Constitution

A constitution defines the mission and purpose of a Registered Student Organization (RSO). These crucial governing documents define the organization’s operations and expectations and guide the decision-making process around the events and programs you offer, membership criteria, leadership, elections, and the overall direction of your RSO.

Beginning with the 2023-2024 academic year, all RSOs must submit a constitution for review by the Involvement team.  Student organizations are expected to use the 2022-2023 academic year to write and refine their constitution. The Involvement team will provide multiple workshops and resources throughout the academic year to facilitate this process. Organizations who do not have an approved constitution will not be able to re-register in the 2023-2024 academic year.

RSO constitutions may not contradict any existing federal, state, NSHE, or UNLV laws, policies, or guidelines. Any new federal, state, NSHE, or UNLV laws, policies, or guidelines that are developed will supersede an organization’s constitution.

Required Constitution Template

Organization constitutions must follow the format of the RSO Constitution Template.

RSO Constitution Template

RSO Constitution Template

Does your organization already have a constitution or were you provided one by your larger national organization?  If so, you will need to adapt the content to the template provided.  Submissions that do not follow the template will be rejected.  Additional content can be added to your constitution as long as it meets the minimum requirements of the template.

Writing a Constitution for Your Organization

Writing your organization’s constitution should be a collaborative process.  Input should be included from officers, general members, and your advisor.  The strongest constitutions are the ones that truly reflect consensus from organization members and are developed through a process of shared governance.
 
The Involvement team will host multiple constitution writing workshops throughout the 2022-2023 academic year to help assist you through the process. This page will be updated when a schedule is available.
 
Once you’ve completed your constitution, it should be sent to the Involvement team at involvement@unlv.edu for review.

 

Bylaws

While an RSO’s constitution will define the fundamental principles that govern the organization, bylaws establish the more specific procedures that guide its operations.  Bylaws are not required for RSOs but may be incredibly helpful in the day-to-day work of the organization.

Bylaws must not contradict the organization’s constitution. What should be included in an organization’s bylaws are very specific to the needs of that RSO but some common topics included are committee definitions and procedures, financial management, parliamentary procedures, and the method to amend the bylaws.

Both your constitution and bylaws must be publicly posted in the Documents section of your Involvement Center page. Need help adding them to your Involvement Center page? Check out these tutorial resources.

Efforts should be made to familiarize your members with these governing documents. Once you establish these documents, it is critical to abide by them in order to promote organization consistency and unity. If you have these documents and do not honor them, members may become confused, frustrated, and disengage in the organization. As with many aspects to your organization, membership buy-in is essential for the organization's development and growth.

Need help developing your RSO’s constitution?  Reach out to us at involvement@unlv.edu.