Michigan State University Model United

​Nations Organizational Constitution
Article I: Purpose and Activities
Section 1:    The organization shall be known as Michigan State University Model United Nations, or MSUMUN.
Section 2:    MSUMUN shall seek to provide an educational and social opportunity for members to expand their knowledge of international affairs and global politics, including but not limited to the activities of the United Nations.
Section 3:    The main activity of MSUMUN shall be the sponsorship of annual Model United Nations conferences, known as the Michigan State University Model United Nations conference, provided for organized high school groups and Red Cedar Model United Nations conference provided for organized middle school groups.
Section 4:    The conference shall be paid for through a combination of delegation fees and third-party contributions. The MSUMUN organization shall be not-for-profit.
Section 5:    The conference shall simulate several committees of the United Nations and/or various other international organizations. The group members shall Chair the committees, and delegates shall be high school students from various Model United Nations groups.

Article II: Membership and Staff Structure
Section 1:    Membership in the Staff of MSUMUN is open to all Michigan State University students. In addition, up to 10% of the membership may be designated as volunteers, who can be alumni, students at another institution, or non-students. Volunteers may be Chairs, Assistant Chairs, Crisis Directors, Assistant Crisis Directors, and any other position Secretariat may deem necessary. Volunteers are to follow the same voting restrictions as alumni. MSUMUN will not discriminate on the basis of age, color, gender, gender identity, disability status, height, marital status, national origin, political persuasion, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, or weight. Also, only MSU students may be officers and/or voting members.
Section 2:    The executive board of the organization shall be known as the Secretariat, whose primary purpose shall be the coordination of the annual MSUMUN conference. The presiding officer shall be known as the Secretary-General.
Section 3:    The term of office for the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General shall begin and end with elections of each year. The term of office for the remainder of the Secretariat and all other Staff shall begin at their hiring and end with the close of both conferences and the end of voting procedure. A Secretariat member's duties that extend beyond this term (taxes, following up with attendees, for example) should be completed by the Secretariat member under the supervision of the new Secretary-General.
Section 4:    The remainder of the membership shall consist of Chairs and Assistant Chairs for each committee, Crisis Directors and Assistant Crisis Directors for crisis committees, and conference services Staff, as well as any other positions deemed necessary by the Secretariat.
Section 5:    The Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General shall be elected by a simple majority vote immediately upon adjournment of the conference. The Election of the Secretary-General shall occur first, immediately followed by the election of the Deputy Secretary-General. Candidates can only run for one position. Candidates for Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General shall be nominated from the current Staff or volunteer roster. In the event of there being no nominations for Deputy Secretary-General, the candidates for Secretary-General shall be automatically nominated for Deputy Secretary-General. An interview process shall select the remaining members of the Secretariat; serving as interviewers shall be the newly elected Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General. The remainder of the Staff will be selected through an interview process conducted by the Secretariat.
  1. A vote shall only be counted if the person is on the Staff roster of MSUMUN and has participated in Staffing the weekend of the conference. The person must also be, at the time of hiring, a student at Michigan State University.
  2. Elections shall be a closed-door event. Only current Staffing members of MSUMUN such as but not limited to: Secretariat, Senior Staff, Junior Staff, Media Team, and Conference Services; are allowed to attend and be granted speaking privileges.
  3. Two moderators will be appointed to run elections by the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General, which will then be approved or changed by the candidates.
  4. Votes shall be tallied by the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General of the outgoing conference, unless either are candidates — in which case, the next in line on Secretariat will assume their duties. Votes shall be affirmative to a specific candidate or no confidence. No confidence ballots shall be used in determining the majority number specifications. The Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General will be joined by two observers, as approved by the candidates, to ensure there is no conflict of interest. The final vote count will be kept confidential. In the event that neither candidate takes majority of an election it shall be the duty of the Secretary-General to arrange an alternate election. If the results of the alternate election yield no majority, the ballots shall be recounted excluding the no confidence ballots to determine the elected candidate.
Section 6:     Duties and responsibilities of each Staff member:
  1. The Secretary-General shall oversee the planning and execution of the annual MSUMUN conference, through the supervision of each ongoing project and each officer of the Secretariat.
  2. The Deputy Secretary-General shall work closely with the Secretary-General, as well as the rest of the Secretariat, in the supervision, planning, and execution of the preparation of the conference.
  3. The Undersecretary-General of Committees shall oversee committees Chairs and Assistant Chairs for general assemblies and specialized committees, train Staff, oversee topic selection and background guides, and address Staff concerns.
  4. The Undersecretary-General of Crisis shall oversee crisis Chairs, Assistant Crisis Chairs, Crisis Directors, and Assistant Crisis Directors for crisis committees, train Staff, oversee topic selection and background guides, and address Staff concerns.
  5. The Undersecretary-General of External Affairs shall publicize and market the conference to a diverse base of high schools, liaison with MSUMUN attendees, and faculty and coordinate the registration process for all delegations.
  6. The Undersecretary-General of Finance shall coordinate the fundraising efforts of the conference, file taxes, and maintain the conference budget, expenditure reports, and financial records, in addition to being the primary manager of MSUMUN expenditures including but not limited to the official MSUMUN checkbook.
  7. The Undersecretary-General of Technology shall coordinate the audio-visual equipment and technological resources needed for the conference, and maintain the organization's website.
  8. The Undersecretary-General of Development will form and maintain strategic partnerships with businesses, non-profits, university administrations, other RSO’s for both financial and other beneficial purposes. The USG of Development will also lead all efforts of financial development and advancement for the organization, as well as manage all catering coordination.
  9. The Secretary-General of Red Cedar Model United Nations will be responsible for facilitating all aspects of the Middle School conference which MSUMUN hosts. Including but not limited to recruiting and maintaining communication between MSUMUN and the middle schools which attend the conference. The Secretary-General of Red Cedar Model United Nations will be empowered to hire up to two people to assist with the preparation and running of Red Cedar Model United Nations. These Assistant Undersecretary-Generals of Red Cedar Model United Nations will not be considered members of Secretariat, but will be considered Senior Staff members of Michigan State University Model United Nations.
  10. The Undersecretary-General of Operations will be responsible for creating and Staffing Outreach Corps in order to facilitate stronger relationships with schools and delegates. Also, Operations will be responsible for training Logistics/Conference Services and ensuring that Staff is well-informed about the logistics the weekend of the Conference.
  11. The Chief of Staff will be responsible for maintaining and facilitating dialogue with all Staff members, including Senior Staff, Junior Staff and general Conference Staff. The Chief of Staff will be tasked with being the main liaison with MSUIRO, providing updates at IRO meetings concerning MSUMUN and general Staff.
  12. The committee and crisis Chairs and Assistant Chairs produce background guides for each committee and assist delegates in the writing of pre-conference position papers, and lead committee debate during the conference.
  13. The Crisis Director and Assistant Crisis Directors oversee the direction of crises, produce content for crisis committees and direct events related to the crisis committees during the conference.
  14. Conference Services Staff provide assistance prior to and during the conference, including, but not limited to, acting as pages, printing documents, and assisting with conference operations.
  15. Any Secretariat member may delegate a specific task or duty for a set period of time to another Secretariat member as long as both members agrees to the terms put forth.
Article III: Operating Procedures:
Section 1:    The Secretariat shall convene for meetings when they deem necessary. All meetings shall be open to the Staff.
Section 2:    Meetings shall be run by the presiding officer, the Secretary-General, or in their absence, the Deputy Secretary-General.
Section 3:    Each of the meetings shall include reports by each member of the Secretariat and a review of the organization's budget.
Section 4:    Upon the dissolution of this organization, assets shall be distributed to the Michigan State University International Relations Organization provided that the organization is exempt under section 501(c)(3) at the time such dissolution takes place.

Article IV: Removal and Replacement of Secretariat Members
Section 1:    A Staff member who fails to effectively perform their duties may be removed or have their voting rights stripped by the decision of the majority of the members of the Secretariat. A Secretariat member who fails to effectively perform their duties can be removed from office by a 2/3 vote of the majority of the remaining members of the Secretariat. During the period between elections and the appointment of the remainder of the Secretariat, neither the Secretary-General nor the Deputy Secretary-General may be removed from office.
Section 2:    In the case of the removal or resignation of the Secretary-General the Deputy Secretary-General shall become the Secretary-General for duration of the MSUMUN Conference season until the regularly held elections.
Section 3:    In the case of the removal or resignation or promotion of the Deputy Secretary-General the position shall be filled via election of a simple majority of Staff and Secretariat.
Section 4:    Should any other member of the Secretariat resign or be removed the position shall be filled via an interview process by the Secretariat.

Article V: Amendments
Section 1:    Any member of the organization may propose amendments at any time, and such proposals must be introduced at the following meeting of the Secretariat. Staff must be notified of the pending amendments at least one week before said amendments are debated and voted on.
Section 2:    Debate on the amendments shall be conducted through moderated caucuses, chaired by the Secretary-General, to debate the merits of the amendments under consideration.
Section 3:     Amendments shall be approved by a two-thirds majority of each the Secretariat and the Senior Staff. An amendment shall not be voted upon unless a quorum of half of Secretariat members and half of the Senior Staff are present for voting procedures.
Section 4:     In the case of March 13-15, 2020 Session of MSUMUN, the current Secretary-General, Monica Pham, and the current Deputy Secretary-General, Anna Lin, are permitted to retain authority of Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General past the election of a new Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General, during which the newly elected Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General will serve in an advisory role, until the date of May 1st, 2020. On this day (May 1st, 2020), the full authority of both offices are transferred to the newly elected Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General.​

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