The DTS Constitution

DALHOUSIE THEATRE SOCIETY CONSTITUTION

As amended May 2024.

Table of Contents

Article 1 – Name and Definition
Article 2 – Purpose
Article 3 – Membership
Article 4 – Executive
Article 5 – Production Officers
Article 6 – Productions
Article 7 – General Meetings
Article 8 – Executive Meetings
Article 9 – Production Committee
Article 10 – Events Committee
Article 11 – Elections
Article 12 – Replacement of Executive Officers
Article 13 – Constitutional Amendments
Article 14 – Finances

Article 1 – Name and Definitions

The society will be known as the Dalhousie Theatre Society.
In this Constitution,
1. “DASSS” means the Dalhousie Arts and Social Sciences Society;
2. “DSU” means the Dalhousie Student Union;
3. “simple majority” means a number of votes greater than 50 percent of all votes cast; and
4. “Society” means the Dalhousie Theatre Society.

Article 2 – Purpose

The Society will encourage networking within the Theatre Department at Dalhousie University.
The Society will offer members the opportunity to participate in and stage live theatrical productions.
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, these objectives will be achieved by any or all of the following:
1. producing a season of live shows at Dalhousie University;
2. encouraging and giving financial assistance to independent productions produced on the initiative and with the responsibility of students;
3. coordinating workshops for skills required in any aspect of the production of live performances; and
4. acquiring and disseminating information relevant to members of the Society.
5. should prioritize advertisement and outreach to marginalized communities on and off Dal Campus (including but not limited to the International Centre, BSAC, DISA).

Article 3 – Membership

Any student enrolled at Dalhousie University or the University of King’s College is eligible to be a member of the Society.
Only members may vote in elections or hold Executive positions.
The Society does not place any limits on members based on age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, language, race, ethnicity or any other grounds recognized by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canada Human Rights Act, or the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act.
Any person who meets the membership requirements of this Constitution and shows interest in the Society is hereby deemed a member.
1. A person may show interest in the Society by, for example, attending a meeting of the Society, attending a meeting of a Society committee, or participating in a Society production or workshop.

Article 4 – Executive

The Executive will be made up of the following Executive Officers, listed in order of precedence:
1. President
2. Vice-President
3. Treasurer
4. Production Manager
5. Secretary
6. Events Officer
7. Dalprov Coordinator
8. First-Year Representatives
The President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Production Manager will be Signing Officers.
1. Members who meet at least one of the following criteria are eligible to hold Signing Officer positions:
  1. previously held a non-Signing Officer position on the society Executive
  2. participated in a Society production
  3. currently enrolled in at least one Theatre course at Dalhousie University
  4. maintain membership in the society for at least one year
Upon the replacement of an Executive Officer, the outgoing Executive Officer will ensure their successor is properly transitioned into the duties of that Executive position, including, but not limited to, preparing and presenting a transitional report.
The President will
1. be responsible for establishing an annual vision for the Society;
2. be ultimately responsible for the activities of the Society;
3. call, chair, and set the agenda for all meetings of the Society unless otherwise specified by this Constitution;
4. read and understand DSU Society Policy;
5. be responsible for reapplying every year for Ratification with the DSU;
6. ensure that all officers and appointees and members are fulfilling their duties, and bring the matter to the Executive if these duties are not being fulfilled;
7. attend FSPA faculty meetings;
8. attend DASSS’s ‘President Council’ meetings; and
9. liaise with other student and amateur theatre societies and foster reciprocal and cooperative relationships.
The Vice-President will
1. fulfill any or all of the duties of the President if the President is temporarily unable to do so;
2. cooperate with the Production Manager to oversee the progress of all productions supported by the Society;
3. represent the interests of the Society and act as a liaison between the Society and the director of any production supported by the Society;
4. ensure that the Society remains eligible for grants that depend on involvement with DASSS;
5. attend DASSS meetings;
6. participate in DASSS events;
7. inform the Executive about relevant matters that arise within DASSS; and
8. advance the interests of the Society within DASSS.
The Treasurer will
1. keep records of all spending within the Society in accordance with DSU regulations;
2. prepare the bi-annual budget for the Society and present it for approval to the membership as specified by this Constitution;
3. obtain the budget for each Society production and present it for approval to the Executive;
4. advise the organizers of a production seeking Society approval on how to prepare their budget for submission to the Executive;
5. manage applications for Society Grants to the DSU, and aid members in applying for individual Member Grants through the DSU;
6. report the current financial status of the Society at each general meeting, making clear the relationship with approved budgets;
7. be responsible for managing the Society bank account; and
8. prepare and issue an audit to be received by DASSS each semester.
The Production Manager will
1. oversee the progress of all Society productions;
2. act as a liaison between the Production Officers of each Society production and the Executive;
3. support all productions as needed, which may include, but is not limited to, making the Production Officers aware of Society protocol, making funds available, and attending rehearsals/production meetings;
4. seek and conclude any rights agreements necessary for a Society production to proceed, file said agreements, and ensure their payment;
5. be ultimately answerable to the Executive regarding the progress of all ongoing productions;
6. be responsible for collecting all necessary documentation from productions, which may include rights agreements and receipts of payment, and distributing said documentation to the Executive; and
7. be responsible for venue, rehearsal space, and any other required bookings for society productions.

The Secretary will
1. maintain records and minutes of all Society meetings, and ensure their distribution in a timely manner;
2. ensure that all members receive proper notice of meetings and other events as specified by this Constitution;
3. regularly update members on events of interest; and
4. promote the Society through electronic communications and social media.
The Events Officer will
1. be responsible for planning all social events on behalf of the Society;
2. ensure that all Society events do not conflict with ongoing Society or Theatre Department productions, workshops, or events;
3. act as a representative of the Society at all Society-led events;appoint and oversee the Events Committee; and
4. encourage participation among all Society members to attend Society social events, productions, and workshops.
The Dalprov Coordinator will
1. be responsible for scheduling and hosting improv workshops at least once per week;
2. organize performances with improv participants; and
3. report the status of the improv workshops to the Executive.
The First-Year Representatives will
1. be first-year undergraduate students;
2. be enrolled in at least one Theatre course at Dalhousie University;
3. represent the interests of first-year Theatre students at Executive Meetings; and
4. communicate Society events and Executive decisions of interest to fellow Theatre students.

Article 5 – Production Officers

No Production Officer (Producer, Director, Stage Manager) will require any participant in a production to miss class for any reason.
All Production Officers shall conduct themselves as representatives of the Society.
The Producer of a Society production will
1. be chosen by the Executive based on proposals received at the beginning of the season or in the spring proposal period;
2. be directly answerable to the Executive;
3. be responsible for scheduling of rehearsals, in cooperation with the Director, the Stage Manager, and the Production Manager;
4. be ultimately responsible for choosing a director and stage manager for the production; and
5. must attend executive meetings during the course of their production.
  1. If the Producer is unable to attend an executive meeting, a proxy (a stage manager, co-director, etc.) may attend in lieu of a producer.
The Director of a Society production will
1. be chosen by the Producer;
2. be directly answerable to the Producer of the production;
3. be ultimately responsible for casting the production; and
4. be responsible for scheduling of rehearsals, in cooperation with the Producer, the Stage Manager, and the Production Manager.
The Stage Manager of a Society production will
1. be chosen by the Producer and Director;
2. be directly answerable to the Producer and Director; and
3. be responsible for scheduling of rehearsals, in cooperation with the Producer, the Director, and the Production Manager.

Article 6 – Productions

Any member may submit a proposal for a Society production to the Executive.
Proposals will be considered by the Executive in November for the winter season and in the spring at the March AGM for the fall season.
The Society will assume all costs required for the booking of production venues and performance rights separate from the shows intended budget.
Notwithstanding any other provision, the Executive retains discretion to consider and approve a proposal at any time.
1. The Executive will give priority to proposals made during the proposal periods defined by this Constitution.
Auditions for each season will be held in a panel that includes the directors of each show.
1. Actors will select their show preference in case of casting conflicts.
All casting for society productions will be done in accordance with our values of diverse casting practices. More specifically, no one will discriminate in their casting choices based on age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, language, race, or ethnicity.
The Signing Officers shall not be involved in productions

Article 7 – General Meetings

General Meetings of the membership will be held no less than once during or as near as possible to the months of September, January, and March respectively.
1. Additional General Meetings may be called at the request of all Executive Officers or upon an application to the Secretary by five members.
2. Any General Meeting called upon application to the Secretary must be held no later than three weeks after the application was made to the Secretary.
An executive member must acknowledge that the meeting will take place on unceded and unsurrendered Mi’kmaq Territory.
Quorum at a General Meeting will be 10 members, including at least one Signing Officer and at least five members who are not Executive Officers.
Any vacant Executive position may be filled by an election at a General Meeting.
1. Elections will proceed as specified by this Constitution.
Each Executive Officer will report on their activities to the membership at each General Meeting.
Any two members together will be entitled to table a motion for consideration by the membership.
1. Voting on all motions must go before the general membership at a General Meeting.
2. Voting on all motions will be conducted by a show of hands, unless any member requests a secret ballot, in which case a secret ballot will be held.
3. A simple majority vote of those in attendance at a General Meeting constitutes a winning vote in order to pass a motion unless otherwise specified by this Constitution.
  1. For greater clarity, this section does not apply to motions to amend this Constitution.
The March General Meeting is designated as the Annual General Meeting (“AGM”).
1. All provisions in this Constitution relating to General Meetings apply to the AGM unless otherwise specified by this Constitution.
2. The election of the Executive Officers, except the First-Year Representatives, will take place at the AGM.
3. If any Executive positions other than Signing Officer positions remain unfilled after the AGM, they may be elected at the next General Meeting.
4. Each Executive Officer will present an annual report to the membership at the AGM.
The bi-annual budgets will be brought to the September and January General Meetings for approval by the executive.
1. Budget updates, including budgets for specific events not contemplated by the bi-annual budget, will be brought to the next General Meeting for approval by the membership.
The election of the First-Year Representatives will take place at the September General Meeting.
Any member may request a copy of the minutes of a General Meeting from the Secretary.

Article 8 – Executive Meetings

An Executive Meeting will be held at least once every two weeks.
Quorum for an Executive Meeting will be four Executive Officers, including at least one Signing Officer.
If an Executive Officer is unable to attend an Executive Meeting, that Executive Officer must notify the Chair no later than two hours prior to the start of the meeting.
If meeting in person is not feasible, an Executive Meeting may proceed by digital communication with the consent of all Executive Officers.
If it is not feasible for an Executive Officer to attend an Executive Meeting in person, the Executive Officer may attend an Executive Meeting through a digital method with the consent of all Executive Officers.
1. An Executive Officer who attends an Executive Meeting in this manner will be considered present as if they attended in person.
All members of the Society may attend Executive Meetings, but the extent of their participation is subject to the discretion of the Executive Officers present.
Non-Executive members will be given advance notice of Executive Meetings only at the discretion of the Executive.
The Secretary will give a copy of the minutes of an Executive Meeting to any member upon request.
Motions, except a motion to have a discussion in camera, may not be introduced or passed at Executive Meetings.
1. A motion to have a discussion in camera at an Executive Meeting will not exclude an Executive Officer from the discussion, unless the Executive Officer is subject to a conflict of interest in the topic of the in camera discussion.
2. If a discussion is held in camera at an Executive Meeting, the minutes will note that an in camera discussion occurred, but they will not note the content of that discussion.

Article 10 – Events Committee

An Events Committee will be appointed at the discretion of the Events Officer.
The Events Committee will help the Events Officer to carry out their duties.
There is no maximum number of people who may be appointed to the Events Committee.
The Events Committee will meet once per month.
1. All members of the Events Committee must attend all meetings of the Events Committee unless a reasonable excuse is given to the Events Officer.

Article 11 – Elections

The Elections Officer will run elections and record information about elections.
1. The Elections Officer will be elected by a simple majority vote of those in attendance at the meeting.
2. The election of the Elections Officer will be conducted by a show of hands unless any member present requests a secret ballot, in which case a secret ballot will be held.
3. The Elections Officer will not vote, nominate, or second nominations in the elections at the meeting.
4. If the Elections Officer is nominated for an elected position and chooses to run, they will immediately step down and a new Elections Officer will be selected by a simple majority vote.
5. The election of an Elections Officer is valid only for the duration of the meeting at which they are elected.
Elections for Executive Officers will proceed as described in this section.
1. Elections will be held annually at the March AGM, and at any General Meeting when there are one or more vacant Executive positions.
2. No member may hold more than one Executive position simultaneously.
3. Elections for Executive Officers will be held in the order of precedence specified by this Constitution, beginning with the position of highest precedence.
4. A member becomes a candidate for an elected position after they have been nominated, the nomination has been seconded, and the prospective candidate has accepted the nomination.
5. A member may nominate any member, including themselves, from the floor with no advance notice.
6. Any member other than the nominator and the nominee may second a nomination.
7. The names of the nominator, seconder, and nominee will be recorded in the minutes, regardless of whether the nominee accepts the nomination.
8. The Elections Officer will close nominations when it is apparent that no further nominations will be made.
9. After nominations close, all candidates for a given position will leave the room. Then, each candidate will return sequentially and will have no more than two minutes to present their case for election, after which any members in attendance may ask questions of the candidate.
10. Following presentations and questions, all candidates for the position being decided will leave the room, and the Elections Officer will then mediate an in camera discussion about the merits of each candidate.
11. Following the discussion, the candidates will return and the vote will proceed by secret ballot.
12. Ballots will be counted by the Elections Officer.
13. Each candidate may appoint a scrutineer to supervise the count.
14. Results will be announced upon the completion of counting.
15. A simple majority of votes cast is required to declare a winner.
  1. Abstentions and spoiled ballots will not be counted toward the number of votes required for a simple majority.
16. If no candidate receives a simple majority of votes cast, the candidate receiving the lowest number of votes will be eliminated and the election will proceed to a runoff vote.
17. If there are only two candidates for a position and the vote ends in a tie, nominations shall be reopened and the process shall begin again.
18. If there is only one candidate for a position,
  1. members may hold a secret ballot with the option to either elect the candidate or to reopen nominations; or
  2. any member may bring a motion to waive normal voting procedure and acclaim the candidate.
19. Any member present may bring a motion to leave a position other than a Signing Officer position vacant until the next General Meeting if:
  1. there is no candidate for the position; or
  2. nominations are reopened and the resulting election also fails to declare a winner.

Article 12 – Replacement of Executive Officers

Executive Officers will not be impeached except in accordance with this section.
1. No Executive Officer may be impeached without just cause.
2. Just cause includes:
  1. failing to attend four consecutive Executive or General Meetings without a reasonable excuse;
  2. failing to fulfill their mandates as specified by this Constitution, within reasonable limits, and without a reasonable excuse;
  3. conduct likely to result in the de-ratification of the Society, or conduct likely to bring the Society into disrepute;
  4. in the case of the President, failing to submit a request for Ratification before October 1 of the year of their Presidency without a reasonable excuse; or
  5. other gross misconduct.
3. Any member may make a motion to impeach an Executive Officer provided they have a petition signed by fifteen current members.
4. A motion to impeach an Executive Officer may be submitted to the Secretary at any time.
  1. If the Secretary is the subject of the motion to impeach, the motion may be submitted to any other Executive Officer.
5. Upon receipt of a valid motion to impeach an Executive Officer, the President will call a General Meeting to be held no later than two weeks after receipt of the motion, at which the motion will be put to the general membership.
  1. If the President is the subject of the motion to impeach, the Executive Officer highest in the order of precedence not subject to a motion to impeach will call and chair the General Meeting.
6. An Executive Officer who is the subject of a valid motion to impeach will be given immediate notice upon receipt of the motion to impeach.
7. Executive Officers will be impeached by a vote of at least 75 percent of members present at a General Meeting.
8. The vote on a motion to impeach will be conducted by secret ballot.
9. The Executive Officer who is the subject of the motion to impeach may make a statement before the vote is taken.
If an Executive Officer becomes aware that there may be just cause to impeach another Executive Officer, the Executive Officer will
1. bring a motion to impeach the other Executive Officer; or
2. will notify the other Executive Officer of the reasons for which there may be just cause to impeach.
Elections for any vacant Executive position will take place at the next General Meeting following the position becoming vacant.
1. If no General Meeting is scheduled within two weeks from the date the position became vacant, the President will call a General Meeting to be held no later than two weeks from the date the position became vacant.
2. If an Executive position becomes vacant at a General Meeting or less than one week prior to a General Meeting, a member may make a motion to defer the election to a date no later than two weeks from the date the position became vacant.

Article 13 – Constitutional Amendments

Any member may propose a constitutional amendment from the floor at a General Meeting.
Any member may propose a constitutional amendment at any time by contacting the Secretary.
1. Any amendment suggested by this process will be considered at the next General Meeting.
All constitutional amendments will be put before the general membership.
All members are eligible to vote on constitutional amendments.
No constitutional amendment may be voted on except at a General Meeting.
Voting on constitutional amendments will be conducted by a show of hands, unless any member requests a secret ballot, in which case a secret ballot will be held.
Two thirds of the votes cast at the meeting, not including abstentions and spoiled ballots, will constitute a winning vote to pass a constitutional amendment.
The amendment will be added to the constitution by the President either before the next Executive Meeting or within one week, whichever is sooner.
In the event that the Society cannot be ratified as a result of the content of this Constitution, the Executive will have the ability to make such changes as are deemed necessary by the DSU.
1. These changes will become official upon ratification.
2. Any changes to the constitution made pursuant to this section may be contested by any member at the next General Meeting.

Article 14 – Finances

The Signing Officers will be the Executive Officers so identified by this Constitution.
All revenue generated by the Society will be collected and held in the Society’s account.
All assets of the Society will be passed on to the new executive at the end of the winter semester.
A meeting in which signing power will be transferred to the new Signing Officers will be held within one month of the March AGM.
All cheques issued by the Society must be signed by at least two Signing Officers.
The DTS will not issue cheques without receipt of a Reimbursement Form accompanied by associated receipts.
An Executive Officer cannot sign cheques made out to themselves.
If the Society disbands at any time, the assets of the Society will be used to pay any outstanding debts.
1. Any assets remaining after debts have been paid will revert to the Theatre Department.
All books must be submitted to DASSS to be audited twice per year.