Tech Squares Standing Policies

Standing Policy 1. Adopting and Amending Standing Policies

Adopted Spring 2015. To be reviewed Fall 2018.

Section 1. Standing policies may be adopted or amended by majority vote of the club. Proposed policies or amendments must be submitted to the club at least two weeks prior to being voted on. Changes to the amendments can be made during those two weeks, including at the meeting, so long as the changes preserve the essential nature of the amendment.

Section 2. Standing policies may be adopted or amended by majority vote of the EC. The EC shall inform the club of any such changes it makes to the standing policies, and no changes shall take effect until two weeks after said notification. Upon petition by five voting dancers of the club, or majority vote of the EC, any EC change shall be delayed until addressed at a club meeting. Alternatively, the EC may choose to discard any change rather than bringing it to club vote.

Section 3. Each standing policy shall have a date by which it will be reviewed. Unless otherwise specified, policies shall be reviewed by the end of the third fall semester after adoption or re-approval.

Section 4. For each standing policy, early in the semester when it will be reviewed, the EC shall publicize and hold an open EC meeting to discuss the policy and any needed amendments. The EC shall decide whether to re-approve it (possibly with amendments), remove it, or refer it to the club for further discussion.

Standing Policy 2. Club Level

Adopted Spring 2015. To be reviewed Fall 2020.

Section 1. The club level shall be the CALLERLAB Plus program.

Standing Policy 3. Membership

Adopted Spring 2015. To be reviewed Fall 2020.

Section 1. At its discretion, the Executive Committee may grant club dancer status to prospective club dancers outside the class process. Such prospective club dancers must dance club level proficiently and have attended at least four of fifteen consecutive weekly dances.

Section 2. Club dancer status does not expire, though a club dancer may relinquish the status, and it may be revoked per Standing Policy 8.

Standing Policy 4. Elections and Appointments

Adopted Spring 2015. To be reviewed Fall 2020.

Section 1. Elections

Section 1.A. The elected positions shall be elected in the order in which the offices are mentioned in Article VII of the constitution.

Section 1.B. Approval voting shall be used.

Section 1.C. For each position,

• Each candidate shall have a chance to state a platform and answer questions.
• The club shall have an opportunity to discuss in private, including for uncontested positions.
• The club may ask individual candidates questions in private.
• To be elected, a candidate must receive approval from at least a one-half vote.

Section 1.D. Candidates must accept their nomination to run. Candidates should be present for the election meeting if possible but are not required to be. Candidates are encouraged to make themselves available to answer questions if they cannot attend in person.

Section 1.E. Candidates present for the election may vote by written ballot once the club has completed asking all questions, and their votes shall be tallied with the rest of the votes.

Section 2. Appointments

Section 2.A. At any time, the Executive Committee may appoint additional, non-EC coordinators to assist with running the club, including but not limited to any required by the constitution or standing policies.

Section 2.B. The EC shall solicit suggestions from the club for each appointed coordinator position at least once each year, around the beginning of their term.

Section 2.C. Within a month of taking office, the incoming EC shall select and install a slate of appointed coordinators. The EC is encouraged to select their appointed coordinators before taking office, so that all coordinators (EC and appointed) can take office simultaneously.

Standing Policy 5. Meetings

Adopted Spring 2015. To be reviewed Fall 2020.

Section 1. Executive Committee

Section 1.A. Executive Committee members shall attend Executive Committee meetings.

Section 1.B. Executive Committee meetings shall be announced to the Executive Committee members at least 24 hours in advance.

Section 1.C. Meetings shall be open to the club except when sensitive or confidential information will be discussed. Open meetings shall be announced to the club in advance.

Section 1.D. Quorum shall be a majority of the EC.

Section 2. Club Meetings

Section 2.A. Club dancers must be present to vote. Voting proxies and written absentee ballots are not allowed at club meetings. However, candidates present for their election may vote by written ballot, as described in Standing Policy 4.

Section 2.B. Club meetings shall be announced to the club two weeks in advance. In case of cancelled dances or lack of quorum, the meeting may be rescheduled with at least five days notice.

Section 2.C. Club meetings may be called by the EC, or by petition of five voting dancers.

Section 2.D. Upon petition of five voting dancers, the EC shall put requested items on the agenda for the next club meeting and announce them appropriately.

Standing Policy 6. Class

Adopted Spring 2015. To be reviewed Fall 2020.

Section 1. The class shall be open to anyone, except that the EC may, at its discretion and for up to one class per year, limit the class to MIT students only.

Section 2. The Class Coordinator, after notifying the EC, may remove people from the class if they are interfering with the class or preventing other class members from learning.

Section 3. The EC must approve the list of class graduates. The Class Coordinator shall provide the EC with a list of class members, and provide a recommendation of which should graduate, which should not, and which deserve discussion.

Section 4. A class member must dance club level or be expected to dance club level soon to graduate.

Section 5. The class coordinator and up to three class assistants they designate may receive free subscriptions for the term the class is in session. Each person receiving a free subscription must be missing at least half of the club tips due to their service on the class committee. The class coordinator must inform the EC and SquaresDB director who should receive free subscriptions.

Standing Policy 7. Duties

Adopted Spring 2015. To be reviewed Fall 2019.

Section 1. All coordinators may delegate tasks and appoint assistants, but are responsible for ensuring that all duties are handled, either by the coordinators themselves or their delegates.

Section 2. Elected officers

Section 2.A. The President shall

• be responsible for all club operations
• oversee all other coordinators
• call and chair meetings of the club and the Executive Committee
• be a member of all committees
• appoint temporary coordinators as needed
• act as a liaison with the ASA and other outside bodies

Section 2.B. The Treasurer shall

• be responsible for the club's financial transactions
• ensure that gate fees and other accounts receivable are collected and deposited
• ensure that caller fees and other accounts payable are disbursed
• keep financial records of the club
• report annually to the club on the financial status of the club

Section 2.C. The Class Coordinator shall

• organize the class
• ensure that admission fees from class members are collected and deposited
• take attendance of class members
• maintain lists of calls and definitions taught in the class
• run class meetings
• prepare recommended lists of graduates, as detailed in Standing Policy 6, and ensure the EC votes on them
• order club badges for new graduates and other club dancers
• add new graduates to the club roster and mailing lists
• organize graduation
• act as a liaison between the class and club

Section 2.D. The Publicity Coordinator shall

• publicize the start of Tech Squares classes and other events, as appropriate
• create club-related publicity, as requested by appropriate club coordinators
• manage the club's social media presence
• design and distribute posters
• prepare succinct announcements to be read at weekly dances as needed
• send weekly emails to the club informing them of the location and schedule of dances

Section 3. The deputies will assist each of their elected officers with their respective duties.

Section 4. Appointed Coordinators

Section 4.A. The Booking Coordinator shall

• arrange contracts with callers and cuers for Tech Squares events
• make arrangements for temporary callers or cuers when the club caller or cuer is unavailable
• confirm arrangements with the caller and cuer shortly before each event
• coordinate with the Treasurer to ensure payment of callers and cuers

Section 4.B. The Rooming Coordinator shall reserve rooms and handle event registration for weekly dances and other club functions, and help other club coordinators with rooming-related needs.

Section 4.C. The Rounds Coordinators shall manage the club's round dancing program.

Section 4.D. The Web Coordinator shall update the website as needed.

Section 5. Club Jobs

Section 5.A. Club dances shall be run by the coordinators and other club dancers.

Section 5.B. A schedule assigning duties to these people will be published in advance of each dance. Such duties may include

• opening and setting up the hall
• assisting the caller and cuer, including helping them find the hall
• coordinating refreshments
• taking admission and attendance of club dancers and guests
• making announcements at dances
• tallying money at the end of the dance, and arranging a deposit if needed
• ensuring the hall is closed properly after dances

Section 6. Additional duties

Section 6.A. The EC has several additional collective responsibilities. EC members should assume responsibility for some of these jobs, and the EC should appoint coordinators to do the other jobs.

Section 6.B. These duties include

• Recording secretary: taking minutes at club and Executive Committee meetings
• Corresponding secretary: handling club correspondence
• Club photographer: taking photos and videos of club events and adding them to a club photo gallery
• Saturday dance coordinator: ensuring the smooth functioning of Saturday dances and that all Saturday dance jobs are handled

Standing Policy 8. Safer Dances

Adopted Summer 2016. To be reviewed Fall 2018.

Section 1. The Safer Dances Policy and associated procedures are standing policies of Tech Squares and incorporated by reference.

Section 2. The Photo policy is a standing policy of Tech Squares and incorporated by reference.

Section 3. These policies and procedures may be amended and shall be reviewed as with any other standing policy, as per SP1 “Adopting and Amending Standing Policies”.

Section 4. In addition, the names of the Safer Dances Coordinators in the Safer Dances Policy shall be updated to reflect the people the EC has currently appointed to that office. Such updates do not require additional EC or club approval, beyond that required to appoint them.