Article I. – Name
Section 1: The name of this organization shall be the Society of Latino Engineers and Scientists (SOLES).
Article II. – Purpose
Section 1: The purpose of this organization shall be to provide fellowship among Latinos entering the engineering profession that includes study groups, contact with professionals, and moral support. The organization will encourage high school and junior high students with emphasis in mathematics, science, and engineering.
Article III. – Affiliations
Section 1: The society shall be affiliated with the Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists (MAES), whose mission is to promote excellence in engineering, science, and mathematics while cultivating the value of cultural diversity.
Section 2: The society shall be affiliated with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) whose primary function is to enhance and achieve the potential of Hispanics in engineering, math and science.
Section 3: The society shall be affiliated with the MESA Engineering Program (MEP) of San Jose State University. The program provides support services to traditionally underrepresented ethnic groups in engineering.
Article IV. – Membership
Section 1: Membership in the organization shall be open to all those matriculated, currently-enrolled San José State University students who are interested in membership. There shall be no other requirements for admission to regular membership. Each regular member has equal rights and privileges.
Section 2: Voting membership is restricted to matriculated, currently enrolled students, at San Jose State University.
Section 3: Eligibility for membership or appointed or elected student officer positions shall not be limited on the basis of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, color, age, gender, gender identity, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, or disability. The organization shall have no rules or policies that discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, color, age, gender, gender identity, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, or disability (Title 5, California Code of Regulations, Section 41500).
Section 4: No member of this organization shall engage in hazing, participate in hazing, or commit any act that causes or is likely to cause bodily danger, physical harm, or personal degradation or disgrace resulting in physical or mental harm to any fellow student or person attending this institution (California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Article 2, Standards for Student Conduct, Section 41301(b)(8)). Individual students may be disciplined for hazing under Section 41301(b)(8).
Section 5: This organization shall comply with Title 5, Section 41301, Standards for Student Conduct.
Article V. – Officers
Section 1: The officers of this organization will be President, Vice-President of Outreach, Vice-President of Academics, Treasurer, Media Chair, Secretary, Marketing Chair, and SHPEtina Directors (x2), which will comprise a 9 chair executive board.
Section 2: The term of office will be from the time of installation of the new officers until the next election.
Section 3: In the event of the need to replace an officer the following will be upheld: If the President must be replaced, The Vice-President of Outreach shall replace the President role and the President shall appoint members to hold other offices temporarily until a special election is held within 30 days of the vacancy. In the event of having to replace an officer due to conflicts affecting the organization, and only the organization, the following shall be upheld: a board meeting shall be called where ALL 9 executive chairs shall be notified 24 hours in advance. A vote amongst the 9 executives shall be taken, with a majority 7/9 votes required for the removal of an officer. Upon removal, the responsibility of the board member role shall be equally distributed until another officer is elected to the position. Following the removal, an election will take place within 30 days of the vacancy and officers MUST be elected by members.
Section 4: All officers of this organization must be matriculated, currently enrolled students at San José State University. The President and Treasurer of this organization must maintain a minimum overall 2.0 grade point average, must be enrolled in at least 6 units, and must be in good standing with San Jose State University during their term of office.
Section 5: The President, Treasurer, and faculty/staff advisor of this organization are required to complete an Alcohol Education Training offered by Student Involvement.
Article VI-Duties of Officers
Section 1: The President shall be present in all meetings, name all special committees, appoint all committee chairs, and provide leadership and direction for the organization. Conduct all meetings in a timely manner, and coordinate cooperative partnerships with local corporations. He/She will make sure all goals are accomplished and will speak on behalf of the organization during the MEP banquet and any events related to SOLES.
Section 2: There will be a Vice-President (VP) of Outreach. VP of Outreach will maintain accurate documentation of events, support President and Treasurer in sponsorship proposals, and be in charge of reaching out to companies for possible professional collaborations. They must assume leadership and responsibilities in the absence of the president and work with the secretary for all outreach events.
Section 3: There will be a Vice-President (VP) of Academics. VP of Academics will be closely involved with MAES and SHPE. They shall assume all the duties of the president in his/her absence and assist committee chairs as needed. They will also attend MAES and SHPE professional chapter meetings, and take members’ concerns to the Professional Meetings.
Section 4: The Secretary shall record minutes of each meeting, maintain accurate records of all business pertaining to the organization, receive and respond to all official correspondence. The Secretary will be in charge of tracking membership participation throughout the year and be in charge of updating the SOLES membership database and OneSHPE database. They will send weekly newsletters to members regarding events, scholarship and internship opportunities.
Section 5: The Treasurer shall collect and disburse funds as directed by the organization, make monthly financial reports to the general membership. This person works with fundraising, writing/sending proposals and creating financial reports. The treasurer will also submit end of the semester financial reports, and end of the year financial reports.
Section 6: The Media Chair shall be in charge of promotion of events. This includes managing both the SOLES instagram and linkedIn page. In addition, they will create flyers for each SOLES event. They will support board members when requested and help with planning collaborative events with other organizations.
Section 7: The Marketing Chair shall be in charge of designing SOLES merchandise (shirts, stickers, banners, etc). In addition, they will work on the website which will help in promoting the organization to companies and members. They will support the Equipando Padres Program in collaboration with SHPE National.
Section 8: The SHPEtinas Director (x2) should be in charge of establishing events aimed to create a community among Latinas in SOLES. In addition, provide an opportunity to create a space where Latinas feel empowered, motivated, and inspired to pursue degrees in STEM. They will work directly with the SHPEtinas Director from Region 1 to help support the SHPEtinas conference.
Section 9: Science Extravaganza (SE) Chairs (x2) shall be responsible to keep the SOLES board motivated about SE and encourage SOLES members and SOLES board members to take duties. Provide Leadership and direction for the SE Committee.
Article VII- Nomination and Election
Section 1: The terms of office will be from the time of installation of the new officers until the next election. Full terms are 1 year long.
Section 2: The installations of the new officers are made official during the annual banquet. During the banquet the new officers are sworn in, and their term begins.
Section 3: The nomination starts on the 1st meeting in March during a general meeting. People can either nominate themselves or others. By the next meeting the people nominated need to accept their nominations and come prepared to give a speech.
Section 4: When the speeches are made; at the end of the meeting paid members vote. The results of the elections are notified immediately at the next meeting time.
Section 5: In the event of the need to replace an officer the following will be upheld:
- The first Vice President shall replace the President and the President shall appoint members to hold other offices until a special election is held within 30 days of the vacancy.
Section 6: Executive board and SE Chairs are not allowed to vote in elections unless a tie among candidates occurs. If a tie occurs, executive board and SE chairs will vote to break the tie.
Article VIII- Advisor
Section 1: The organization must have a University advisor. This person must hold at least a bachelor’s degree and be employed as a faculty or staff member by San Jose State. A Graduate Assistant/Intern may assume the advisor role if approved by the Student Involvement Staff.
Section 2: The advisor shall be a non-voting member of the organization.
Section 3: The duties of the advisors shall include, but are not limited to:
- Assist the organization in fulfilling their mission and purpose.
- Be knowledgeable of the organization’s constitution and bylaws and assist the organization’s members in interpreting them.
- Be knowledgeable of University policies and procedures regarding student organizations and ensure organization compliance to the best of their ability.
- Be aware of the organization activities.
- Be aware of the organization’s financial standing and all financial transactions using the organization’s fund.
- Attend organization meetings.
Article IX- Meetings
Section 1: There shall be at least one general meeting each month.
Section 2: The President has the authority to call any special meetings.
Section 3: Twenty to thirty students must be present as a meeting in order for business to conduct.
Section 4: The parliamentary authority of this organization shall be Robert’s Rules Order, Revised.
Section 5: There must be one board meeting, including SE chairs, at the beginning of the month to ensure the board is updated on upcoming events related to the organization and Science Extravaganza.
Article X- Committees
Section 1: The President has the authority to name committees and name the committee chairperson. Any special Committee meetings will be announced as necessary.
Article XI- Dues, Fees
Section 1: There shall be a $20 per semester or $30 for full academic year membership fee for all SOLES general members.
Article XII- Amendments
Section 1: Any individual can originate an amendment. The individual should write a petition and it must be approved by a Rule’s committee.
Section 2: The amendment must be read in one or two meetings preceding the vote or posted for one or two weeks for all to read.
Section 3: Two thirds of total membership must be present at the meeting and vote to adopt the amendment.
Section 4: The amendment becomes effective immediately after it is voted by membership.
Article XIII- Reimbursements
Section 1: SOLES members will not be reimbursed for travel expenses to events such as conferences and socials.
Section 2: SOLES board will agree on the amount of reimbursement based on the consent of the majority vote of the board.
Section 3: SOLES reimbursements will be distributed on a time constraint of two weeks after the conference (and/or other events established by majority vote of SOLES executive board) for which they attended.
Section 4: Each recipient of reimbursement is held responsible to submit proof of purchase, attendance and/or documentation; in failure to do so they will forfeit their reimbursement. (Additional proof may be required upon request).
Section 5: Final reimbursement will be accepted and processed by a minimum of two executive board members (President, Vice President of Outreach, Vice President of Academics, or Treasurer).
Adopted on: August 17, 2007
Updated: December 30, 2023
Society of Latino Engineers and Scientists (SOLES) 