Constitution


We the honors students, as members of the Drake University Honors Program, do accept the constitution given below.

Article I:   The Purpose of the Honors Program

1.1     The purpose of the Honors Program shall be to

  1. provide independent, specially designed courses which encourage intellectual exploration and growth,
  2. promote close daily contact with faculty who are dedicated to superior instruction and who are well-known scholars in their fields,
  3. increase students' participation with the Drake community through teachers, scholars, performers, and public figures brought to Drake by the Honors Program,
  4. promote development of analytical thinking and problem-solving skills necessary for future success and advancement.
Article II:   Academic Requirements and Considerations

2.1     We strive to attain the following standards set by the Drake University Honors administration: Acceptance of high school seniors into the Honors Student Body shall be based on an application; a review of high school grades, ACT or SAT scores, class rank, and extra-curricular activities; and recommendations.

2.2 Qualified transfer students and other Drake students may also apply; however, transfer students must complete a certain number of Drake University credit hours at the discretion of the Honors Director.

2.3 First-year students are encouraged to complete the orientation course.

2.4 The Honors Program Track, as an alternative to the Areas of Inquiry component of the Drake Curriculum, consists of the following course requirements:

  • 15 credit hours of Honors-designated courses
  • HONR100: Paths to Knowledge (4 credit course + 0 credit lab)
  • 3 credit hours designated as Artistic Experience
  • 3 credit hours designated as Quantitative
  • 1 lab science course from Physical or Life Sciences (3 credit hours + 1 credit lab)

2.5 Honors courses shall be used to fulfill divisional requirements on an hour-by-hour basis. The division of the course shall be decided by the respective schools and colleges in conjunction with the Honors Director.

2.6 The designation of University Honors is awarded to students graduating with a 3.5 cumulative grade point average or higher, in good standing, and with the fulfillment of the Honors track and an Honors senior thesis.

2.7 The Honors senior thesis, a requirement to graduate with University Honors but not to complete the Honors Program Track is an individual project and shall result in a product to be evaluated for a grade. Each student whose proposal is approved by the Honors administration shall work in a mentor relationship with a faculty member (thesis advisor) of his or her choice.

2.8 All other Honors advising shall be done with the student's academic advisor.

Article III: The Purpose of the Honors Student Council

3.1 The Honors Student Council strives to represent the students’ perspective and promote community among the Honors faculty and students by

  1. Continuously developing an interdisciplinary Honors curriculum,
  2. Leading Drake in raising awareness of critical issues by offering additional academic opportunities including, but not limited to, those [ blank ] expressed in [ Art #, Sec # ].
  3. Providing options for involvement from the local to the global community.

Article IV: The Honors Student Council

Section 1: Membership of the Honors Student Council

4.1 General members of the Honors Student Council shall include all students and shall be invited to participate in the general Honors Council meetings.

4.2 The Honors Student Council shall consist of six executive members and twelve representative members, comprised of the following and detailed in the structure shown in Appendix A.

     1.    Executive Members

  1. President
  2. Vice-President (Awareness Chair)
  3. Secretary
  4. Treasurer
  5. Advancement Chair
  6. Curriculum Chair

      2.    Representative Members

  1. Fundraising Representative
  2. Programming Representative
  3. Natural Sciences Representative
  4. Social Sciences Representative
  5. Fine Arts Representative
  6. Education Representative
  7. Journalism Representative
  8. Pharmacy Representative
  9. Business Representative
  10. Three First-Year Student Representatives

4.3 The executive officers and representatives shall be elected by the Honors Student Body at a spring meeting. They shall be transitioned before the end of the semester in which they were elected and will take office the following semester to complete a term of one year.

Section 2: Meetings and Election Procedures for the Honors Student Council

4.4 General Meetings of the Honors Student Council shall be held at least once each month at the President’s discretion and any other meetings shall be agreed upon by the Executive Council as needed. Every Honors student may vote at such meetings. The Honors Student Council President shall preside over meetings, and reports from each executive officer shall be given at each meeting.

4.5 One meeting shall be held after the Honors Convocation each fall to elect first-year representatives and other vacant offices. Another meeting shall be held each spring after spring break to elect executive officers and representatives to the council for the following year.

4.6 Any Honors student wishing to run for an executive office must file a petition, which must be signed by ten Honors students and one Honors faculty member before the election. No executive officer may serve more than two consecutive terms in the same position or concurrently hold more than one position.

4.7 Candidates who are not elected to executive position may run for a position in the election for representative positions, which shall be held immediately following the election for executive officers and which shall use a separate voting ballot.

4.8 Also at a spring meeting, a separate ballot shall be used as necessary to fill any positions which are vacant or which have been filled by temporary appointment.

4.9 All voting shall be by secret ballot.  To be elected, the petitioner must receive a majority of the vote from those voting Honors students. Votes shall be counted by at least two council members. In the event of a tie, a run-off election shall be held immediately.

4.10 Any vacancies occurring before the end of the term shall be filled by temporary appointment from the President with a majority vote of the executive council.

Section 3: The Duties of the Executive Officers

4.11 Refer to Appendix B for suggested duties and programming for each executive officer.

4.12 The duties of the President shall include setting the date of Honors Student Council meetings, presiding over meetings of the Honors Executive Council and Honors Student Council, appointing temporary committee chairs, and filling vacancies which remain on the council after elections by appointment. Meetings of the Honors Executive Council and Honors Student Council will be held at the discretion of the president.

4.13 The duties of the Vice-President shall include serving as Chair of the Awareness Committee, and presiding over Honors Executive Council and Honors Student Council meetings in the President's absence.

4.14 The duties of the Secretary shall include recording and publishing the minutes of all Honors Student Council and Honors Executive Council meetings, publishing a monthly newsletter of committee reports as well as all other mass publications.

4.15 The duties of the Treasurer shall include keeping records of all monies, giving a monthly account of expenditures at Honors Student Council meetings, and presiding over the presentation of all senior thesis grant proposals to the Executive Council for consideration.

4.16 The duties of the Curriculum Chair shall include attending the Honors Advisory Board meetings and chairing the Curriculum Committee, which shall develop ideas faculty and students have for Honors courses and submit these ideas to the Honors Advisory Board.

4.17 The duties of the Advancement Chair shall include implementing programs for academic advancement of the Honors Program in an extracurricular fashion and presiding over the Advancement Committee.

4.18 The duties of the College Representatives shall include contacting Honors students within their respective colleges, reporting at the Honors General Meetings, participating as a member of the Curriculum Committee, and creating new honors courses within his or her respective school.

4.19 The duties of the First-Year Student Representatives shall include serving on the Awareness Committee and reporting at the Honors General Meetings. 

4.20 The duties of the Fundraising Representative shall include serving on the Advancement Committee, developing and implementing innovative fundraising ideas, and reporting at the Honors General Meetings.

4.21 The duties of the Programming Representative shall include serving on the Advancement Committee, developing extracurricular opportunities that conform to the goals of said committee, and reporting at the Honors General Meetings. 

Section 4: Committees

4.20 There shall be two kinds of committees within the Honors Student Council: standing committees and temporary committees.

4.21 Standing committees shall be retained from year-to-year and shall consist of the following:

  1. Curriculum Committee
  2. Advancement Committee
  3. Awareness Committee


4.22 Temporary committees may be created by the President, in which case the President will appoint an Honors student as chair for the committee. Temporary committees may become permanent committees by a unanimous decision of the Executive Committee.

Article IV: Amendments and Revision of the Honors Constitution

5.1 The Honors Student Council is given the responsibility to revise the Honors Constitution as necessary.  Any revisions and/or amendments must pass by a majority vote of the Honors Student Body members voting.  Any student that will be unable to attend the meeting may vote by giving a signed statement to any member of the Honors Executive Council. 

Appendix A:

 Appendix B:
President VP Secretary Curriculum
Committee		 Advancement
Committee		 Awareness
Committee
August Course Proposals Sardel Welcome
Weekend
September Convocation Activities Fair
October Conference Homecoming
November Stalnaker
December Finals Week
January Course Proposals Sardel Hawley
February First Year Brunch
National Alumni Scholarship Days
March Pomerantz (every other year)
April Conference Relays Street Painting
May Finals Week
Monthly Newsletter Programming General Publicity

As reconstructed by Jason Boothe (BN, 06), Allison Edwards (AS, SO), Jane Fiegen (AS, JR), and April Jacobs (AS, 06). 

29 March 2006.

The Honors Student Council (HSC) is an official organization with a written constitution and bylaws.

The constitution also explains the rules for elections and formal procedures for the Executive Council.
If you have any questions, please contact either the HSC President

or the Assistant Program Director.