Article I: Name and Purpose
Sec 1: The name of this University Committee shall be the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL of BROWN UNIVERSITY, hereafter referred to as the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL.
Sec 2: The purpose of this organization shall be to serve as an advisory board to the Office of Residential Life regarding issues of Residential Living at Brown University. These issues shall include, but not be limited to, Program Houses, the Housing Lottery, and Policy.
Sec 3: This organization shall make recommendations to the Office of Residential Life. These recommendations shall be non-binding on the Office of Residential Life.

Article II: Membership
Sec 1: The membership of the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL will consist of thirteen students who are currently enrolled at Brown University, and two to four alternate members.
Sec 2: Members shall be appointed by the UNDERGRADUATE COUNCIL of STUDENTS of Brown University. The members shall be selected in accordance with their regular procedures for appointing students to University Committees. Alternate members shall be selected by the same procedures, and shall be ranked by the UNDERGRADUATE COUNCIL of STUDENTS. These rankings shall determine the order in which alternate members become regular members of the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL should any vacancies occur.
Sec 3: Alternates shall have all the rights and responsibilities of regular members, except that they may not vote or second motions.
Sec 4: Each member shall make the utmost attempt to attend every meeting. If a member misses more than two meetings in a semester, for whatever reason, they shall be dismissed automatically from the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL. In this case, the highest-ranking alternate will immediately become a voting member of the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL.
Sec 5: Members may be subject to removal from the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL as per Article II, Section D of the Constitution of the Undergraduate Council of Students.

Article III: Officers
Sec 1: The officers of the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL shall be a Chairperson, a Secretary, and three Subcommittee Chairs. The Subcommittee Chairs shall be the Program House Chair, Housing Lottery Chair, and Policy Chair.

Article IV: Election of Officers
Sec 1: Elections shall take place at the last meeting of the academic year, which shall be attended by both incoming and outgoing members. Only incoming members may vote for the officers.
Sec 2: Each officer shall hold office for one academic year. Elected officers shall assume office immediately upon election.
Sec 3: The offices shall be elected in the following order: Chairperson, Program House Chair, Housing Lottery Chair, Policy Chair, and Secretary.
Sec 4: Any member may be nominated for an Office. No member may hold more than one office.
Sec 5: All elections shall be by a majority vote of the members of the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL.
Sec 6: If an office becomes vacant, that office will be filled by a Special Election at the next regular RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL meeting. The procedure shall be the same as that for regular elections. The new officer shall hold office until the end of the current academic year.

Article V: Duties of the Officers
Sec 1: The Chairperson
(a) The Chairperson shall be responsible for the running of meetings. The Chairperson shall follow the procedures outlined in these By-Laws.
(b) The Chairperson shall be the designated contact person for the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL. The Chairperson shall remain in contact with the Undergraduate Council of Students, the administration, and shall be the contact for any news organizations that seek information. All resolutions of the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL shall be disseminated by the Chairperson. This does not preclude other members of the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL from sharing their views on specific resolution after decisions have been made public by the Chairperson.
(c) The chairperson does not vote on issues except in the event of a tied vote.

Sec 2: The Secretary
(a) The Secretary shall take accurate minutes of each meeting. The Secretary will be responsible for insuring that a copy of those minutes are filed in the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL file cabinet in the office of Residential Life, and that a copy of the same minutes is posted on the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL website. The Secretary shall read these same minutes at the beginning of each RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL meeting.
(b) The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping track of attendance at meetings. The Secretary shall notify any member who has been absent.
(c) It shall be the Secretary's responsibility to excuse members from attendance at specific RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL meetings, provided that they have a valid excuse.
(d) The secretary shall notify the Chairperson of members who have indicated that they will be absent for a specific RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL meeting.

Sec 3: The Program House Chair
(a) The Program House Chair shall oversee the responsibilities of the members with regard to Program Houses. The Program House Chair shall assign each program house to a member of RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL to act as their liaison.
(b) In the event of the formation of a committee to deal with specific Program House issues, the Program House Chair shall chair that committee.
(c) It shall be the responsibility of the Program House Chair to oversee the process of Spring and Fall Review.

Sec 4: The Housing Lottery Chair
(a) The Housing Lottery Chair shall oversee the housing lottery process. The responsibilities of the Housing Lottery Chair shall include: publishing the Grapevine, developing the lottery system, overseeing outreaches designed to educate the members of the Brown Community about the housing lottery and overseeing the lottery itself.

Sec 5: The Policy Chair
(a) The Policy Chair shall be responsible for bringing new policy to the attention of the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL.
(b) When specific policy changes are suggested, the Policy Chair shall oversee a committee to investigate, and if need be, implement the changes.

Article VI: Regular Meetings of the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL
Sec 1: The RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL shall meet every Tuesday during the academic year while classes are in session. Meetings shall run from noon until 1 o'clock P.M.
Sec 2: Regular meetings of the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL may be canceled upon the vote of 2/3 of the members of the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL.

Article VII: Special Meetings of the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL
Sec 1: Upon the request of 2/3 of the members of RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL, special meetings of the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL may be called.

Article VIII: Program House Reviews
Sec 1: It shall be the responsibility of the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL to conduct a yearly review of every program house.
Sec 2: The RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL shall follow the guidelines outlined in the PROGRAM HOSUE GUIDELINES in conducting this review.
Sec 3: During the first semester, the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL shall conduct a review of program houses. Program houses which the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL has questions regarding shall be invited to attend this review. The purpose of this review shall be to assist houses which have had difficulties over the past year.
Sec 4: Program House reviews shall be closed, excepting for the attendance of individual Program Houses during the information session of their review. Discussion sessions on each Program House shall be closed, whether during an annual review or during a regular RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL meeting, to all non-members for the RESIDENTIAL COUNCIL, including the Deans of Residential Life.

Article IX: Procedure of Meetings
Sec 1: The order of meetings shall be as follows: