ARTICLE OF INCORPORATION

Clause I (of the Article of Incorporation): The name of the organization is "Iowa State University Cricket Club" ("ISUCC").

Clause II (of the Article of Incorporation): This organization is a non-profit public benefit organization listed as a Student Organization with Government of Student Body (called "GSB" henceforth) at the Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA (called "University" henceforth). The specific goals of the organizations are:

• To spread the game of cricket among the students and staff of the university as well as the community around it

• To help create the necessary infrastructure to facilitate the playing of cricket

• To imbibe a spirit of hard work, honesty and happiness in all cricket players and to honor the great traditions of all University sports organizations

Clause III (of the Article of Incorporation): As a student organization listed with the GSB, the organization shall rigorously follow all the rules and regulations led-down by the GSB.

Clause IV (of the Article of Incorporation): No part of the activities of this organization shall consist of carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the organization shall not participate or intervene in any political campaign (including the publishing or distribution of statements) on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office.

Clause V (of the Article of Incorporation): Neither the organization nor any part of its activities shall have any religious bias and shall not support any particular religion. There shall be no discrimination whatsoever on the basis of gender, race, caste, creed, color, mental/physical disabilities and sexual orientation.

Clause VI (of the Article of Incorporation): The property of this organization is irrevocably dedicated to spreading the game of cricket in the University and in the community and no part of the net income or assets of the organization shall ever inure to the benefit of any office bearer or member thereof or to the benefit of any private person.

On the dissolution or winding up of the organization, its assets remaining after payment of, or provision for payment of, all debts and liabilities of this organization, shall be distributed to a nonprofit fund, foundation, or organization which is organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes and/or has objectives similar to this organization’s objectives mentioned in the Clause II of the Article of Incorporation, or shall be deposited with the GSB.

BYLAWS

SECTION 1: OFFICE BEARERS

Clause I (of Section I): Any (and only the) student(s) of the University can be the office bearers of the organization. Any person aspiring to be the office bearer of the organization shall fulfill the requirements led-down by the GSB. There shall be only one person per post in the committee at all times.

Clause II (of Section I): The President, the Vice-President, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Sports club council representative and the Website Manager of the organization shall form a "committee of office-bearers". The tenure of each of the office bearers shall be one year (from April, 1st to March, 31st), unless the office bearer resigns, or is removed from the organization (See section VI).

Clause III (of Section I): The president with the support from a majority of the committee members can decide on making one new post (and so nominating a club member to that post) if and when it is felt that the workload dictates the creation of that new post, but that new post, other than the 6 permanent posts of President, Vicepresident, Secretary, Treasurer, SCC representative and Web administrator, shall cease to exist when the term of that committee is over, March 31’st of the following year.

Clause IV (of Section I): The nominated member, if any, shall abide by all the rules as dictated in this constitution and bylaws. Since the nominated member will not elected by a meeting composed of all the club members, they will not have voting powers in the cricket club committee and the committee with a majority vote in its favor has the full powers to dismiss the nominated person and/or remove the temporary post created whenever it is felt to do the same. In essence, the nominated post and member are temporary.

Article 1 (of Section I): Duties of President of the Organization

President is responsible for: overall management of the club, for all major decisions regarding the club like participation in tournaments outside the University representing the club, organization of tape and leather ball tournaments at the University and games representing the University here and outside, maintenance of the cricket kits and all other cricket club resources, veto power on Hall of Fame (See section V) nominations when there is a tie on an open vote, arranging committee meetings and hearings, approval of minutes of the meetings and making final decisions on all issues, represent the club in any meetings or ceremonies inside and outside the University and any other duties not allocated to other committee members. In general, the responsibilities of the President shall be (but not limited to) to follow all the relevant clauses of this constitution and subsequent By-Laws.

Article II (of Section I): Duties of Vice-president of the Organization

Vice-president shall honor all duties of the president when he/she is not in charge due to probable circumstances, is in charge of: raising money for the cricket club through approaching suitable donors and institutions, and management of food and beverages in club functions, has to: reserve the cricket pitch with the help of the recreation services for tournaments, request the University facilities and planning division to mow the grass prior to all tournaments and games, stay in touch with the GSB and its senators for all the club needs, attend all committee meetings announced by the president and participate in organizing tournaments conducted at the University and outside. Vice-president shall de facto become the president if the president is incapacitated by any circumstances and shall be fully responsible for all duties of the president until a new election is held (See Section II). In general, the responsibilities of the Vice-President shall be (but not limited to) to follow all the relevant clauses of this constitution and subsequent By-Laws.

Article III (of Section I): Duties of Secretary of the Organization

Secretary shall be responsible for contacting all members and other individuals not related to the club depending on the circumstance, regarding: tournaments, activities (like Hall of Fame (HOF)) and other pertinent events organized by the club, maintaining a score sheet and other detailed information for every game organized by the club, tabulating the data from these games to decide on the honors given to the best players and sending that information to the web administrator to be posted on the club website, printing out certificates to be handed over to the winners after each tournament, collecting membership dues from all existing members as well as newly inducted club members and maintaining the relevant information till the expiry of the committees term, attending all committee meetings announced by the president, tabulating nominations received for HOF and participating in organizing tournaments conducted at the University and outside. In general, the responsibilities of the secretary shall be (but not limited to) to follow all the relevant clauses of this constitution and subsequent By-Laws.

Article 1V (of Section I): Duties of Treasurer of the Organization

Treasurer is responsible for tabulating all monetary benefits gained and spend by the club and to keep an orderly and truthful data regarding all financial dealings of the club, send the ledger regarding income and expenditure of the club once in a month to all the committee members and a monthly spreadsheet of the ledger must be uploaded on the website so that everyone knows what is happening with the club accounts and where the club actually stands on future decisions, participation in the annual SCC (Sports club council) budget hearing, reimbursing players who have spend money on the club’s behalf, wisely spend money towards all club activities, collect money from all teams participating in a tournament organized by the club before the first game of the tournament, attend all committee meetings announced by the president, and participation in organizing tournaments conducted at the University and outside. The Treasurer shall ensure that the rules and regulations of the GSB regarding the financial transactions, budget and all the accounting matters are strictly followed. In general, the Treasurer of the organization shall perform all duties incident to the office of Treasurer and such other duties as may be required by law, or by these Bylaws, or which may be assigned to him/her from time to time.

Article V (of Section I): Duties of SCC representative of the Organization

SCC representative has to: attend all biweekly SCC meetings representing the club and to sign the attendance sheet failing which the club will be fined, to make proper replacements well in advance if incase he/she wont be able to attend the SCC meetings, to let the committee know of all decisions made in these biweekly SCC meetings by sending out an email immediately after attending a meeting, attend all committee meetings announced by the president, and participate in organizing tournaments conducted at the University and outside. In general, the responsibilities of the SCC representative shall be (but not limited to) to follow all the relevant clauses of this constitution and subsequent By-Laws.

Article V1 (of Section I): Duties of Website Manager of the Organization

The Website Manager shall: maintain a proper website for the club and keep it updated, constantly updating the scores and data from ongoing tournaments conducted here and outside, update the organization website regularly to reflect the very current activities of the organization on the webpage, ensure that the current activities are highlighted and old activities are periodically placed at an appropriate place on the website, maintain a webpage for the Hall of Famers with all relevant information, attend all committee meetings announced by the president and participation in organizing tournaments conducted at the University and outside. In general, the responsibilities of the Website Manager shall be (but not limited to) to follow all the relevant clauses of this constitution and subsequent By-Laws.

Article VII (of Section I): Compensation

No compensation shall be paid to any office bearer or any member of the organization.

SECTION II: ELECTIONS

Clause I (of Section II): The candidates for the committee of office bearers for the subsequent year shall be proposed by the President and Vice-President of the organization, in consultation with (and with subsequent approval of) the committee of office bearers. Individual member(s) may notify their willingness to accept the responsibility of any particular position on the committee of office bearers to the President and the Vice- President in person and/ or may also propose name of any other member for the same. In case of disagreement with respect to any proposed candidate by one-third of the members of the organization, general election shall be held for the positions in dispute.

Clause II (of Section II): General elections for the president, vice-president and any office bearers of the organization shall be held on a suitable date before the expiration date of the committee which is March 31’st. The actual electoral process, including the order of the election, shall be formulated by the election officer. The elections shall be supervised by the election officer appointed by the committee of office bearers in presence and permission of the Faculty Advisor of the organization. The election officer shall ensure that the regulations for the election for a GSB listed organization are followed during the general election of this organization. Any student member of the organization can be nominated for any seat on the committee of the office bearers of the organization. If there is more than one person contesting towards a club officer position, a secret ballot shall be held supervised by the election officer. Only members of the cricket club are eligible to vote in an election. In the event of a tie during the election towards any post, a coin toss will decide the winner. 

Clause III (of Section II): Transfer of power to the newly elected body shall be before March 31st after the elections, provided there is no question on the fairness with which the election was conducted. If one-half of the members of the organization petition to the election officer regarding unfair practices during the election, the election officer shall consult the Faculty Advisor of the organization to order a re-election. An approval of the election officer and the Faculty Advisor shall be needed to order a re-election. 

Clause IV (of Section II): Elections for the new committee should be held within 60 days before the term of the present committee ends. Elections for a vacant post in the committee should definitely be held within 90 days after a committee member: has been impeached, has resigned or is incapacitated due to unfortunate circumstances during the tenure of a committee. During the time the post is vacant before the elections; the president can depute any one of the committee members to take additional charge of the duties of the vacant post or may do it himself.

SECTION III: FACULTY ADVISOR TO THE ORGANIZATION

Article 1 (of Section III): Appointment of the Faculty Advisor The committee of office bearers of the organization shall be responsible for appointing the Faculty Advisor for the organization subject to approval of the faculty member for the said position. The regulation led- down by the GSB regarding the appointment of the Faculty Advisor shall be strictly followed for the same. The initial tenure for the Faculty Advisor shall be one academic year, starting April 1’st along with the tenure of the committee of office bearers. However, the tenure may be extended for any number of years subject to approval of the committee of office bearers and the members of the organization.

Article II (of Section III): Responsibilities of the Faculty Advisor The Faculty Advisor shall guide the organization towards its stated goals and actively participate in the organization in the advisory position. The Faculty Advisor shall be responsible to authorize all the financial transactions of the organization. The Faculty Advisor shall ask relevant queries regarding any financial transaction to the Treasurer and/ or the President of the organization if he/ she has doubts about the same. The Faculty Advisor shall use his/ her own discretion regarding the financial transaction. The Faculty Advisor shall have the sole authority to approve or disapprove any financial or otherwise activities of the organization.

In case where the Faculty Advisor is approached by any member(s) of the organization regarding the impeachment of the President or committee members of the organization, the Faculty Advisor shall appoint an investigating officer(s) (from the committee of office bearers) to investigate the matter and then use his/ her own discretion to act on the same. As per the regulations of the GSB, the Faculty Advisor shall be present during the general election of the organization.

SECTION IV: MEMBERSHIP OF THE ORGANIZATION

Article I (of Section IV): Members

Membership to the organization shall be open to all individuals, irrespective of their race, gender, color, sexual preference, mental/physical disabilities, creed, religion, or nationality and is open to all people authorized by the GSB. The organization reserves the right to deny/revoke/reinstate membership at any time. A list of members shall be updated periodically and is kept for the purposes of informing the members of projects, activities and needs of the organization.

Article II (of Section IV): Financial Dues for the members

As required by the GSB, the organization shall collect membership dues (and this will vary as the committee decides every year) from all the members of the organization. The secretary shall be responsible to inform the members, the amount and time of payment of the same and collect the amount payable. The Treasurer of the organization shall maintain detailed record of the membership dues received by the organization and shall coordinate with the secretary to inform the defaulting members.

Article III (of Section IV): Voting rights and standing for elections of members

All members can vote in the annual elections of the organization. All student members of the university as per the GSB rules and guidelines can stand for the election to all committee posts.

SECTION V: MEMBERSHIP FOR THE HALL OF FAME

Article I (of Section V): Proclamation

The Cricket club Hall of Fame is for those cricket players who have contributed to the game of cricket by performance and/or organizational activities. Every year a maximum of four people (with no minimum set) will be inducted into the Hall of Fame for the previous year and this has to be decided by the committee of the following year with fairness and impartiality.

Article II (of Section V): Eligibility

Players inducted into the Hall of Fame must be cricket club members for the year in which they are considered. One person, who is not a club member may be included in the Hall of Fame for a particular year, if the committee decides unanimously that his/her contributions were extremely valuable to the game of cricket and no other registered player of the cricket club can match his/her contributions.

Clause I (of Section V): A person can be inducted into the Hall of Fame only once during his/her life time.

Clause II (of Section V): An email or a written message should be send out by the secretary to all members and the faculty advisor requesting their nominations within a time frame as deemed appropriate.

Clause III (of Section V): Nominations for people to be inducted into the Hall of Fame can only be given by members and Faculty advisor, and a person can give only up to 4 different names for nominations. A person cannot nominate himself/herself towards this purpose. These nominations must be send by a signed written statement or via the official email facility of the university, to the secretary of the club and should specifically mention why he/she thinks that the person they have nominated should be considered by the committee towards induction into the Hall of Fame in a few words or sentences.

Clause IV (of Section V): It is the duty of the secretary to properly arrange and tabulate all the nominations received from the members and/or the faculty advisor of the club, and to present it before the committee hearing on the issue of induction of players into the Hall of Fame.

Clause V (of Section V): Decision on induction into the Hall of Fame should not be decided on the number of nominations received per player but on all the selectable qualities mentioned.

Clause VI (of Section V): The committee which is deciding on the Hall of Famers for the previous year should look into the validity of all the nominations received and the final decision on the players who will finally be inducted, should be after intense scrutiny and debate.

Clause VII (of Section V): In case where there are serious differences among the committee members on a particular player's induction into the Hall of Fame, the final outcome should be decided based on an open vote. In case the vote turns out to be a tie, the president shall have the authority to make a final decision on the issue.

Clause VIII (of Section V): People inducted into the Hall of Fame should be those that have demonstrated honesty, diligence, sincerity and hard work, and these people should have demonstrated qualities in them to spread the game of cricket here at the University by their performance and/or leadership-organizational activities.

Clause IX (of Section V): A player can be considered for the Hall of Fame for a particular year only if he/she was involved in activities for at least two semesters in that year, including the summer semester.

Clause X (of Section V): There should not be any distinction irrespective of race, religion, caste, creed, country, gender, color, mental/physical disabilities, sexual orientation or any other such demarcation other than the player's performance and/or organizational activities while deciding on the people to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Clause XI (of Section V): Performances in the tournaments: conducted by the club whether it is tape ball or leather ball cricket, and/or that conducted outside the university by other organizations where the University is represented can be evaluated towards the objective of selecting a Hall of Famer.

Clause XII (of Section V): Consistency in the performance should be a major factor when deciding on a person to the Hall of Fame either it be as an all rounder, bowler, batsman, wicket keeper, fielder and/or as an organizer and should not only be based on their statistics if and when they apply but also the impact they had towards spreading the game of cricket.

Clause XIII (of Section V): The decision of the committee towards induction of a set of players into the Hall of Fame will be final and abiding and cannot be challenged by anyone or any institution.

Clause XIV (of Section V): The committee should, after making a decision on the Hall of Famers for the previous year, send out a message to all concerned on why they chose those players from among an elite list of cricket maestros and a special mention should be given to all players who were not inducted into the Hall of Fame for that particular year. It is the duty of the secretary to do this.

Clause XV (of Section V): A permanent record should be maintained of that player in written form. A webpage of the club should be dedicated for this purpose.

Clause XVI (of Section V): A suitable form of commendation should be provided to the Hall of Famer in a ceremony immediately after the decision to induct him/her. 

Clause XVII (of Section V): Commendation for the Hall of Famer can be among the following: Monetary benefit consistent to all, Official certificate on the club’s logo, Medal of Honor and/or whatever else the committee may deem appropriate. Commendation should be done in a ceremony befitting the occasion and should be performed by individuals representing the university on sports affairs.

Clause XVIII (of Section V): All available information of the Hall of Famer including a passport size photograph should be included in the webpage. This webpage is to be maintained properly by the Web Manager.

Clause XIX (of Section V): The club should be always available to listen to the advices of the Hall of Famers and their opinion should be taken into due consideration by the committees.

Clause XX (of Section V): Hall of Famers could contribute to the club even after they leave the university and such information needed for the committee members to contact them should be provided. The treasurer of the club should get all necessary information of the Hall of Famers before they leave the university.

Clause XXI (of Section V): The player shall be mentioned as "Hall of Famer, so and so..." in any official ceremony of the cricket club after he/she has been inducted into it.

Clause XXII (of Section V): A person once inducted into the Hall of Fame can not be removed from it no matter what, after the induction by any committees succeeding the one which has inducted him/her into it.

SECTION VI: IMPEACHMENT OR RESIGNATION OF ELECTED MEMBERS

Article I (of Section VI): Impeachment or resignation of President or any committee member 

 Any member of the club can file a motion for the impeachment of the president, vicepresident or any committee member. The rules regarding the procedure are as follows.

Clause I (of Section VI): The member has to submit a written complaint to the Faculty advisor on why he/she thinks the president or any committee member has to be impeached. The faculty advisor should then appoint a panel composed of one or more committee members not involved in the impeachment proceedings to investigate the case and the panel should then after thorough scrutiny of the allegation, submit a report to the faculty advisor who can then ask the committee to start the impeachment proceedings against the member in question by summoning a meeting of all the members of the club. It can only be with ¾’Th majority of the members of the club that a committee member can be impeached.

Clause II (of Section VI): If a committee member has been impeached or he/she has resigned, a new election has to be conducted as soon as possible and the post has to be filled. (See SECTION II: ELECTIONS)

SECTION VII: AMENDMENT(S) TO THE LAWS AND BYLAWS

Amendments to any clause of these By-Laws can be proposed by any member of the organization, with prior approval of the President of the organization. Any clause of this constitution and/or any sections of the Bylaws therein can be amended by the office bearers of the organization subject to approval of the members of the organization. To change any section of the Bylaws, a publicized meeting should be held, and a minimum three-fourth of the members present in the meeting should vote in favor of the amendment.