The Psi Phi Federation Charter

We, the members of Psi Phi, in an effort to universally promote science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction in all its media and forms, do hereby enact this Charter for the Psi Phi Federation.

Sectors:
1. To become a new sector of Psi Phi, the following requirements must be met:
  1. The Applicant's membership at the time of the Application Process must meet the size requirements defined in Article VI.
  2. The Applicant must agree as a group to uphold the Psi Phi Federation Charter.
  3. The Applicant must have electronic communication in the form of electronic mail (E-mail) or other electronic global communication forms through at least one Member or the Applicant as a whole.
  4. The Applicant must have at least one English-speaking Member, through which communication will be held. The Applicant need not use English at internal functions.
  5. The Applicant must submit the Application Form to the Universal Assembly, signed by the Applicant's current officers.
2. To become a new sector of Psi Phi, the following must occur in this order:
  1. The Universal Assembly must review the Application Form to ensure that it is completed fully and that the Applicant meets the aforementioned requirements as specified in Article I, Section A.
  2. The Universal Assembly must vote on the Application, and must reach a two-thirds majority of responding Representatives.
  3. The Applicant must be notified within 7 (seven) days of the decision.
  4. If the decision is one of acceptance, the following must occur:
    1. The Applicant must acknowledge the acceptance within 30 (thirty) days, or the Application Process is voided.
    2. The Applicant will now be officially recognized as a Sector or Outpost of the Psi Phi Federation, with the sector naming conventions established in Article I, Section E, and is thus regarded as a successful Applicant.
3. Upon successful Application to the Federation, one Member should be elected into the Universal Assembly as a Representative if representation is desired.
4. Any Sector or Outpost may, if they desire, be affiliated with or members of other organizations, according to the rules of the other organizations.
5. Sectors and Outposts are collectively numbered consecutively, starting at 001. If more than 500 (five hundred) numbers are allocated, the numbering scheme must be re-evaluated by the High Council. After assigned, sector numbers stay with an organization regardless of status. If a Dead World re-Applies to the Federation, it is at the Applicant's discretion as to whether the original sector number is kept, or a new number is assigned.
Universal Assembly:
1. Elections:
  1. Representatives are elected by Sectors and Outposts between October 1 and October 15, inclusive. The results of the local elections must be sent to the High Council by October 16.
  2. In the event that election results are not received, representation for the Sector or Outpost will be withheld. To receive representation, the Sector or Outpost may petition the High Council for a special election.
  3. Special elections may be held for new Sectors or Outposts, for early vacancy of a Representative position, or by permission of the High Council.
  4. Representatives hold their position until the next election of the position.
2. Responsibilities:
  1. Choose the High Council as defined in Article III, Section B.
  2. Approve of Applications
  3. Amend the Charter as defined in Article V.
  4. Enact Policy: a simple majority is required to create or modify Policy. Ties will be decided by the Universal Vice President.
  5. Impeach High Council members as necessary: if any High Council member is found to be willfully acting against the Psi Phi Federation or its Charter, that person shall be removed from office after a four-fifths majority conviction by Universal Assembly.
3. Voting:
  1. Sector Representatives may listen, discuss, propose, and vote.
  2. Outpost Representatives may listen, discuss, and propose, but may not vote.
  3. High Council members, unless also Representatives, may listen and discuss, but not propose nor vote.
4. Communications Procedure:
  1. All official Assembly communication must be electronic.
  2. The Universal Vice President shall inform all Representatives and High Council members of an Assembly.
  3. Representatives may submit topics for discussion or policy proposals for voting to the Universal Vice President. High Council members may submit topics for discussion.
  4. The Universal Vice President shall collect all topics and policy proposals in an orderly fashion and distribute that list to the Representatives and High Council members.
  5. Representatives and High Council members may submit their opinions on each topic. Sector Representatives may also submit their votes for each policy proposal.
  6. The Universal Vice President shall compile all responses to topics in an orderly fashion and distribute that list to the Representatives and High Council members.
  7. The Universal Vice President shall also tabulate all votes for policy proposals. The results shall be distributed to all Representatives and High Council members. Individual votes need not be distributed under standard circumstances, but must be made available upon request from any Representative or Member of a Sector or Outpost.
High Council:
1. Offices:
  1. Universal President
    1. Shall preside at High Council meetings and joint meetings.
    2. Shall represent Psi Phi as a whole for external purposes.
    3. Shall oversee Department Heads.
  2. Universal Vice President
    1. Shall assume the Universal President's duties if he becomes incapacitated or is otherwise relieved of duty.
    2. Shall preside over the Universal Assembly.
  3. Universal Treasurer
    1. Shall be responsible for Universal funds and budgets.
    2. Shall establish dues and policies thereof.
  4. Chief Engineer
    1. Shall control the Federation computer resources, including but not limited to the maintenance of the Web presence and system and E-mail accounts.
2. Elections:
  1. The founding Sector shall choose the initial High Council members from its current active and alumni Membership.
  2. All subsequent High Council members shall be chosen by the Universal Assembly from active and alumni Members of Sectors and Outposts.
  3. Nominations:
    1. Nominations may be submitted to the Universal Vice President between October 16 and October 22, inclusive.
    2. The Universal Vice President shall confirm with each nominee that he or she accepts the nomination.
    3. After confirmation, the Universal Vice President shall send the list of all nominations to each Representative.
    4. Sector Representatives shall send their votes to the Universal Vice President by October 31.
    5. The Universal Vice President shall tabulate the votes and send the results to the Representatives, the current High Council members, and the High Council members-elect.
    6. The members-elect shall take Office at noon, Greenwich Mean Time, on the first Thursday of November.
Departments:
1. Departments shall function as committees and shall be defined upon usage by means of Policy.
Amendments:
1. Procedures:
  1. Amendments to this Charter may be proposed by any Representative or High Council member to the High Council for vote.
  2. If the High Council vote reaches a four-fifths majority approval, the Amendment shall be presented to the Universal Assembly for vote.
  3. To be ratified, the proposed Amendment must achieve a three-fourths majority in the Universal Assembly vote.
2. Implementation:
  1. Amendments, after ratification, shall be appended to the end of this Charter.
  2. Amendments shall be numbered in Roman numerals.
Terms:
1. Applicant: The group applying for membership into the Psi Phi Federation.
2. Application Form: The form which must be filled out as a part of the Application Process by a prospective new Sector or Outpost.
3. Application Process: The actions of submitting the Application Form to the Universal Assembly to become a Sector of the Psi Phi Federation.
4. DAH!: The official interjection of the Psi Phi Federation.
5. Dead World: A former Sector or Outpost having 0 (zero) Members. A Dead World wishing to change its status must reinitiate the Application Process.
6. Language: The Official Language of the Psi Phi Federation is English, though Sectors may use other languages internally.
7. Member: A sentient active member of an organization.
8. Money: The Official Monies of the Psi Phi Federation are U.S. Dollars and Cents, though Sectors may use other monies internally.
9. Outpost: A successful Applicant having fewer than 5 (five) Members. If a Sector's membership drops to fewer than 5 (five) Members, its status will change to Outpost.
10. Representative: The Member elected to the Universal Assembly by a Sector or Outpost.
11. Sector: A successful Applicant having 5 (five) or more Members.

Enacted by a majority vote of Bradley University's Psi Phi members on the thirteenth day of March, nineteen ninety-six. Signed on the twenty-seventh day thereof.

Paul Mulka  Seth Robison  Peter C. Jones  Erinn B. Lineback  David Henderson
 Captain   First Officer  Communications     Grand Nagus   Chief of Operations
                              Officer

Amendments

In the Application Process, the Application Form must be agreed to by the Applicant's current officers but need not be signed.
In the event of a Universal Assembly vote resulting in a tie, the Universal Vice President shall cast the deciding vote.
In the event of the early vacancy of any High Council position, an emergency nomination and election procedure shall be initiated, with the following procedural differences.
1. If the vacated office is that of Universal Vice President, a remaining High Council member shall preside over the procedure
2. Nominations shall be accepted by the Universal Vice President or substituionary presider for a period of 7 (seven) days, starting at a date of the presider's choosing. After the nominations have been confirmed and distributed, votes shall be accepted for a period of no fewer than 7 (seven) days and no greater than 14 (fourteen) days.
3. The member-elect shall take Office immediately upon receipt of the election results.