Community Council Operating Procedures

= A message from the writer of these operating procedures: =

Council has an interesting history. Generally, governance at Hampshire has followed an interesting path, and promises the same in the future. It's sort of like riding a roller coaster. The ups and downs. You see it, and you want to ride it so bad. Once you're on it, you can't figure out for the life of you why you got on this thing, every turn is terrifying, though a little exciting. But when it’s over, you want to do it again, and have no regrets. That is Council - in a nutshell.

Council has had periods of great effectiveness and embarrassing laziness. I think we're all committed to the success of student governance at Hampshire, but, like a lot here, we have to re-invent everything as we go. The problem is that people come and go. People become Div III, or take an extra class, or get a job and no longer have time to commit. Council's membership has been anything but stable. This ends up creating a strange un-written legacy, where procedures are re-invented every year and the authority lies within the heads of the people who have been around long enough and gone through enough shit here to know what to do. That burns a lot of people out, and it isn't really, what democratic governance is all about.

In writing these operating procedures, I hope to lay a foundation of support for future students involved in student governance at Hampshire. These aren't a rigid set of rules with dire consequences but more of a guiding force, to be re-evaluated as time goes on, but to help pass along the hard work that many people put in to try and make governance at Hampshire successful. These are accepted norms as how to do business, and how to build a governance body that is most conducive to promoting student interests on this campus. Following these operating procedures is the first time in building a legacy of successful student driven governance at Hampshire College.

Every year - every semester even - Council would totally re-invent itself, forgetting what happened and re-building the wheel, again. These operating procedures should provide some consistency from membership to membership and help everyone stay on the same page regarding how Council works. We burn ourselves out re-inventing the wheel here at Hampshire. But there is a wheel, and it's round and rolls and does everything a wheel should do. Let's build off what history has done, instead of doing it all over again. So, with all the being said, I give you, ladies and gentleman, the wheel:

Alex Torpey, F05

Chair, Community Council

September 21st, 2008

= Governance =

Council is governed by both the Constitution of the College and by it's own bylaws. The Hampshire College Constitution supersedes Community Council's bylaws, which supersedes the Operating Procedures. These operating procedures are guidelines and recommended rules for ensuring consistency, sustainability and effectiveness. for daily procedure. At the end of each semester, a task force should be created to re-evaluated and update the Operating Procedures. They may be amended by a 2/3 vote of Council. It is important to note new revisions and always, always save a copy of the previous revisions, no matter how minor a change may be.

= Council Calendar/Schedule =

Community Council and its subcommittee meetings are scheduling using Google Calendar. This format is exportable so that anyone who keeps an electronic calendar can import Council events directly into theirs.Using Google Calendar for events is a great resource because the calendar system can update and remind you via email or text message when events are nearing. This allows all of us with busy calendars to keep track of everything. It's highly advised to sign up to receive updates on meetings and special events that Council is hosting.

The link to Council's calendar is: the RSS feed is: Non-Regular Council Meetings

= All-Community Meetings =

Community Council may call All-Community Meetings as per Article VII of the Hampshire College Constitution:

"The entire college community may be convened for special sessions upon the request of the President, Faculty Meeting, Educational Policy Committee, Community Council, or upon submission of a petition seeking such a meeting signed by at least fifty members of the college community. A petition must state specific issues to be considered by the All-Community Meeting, as well as the proposed date and time for the meeting."

The agenda for any such meeting shall be defined by the body or petition calling it.

Notice for such meetings shall be delivered to the Executive Committee of the Faculty, Educational Policy Committee, Community Council, and the Judicial Council and shall be posted widely on-campus no fewer than five business days prior to the convening of the meeting."

It is recommended that All-Community Meetings be scheduled in place of Community Council on Tuesdays from 3:30-5pm (Governance Time) or that same time Thursday. Those times are generally the most agreeable to students, staff and faculty.

Setting up the Meeting
All-Community meetings should be held in the Main Lecture Hall of FPH for reasons of accessibility and the amount of space that the room provides. The room should be reserved as far in advance as possible through Special Programs. ALWAYS call a few days before the event to confirm the reservation. Equipment (A/V) can be obtained through Media Services and may be charged to the Community Council account. It is very important to advertise heavily, and even table, for All-Community Meetings.

= Hampfest =

Hampfest happens at the beginning of each the fall and spring semesters. This is a large activity where student groups, including Council, are invited and encouraged to set-up tables in the venue selected and promote their group and its activities as well as recruit members. Council should work with the Student Activities Coordinator in the CLA (x6005) in preparing for Hampfest, selecting the venue, activities, and the date and time. The venue should be a space large enough to fit the expected number of student groups and accommodate food, entertainment, etc. Emphasis should be placed on selecting a time that is most accessible.

= Signer Seminar =

Signer Seminar happens in the beginning of each semester to provide resources and support for student group signers. This event is coordinated between Council, FiCom and the CLA. The three groups work together in arranging the activities and venue for the event. (*)Council's decision to incorporate an activity into the seminar is final and binding, as is the CLA's.

Spring Jam
During Spring Jam, as a fun service to the community, Council generally has a little event out on the library lawn. Making food, giving cool things away, or some other interesting activity is encouraged. The free food idea is pretty wonderful, just be careful if you are making grilled cheese on a propane grill. Apparently people don't like being handed a grilled cheese sandwich that is actually on fire. Who knew? (There definitely is not a story behind that)

= Orientation/Beginning of the Year =

The beginning of the year is an important time to generate interest in Council, especially among new students.

The Chair of Council, or a designee, should speak at the incoming student welcoming ceremony and work with the Dean of Student Office in doing so. They may be allowed on campus early to speak at the ceremony.

Tabling, advertising, and other outreach should also happen during orientation. These activities should be focused on generating some initial interest in Council, promoting new projects and/or working with other departments and offices. Three Councilors shall, in addition to the welcoming ceremony speaker, be allowed on campus early to set-up and begin preparations for Council's orientation activities, which may include, but are not limited to, hosting an activity session, tabling around campus, and/or select members speaking at different events. Any Councilor on campus should try to be available during the day to new students and staff looking for support. At the end of each Spring semester, Council shall approve next semester's orientation budget.

By the last meeting of the previous spring semester, Councilors who are returning early should be selected. It is important to work with Student Services in setting orientation activities up, and to notify them if there is any change in who is coming to campus early. The main contact person for orientation is Josiah Litant (jlitant@hampshire.edu) TABLING

When tabling, make sure to take the tabling box that is in the storage cabinet in the Council office. Make a note if anything is missing, and make sure to return everything to its place when you're done. The tabling box should contain signs, tape, an email sign-up list and assorted general information about Council.

It is very important to contact the staff member in charge of the space that the tabling will take place at. If it is in the Dinning Commons, ask the director of the dinning services or a manager if the table is available. If it the table is in the library in front of the Magic Board, contact the library staff.

= The Office =

The Committee On Community Development's responsibility will be to prepare plans for re-organizing, upgrading or renovating the office as it sees fit or as requested by Council. Each committee is in charge of the organization of its own files and equipment and is also in charge of leaving the office as it found it. Funds for office renovations shall be approved by COCD and then affirmed by Community Council.

Office Guidelines

 * Anytime you're in the office, try to keep the door open wide so that people feel welcome to wander in and ask questions.
 * The office is right on the Airport Lounge, so try to keep noise down. If it's too loud, shut the door but try to put a sign out signifying that people should feel free to come inside.
 * Keep the office clean! We all want to work in an organized, professional environment, not a dorm room.
 * Don't have parties in the office, unless party is defined as doing work quietly, which it certainly can be.
 * Don't remove furniture from the office or add furniture to the space from somewhere else.
 * If something important breaks or is broken or seems to be missing, make a note of it.
 * Remember that when you are in the office, you are representing Community Council.
 * Respect other Councilors who want to use the office. If someone has office hours, is having a Council meeting or doing Council work, please be respectful in letting them use the desk space.
 * And most importantly, don't put any of the office supplies in a Jell-O mold.

Keylists
Right now there are two keys #16 and #20. Community Council has final authority on who may be added to the keylist, inasmuch as no department on campus may add someone to either keylist without approval from Council. The Chair of Council, with approval from the Executive Cabinet may add/remove someone from the keylist. Any keylist changes must be presented by the EC in the next Council meeting under their reportbacks.

= Electronic Maintenance =

!NEVER DELETE ANYTHING!

Council Laptop
The Laptop shall be kept in the Community Council Office unless needed by an officer for a Council meeting or business. The Chair of Council accepts highest priority of its use for out of office Council business. The computer must be kept locked up when not in use.

The Secretary, with consultation from the Communications Officer is charged with internally organizing the computer's files and programs, etc.

Support for the computer can be acquired through the IT Department at Hampshire. All service/warranty, etc requests need to be forwarded to IT before contacting the manufacturer.

= Council Email Address =

The Secretary shall be in charge of checking and maintaining the Council email account (ccouncil@hampshire, hc.communitycouncil@gmail.com). The Secretary shall also respond to emails they believe pertinent to respond to. All email inquiries should be directed to the @hampshire address, which are forwarded to the gmail account. The Gmail account is for larger storage and easier access, but it is purely internal, all emails should be sent from the @hampshire.edu as well. Ambiguities and press requests should be brought to the Chair and/or to the Executive Committee. All emails sent from the Council email account are partly speaking for Council as a whole. Responsible and reasonable language and tone should used in all official Council emails.

There will be four "labels" in Gmail maintained for the officers of Council. Each one should be "REPLIED[Person's Initials]. This is to make sure that all email's get answered in a timely manner, and to be able to find someone who responded to an email if any questions arise.

When replying to an email sent to the ccouncil account, it should be done from Gmail, not from a program such as Thunderbird or Outlook. The person who replied should enter in their label as soon as they reply to an email by using one of the four labels that are there for replying. Address: ccouncil@hampshire.edu (hc.communitycouncil@gmail.com) CONF= Username: CONF= Password:

Council Email Listserv
The Executive Committee shall be in charge of maintaining the Listserv and its permissions. The list for all of Council and anyone that wishes to be on it. Address: communitycouncil@lists.hampshire.edu

Admin Address: ____

CONF= Username:

CONF= Password:

Hampsigners Listserv
The Hampsigners listserv...

At the beginning of each semester the Secretary shall update the listserv and make sure that the email addresses are up to date. Names and email addresses of all the signers can be obtained from FiCom.

Council Intranet Website
The Council website, located at council.hampshire.edu shall be maintained by the Communications Officer with content approval from the Executive Committee. The website must be kept up to date and be periodically archived on the web and on the Council computer.

Council Internet Website
The Communications Officer shall be the liaison with the school for the internet website. They must come to the Executive Committee for approval on any changes to the Council Internet page. Address: Council Site (www.hampshirecollegecommunitycouncil.org)

Domain Maintenance
The domain of the Community Council site at www.hampshirecollegecommunitycouncil.org was purchased through the domain registrar GoDaddy (godaddy.com) CUSTOMER NUMBER: 24395905 LOGIN NAME: 24395905 RECEIPT NUMBER: 137133485 ORDER TOTAL: $10.19 CUSTOMER SERVICE: (480) 505-8877

The Domain needs to be re-registered on a yearly basis, on November 7th.

Oversight
....

Other Council Internet Sites
The Communications Officer shall be charged with maintaining any other electronic or internet based sites for Council.

= Meeting Minutes =

All Community Council meeting shall be recorded by the Secretary as per the attached minutes outline. If the Secretary is unable to take minutes, or is absent from a meeting, a member must be appointed to take meeting minutes at the beginning of the meeting before Council moves on to any business.

All meeting minutes should be taken on the Community Council Laptop for reasons of archiving, access and accountability. If they aren't, upon their approval in the EC, they should be transferred to the Council laptop.

All meeting minutes should be taken in an accessible document format (.doc) and may be provided to members of the community in a non-editable .pdf format.

Storage
Minutes should be stored chronologically on the Council Laptop. Filenames should identify the document and date of creation, i.e. Council_Minutes_01.01.1901.doc. In addition, a copy of the minutse should be stored in the archives and on a Hampshire file server.

A copy of the Minutes shall be printed, stamped with approval and filed chronologically immediately upon approval.

Approval
Community Council, on a weekly basis, shall be charged with approval of the previous Council meeting minutes. The approval process should consider typographical errors, errors of fact, impertinent or confidential information recorded, or other mistakes. The approval process is not a place to change one's mind on a certain issue and no content or opinions may be changed in this process. Minutes are approved by a vot of no confidence in Council. If minutes are not approved, they may be edited as stated previously until they are approved. Upon approval, the minutes shall be amended with a footnote stating approval and the date that the minutes were approved, NOT the date they were taken. "Council, approved 01.01.2001"

Accessibility and Distribution
Upon approval of the minutes, a .pdf should be created by the Communications Officer and immediately uploaded to the Community Council website. The minutes may also be updated to secondary Council internet sources, such as Facebook Groups, Hampedia pages, etc. Upon the approval of the Minutes, the Secretary shall immediately e-mail the .pdf to the following email addresses: - The Community Council List (communitycouncil@lists.hampshire.edu) - The Community Council Email Address (ccouncil@hampshire.edu) - The President (rhexter@hampshire.edu) - The Vice-President of Administration (mspiro@hampshire.edu)

- The Vice-President of Academics (....) - The Dean of Students (dawn) - The Student Services ex-officio - The Library Archivist (...) - The Climax (hampshireclimax@gmail.com) - The Omen (omen@hampshire.edu)

And any other office, department or individual who so requests reception of the minutes. Anyone who requests the minutes on a regular basis should be added to the above list. The Minutes shall also be entered into the Daily Digest immediately by the Communications Officer upon approval.

Any minutes that have been approved by the E.C. must be provided to any Hampshire community member upon request to do so.

= Meeting Procedure =

Quorum
Quorum must be met in order for Community Council to be called to order. Quorum is the half of the total membership of voting members of Council plus one, rounded up. For example, if there are 13 members you need 8 for quorum not 7. Additionally, proxy votes do not count in quorum, though they may be used in voting once quorum has been reached.

Call to Order
The Chair shall call the meeting to order, typically no later than five (5) minutes after the recorded start time. It is important that every Councilor is present before 3:30 so the meeting can begin on time. At the time of the Call to Order, the Secretary, or designee, shall record the (a) time (b) location (c) members present (d) members absent (e) guests present (f) if it is a special session, in the minutes as per minutes guideline.

Proxy Votes
If a Councilor knows in advance that they will be missing a meeting they have the option of submitting a proxy vote. To do so, the absent member must write down on a signed piece of paper: (a) their voting positions on certain issues or grant permission for their proxy to vote on their behalf (b) who they are designating to be their proxy. This must be signed and dated and may be left with any Councilor to bring to the meeting, or may be left in the Council office before the meeting.

Minutes and Record
All meetings of Community Council must be recorded as per the attached minutes outline and detailed in the Minutes section. See the Minutes section for a detail of procedures regarding meeting minutes.

MEETING PROCEDURE AND LOGISTICS
Meetings shall operate under basic Parliamentary Procedures as detailed in the attached Parliamentary Procedure handout. Although the backbone of the meetings are Robert's Rules of Order, they needn't be strictly adhered to. If the Facilitator and one (1) other Officer of the Executive Committee see fit, Robert's Rules may be instituted for the duration of the meeting, and may also be repealed by that same process at any time. This is reserved for situations where timeliness is of exigent priority or if meeting decorum becomes unproductive.

Any Councilor may move to institute Robert's Rules of Order, to be passed only by a 1/2 plus 1 majority.

Motions
Motions made in Council are to follow basic parliamentary procedure as outlined in the attached guide, and motions shall follow the priority enumerated in that guideline.

Agendas
The upcoming meeting's agenda shall be created in the Executive Committee meeting the week before. No later than 1 (one) day after the agenda is created it must be emailed to the Council listserv and to any guests that are expected in attendance. The agenda may be updated by contacting the Secretary, who will then email a revised copy of the agenda to the list. The agenda shall be written according to the attached guidelines.

The Secretary shall be in charge of ensuring that a sufficient number of agendas are obtained prior to the start of any Council meeting. The secretary is advised to email the agenda the night before to duplications (duplications@hampshire.edu) advising that they will be picking it up prior to 3:30 on Tuesday and may charge the copying to the Council account.

Resolutions
Resolutions are motions that are brought to the table that resolve an issue or question. For example, a motion to extend the meeting is not a resolution. However, a motion to support a particular student group, or a motion to condemn or commend certain actions are resolutions. Resolutions typically are sent, or directed, at people or offices outside of Community Council. The motion to pass a resolution is separate from the resolution itself. The motion itself is recorded in the minutes whereas the resolution would be sent to whomever it is pertinent to. See the attached example and guideline for writing and passing motions.

Resolutions can be sent in the form of a Memorandum to various offices and departments on campus. Before sending a Memo, and even writing the resolution itself, it is wise to first reach out to the departments in question to inquire about whatever issue is at hand. Often there is an issues that arises out of a simple miscommunication. More about writing memos and resolutions is detailed on the attached sheet. (*)

Memos
Memos are a format of sending information to an entity outside of Community Council. It is recommended that memos be written according to the attached memo guideline. All Memos should be signed by the Chair, Co-chairs or officers, and then scanned into the Council computer for storage.

Delegation
Being able to delegate tasks to members on Council and to task forces helps ensure that things get done on time and provides a certain amount of accountability to people who volunteer to do things. It's important to have such things on the record so that people down the line can look back on it, and for example, find the contact person for a particular project or task. When a minor item is delegated to a specific person on Council, that should be recorded in the minutes and added to the "action items" section in the minutes. For example, someone who volunteers to email or meet with someone should have that recorded in the minutes, which, in the action items, will be emailed out to the list as a reminder for people who signed up for things.

= Task Forces =

Delegating something to a Task Force is usually for a project that may take more than one person to complete. To create a task force a few conditions should be met: 1) The task may require the work of more than one person on Council. 2) The task is specific and clear at the time of the task force formation. I.e. there is a stated goal. 3) There is a time frame for the task at hand, which should be submitted to Council no later than a week after the creation of the task force. The time frame should include the amount of time to spend on discussion and tasks, meeting times and when a final recommendation will be brought to Council. This time frame may be revised, though must then be submitted to Council.

Whenever a project comes up in Council – for example, working with a student group to provide support for an upcoming event – a task force should be created. When a task force is created, a chair must be appointed and the task force should meet for the first time within the same week that the motion was passed. Task forces are a very effective and accountable way to make sure that projects get done. Any project that is being worked on over any time period should be formalized into a task force. There may be many active task forces at any given time. A list of active and past task forces should be kept public so that community members may contact the appropriate people. Meeting times should be publicized at least over the Council email list as well. The idea of creating a task force is officializing what people have signed up to do. At the time of the creation of the task force, a chair should be picked as well. The chair of a task force is someone who is the main contact person and helps organize and move the projects in the task forward. The work of active task forces shall be heard by Council at-large during reportbacks, after the sub-committee reportbacks.

= Meeting Place and Time  =

Meetings shall be held in the Community Council Office during stated Governance Time, which is 3:30-5pm on Tuesdays.

Community Council does not hold meetings during Jan-Term, although it may choose to hold task force or sub-committee meetings at those committee's discretion.

If the location of Community Council needs to be changed, it must be announced no later than three (3) business days in advance - No later than midnight Thursday of the previous week. Any guests expected should be personally notified, an email should go out to the Council e-mail listserv, an announcement should be placed in the Daily Digest and proper signage should be put up alerting potential visitors of the venue change.

A time change for a Community Council meeting, other than a 30-minute delay must be voted on by Council, to be passed by a 1/2 plus 1 majority.

Adjournment
The Chair, or designee, at the end of business, or at 5pm, may call the meeting to an end by moving to adjourn. This motion must be seconded, and if not blocked, passes. If a Councilor blocks an adjournment, the member may state a reason, i.e. "Due to the importance for the issue at hand, can we move to extend the meeting for x minutes". If the vote for adjourning passes, by a simple majority (1/2 plus 1) the meeting is adjourned. To extend the meeting, the motion to adjourn should fail. If it does not pass, any Councilor may make a motion to extend the meeting for a specified period of time. At the end of that time, the facilitator should note the time is up and move to adjourn, to follow the same procedure as previously stated.

= ELECTIONS =

This entire section on electinos is tentative....and right now just suggestions.

Pre-Election Procedure

The Election Committee

(***)

The Election Committee shall be called into existence no later than two (2) meetings before the last meeting of the Spring Semester to examine elections and prepare for them.

The election committee shall be charged with

- Examining election process: Ensuring that the method used is the fairest to all students and as accurate as possible.

- Preparing Timeline and Procedures: No later than before the last meeting of the semester the procedures, timeline and duties for each member. By the last meeting the Election Committee should know exactly when the election will be held. They should also:

1) Establish tabling schedules

2) Determine the method and logistics of the elections

3) Contact the house office to acquire student lists

4) Coordinate with house staff for house elections

5) Alert sub-committees of their responsibility to choose a Council representative

6) Outline a plan of advertising

7) Divide up labor between the election committee members and any Councilor or community member who wishes to help.

Recruiting Nominees - Open spots on Council shall be advertised for by postering, email reminders in the Daily Digest and tabling. The Election Committee should work closely with the Communications Officer in advertising efforts.

The Election Committee shall be made up of:

See the attached sample calendar for a guideline on how elections should proceed.

Election Procedure
Elections must be held on a yearly basis, at the beginning of each fall semester for any open spots on Council. Special Elections may be held on an need-only basis for positions lasting one-semester at the beginning of the Spring semester if there is a loss of membership.

Elections shall be finished and new members selected no later than four (4) weeks into the semester the election is being held for.

Elections must be tabled in a way that provides access to all members of the community in terms of location and time. Elections shall only be held in public campus places to ensure fair accessibility, i.e. they may not happen in people's mods or dorms (though they may in house offices).

An informal information session shall be held by the Election Committee after all nominees are in and immediately after voting is announced. The info session should be a chance for the community at large to learn about governance and Council as one part and a chance to hear a brief speech by each candidate. Candidates are required to submit a statement no longer than 15 lines (!! change to characters!!) and speak, for no more than five minutes each at the info session. They are encouraged to speak about why they are running, what they will do for Hampshire, etc. The info session should be held during a community council meeting. Council will meet shortly for no more than 30 minutes until 4pm, and hold the info session from 4-5pm in a larger venue.

Post-Election Procedure
Votes are tallied by the Executive Cabinet and are then provided to the acting Executive Cabinet for release to the public. All votes must remain confidential. If rankings are used in voting, they may not be provided to the Executive Committee, any member on Council, Council itself, or the community at large.

New members shall be immediately notified of their victory, and alerted that they must attend a new-member orientation at a date and time specified by the Election Committee. New members shall also be reminded that they can attend any Council meetings or sub-committee meetings prior to actually being elected.

Officer Elections
Officer elections are to be held at the first meeting of the new members of the year. A special election may be held in the spring if a spot becomes vacant, but the officer positions are one-year terms. The elections are for the Chair, Secretary, Facilitator and Communications Officer. The election process:

- Begins with reminding everyone who holds each position, and each person holding such a position to give a brief description of the position, often reading from the bylaws and operating procedure or recounting personal experiences.

- The order of elections is: Secretary, Facilitator, Communications Officer, and Chair.

- First, the position is given a brief description from what is contained in the bylaws by someone who is not running for the position.

- Second, nominations are collected. Someone may nominate themselves or be nominated by someone else. Nominations are collected by secret ballot, meaning that anyone who wishes to nominate someone may write down a name and pass it to an officer not running for that position. Everyone must hand in a piece of paper whether or not they are nominating someone to ensure confidentiality.

- Third, each person may have 1 person speak about them, i.e. the person who nominated them, or one other person if they so choose, plus a brief statement by themselves. No more than 1 person, other than the nominee, is allowed to speak about each nominee for each position. The current officer may choose to speak last.

- Fourth, after all the nominees have made their statements, secret ballots are cast by writing each Councilor's choice on a piece of paper and having it counted by someone not running for that particular position.

This process is repeated for each position.

= RESPONSIBILITIES/DUTIES/TIPS =

In this section are outlined some tips for all Councilors to help stay on top of tasks, and be an active and productive participant within Council and to the community. Everyone on Council should keep a personal calendar, and mark all of their required meetings down in advance. Missing a meeting because of forgetfulness is not acceptable. It also may be helpful to keep a to-do list of projects and their deadlines to ensure that tasks are completed on time. Again, keeping a calendar with Google Calendar or something similar is highly recommended. Carrying around a small notepad is also a good way to keep track of things that are discussed in meetings and may need following up on. If you are unsure of a process, policy or procedure within Council or externally, do not hesitate to ask another member or an officer, who generally have greater experience working with governance at Hampshire. At times the process may seem confusing, but whether in a Council meeting, and you'd like to make a point to clarify something, or you are stuck on trying to set up a meeting with someone, etc, don't hesitate to contact someone and ask for help. A lot of information travels at Hampshire through informal channels, i.e. the telephone game. That means that a lot of the time, what may appear to be happening, or what one may hear is happening is not at all true. (I once announced in a class of 12 that Hampshire was going to hold some meetings on whether to put in security cameras on campus. A few days later a student I didn't know came up and told me "I heard the director of public safety is putting cameras in the bathrooms"). If you aren't sure of something, BEFORE taking some sort of action - check with someone else who might know, or check with someone on Council. If it is a matter of confidentiality, the Executive Cabinet meetings may meet confidentially, and the matter can be brought there.

Student House Representative
TBD

Student At-Large Member
TBD

Officer/Executive Cabinet

 * 1) Appointee

= PRESS REQUESTS =

Within Hampshire
Press Requests from Hampshire based publications seeking information about Community Council should be forwarded to the Executive Committee. The Chair may speak for Community Council about issues that have already been discussed without consultation, though must notify the EC before or after doing so. Any other officer must seek approval from the Executive Committee to speak for Council.

Any Councilor may speak about council freely. For example stating that "Council will be holding an All-Community Meeting this Tuesday, people are encouraged to attend" does not need any approval, though the E.C. must be notified of the statement for consistency. However, "Community Council guarantees that this issue will be resolved in favor of X student group by the end of this week" needs approval from the E.C.

Any Minutes, Agendas, motions, or other public documents must be provided to press on request.

Outside of Hampshire
All press requests from outside of Hampshire seeking comments from Community Council should be forwarded to the Chair. The Chair may relay personal opinions, facts and general information about Council. The Chair must not speak for Council on issues not yet resolved, and must not misrepresent their own personal opinion as the opinion of Council. The EC should be notified before making any statement to the outside press to ensure consistency and accuracy in the statement.

Before giving any documents to the press, the request should be passed through any Executive Committee Officer for approval and the entire E.C. should be notified.

= FUN THINGS =

Surprise Adventure of Confidential Knowabouts (SACK)
Council shall, once per semester, on a date secretly picked by the Executive Committee of Council, decsend on the rooms of all Councilors and proceed to take them on an undisclosed adventure of monumental proportions. All costs of said adventure must be paid for by Community Council, and no adventure may discriminate any student based on race, gender, religion, age, disability or military service. Adventures should be fun, and are a tradition based in encouraging group bonding and creating a sense of legacy within Council. The SACK may not, in any way, violate Hampshire's group recognition policy to which Council has agreed and may not take on any form of hazing or other sexual, physical, mental or emotional harassment. Any Officer of Council who alerts a Councilor of the date of the SACK shall be looked down upon with a lifelong of shame.

And the basis for the acronym is in SACKing people, i.e. sacking a quarterback. Any other reason given for the SACK acronym is a clear falsification.

Council Dinner
Generally the night of the first Council meeting with all of the new members of the year, the officers of Council host a dinner in one of their mods. This is a great chance for everyone to get to know eachother before Council is really a session.

Class Picture
Council, at some point in the semester, should take a picture of all the members, list the names and years of all of the new members and put it up on the class wall.