VI. House Meetings

House Meetings

House Meetings take place every two weeks after dinner on Sundays. They last from 6 pm to about 8 pm, though they may go over, and members are expected to remain.

Quorum

In order for a house meeting to take place, a simple majority of all current residents must be present at the start of the meeting. A simple majority is 51% or more.

For any vote to be considered valid the total number of yeas, nays and abstentions must total the quorum.

If 7 people inform the president at least a day in advance that they cannot make it to the house meeting due to a reasonable conflict, the meeting must be rescheduled.

Conduct and Discussion

People should raise their hands and wait to be called on by the president before speaking.

Meetings are open to all house members and meal planners², both in-house and out-of-house, although only in-house house members² may vote. There should be ample publicity (e.g. posting a sign and an agenda a week in advance, making an announcement at dinners) so that all interested can attend.

In the case where some action relevant to a particular person is considered, such as an election, discussion should be conducted while the person is out of the room.

An environment should be maintained such that all present feel equally able to express their views. Discrimination based on sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, nationality, political affiliation, marital status, or amount of time in residence at Von Cramm Hall is specifically outlawed. People are expected to attend the house meetings free of mind- altering substances. Someone who is drinking or drunk during a meeting may be told to leave.

Voting Rules

Most decisions operate on a majority rule where two options are presented. That is, if option A gets more votes than another option B, option B will not be adopted (but people can still search for option C which might get more votes than option A). Straw polls, which are informal "get a feel for what people think" votes may be conducted.

Typical votes, the required ratios needed to pass, and some rationales are listed below. Unless stated otherwise, ratios should be assumed to be of the voting population at the house meeting at which the vote was put forth. Supermajority refers to a ⅔ affirmative vote, and a simple majority refers to a ½ affirmative vote. A two-option vote is a vote where only “yes” and “no” are the allowed options, and a three-option vote is likewise except “abstain” is also allowed, unless stated otherwise (e.g. constitutional amendments).

1. House gift: a two-option simple majority. Efforts should be made by the secretary or president to make this vote available to the entire house (e.g. a vote via Google Form sent by email to the listserv)
2. Amendments to the constitution: a three-option supermajority (the options are “yes”, “no”, and “uncertain”) with uncertains counting as nay votes. This is because constitutional amendments are generally long-term decisions made by the co-op, so all voting members should critically consider the ramifications of such amendments. Uncertains are equivalent to nays for the purpose of understanding how the house feels about a certain amendment, which can be used for further discussion later on. Also, because significant discussion should always take place before the vote occurs during the meeting, only people who are present for the discussion should vote.
3. Events: Events to be hosted at the house by house members require a three-option simple majority vote, or a three-option supermajority if special beverages will be served. Abstains will subtract from the total.
4. Officer contract changes: Any changes to co-op officer contracts (such as reimbursements or roles) should be a three-option supermajority. The rationale is similar to constitutional amendments.
5. Officer reimbursements: Semesterly officer reimbursement votes should be a two-option supermajority. Abstains are not allowed since each house member should have an opinion on whether each officer has satisfactorily completed their job.
6. Changing vote ratio: a three-option supermajority, with abstains subtracting from the total.
7. Other policy changes, new projects, or votes that do not fit the above descriptions should ideally have a vote ratio and type mentioned beforehand, with rationale if necessary.²

Any questions of procedure that are not addressed here and cannot be solved by discussion should be solved using Roberts’ Rules of Order.

Footnotes

[1] Passed 05/02/2010 [2] Passed 11/01/2021