Governance and Constitution

Goal

Create a constitution and operating model that people can actually use. It should explain why the chapter exists, who may participate, how decisions are made, how leaders are held accountable, and what happens during change or conflict.

Start with controlling requirements

Use the current KTP National template and your school's required clauses. Have both reviewers resolve conflicts before ratification. A constitution from another chapter can reveal useful questions, but it should never be adopted unchanged.

The Indiana founding constitution covered these topics:

1. identity, purpose, values, brand, and campus affiliation;
2. membership eligibility, standing, participation, dues, leave, discipline, and appeals;
3. board roles, elections, succession, vacancies, suspension, and removal;
4. standing and temporary committees;
5. meetings, notice, minutes, quorum, voting, and conflicts of interest;
6. new-member education and anti-hazing protections;
7. professional development, alumni mentorship, partnerships, technical learning, social connection, and service;
8. amendments, annual review, ratification, and record updates;
9. dissolution, debts, assets, archives, and final reporting; and
10. compliance with university policy and applicable law.

Design the operating model

Purpose and values

Describe the community the chapter will build and how technical, professional, academic, social, service, and lifelong relationships support that purpose. Keep the statement durable enough to survive a change in officers or programs.

Membership

Define eligibility, the path to membership, active and inactive standing, rights, responsibilities, reasonable accommodations, financial-assistance options, and a fair process for discipline and appeal. Put local GPA, attendance, service, and dues requirements in a campus-approved policy if they are likely to change.

Do not publish member standing, accommodation requests, conduct reports, votes tied to individuals, or financial-aid decisions.

Board and committees

Colonies should try to launch with KTP's nine recommended EBoard portfolios:

EBoard portfolio	Core ownership
President	Direction, meetings, representation, board coordination, elections, and accountability
VP External Affairs	National delegation and external, campus, alumni, and company relationships
VP Internal Affairs	Minutes, calendars, rooms, attendance, records, and internal communication
VP Finance	Budget, collections, approvals, reconciliation, reporting, and financial controls
VP Engagement	Inclusive community, social connection, service, and engagement programming
VP Membership	Recruitment, selection, pledge education coordination, mentorship, and member feedback
VP Marketing	Brand, campaigns, social channels, merchandise coordination, and public communication
VP Professional Development	Career programs, workshops, speakers, recruiting education, and professional relationships
VP Technical Development	Technical education, projects, committees, systems, and technology guidance

Define what each role may decide alone, what requires board approval, and what requires a member vote. If a colony temporarily combines portfolios, record the combined scope and a target date for separating it.

Directors are optional and sit below the EBoard. Create them only for a specific workstream with a supervising VP, written authority, defined term, recurring deliverables, and handoff. Examples include DEI, community service and philanthropy, website development, women's empowerment, and digital strategy. Committee leads have narrower project-level authority and report through a director or EBoard portfolio.

The EBoard remains responsible for decisions delegated to directors or committees. Additional titles should clarify ownership rather than create status without necessary work.

Meetings and decisions

Specify meeting frequency, notice, agenda ownership, minutes, quorum, voting thresholds, closed-session boundaries, remote participation, recusals, and emergency decisions. Indiana used weekly general meetings, biweekly EBoard meetings, written minutes, and higher thresholds for major decisions; those are examples to adapt, not National requirements.

Record decisions and owners promptly. Store public resolutions separately from private personnel, applicant, conduct, and financial records.

Elections, vacancies, and accountability

Document candidacy requirements, nominations, equal access to campaign information, secret ballots where appropriate, runoffs or ties, results, transition dates, temporary absences, vacancies, removal standards, notice, the opportunity to respond, impartial review, and appeal.

Avoid concentrating temporary founding powers in one person. If a campus requires an interim arrangement, give it a short expiration date, written safeguards, and National review.

Amendments and dissolution

Define who may propose amendments, notice and quorum, the approval threshold, version control, and where approved copies are filed. Review the constitution at least annually and after campus or National policy changes.

A dissolution clause should cover notice, vote requirements, debts, lawful disposition of assets, preservation of history, university and National notification, and a final report. It must not distribute chapter property for personal gain.

Ratification checklist

• [ ] National and campus templates reconciled
• [ ] Officer authority and approval boundaries explicit
• [ ] Fair elections, succession, discipline, and appeals documented
• [ ] Anti-hazing, nondiscrimination, accessibility, and university-compliance clauses included
• [ ] Financial controls and conflicts of interest addressed
• [ ] Amendment, annual-review, records, and dissolution processes included
• [ ] Local numbers and dates verified and clearly labeled
• [ ] Ratified version stored in the organization-owned system

What to adapt from Indiana

Indiana's constitution is valuable as a completeness check and founding case study. Its 2025 dates, officer slate, local academic thresholds, dues, attendance percentages, service hours, voting rules, and school-specific references belong to Indiana unless KTP National and the new campus explicitly approve them.

Next: Finance and compliance.