of Directors and publicly post the proceedings. He is responsible for publicly posting notices of all meetings of the Corporation. He shall oversee communications and act as custodian to the records, the Corporation seal, and the archive. He shall act as liaison to the Board of Directors for all non-academic committee student representatives. The Secretary shall maintain the official copy of the Bylaws, Resolutions, rulings of the Review Committee, and Board of Directors Policies and Procedures.

SECTION 3. The following elected offices are open to all registered undergraduates: Board of Control Chair, Board of Control Secretary, Conduct Review Committee Student Chair, and Tech Editor(s).

SECTION 4. In the event of the absence of the President, the order of succession for assuming the duties of his office shall follow the order the offices are presented in these Bylaws until the Review Committee has appointed an Acting President.

SECTION 5. If an officer ceases to be a registered undergraduate, he shall retire from that office or may petition the Review Committee for permission to continue with the exception of the offices of Board of Control Chair and Board of Control Secretary who may not petition.

ARTICLE IV--THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

SECTION 1. MEMBERSHIP. The Board of Directors shall consist of the general elected officers of the Corporation. No person shall be elected to more than one office that would entitle him to a seat on the Board of Directors.

SECTION 2. The Board of Directors shall require all officers of the Corporation to comply with its provisions. It shall exercise all other powers in connection with the affairs of the Corporation not delegated to other persons or agencies or reserved for the Corporation itself. The Board of Directors shall have the responsibility to recognize, investigate, and discuss the long-range and immediate problems of the Corporation, and to make use of qualified people both within and outside the Board of Directors.

(a) It shall have the ultimate power to authorize budget assignments and expenditures and shall adopt a general budget at the beginning of each fiscal year. (b) It shall have the power to make awards and appointments as provided in these Bylaws. (c) The Board of Directors may form temporary committees responsible to itself, for the investigation and discussion of Corporation problems. (d) It shall have the power to pass Resolutions concerning policy and operations of the Board of Directors.

SECTION 3. MEETINGS. Meetings of the Board of Directors shall be held at least once a week--except during Rotation, final examinations, and vacations--at the call of the President, or of any two members of the Board of Directors. Four members shall constitute a quorum. Issues concerning the full Board of Directors will take precedence over business concerning only a portion of the Board.

SECTION 4. STAFF. The Board of Directors may choose to create staff positions to assist with the responsibilities of officers of the Corporation, with the approval of the Review Committee. Staff positions must be voted upon in a Board Resolution. The officer receiving assistance is directly responsible for the activity of their staff. All staff positions and resolutions expire upon retirement of the associated officer and cannot be reappointed without reapproval of the position and resolution by the Review Committee.

SECTION 5. RESOLUTIONS. The Board of Directors may pass Resolutions upon approval of four members. The Secretary shall record and make public all Board Resolutions. Resolutions concerning the formation of a committee or office shall require the approval of the Review Committee. Approved staff positions and their duties will be recorded in a Resolution.

SECTION 6. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES. The Board of Directors shall adopt policies and procedures to carry out its duties in accordance with these Bylaws. These policies and procedures may be amended upon approval of four members. Any significant change must be announced to the Corporation at least one week prior to its enactment.

ARTICLE V--COMMITTEES

SECTION 1. The Academics and Research Committee shall consist of the Chairman, a Secretary appointed by the committee, one member elected from each of the houses, and at least two additional members appointed by the committee. The House-elected members shall be elected during second term each year using procedures determined by each House. The Committee shall be responsible to the Board of Directors for actively enhancing the academic and research experience available to undergraduates at the Institute. The Committee shall act as the nominating committee for all academic committees. The Committee Secretary shall serve as liaison to all academic committees.

SECTION 2. The Interhouse Committee is a body entirely separate from the Corporation, existing to fulfill the purpose outlined in its Definition and is derived from the Institute undergraduate residential House System. The Committee represents the members of the Houses to the Board of Directors via the Interhouse Committee Chairman. The Board of Directors defers some of its responsibilities regarding committee appointments, Institute representation, and intramural sports to the Committee.

The Interhouse Committee shall act as the nominating committee for all non-academic Faculty Board committees. All recommendations made by the Committee by three weeks before the end of the academic year will be approved by the Board of Directors. For positions the Interhouse Committee has not made recommendations by that time, the Board of Directors and previous committee representatives may act as the nominating committee at the discretion of the President.

ARTICLE VI--REVIEW COMMITTEE

SECTION 1. MEMBERSHIP. The Review Committee shall have a Chairman selected by the Interhouse Committee and voting members consisting of one ASCIT member from each undergraduate House selected in a manner of the House’s choosing. The members and the chair shall be selected at the beginning of the third term. Members of the Board of Directors may not serve on the Review Committee.

SECTION 2. DUTIES. The Review Committee shall have the power to interpret the Bylaws. The Committee will oversee all Corporation elections and appointments. It shall have the sole power to consider the validity of protests, to reschedule invalidated elections, and to appoint persons to fill vacancies in the Board of Directors. The Committee will verify that the Resolutions and policies and procedures of the Board of Directors are in accordance with the Bylaws and that the Board follows the Bylaws, Resolutions, and policies and procedures. The Committee may initiate the recall election of any officer without petition.

SECTION 3. MEETINGS. The Review Committee shall be held at least once each month of the academic year at the call of the Chairman of the Committee, any two members of the Committee, or a petition of 10% of Corporation members. Rulings shall be made by a two-thirds vote. A record of rulings shall be maintained by the Corporation Secretary.

ARTICLE VII--ELECTIONS, APPOINTMENTS, AND PROCEDURES

SECTION 1. Election Periods. Nominations for CRC CoChair, IHC Chair, BoC Chair, BoC Secretaries, and Tech Editors shall open at 8 A.M on the eighth Monday of second term shall close at 5 P.M. the following Friday. Nominations for all other elected offices shall open at 8 A.M. on the second Monday of third term shall close at 5 P.M. the following Friday. All nominated candidates shall be listed on a ballot and voted upon at elections to occur the second Monday following the closing of nominations for that office.

SECTION 2. Announcements. The Review Committee Chairman shall publish an announcement in the issue of The California Tech immediately preceding the opening of these nominations. Only nominations for current ASCIT members shall be considered valid. The Review Committee Chairman shall compile a list of candidates and confirm that those candidates accept the nomination. The California Tech and Donut shall publish that complete list of nominated candidates and any statements they wish to make. The Review Committee Chairman shall post nomination sheets, announce nominations, and announce when the election is to be held.

SECTION 3. Voting Procedures. Voting shall be conducted online. Voting will take place from 10:00 A.M. to 11:59P.M. on the day of the election. Absentee ballots shall be allowed in the case of a voter who expects to be absent on the day of an election. Absentee ballots must be filed with the Review Committee Chairman no later than the midnight prior to the election. Voting by proxy is prohibited. All ballots shall be cast secretly.

SECTION 4. Voting Privileges. All registered undergraduates may vote for the Board of Control Chairman, the Board of Control Secretary, the Interhouse Committee Chairman, and the Conduct Review Committee Student Chairman. Only members of the Corporation may vote for other elected officers.

A voter may cast no more than one ballot in each election.

SECTION 5. Ballot Procedures. Each voter shall rank the candidates for each office in order of descending preference, with 1 (first Rank) representing the most preferred. Voters may assign any order to any candidate, including ranking candidates equally. Candidates can only be ranked once. The ballot shall consist of:

(a) The word “NO”,
(b) All legally qualified persons who were i) nominated and ii) accepted their nomination,
(c) A write-in box (write-in candidates must be legally qualified candidates)

Candidates are all ranked last by default. Voters cannot abstain from ranking all candidates, but can leave the ballot in its default state; this is equivalent to abstention. Voters may choose to rank candidates equally.

SECTION 6. Counting Procedures. The Review Committee shall conduct the Count Process as follows:

(a) A Ballot shall be defined as a ranked (numbered), ordering of choices among candidates, expressing preference between candidates. Lower numbers express a greater preference, equal numbers express an equal preference. A ballot shall refer to a voter’s list of preferences among candidates for a particular office, even if voters vote on multiple offices simultaneously (If voters are voting on n offices at once, they are submitting n ballots, one per office).

(b) Ballots may only contain legal candidates. Candidates may only be ranked once. Ballots with improper format or non-legal candidates shall be amended as follows:

i) If a candidate is ranked multiple times, the best ranking shall be kept, and all others shall be removed.

ii) Any non-legal candidates shall be removed from the ballot.

-For the purposes of verification, it is preferred for write-ins to be referred to by their names as they appear on Donut. Revcomm may, at their discretion, account for misspellings, nicknames, and preferred names by allocating rankings to the person they believe was written in on the ballot. There is no guarantee of accuracy here, and should the write-in candidate win with reallocated rankings, a protest shall immediately be filed with Revcomm.

(c) Ballots shall be counted, and a winning candidate shall be decided according to the following procedure, commonly referred to as Ranked Pairs Voting:

i) All pairwise combinations of candidates shall be generated. Each combination, of the form (A, B) shall be assigned a strength, which shall be the number of ballots ranking A better than B.

ii) This list of combinations shall be ordered by strength, with highest strengths first.

1) Ties shall be broken by looking at the inverse pairs. The inverse of (A, B) is (B, A). The pair with the weaker inverse shall be ranked first.

2) In cases of irresolvable ties, all permutations of the tie shall be tested, and if all achieve the same result, that result shall be considered valid. If all do not, a protest shall be automatically filed.

3) A graph shall be constructed by proceeding through the list of pairs. Beginning with the strongest pair of the form (A, B), a directed edge shall be drawn from A to B. This is repeated for all pairs which are stronger than their inverse.

-If drawing this edge would create a cycle, the line is not drawn, and the pair is skipped. A cycle is defined as a non-zero length path that exists from a candidate back to itself.

4) The winner shall be the candidate who is the source for the graph, i.e. the candidate who is the start of all edges.

5) If multiple winners are needed, the winning candidate is declared as a winner and stricken from all ballots, and the process is re-run. This is repeated until all the necessary number of winners has been chosen.

(d) If at any point “NO” wins the election, the remaining positions for the office shall remain vacant and the situation will be addressed according to Article VII Section 10.

SECTION 7. Reporting The Review Committee Chairman must release and post the report of the Review Committee no earlier than 11:59 P.M. on the first day following the election and no later than 10:00 A.M. the second day following the election. This report shall be posted on Donut. Numerical results will not be made public until all officers have been elected. All protests must be given in writing either to the President or the Chairman of the Review Committee. If no protests are received prior to 11:59 P.M. on the first day following the election, the report of the Review Committee will be considered valid and final. Upon receipt of a valid protest, all scheduled elections must be postponed pending resolution of the difficulty. All contested election results shall be withheld until all protests for the respective elections have been resolved.

SECTION 8. Installation of CRC CoChair, IHC Chair, BoC Chair, BoC Secretaries, and Tech Editors will take place at the start of 3rd term.

Installation of all remaining Officers will take place 7th Monday of 3rd term.

An oath of office shall be administered by the retiring President to the incoming President which may take the following form: "I do solemnly swear that I will support the Articles of Incorporation of the Associated Students of the California Institute of Technology, Incorporated, and that I will discharge the duties of the office to which I was elected to the best of my ability."

The President shall administer the oath of his choice to the incoming Board of Directors.

SECTION 9. Retirement All general officers of the Corporation shall retire immediately upon the installation of their respective successors.

SECTION 10. Vacancies. In the event of a vacancy of any elected office due to "NO" winning the election, the Review Committee may appoint an acting officer to fill the office and perform all of its duties, provided that the appointed officer was not a candidate in that election.

In the event of a vacancy of any elected office not due to an election decision, the Review Committee may appoint an acting officer to fill the office and perform all of its duties.

The Review Committee shall convene within two weeks of notification of the vacancy to either appoint an acting officer or defer appointment of an acting officer to a special election. A special election to replace an acting officer may be initiated by a petition of 10% of students allowed to vote for that office. If the vacancy resulted from recall of an elected officer, special election to replace the recalled officer occurs automatically. The Review Committee may choose to defer any acting officer appointment to a new special election. During these special elections, standard election procedures shall be followed with the exception that the nominations will be opened on the Wednesday immediately following the deferral decision of the Review Committee or the presentation of the petition to the Review Committee. An individual may have no more than one vote despite performing the duties of more than one Board of Directors office.

In the event of a vacancy of any appointed position, the body with original appointment power may restart their standard appointment decision process.

If an officer finds that they will be unable to perform their duties for five consecutive weeks for any reason other than studying abroad, they must retire or petition the Review Committee for permission to continue their office. Officers who are studying abroad, with the exception of the ASCIT President, ARC Chair, IHC Chair, BoC Chair, BoC Secretaries and CRC chair, may have temporary replacements appointed by the Review Committee. If the ASCIT President, ARC Chair, IHC Chair, BoC Chair, BoC Secretary or CRC chair chooses to study abroad at some point during their term, they must immediately retire from their position and the vacancy will be filled as normal.

SECTION 11. Appointments. The Corporation Secretary shall announce the availability of any open Board of Director appointed offices and publicly post a nomination sheet. Application periods for the appointed offices shall be opened as soon as possible after the first meeting of each new Board of Directors. Application periods shall remain open at least one week.

The Board of Directors shall interview these applicants for appointed offices. The interviews and appointments shall be closed, but the Board of Directors may invite certain individuals to assist with the interview and the selection.

Appointments to these offices shall be made by the Board of Directors no later than two weeks after the application period for those offices are closed.

All appointed positions, regardless of what body has the power to appoint, must have a nomination sheet posted for at least 3 days.

SECTION 12. Non-election votes. For non-election votes, the winning proposal must receive an absolute majority of votes. Absolute majority is defined as follows:

(a) In votes requiring a simple majority, absolute majority shall be defined as half the number of correctly-cast non-abstaining votes. (b) In votes requiring a two-thirds (2/3) majority, absolute majority shall be defined as two-thirds (2/3) of the number of correctly-cast non-abstaining votes.

ARTICLE VIII--RECALL

SECTION 1. Any elected officer may be recalled in a special election. A special election shall be held upon presentation of a petition bearing the signatures of twenty percent (20%) of those eligible to vote for the office or by request of the Review Committee. Signatures will be valid only if the petition was signed not more than seven days before it was submitted to the Board. On the question of whether or not the officer shall be recalled, an affirmative vote from two-thirds (2/3) of the voters shall suffice to remove him from that office; otherwise he shall continue.

SECTION 2. Any Board of Director appointed officer may be recalled by a two-thirds vote of the Board of Directors.

SECTION 3. In the event of a successful recall of an elected officer, nominations will open the Wednesday immediately following the removal of the ejected officer and a special election following standard elections procedures will be held within two weeks. The successor will take office immediately upon election.

In the event of a successful recall of an appointed officer, applications for the office will open immediately and the standard appointment decision process will be concluded within two weeks.

SECTION 4. Any appointed committee member may be recalled by a two-thirds vote of the body with the corresponding appointment power.

ARTICLE IX--FISCAL

SECTION 1. DUES. The Corporation dues shall be payable on registration day of each term at the rate given in the schedule below (effective school year 2012-13):

Fall: $30.00 Winter: $30.00 Spring: $30.00 Total: $90.00

Dues for each term shall be non-refundable after add day of said term. Of the dues, 10% each term shall be for a subscription to The California Tech.

SECTION 2. BUDGET. Upon entering office, the new Board of Directors shall adopt a budget to govern all Corporation expenditures for the following fiscal year.

SECTION 3. AUDIT. All the books of account of the Corporation including those of the Big T and The California Tech shall be submitted by the Treasurer to a certified public accountant at the end of each fiscal year for auditing. The fiscal year shall begin on October 1st and end on September 30th. The audit shall cover the entire fiscal year concerned, including all checks and bank statements, purchase orders, bills, and receipts.

SECTION 4. CHECKS. The President and Treasurer shall have the power to sign the checks of the Corporation.

SECTION 5. BIG T ASSESSMENT. Each Corporation member will be assessed fifty-seven dollars ($57) for the Big T, payable on the days of registration at the rate of nineteen dollars ($19) per term. A member withdrawing before the end of third term may either receive a refund for installments paid, or complete the payments and receive an annual. Before the end of third term, a member who does not wish to receive a copy may, upon written request to the Business Manager of the Big T, receive a refund of any installments paid toward that year's book.

ARTICLE X--PUBLICATIONS

SECTION 1. The official publications of this Corporation are:

(a) California Tech, a newspaper published at least once a week, except during finals and vacations,
(b) Big T, an annual published once a year,
(c) little t, a student handbook published once a year,
(d) Totem, a literary art anthology published once a year,
(e) Donut, a website.

SECTION 2. The officers of these publications are:

(a) for The California Tech: Editor(s), elected by the Corporation; and Business Manager, appointed by the Board of Directors.
(b) for the Big T: Editor(s) and Business Manager, both appointed by the Board of Directors.
(c) for the little t: Editor(s) and Business Manager, both appointed by the Board of Directors.
(d) for Totem: Editor(s), appointed by the Board of Directors.
(e) for Donut: A Development Team, approved by the Board of Directors.

SECTION 3. The officers of each publication are solely responsible to the Board of Directors for that publication's success. The Board of Directors may make recommendations to the publication's officers in regard to policy or finances. The Board of Directors is ultimately responsible for the circulation and finances of the publications. The Director of Operations shall be responsible for maintaining communication with publication officers on the progress of publications.

SECTION 4. The Editor(s) of each publication is responsible for the selection and preparation of all content of that publication exclusive of advertising material. He is responsible for meeting deadlines agreed upon with printers or other contractors. His responsibilities terminate after the publication is printed.

SECTION 5. The Business Manager of each publication is responsible for all funds belonging to that publication. The Business Manager is the only one empowered to transact business in the name of a publication. His responsibilities terminate after distribution of the publication, invoicing of all advertising and receivables, payment of outstanding bills, preparation of adequate financial records, and, in the case of the Big T and the little t, the collection of revenues from advertising and other sources. If no Business Manager is appointed for the publication, these responsibilities are also those of the Editor(s).

SECTION 6. Receiving ASCIT funding is contingent upon the following conditions. All publications must be completed and distributed to students in a timely manner. The Tech shall publish ASCIT minutes, the Interhouse Committee Rotation schedule, and the candidates list and statements for ASCIT elections. The Articles of Incorporation, these Bylaws, Board of Director Resolutions, and rulings of the Review Committee shall be kept current on the Donut website and published each year in the little t in completely amended form. Donut must also make posting announcements, minutes, and general information convenient for Board members. The Review Committee shall mediate disputes between the publication officers and the Board.

ARTICLE XI--PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERSHIP

SECTION 1. All members of the Corporation shall be entitled to:
(a) The right to hold a Corporation office, in accordance with the provisions of these bylaws.
(b) One vote in each corporate election.
(c) One subscription to all Corporation publications.

ARTICLE XII--CORPORATION MEETINGS

SECTION 1. Corporation meetings may be called at any time by the President or the Board. Twenty-five percent of the membership shall constitute a quorum.

SECTION 2. The Corporation may exercise all powers consistent with the Articles of Incorporation and these Bylaws. In all questions of procedure for which provisions are not made in the Bylaws, the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall determine the rule.

ARTICLE XIII--BOARD OF CONTROL

SECTION 1. Purpose and Duties. The Board of Control (BoC) shall review all cases of alleged academic violations of the Honor Code and shall make recommendations to the Dean of Students for action in those cases in which a violation is found to have been committed.

SECTION 2. Membership. The activities of the BoC will be led and reviewed by the BoC Chair. The two BoC Secretaries shall assist the Chairman in investigation and case organization. The voting members of the Board shall consist of: two members elected from each of the undergraduate houses, up to five at-large members appointed by the BoC, and one member elected by students outside of the Houses.

(a) All BoC members shall serve a term of one year. The BoC representatives shall be selected as follows:

(i) House representatives shall be elected each year by vote of the members of that House. Voting shall be open to all registered undergraduates who are members of the House and who have not yet voted in another election for BoC representative. A candidate may run in any House, but students may only vote in one House. All representatives must be elected before the eighth week of second term.

(ii) At-large representatives shall be appointed each year by the newly elected Board members before the end of second term.

(iii) The election for the off-campus representative shall be run by the Review Committee before the beginning of third term. Elections will be announced and conducted as specified in Article VII. Registered undergraduates who did not vote in an election for House representative may vote for the off-campus representative.

(b) If a BoC member fails to register or takes a leave of absence at any time during his term of office, said member shall retire from that office immediately. Only registered undergraduates may serve on a case.

(c) If a BoC member retires before his term of office expires, he shall be replaced in the manner of his selection. The new representative shall serve for the remainder of the term.

(d) All BoC representatives must attend a formal training before they may serve on a case. Training shall be conducted by the Chairman and Secretaries with assistance from the Dean of Students and former Board representatives. Training should occur at the end of second term or the beginning of third term such that new representatives can begin hearing cases promptly. The training shall be open to any member of the Caltech community at the discretion of the Chairman and the Dean.

SECTION 3. Rules of Procedure.

(a) Reporting. Violations of the Honor System may be brought to the attention of the Board by any member of the Caltech community.

(b) Preliminary Investigation. When a suspected violation of the Honor System is reported, two members of the Board will conduct a preliminary investigation. The Chairman and one of the Secretaries will conduct this investigation unless one or both of them must excuse themselves, in which case the Chairman shall appoint suitable replacements. The preliminary investigation will be conducted as follows:

(i) The investigators will require any persons involved to discuss their knowledge of information concerning the case and will receive copies of all relevant evidence.

(ii) The investigators will determine whether the case will be brought to a full hearing of the Board or should be dismissed.

(iii) All potential defendants will be informed of all potential violations cited in the initial report. In addition, they will be informed of any current or former Board members or House presidents who may hear the case.

(iv) The defendant may select an assistant representative who may be present at the preliminary meeting and any future meetings. The defendant may consult this representative for explanations of Board proceedings and for information regarding the resources available to him. The assistant representative must be selected from a list of current or former representatives or House presidents and approved by the Chairman.

(c) Hearing.

(i) If a defendant feels that particular Board members are unable to render an unbiased judgment, a request may be made to the Chairman or the Dean of Students before the start of the full Board hearing that those members not sit on the case.

(ii) If a Board member feels unable to render an unbiased judgment in a particular case, that member should disqualify himself. Furthermore, no member of the Board shall sit in judgment of his own case. The preliminary investigators shall not have a vote on the Board.

(iii) No Board representative shall conduct any investigation outside a hearing except at the instruction of the Chairman.

(iv) Any person appearing before the Board at a hearing will be informed of the reasons for their presence.

(v) At any point before or during the hearing the defendant may select a silent witness with whom he may speak about his case. The silent witness may accompany him to any future meetings with the BoC. This silent witness must be a member of the Caltech community and approved by the Chairman. Additional silent witnesses may be granted only at the discretion of the Chair and the Dean of Students.

(vi) A defendant may be accompanied by an assistant representative and a silent witness. During the hearing, the defendant may request an aside with the assistant representative and may speak with him at any time for clarification or explanation. All those accompanying him to a BoC hearing must not disrupt or interfere with the proceedings of the Board in any way, and shall be immediately removed at the Chair's discretion if such disruption occurs.

(vii) Seven (7) voting members of the Board shall constitute a quorum. If needed to maintain a full quorum of the Board, the Board shall reserve the right to ask a past BoC representative or a current House president to serve on a case, contingent on a three-fourths (3/4) vote of the remaining voting Board members. All those serving on a case are bound to secrecy.

(viii) In case of absence or disability of the Chairman, the Board shall select a temporary chairman from among their number who, while acting as Chairman, shall not have a vote. In the case of absence of the Secretary, the Chairman shall appoint a temporary Secretary, who shall not have a vote.

(ix) A defendant attending a hearing of the full Board may ask the Chairman at any time for permission to hold a short, private recess with a Board member of the defendant's choice. Any new information pertaining to the case revealed in this conference will be shared with the full Board. The member shall remain able to vote on the case.

(x) OATH. The oath taken by all persons appearing before the Board of Control shall be: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

(d) Decisions.

(i) When a case is brought to a hearing of the full Board, the Board will make three decisions:

1. Conviction: Whether or not an Honor System violation has been committed. 2. Nullification: How to nullify the advantage that has been taken. 3. Protection: How to protect the Caltech Community from future violations.

(ii) Before the Board votes to convict, the defendant will be shown all physical evidence pertaining to his case and given a reasonable opportunity to respond.

(iii) Before a vote for conviction or dismissal, all aspects of the case must be thoroughly considered. A three-fourths (3/4) vote of voting members of the Board present shall be necessary for any decision of the Board except case dismissal or the tabling of a case, which shall both require a simple majority.

(iv) No decision of a previous Board shall be revoked by any Board, unless the Board is convinced that new evidence or changed conditions change the status of the original case.

(v) In cases resulting in conviction, the Chairman and Secretary must make clear to the defendant the Board's basis for its decisions, including but not limited to the main line of reasoning that led to conviction.

(e) Confidentiality.

(i) All those appearing before the Board, and the Board itself, are expected to maintain absolute secrecy regarding case meetings of the BoC. Divulgence of any of the proceedings shall be considered a violation of the Honor System.

(ii) Should the defendant wish to discuss the issues involved in his case with others, after his case has been completed, he may do so at any time, provided no portion of the case that concerns other defendants is made public without the permission of those persons. However, once the defendant initiates discussion, witnesses in the case are no longer bound to secrecy.

(iii) If, in a particular case, the Board shall deem it wise to make known the proceedings of the Board, the Chairman shall be empowered to, upon resolution of the Board, to convey such information without disclosing the names or identities of any persons involved.

(iv) When a case is reported to the Board by some member of the Community, the Board will inform this member that the case is being considered. If any grade changes or status changes are necessary, the appropriate faculty member or administrator will be notified of the need for such changes at the close of the case.

(f) Records. Records of the proceedings of the Board are to be kept by the Secretaries.

(i) The Chairman and the Secretaries shall have the sole power to access the BoC records and shall do so only on official business of the Board.

(ii) The official minutes of proceedings resulting in convictions shall include the names of all persons concerned, the decisions reached by the Board with corresponding vote tallies, a description of any previous convictions, as well as the names of the members of the Board present.

(g) Collaboration with other bodies.

(i) The BoC may collaborate with the Graduate Review Board (GRB), the Dean of Students, the Director of Residence Life, and the Conduct Review Committee.

(ii) If a case involves both a undergraduate and graduate defendant, the Chairman and Secretary may conduct the preliminary investigation with the Chairman and Secretary of the GRB. The Chairman and Secretary of the GRB may sit in on the Board hearing for the case and shall not have a vote. The GRB shall have access to the records for this case.

(h) Review and Appeals.

(i) The Dean of Students will review all cases resulting in conviction conducted by the Board of Control. The Dean reserves the right to call for a reinvestigation of any case resulting in conviction upon suspicion of bias, incomplete information, or if additional relevant evidence becomes available.

(ii) Persons convicted of an honor code violation by the Board may raise objections to any aspect of the Board’s conviction, nullification and protection decisions for consideration by the Dean, who could make an independent assessment if warranted. The defendant should submit such objections in writing along with any supplementary material to the Dean within 10 days.

(iii) Final decisions for persons convicted of an honor code violation by the Board are made by the Dean, except as possibly modified through point (v) below.

(iv) The Dean shall be consulted in all cases the Board wants to dismiss, whether as a result of the preliminary investigation or a full hearing, without the names or identifying details of any involved persons being revealed. As a result of this consultation, further action by the Board may be agreed upon by the Board and Dean. If this further action leaves the Board’s decision to dismiss unchanged, or if no further action is taken, then the dismissal decision becomes final. Final decisions for persons dismissed of an honor code violation are made by the Board. All finalized dismissals shall be reported to the Dean for the purpose of keeping anonymized statistics.

(v) Cases resulting in leave shall receive a procedural review through the Vice President for Student Affairs.

ARTICLE XIV--CONDUCT REVIEW COMMITTEE

SECTION 1. The position of Conduct Review Committee Student Chairman is not a Corporation office and shall be open to any undergraduate. Procedures for electing the Conduct Review Committee Student Chairman will follow those as outlined in Article VII.

SECTION 2. MEMBERSHIP. The student representatives on the Conduct Review Committee shall consist of the Conduct Review Committee Student Chair, one representative from each of the undergraduate houses, elected by the members of that House, and one member elected by students living outside of the Houses.

(a) The representatives from the Houses shall be elected each year in accordance with the election procedures determined by the House. A candidate may declare his candidacy in any House, but all students shall vote in the House with which they are affiliated at the time of the election. Students not affiliated with any House may register to vote in the House of their choice. Students not registered nor affiliated with a House at the time of the election may not vote.
(b) Students affiliated with more than one House may only vote in one House.
(c) Students living outside the houses and associated off-campus alleys shall be eligible to elect one representative in an annual election organized according to procedures determined by the electors. Eligible students who choose to vote in the election for off-campus Conduct Review Committee Representative may not vote for Conduct Review Committee Representatives in one of the houses.
(d) In the event that a Conduct Review Committee representative from the Houses retires before his term of office expires, the House shall elect a replacement for the remainder of the term of office in accordance with the election procedures determined by the House.

ARTICLE XV--AMENDMENTS

SECTION 1. These bylaws may be amended in the following manner. The amendments may be proposed by official action of the Board of Directors, or by submission to the Board of Directors of the proposed amendment signed by twenty percent (20%) of the members of the Corporation. The President shall then call an election of the Corporation within fifteen (15) days after the proposal of the amendment.

SECTION 2. No Bylaw amendment concerning the Board of Control or the Conduct Review Committee shall be made by any vote restricted to Corporation members. Such amendments may be proposed by official action of the Board of Directors, or by submission to the Board of Directors of the proposed amendment signed by twenty percent (20%) of the registered undergraduate students. The President shall then put the amendment to a vote open to all registered undergraduates within fifteen (15) days after the submission of the amendment.

SECTION 3. Notice of the election and a complete statement of the amendment shall be posted and published at least seven (7) days previous to the election. For passage, an amendment must receive a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote.

ARTICLE XVI--ADOPTION

SECTION 1. These bylaws shall become operative immediately upon passage.