CAMPUS MINISTRY COUNCIL

CONSTITUTION

Article I – Purpose

The Southern Methodist University Campus Ministry Council is the coordinating body for religious groups designated by the Vice-President of Student Affairs.

The purpose of the Campus Ministry Council is to facilitate communication, planning, and interaction among member religious life organizations serving the SMU campus community.

The Campus Ministry Council is an appropriate forum for addressing issues that impact the religious, spiritual, and moral life of the university community.

The Campus Ministry Council advises the Dean of Students and the Student Senate in matters of religious concern and in the process of recognition (or exclusion from recognition) of religious life groups at SMU.


Article II – Membership, Voting, Voting Guidelines and Quorum

A. Membership – The Campus Ministry Council is open to all campus ministers and student representatives of all approved (as outlined in Article IV, Criteria, Accountability and Procedures) religious life groups, religions and denominations at SMU. To be a minister recognized by Southern Methodist University one must be appointed by an official and accepted representative body of a church denomination or a recognized religious group as defined in Article VII. Full organizational membership is acquired after the denomination or religious life group has accepted the statutes, expectations, and principles of the CMC and participated for a period of at least two years. This is a probationary period.

B. Voting – Each religious organization recognized by the Campus Ministry Council is entitled to one voting student representative. The campus minister or advisor from each group will also have one vote. Officially appointed alternate delegates representing student members or campus ministers or advisors will have voice and vote at the slated meetings to which he or she is appointed with the exception of a vote to accept a new religious organization into the Campus Ministry Council. Each organization has only two votes, regardless of number of sponsored groups, branches, or subsidiaries related to the parent organization.

C. Voting Guidelines for Accepting/Rejecting New Religious Organizations

Campus Ministry Council voting members will have prior to the vote: the name of the group; the number of group members; the staff or faculty advisor; theological rationale and/or constitution of the applying group and the affiliation/funding nature of the group.

The following guidelines will be respected when considering groups for membership in Campus Ministry Council:

1. Is the applying group a religious organization?

2. Has the applying group met the criteria as stated in Article IV?

3. Is the applying group distinct in its organizational identity and non-duplicative of other organizations already serving students at SMU?

4. Does the applying group’s presence within the Campus Ministry Council enhance or distract the community from energies given to a healthy working environment in a significant way?

D. Quorum – A quorum shall be those members/alternates present at any duly called meeting. A duly-called meeting is defined as a regularly scheduled monthly meeting or a special meeting whereby members have been notified one week in advance as to the meeting’s time and purpose.


Article III – Principles

Each campus minister, student representative, and his or her appointing agency shall:

1. Respect the integrity of other religious faiths, religious life groups, and religious traditions and refrain from intentionally targeting and recruiting members from the membership of other religious life groups on campus.

2. Adhere to “truth in advertising” – any programming by a religious life group shall reflect the name of the group on all printed materials.

3. Be committed to supporting, where possible, common program goals, such as seminars, speakers, and community service.

4. Promote the development of worshiping communities and, where and when possible, conceive and carry out their separate and/or corporate activities in an ecumenical spirit;

5. Promote the mutual good of the institutional forms of religious faiths, academe, and society;

6. Discuss the principles and issues of ministry in a fair and objective way.

7. Be committed to supporting, where possible, an interfaith approach to ministry, recognizing the pluralism and diversity of religious experience in university life.


Article IV – Criteria, Accountability and Procedures

A. Criteria – Groups seeking member status will supply the following information to the Office of the Chaplain on behalf of the Campus Ministry Council:

1. Name and address of the local, regional, or national organization and personnel to whom the group is accountable.

2. Statement of purpose and/or theological rationale for the group’s ministry.

3. Membership recruitment procedures and target constituencies.

4. Names and phone numbers of at least ten (10) full-time SMU students who want to be members of the group.

5. Other information as deemed necessary by the Office of the Chaplain.

6. In order to avoid confusion, overlapping of efforts, and misrepresentations, each
member agrees to make clear the name that his or her particular group or religious denomination wishes to assume, and that this name will be presented to CMC when that particular denomination or member minister makes application for membership. Also, each CMC member/organization will file with CMC a statement as to their affiliation with or funding by off-campus groups.

B. Accountability – The individual members of CMC are to be accountable to:

1. Legitimate authorities of their own denomination or religious group.

2. The Campus Ministry Council of SMU; Action taken in a regular meeting of Campus Ministry Council on March 1, 1979, provides that if any organization misses three meetings of CMC in one academic year, CMC will request the Student Senate to remove that organization from recognized status.

3. Southern Methodist University through the Offices of the Chaplain and University Ministries and Dean of Student Life.

4. The Campus Ministry Council will have the authority to censure its own individual members (by a vote of two-thirds majority) and to communicate that censure to the Chaplain to the University and the Dean of Students.

C. Procedure for making application – Each applying organization will follow this stated procedure:

1. Applying group will meet with the Office of the Chaplain to declare their intent to organize.
2. Applying group will have as much time as needed to gather information required in Article IV, A.

3. Applying group will meet at least 3 times to organize and may meet under the auspices of the Office of the Chaplain if desired.

4. Applying group will introduce themselves to the Campus Ministry Council and be available for questions.

5. Applying group will be voted on at the same or following consecutive meeting(s) of the Campus Ministry Council.


Article V – Interfaith Program Coordination

All members of Campus Ministry Council will commit themselves to strive to develop a well-balanced program, responsive to the religious and educational needs of the university community as a whole, and of the individual students who come to them.


Article VI – Officers

The Coordinator of Religious Life will serve as Permanent Co-Convenor, and a second co-convenor and a secretary will be nominated in March and elected annually in April by CMC. These officers shall serve as an executive committee for CMC to act in an advisory capacity between regular meetings.

Article VII – Religious Life Staff

A. Members – The Religious Life Staff of SMU shall consist of the following:

1. The Chaplain and Minister to the University, Associate Chaplain, and/or
Assistant Chaplain(s), one of whom the Chaplain shall designate as Coordinator of Religious Life.

2. Dean of Student Life (minister or ex-officio)

3. Those nominated by religious or ecclesiastical agencies, appointed by the Chaplain and Minister to the University and approved by the President of the University. Nomination by the agency is thereby an indication of the organization’s official acceptance of the principles and practices of the Constitution of CMC.

4. Those nominated by local churches as Campus Ministers or Ministers to University students appointed by the Chaplain to the University and approved by the President of the University

5. Recognition in #3 and #4 above is provisional for two years and contingent upon participation in CMC and a demonstrated desire to minister within the pluralistic religious community of SMU. Thereafter, nominations for personnel changes should be initiated in writing to the President and recognition as a full member of the Religious Life Staff will be continued contingent upon provisions of Article IV.

B. Privileges – Those recognized as full members of the Religious Life Staff are entitled to the privileges specified by Policy Number SA-00-002 of the University Policy Manual.

Article VIII – Amendments

Amendments to this constitution may be considered at any stated or called meeting of CMC, provided that two (2) weeks prior notice is given to CMC members that amendments will be considered and that copies of the proposed changes be included with the notice. Amendments must pass by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting.

Adopted October 26, 1978
Amended May 2, 1985
Amended April 2, 1992
Revised May 1, 2001


Supplement to the Constitution of the Campus Ministry Council


The Student Code of Southern Methodist University provides, in Article III, Section C-3:

g. Religious organizations wishing to be chartered must have a written recommendation from the Campus Ministry Council (CMC) before appearing before the Organizations Committee. Generally, CMC convenes only one meeting per month. In order to be chartered, new religious organizations must be willing to participate as a member of the CMC. (Participation is defined as attending monthly CMC meetings.)

 

 

 

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