Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- house_documents:constitutions:bower [2025/03/23 17:18] – [Article XXI - House Meals] eo_bower
+++ house_documents:constitutions:bower [2025/09/30 17:21] (current) – Syntax correction eo_bower
@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 ====Article II: Definitions====
   - **A.** ‘Constitution’ shall refer to this document in its entirety.
-  - **B.** ‘Bower House Cooperative,’ ‘Bower House,’ ‘Bower,’ and ‘house’ shall be defined as property number 284227, which is Zoning Designation RM32 and lot number 80.
+  - **B.** ‘Bower House Cooperative,’ ‘Bower House,’ ‘Bower,’ and ‘house’ shall be defined as property number 284227, which is Zoning Designation RM32 and lot number 80. Bower is located at 127 Whitehills Drive, East Lansing, Michigan 48823.
-Bower is located at 127 Whitehills Drive, East Lansing, Michigan 48823.
   - **C.**‘Spartan Housing Cooperative,’ and ‘SHC’ shall refer to the body that owns the Bower House Cooperative.
   - **D.** An ‘member,’ or ‘house member’ is any member currently living in Bower House privy to both of the following conditions:
@@ Line 24: / Line 23: @@
       - **2.** Is occupying their personal living space
   - **E.** A ‘guest’ is anyone staying at Bower House for any length of time without having signed a contract.
-  - **F.** A ‘house meeting’ shall be defined as a congregation of house members assembled to transact business pertaining to the internal operation of Bower House subject to the rules and regulations set forth by this constitution.
+  - **F.** A ‘house meeting’ shall be defined as a congregation of house members assembled to transact business pertaining to the internal operation of Bower House, subject to the rules and regulations set forth by this constitution.
   - **G.** The ‘constitutional addendum,’ or ‘addendum’ will be where passed rules and regulations will be placed. The addendum is not a part of the constitution, but a supplement to it.
   - **H.** The term ‘personal living space’ is defined as the individual room that a member lives in.
   - **I.** A ‘common room’ shall be defined as any room that is not an active member’s personal living space.
   - **J.** An ‘Ecosystem’ is a synthesis of all flora, fauna, and biological processes that interact with and are affected by membership of Bower house.
+  - **K.** ‘Altering substances’ will be defined as alcohol, marijuana, mushrooms, acid, ketamine, or any other scheduled drug, unless prescribed by a legal entity.
 ====Article III: Scope====
@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
   - **C.** This constitution shall supersede and null all previous constitutions initiated by Bower House Cooperative.
   - **D.** This constitution shall supersede any rules or regulations that were implemented under its governance.
-  - **E.** All rules and regulations  made under the governance of this constitution shall be placed in the addendum section of this constitution upon the approval of the active members during a Regular House Meeting.
+  - **E.** All rules and regulations made under the governance of this constitution shall be placed in the addendum section of this constitution upon the approval of the active members during a Regular House Meeting.
 ====Article IV: Governance====
-  - **A.** All rules and regulations imposed upon the members and guests of Bower House shall be adopted at house meetings or be stated within this constitution.
+  - **A.** All rules and regulations imposed upon the members and guests of Bower House shall be adopted at house meetings or stated within this constitution.
 ====Article V – Membership====
@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
   - **F.** New members will be charged a membership fee and a house share. The share will be returned to a member in a timely manner after they no longer reside in the House. An account will be considered closed when all costs are paid, including fines, rent, and room damages, and when the member’s room and/or house keys have been returned. Any outstanding debts will be subtracted from the house share.
   - **G.** Members are required to sign full contracts. Members who join after the beginning of the school year will pay the complete membership fee, but other charges will be made proportional to the amount of time left in the year.
-    - 1. Seniority. If a member of the Haus would like to move rooms during the contract cycle, it will be based on seniority of the signed contract date of the specific member(s).
+    - 1. All members are required to participate in the primary communication method of the House.
+    - 2. Seniority. If a member of the Haus would like to move rooms during the contract cycle, it will be based on seniority of the signed contract date of the specific member(s).
   - **H.** If a member of the Haus terminates their contract, they are responsible for advertising their vacancy to ensure the spot gets filled.
     - . Members who buy out of their contract are still responsible for three months’ carrying charges, in accordance with SHC policy. However, their house charges may be waived through a quorum house vote. Whether to waive these charges should be based on the member’s effort to fill their vacancy.
@@ Line 69: / Line 70: @@
       - **4.** Will have the ability to vote on any business that concerns Bower House.
       - **5.** Decisions at a house meeting will pass by quorum as defined above, unless otherwise described in this constitution.
-      - **6.** An Emergency House Meeting shall be a house meeting composed of members subject to the following:
+      - **6.** Attending members may not be intoxicated during a house meeting.
-          - **i.** A minimum of 18 hours notice will be given to all members. When called, a brief agenda must be announced
+        - **i.** If you have consumed any altering substances, as defined in article II section K,  before or during the meeting, your attendance is nullified. The member will then be fined for missing attendance.
+      - **7.** An Emergency House Meeting shall be a house meeting composed of members subject to the following:
+          - **i.** The House member who calls the meeting will designate the meeting time. When called, a brief agenda must be announced
           - **ii.** Members will not be fined for missing an emergency meeting.
           - **iii.** Will have the ability to vote on any business that concerns the structural integrity of Bower House, legal issues, or SHC decisions.
@@ Line 76: / Line 79: @@
           - **v.** All decisions made at an Emergency House Meeting shall be subject to review at the following Regular House Meeting.
           - **vi.** Can be called by any member of the house.
-  - **B.** All members occupying a space in the house are required to attend all house meetings, with the exception of personal time conflicts or emergency/special circumstances. The facilitator must be informed of an absence before the meeting begins, or contract members will be fined $10.
+  - **B.** All members occupying a space in the house are required to attend all house meetings, with the exception of personal time conflicts or emergency/special circumstances. The facilitator must be informed of an absence before the meeting begins, or contract members will be fined $15. If the member misses a second consecutive meeting, they are fined $30, and a third would be $45, continuing at $45 past three consecutive meetings missed. Any communication informing the meeting facilitator of absence resets the rate to $15.
       - **1.** Members with permanent time conflicts are encouraged to change their schedules if possible, or the house should reevaluate meeting days/times to accommodate for all members.
@@ Line 102: / Line 105: @@
     - **2.** Final responsibility for assigned work rests with the members who originally signed up for the job. If a member cannot do a job, they may exchange duties with another member if both members agree to the conditions of exchange.
     - **3.** Any member who fails to do assigned work within the specified time will be fined; this is in effect for house officers as well.
-  - **B.** Financial Responsibilities: Contracts, Charges and Shares.
+  - **B.** Financial Responsibilities: Contracts, Charges, and Shares.
     - **1.** Any fines imposed by the membership for violating house rules, non-performance of assigned work, or other offenses shall be added to the member’s house charges.
     - **2.** Openings due to a vote to release a person from a contract must be filled by that member.
     - **3.** If a contract is broken:
        - **i.** If a member finds an acceptable applicant through their own advertising efforts, then that member will be released from their contract when their applicant’s contract is finalized.
-       - **ii.** If there are no vacancies except those resulting from broken contracts, the broken contracts will be filled by prospective members that contact the house through the regular membership process. Such contracts will be filled in the order that departing members signed their release forms with the SHC office.
+       - **ii.** If there are no vacancies except those resulting from broken contracts, the broken contracts will be filled by prospective members who contact the house through the regular membership process. Such contracts will be filled in the order that departing members signed their release forms with the SHC office.
     - **4.** All house expenditures not accounted for will have an immediate stop payment put on them by the Finance Officer.
 ====Article X: House Officers and Other Leadership Positions====
-  - **A.** Bower House shall have the following elected officers: Membership, Education, Facilities, Finance and Board Representative.
+  - **A.** Bower House shall have the following elected officers: Membership, Education, Facilities, Finance, Kitchen Steward, and Board Representative.
   - **B.** Elections for a given term are to occur at the first Regular House Meeting of each semester with the following constraints:
     - **1.** A list of each service position shall be provided for all members to view.
@@ Line 129: / Line 132: @@
   - **1.** The Board of Directors Representative shall be elected at the first meeting of the House during the MSU fall semester for the duration of the contract period, insofar as possible.
   - **2.** The Board of Directors Representative will represent Bower House at the Board of Directors meetings of the SHC, and is charged to act in the best interest of the House and the corporation. Any fines assessed to the House due to non-attendance at these meetings will be charged to the Board of Directors Representative’s account.
-  - **3.** The Board of Directors Representative will post a copy of the report from each Board meeting in a common area of the House in a timely fashion for review by House members.
+  - **3.** The Board of Directors Representative notes of the meetings will be put in the agenda of the House in a timely fashion for review by House members.
   - **4.** The Board of Directors Representative will report on Board meetings at House meetings and obtain the vote or opinion of House members on issues of the Board that will require the Board of Directors Representative to vote.
   - **5.** The Board of Directors Representative will fulfill any other duties as assigned by the SHC Articles of Incorporation or by the Board of Directors.
@@ Line 168: / Line 171: @@
   - **5.** Quorum is ½ + one of current House membership. If quorum is not achieved in a regularly scheduled meeting, the Meeting facilitator must reschedule a new meeting within one week.
   - **6.** The Meeting Facilitator is responsible for issuing fines (determined by vote at the first House meeting of each MSU semester) to members who fail to attend a meeting without a valid excuse.
-  - **7.** The Meeting Facilitator shall record the minutes of all House meetings and post them in a common area or in the house Discord. The posted minutes are to be read and initialed (virtually signed) by any members who failed to attend the meeting. Any correction to these minutes will be corrected at the next House meeting.
+  - **7.** The Meeting Facilitator shall record the minutes of all House meetings and post them in a common area or in the house Discord. Minutes are to include anonymous vote counts and any abstains for each item receiving a vote. The posted minutes are to be read and initialed (virtually signed) by any members who failed to attend the meeting. Any correction to these minutes will be corrected at the next House meeting.
 **G. Finance Officer**
   - **1.** The Finance Officer shall be elected at the first House meeting of each MSU semester.
@@ Line 189: / Line 192: @@
   - **3.** The Interim Coordinator will set the agenda for and facilitate the first House meeting of the new contract period.
-====Article XI: Work Duties, Fines and Penalties====
+====Article X: Work Duties, Fines and Penalties====
- - **A.** Before the work schedule is made, the duties of each job are to be posted by the Jobs Manager and remain posted throughout the contract period.
+ - **A.** Before the work schedule is made, the duties of each job are to be posted by the Jobs Manager and remain posted throughout the contract period. In the instance of a party, the event chores,duties,responsibilities have fines in place to make sure everything goes accordingly (refer to article XVIII)
   - **B.** The manner in which the work is distributed must ensure that each member does approximately the same amount of work for the House. Jobs should be distributed at the first House meeting of each MSU semester.
   - **C.** Each member of the House must accomplish four/five hours of general improvement work per semester.
   - **D.** Weekly work will be fined in the following manner by the Chore Checker:
     - **1.** Every hour of weekly work missed necessitates a $15 fine.
-    - **2.** If the same job has been missed two or more consecutive times the fine will be doubled.
+    - **2.** If the same job has been missed two or more consecutive times the fine will be $30.
+    - **3.** If bathroom cleaning duty specifically is missed two consecutive times, the fine will be $30. If the duty has been missed three or more consecutive times, the fine will be $45.
   - **E.** House destruction and blatant disregard for rules will be fined in the following manner unless otherwise described in this constitution:
     - **1.** The membership will hear complaints about the member who has purposefully destroyed an item belonging to the house during a Regular House Meeting.
     - **2.** The membership will vote on whether to fine the individual in question after both sides are heard.
         - **i.** If the vote is in favor of fining the member in question, then fines shall be levied based on the value of said destroyed item.
         - **ii.** If the vote is not in favor of fining the member in question, then the issue will be considered resolved.
     - **3.** Grounds and procedures for expulsion are outlined in the SHC Code of Operations and within this constitution.
@@ Line 206: / Line 212: @@
 ====Article XI – Seniority====
   - **1.** Seniority in the House is determined by the date a member contract is signed to the Bower Cooperative. In the event that two or more members signed on the same day, the member who first contacted Bower’s Membership Officer has seniority.
+  - **2.** Seniority from other Houses in SHC is counted by half of the time in days spent under contract with the previous House(s).
 ====Article XII – Rooms====
@@ Line 213: / Line 220: @@
 ====Article XIII — Parking====
-  - **A.** Parking seniority in the Bower parking lot (and other spaces guaranteed to the house by the SHC) will be determined by two factors: whether a member has a vehicle upon their move-in (or renewed contract start) date, and their signing date. Members who will have a specific vehicle by the time of said move-in/renewed contract start dates will have the priority to access parking for the remainder of their contract, but if there are more members with vehicles, then access will be based on the earliest signing date.
+  - **A.** Parking seniority in the Bower parking lot (and other spaces guaranteed to the house by the SHC) will be determined by two factors: whether a member has a vehicle upon their move-in (or renewed contract start) date, and their signing date. Members who will have a specific vehicle by the time of said move-in/renewed contract start dates will have priority to access parking for the remainder of their contract, but if there are more members with vehicles, then access will be based on the earliest signing date.
     - 1. Exception: If a member has physical limitations or needs to have a vehicle in the lot for their personal health and/or safety, then such members will have top seniority for a parking spot in the Bower parking lot.
     - 2. Exception: If a member has possession of a vehicle that is not with them physically or has a proof of a definitive plan to own a specific vehicle within three months of their contract start date, they can request to have a parking spot held in the lot up until the end of the third month. If by then they do not have said vehicle they will revoke their parking spot. During the period that this spot is empty, members next in line of seniority may use this spot until the original member has their vehicle.
   - **B.**  If there are any extenuating circumstances, additional accommodations can be made.
-    - 1. Exception: If two members are fighting over parking spots they will drag race in drag. An arbitrary third party will act as referee for a race that spans across the Bower/Haven House lots.
+    - 1. Exception: If two members are fighting over parking spots they will perform a footrace in drag. An arbitrary third party will act as referee for a race that spans across the Bower/Haven House lots.
   - **C.** Guests may use the Bower parking lot to park their vehicle if at the time there are more parking spots than members with vehicles. Otherwise, guests must find a different spot to park their vehicle(s).
   - **D.** Assigned parking spots (a specific physical area for a specific person’s vehicle) are determined by current members, yet members do not need to assign spots if they decide this as a house.
@@ Line 227: / Line 234: @@
 ====Article XV – Large Appliances====
-  - **A.** Members using a space heater or a wall-mounted air conditioning unit will be subject to an additional per month charge each month of use as agreed upon by the membership.
+  - **A.** Members using a space heater or a wall-mounted air conditioning unit will be subject to an additional per-month charge each month of use as agreed upon by the membership.
     - a. Space heaters in personal living spaces must be less than 5 years old.
     - b. Maximum energy usage for a space heater is 1000kWh.
     - c. Charges will be waived for rooms deemed uninhabitable without heaters.
-    - d. Other personal appliances that use large amounts of energy may result in an additional per month charge each month of use as agreed upon by the membership.
+    - d. Other personal appliances that use large amounts of energy may result in an additional per-month charge each month of use, as agreed upon by the membership.
 ====Article XVI – Pet Policy====
@@ Line 253: / Line 260: @@
        - **iii.** Times and dates for the work to be completed will be established and approved during a Regular House Meeting by a vote.
        - **iv.** House members unable to attend Work Weekend must notify the Facilities Officer and negotiate a project to make up for that house member’s absence.
-       - **v.** The Facilities Officer will acquire all tools, supplies, and permits necessary to complete work week.
+       - **v.** The Facilities Officer will acquire all tools, supplies, and permits necessary to complete the work week.
     - **5.** This event is mandatory for all house members.
@@ Line 268: / Line 275: @@
   - **F.** Any hard copy or electronic invitations must only be made available in a private or a secret setting. Any distribution of the party information or description to public forums is strictly prohibited. Examples include open facebook events, coffeehouses, or campus billboards.
   - **G.** The house members who vote to participate in the party must participate in the set up, clean up, and security of the party.
-    - a. The Jobs Manager shall create a signup sheet in order to designate which jobs are to be completed before, during, and after the party as well as which participating house members are responsible for specific tasks.
+    - **a.** The Jobs Manager shall create a signup sheet in order to designate which jobs are to be completed before, during, and after the party as well as which participating house members are responsible for specific tasks.
-    - b. Any participating member who does not complete their specific duty as defined by the Jobs Manager shall receive a fine of $**10.**
+   -**b.** In the instance of party planning work schedules,the jobs manager is expected to have a schedule prepared for the membership from which to choose their jobs at least 3 weeks prior to the date of the party. If members of the house do not choose an adequate amount of work by the week of the party, they shall be assigned jobs.
+   -**c.** if you miss your party chore, or vote for the party and go back on your vote. A fine of 10$ will be placed.
-====Article XIX - Consent====
+====Article XIX - Guest Policy===
+  - **A.** A Guest shall be defined as a non-member who stays overnight at the House for 3 consecutive days or 7 non-consecutive days in a month.
+  - **B.** During the first month (31 days) that a Guest stays at a House this person must abide by that House's Guest policy.
+  - **C.** In Houses where the number of current Members reaches the city-licensed capacity, a Guest who has stayed for one month must leave.
+  - **D.** In Houses where the number of Members is below the city-licensed capacity, a Guest who has stayed for one month must leave or sign a contract of Membership and become a Member.
+  - **E.** No one may sign a contract of membership without the permission of the current Membership.
+  - **F.** Any House that accepts an additional Member or additional Members as per this Guest policy shall be assessed for the increased spaces beginning on the 32nd day of the former Guest’s stay at the House.
+  - **G.** The aforementioned increase in assessments shall last so long as the House has more Members than the SHC-determined capacity.
+  - **H.** Every Guest has to register with the SHC office. The registration form will include but is not limited to information regarding: House Member(s) responsible for Guest, the duration of the Guest’s stay in the House, and a current telephone number and email address with which the SHC can contact the Guest.
+  - **I.** Any House that does not register their Guests will not be eligible for an assessment break.
+====Article XX - Consent====
   - **A.** Consent is an active and informed agreement between two parties.
-====Article XX – Amendments====
+====Article XXI – Amendments====
   - **A.** Amendments to this document require 2/3 approval of House membership.
   - **B.** Amendment proceedings must be preceded by at least a two week viewing period during which amendments can be proposed by any member. This period is to be announced at a House meeting.
-  - **C.** Voting on amendments to this document can take place at any House meeting attended by at least 2/3 of membership (the amount required for amendment approval). All members, whether or not present at the House meeting, must have the opportunity to vote on changes.
+  - **C.** Voting on amendments to this document can takque place via online poll vote or any House meeting voted on by at least 2/3 of the membership (the amount required for amendment approval). All members, whether or not present at the House meeting, must have the opportunity to vote on changes.
+ - **D.** House Norms can be updated with a standard quorum vote.
-====Article XXI - House Meals====
+====Article XXII - Supplemental House Values and Norms====
-  - **A.** House Chefs, elected at the first meeting before the start of a MSU Fall/Spring semester, will each be responsible for making a house meal in the evening once a week. The amount of house meals per week will vary depending on cycle-by-cycle budgetary decisions.
-  - **B.** All house meals must accommodate every house member’s dietary needs. Bower has traditionally been a vegetarian house and as such, all house meals must be vegetarian.
-    - **1.** Communicate all meal options (vegetarian/vegan, gluten free, lactose free) that are available when announcing a house meal.
-====Article XXII - House Values and Norms====
   - **A.** Bower House values are as follows and may be changed by a ⅔ vote of the house. Bower and its members value:
     - a. Diverse Opinions and Perspectives