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Bylaws of the Texas Longhorn Chapter
of the National Residence Hall Honorary

Preamble

We, the members of the Texas Longhorn Chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary (hereafter TLNRHH) at the University of Texas at Austin, in order to honor and recognize outstanding members of the residence hall community, and to promote a higher standard of involvement in the residence halls do hereby establish this constitution.

Article I. Name

The name of this organization will be the Texas Longhorn Chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary at The University of Texas at Austin. The official acronym will be "NRHH" or "TLNRHH."

Article II. Purpose

The purpose of TLNRHH will be:

To recognize groups and individuals who demonstrate outstanding leadership, service, and dedication to the university residence halls;
To provide a service to residents, the University Residence Hall Association, and the Residence Hall Councils; and
To encourage and develop leadership in students living in the residence halls.

Article III: Membership

There will be three types of members:

General - General members will each be inducted with full voting privileges. General members may consist of no more than 1% of the residence hall population. In order to qualify for membership, a person:
1. Must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 based on the university's 4.0 scale by the end of the previous long semester;
2. Be a current resident who plans to reside at a university residence hall for at least one semester (excluding summer sessions) and is working to complete an undergraduate degree;
3. Have lived in the residence halls for at least one year prior to induction; and
4. Demonstrate outstanding leadership, service, and dedication as well as significant interest in TLNRHH to the satisfaction of the Member Selection Committee.
There will be two types of general members:
1. Active - In order to be a voting member and remain active, members must amass a given number of points each semester. The exact number of points which need to be obtained will be decided and announced by the Executive Board at the beginning of each semester.
2. Inactive - Voting privileges may be revoked if the responsibilities for active membership are not upheld. If a member fails to allot the necessary amount of points, he will be deemed inactive.
Alumni - Alumni status will be held by members who were previously active and who no longer reside in the residence halls at the university. Alumni members will only have constitutional voting privileges. There will be an unlimited number of alumni members.
Honorary - Honorary status is granted by the chapter to persons who have made significant contributions to the university residence halls or have aided the chapter in a significant way but do not qualify for active membership. The executive board appoints honorary members with approval by a 2/3 active member vote. Honorary members will not have voting privileges. There will be an unlimited number of honorary members.

There will be no monetary dues required for membership or continuing membership.

Article IV: Selection Procedures

The selection procedure of new general members will be distinguished by two stages:

Nomination - The current membership, Residence Hall Council members, Resident Advisors, Hall Coordinators, and any other member of Resident Life may extend nominations to potential members. Nominations will be accessible to any interested individual. Nominated individuals will be contacted directly and invited to apply. Individuals may apply regardless of whether or not they were nominated. The application should include a brief statement explaining the individual's leadership experience and the individual's involvement in his or her Residence Hall. Each application will include authority for the officers of NRHH to verify grades and activities of the nominee.
Selection - A committee of active members led by the Director of Membership and with the Executive Director’s approval will serve to create and review applications. By a two-thirds majority of present, active members, the most qualified applicants will be selected for interviews. Either the Director of Membership or the Executive Director will be present for all interviews. Membership will be extended to the applicants the committee considers the most suitable. Final decisions will be made jointly by the Director of Membership and the Executive Director.

The chapter may extend membership to a transfer student from another university's NRHH chapter by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Board. A transfer student may also apply for membership after living in the Residence Halls for one semester.

Article V: Officers

The Executive Board will operate as detailed below.

The Executive Director will:
1. Coordinate the activities of TLNRHH;
2. Preside over general Executive Board meetings;
3. Prepare the agenda for exec and general meetings;
4. Serve as NRHH’s official liaison to other campus and community organizations;
5. Remain informed of the activities of TLNRHH committees, individual RHCs, URHA, other official campus organizations, TRHA, SWACURH, and NACURH, as they pertain to the interests of TLNRHH;
6. Encourage officers to stay involved with and informed about the activities of TLNRHH committees, individual RHCs, URHA, other official campus organizations, TRHA, SWACURH, and NACURH, as they pertain to the interests of TLNRHH;
7. Attend as many URHA Senate meetings as designated by DHFS stipend requirements, or at least once every month to distribute certificates to OTM winners, whichever is more;
8. Assist the Director of Membership in interviewing applicants and making the final decision regarding new member selection;
9. Appoint TLNRHH committees chairs with the input of the Executive Board;
10. Draft and make changes to the TLNRHH Constitution, By-Laws, and other NRHH policies with input from the Executive Board and approval by members;
11. Represent TLNRHH and vote at NRHH business meetings at conferences;
12. Oversee other officers, OTM chair and committee and publicity chair and committee;
13. Assist with scholarship selection; and
14. Apply to be a member of the SWACURH OTM Selection Committee.
The Director of Finance and Administration will
1. Preside over exec and general meetings if Executive Director is unable to fulfill his duties;
2. Serve in the absence of the Executive Director, except as specified elsewhere in the By-Laws and Constitution;
3. Keep accurate records for TLNRHH, including but not limited to:
  1. An accurate list of all members’ phone number, email, building and room number;
  2. A listserv of members;
  3. Meeting minutes; and
  4. An accurate and up-to-date budget;
4. Responsible for OTM prize money;
5. Keep TLNRHH register and in good standing with the office of Student Activities and Leadership Development;
6. Maintain an effective points system to determine which members should be considered active, and keep an up-to-date record of the points members earn;
7. Assist with scholarship selection; and
8. Work with webmaster to keep website bug-free and up-to-date or, if necessary, serve as webmaster.
The Director of Recognition will:
1. Organize at least one passive (i.e. banners, door tags, etc) recognition program each month for deserving groups of residents or employees of DHFS;
2. Organize at least one active (i.e. surprise meeting interruption, special receptions, etc) recognition program monthly for deserving groups of residents or employees of DHFS;
3. Emphasize recognizing residents and students over employees;
4. Serve as a resource to URHA, RHCs and other groups who seek advice on how to recognize those around them;
5. Assist with scholarship recipient selection
6. Become the designated voting representative of TLNRHH at conferences should the Executive Director be unable to do so; and
7. Work with Of The Month (hereafter OTM) chair and committee to organize OTM award ceremonies (i.e., OTM recognition ceremonies, end-of-the-year banquets, etc).
The Director of Programming will:
1. Organize at least one member social (i.e., lock-ins, dinners, outings, etc) each month;
2. Present an ice breaker or similar social exercise at the start of each general meeting;
3. Be responsible for member rewards (i.e. honors cords for graduates, finals survival kits, etc);
4. Be responsible for the annual scholarship selection process (one $250 scholarship will be awarded to a member from 3 categories: an RA, an elected RHC officer, student who is neither an RA or an elected RHC officer), including but not limited to:
  1. Creating scholarship application;
  2. Reviewing applications with the Executive Board; and
  3. Selecting scholarship recipients.
5. Work with OTM chair and committee to organize OTM award ceremonies (i.e., OTM recognition ceremonies, end-of-the-year banquets, etc);
The Director of Membership will:
1. Be responsible for member selection process (and resulting committee) each semester, including but not limited to:
  1. Creating member application;
  2. Reviewing applications;
  3. Contacting references;
  4. Conducting interviews; and
  5. Selecting new members with the Executive Director.
2. Plan the new member induction ceremony; and
3. Be responsible for member retention efforts, including but not limited to:
4. Overseeing cohort program (in which all general members are divided among the officers who will remind them about events and seek more individual contact); and
5. Surveying members on what they want out of TLNRHH

All officers of the organization will be elected for a one-year term in March or early April of the spring semester. The Executive Board will nominate an NRHH member to fill a vacancy to be approved by majority vote of present, active members.

Two non-elected positions, appointed by the Executive Director, will aid the Executive Board.

The OTM Chair will:
1. Be responsible for the OTM selection process, including but not limited to:
  1. Select OTMs each month with assistance of the OTM committee;
  2. Serve as Campus OTM Administrator at http://otms.nrhh.org;
  3. Work with writers to revise nominations before regional submission;
  4. Submit nominations to region; and
  5. Provide all halls and writers with feedback on the quality of their nominations;
2. Organize public OTM writing workshops for all interested groups and
3. Apply to be a member of the SWACURH and NACURH OTM Selection Committees.
The Publicity Chair will:
1. Create door tags;
2. Be responsible for OTM winner publicity;
3. Assist with publicity for all programs requested;
4. Raise awareness about NRHH on campus; and
5. Assist with representing NRHH to other campus and community organizations.

An advisor from the Division of Housing & Food will be involved with chapter activities and will give direction to the Executive Board. The advisor may or may not be an alumni or honorary member of TLNRHH.

Article VI: Meetings and Activities

General meetings of the entire chapter membership, including active, alumni, and honorary members will be held at least twice a month during the long semester. Special meetings may be called by the Executive Board as deemed necessary. The Executive Board will meet weekly.

Activities of the organization will include, but not be limited to:

OTM award selection;
monthly recognition programs;
monthly member socials; and
an induction of new members each semester.

Article VII: Amendments and Bylaws

mendments to these Bylaws may be made by a two-thirds vote of present, active members. Any active or alumni may propose amendments during any general meeting but changes will not be voted on until the next general meeting in order to allow all members to review proposed changes.

Article VIII: Ratification

These Bylaws will become effective and will supercede any previous constitution upon acceptance by a two-thirds vote of present, active members. The National Office of the National Residence Hall Honorary of the National Association of College and University Residence Halls, Incorporated will approve these Bylaws.