Bylaws

Below you will find The Racquet Press’ bylaws. Any questions or concerns can be directed to [email protected].

Bylaws

The Racquet Press– Student News Source at University of Wisconsin – La Crosse  

SECTION 1 

The Head Editors of The Racquet Press shall consist of one (1) executive editor and one (1) managing editor. 

SECTION 2  

1. Powers and Duties of Officers are found under “Position Guidebooks” in The Racquet Press Google Drive Page. 

SECTION 3 

Qualifications necessary to hold Head Editor positions at The Racquet Press are as follows:  

1. University of Wisconsin – La Crosse policies require that to be eligible for Head Editors, candidates must be in good academic and disciplinary standing and regularly enrolled students at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. Additionally, students must have at least a 2.5 GPA to be eligible to hold a Head Editor position.  

1. No member may hold more than one office. No member may serve more than two years in their position.  

1. Head Editors will be elected by the previous editors in charge and not appointed by the Student Association. The Racquet Press has full control over staffing and editorial decisions.

 

SECTION 4 

University Advisor(s)  

1.  The advisor shall fulfill the responsibilities specified in the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse Student Organizations Handbook. Advisors shall serve on an academic year basis or until their successor has been selected.  

1. The advisor will be appointed by the Head Editors.  

1. In the case of poor performance, the head editors can ask for a new advisor.

SECTION 5 

Meetings 

1. Regular staff meetings shall be weekly and Editor meetings held as needed. 

1. Special meetings may be called by the Head Editors. All members must be given a minimum of 24 hours’ notice prior to the meeting time.  

 

SECTION 6

Comment Moderation 

1. The Racquet Press has full control over moderating comments on social media platforms and the website. Since our website platform allows us to approve comments, it is our job to do so. For other social media comments, comments that are untruthful or that work to either: defame, harass, or cause liability issues to The Racquet Press will be deleted. Any comments that also work to insult someone based on basis of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, color, age, gender, gender identity, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, or disability will be deleted. 
2. It is the executive editors job to observe comment posting. 

 

SECTION 7  

Finances  

1. The Advertising Director is able to log up to 5 hours per week 10 hours biweekly at a rate of $9.25 an hour, the Business Manager is able to log up to 5 hours per week 10 hours biweekly at a rate of $9.25 an hour, the Executive Editor is able to log up to 20 hours per week 40 hours biweekly at a rate of $9.25 an hour, the Managing Editor is able to log up to 15 hours per week 30 hours biweekly at a rate of $9.25 an hour, Multimedia Editor is able to log up to 10 hours per week 20 hours biweekly at a rate of $9.25 an hour, and all reporters are able to log  5 hours per week 10 hours biweekly at a rate of $9.25 an hour.

1. All Staff is paid via the UW System and HR information must set up prior to each Fall Semester for new employees. 
2. SUFAC will approve new budget and carryover approvals each academic year. A presentation will be given to the SUFAC committee by the Executive Editor, Managing Editor and Business Manager. 

SECTION 8 

Dissolution  

1. Upon the dissolution of The Racquet Press for any reason, all work, merchandise, and property controlled by the organization will remain a separate entity from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse and controlled by the most recent Executive Editor. This excludes the University office and technology. 

SECTION 9 

Non-Hazing Clause  

1. The laws of the state of Wisconsin concerning hazing shall be observed. 

1. Hazing shall be defined as participating in or allowing any act or coercing another, including the victim, to do any act that creates a substantial risk of causing mental or physical harm to any person. A forced or coerced activity shall also be considered hazing when the initiation or administration into, or continued affiliation with, a university organization is directly or indirectly conditional upon performing the activity. In no event shall the willingness of an individual to participate in such an activity serve as a defense in cases of hazing.  

1. Actions and activities, which are explicitly prohibited include, but shall not be limited to the following: i. Any activity that creates a substantial risk of physical or mental harm. ii. Paddling, beating, or hitting individuals. iii. Wearing anything designed to be degrading or to cause discomfort. iv. Depriving individuals of the opportunity to obtain a minimum of six hours of sleep per day, proper and adequate means, or access to means of maintaining body cleanliness. v. Activities that interfere with an individual’s academic efforts by causing exhaustion of loss of reasonable study time.

 

SECTION 10  

Termination  

1. Any positions are subject to termination for poor performance  

1. Termination will be determined by the current editing staff but ultimately the Head Editors  

SECTION 11  

Vacancy of Position  

1. In case of resignation or removal of any position, a new member will either be promoted, or The Racquet Press will seek out employment opportunities. 

1. Each semester staff will be evaluated by Head Editors and either be terminated, maintained, or promoted. This evaluation will happen between head editors and each employee at the end of every semester. 

SECTION 12

Representation/Student Well-being 

This organization will prioritize the student and personal life of each employee, keeping an understanding that their duties and responsibilities as college students come first. The Racquet Press shall provide representation to a diverse array of communities and identities by providing any and all coverage and publication space necessary. This will be accomplished via the following measures.

Indent 1: 

Editors will provide reporters with an adequate amount of deadline time to accommodate their sources’ needs. Reporters will use the aforementioned time to be conscientious of sources’ schedules. In addition, time-heavy events (such as identity-devoted months) will be pre-scheduled in an attempt to provide sources with structure. Maintaining a full publishing schedule should be a team effort. 

Indent 2: 

Staff (reporters and editors) will take time to develop professional relationships with sources, especially those who identify with marginalized communities. It will should be a priority of each staff member to know the presidents of student organizations that intersect with the duties of their position and higher-ups within UWL. 

Indent 3: 

The Racquet Press will remain conscious of its reliance on sources. Reporters and editors will be aware of how much and in what ways they are relying on sources from marginalized communities, and will make an effort to include individuals from an array of intersectional backgrounds as sources. Reporters and editors will also be conscious of how they portray source testimonials in their pieces, making sure to give sources of marginalized identities coverage as “doer/subject, explainer/analyst/expert, reactor/opinion/comment, affected, reporter, and host”. They will also put forth extraneous effort to find sources from marginalized communities to offer this coverage to. 

Indent 4: The Racquet Press will inform reporters about Section 12 of the bylaws at the beginning of each semester and academic year.

SECTION 13

Amendments  

1. Proposed amendments to these bylaws shall be presented to the Head Editors, in writing, one meeting prior to the meeting where the amendment will be voted upon.  

1. Under the protection of title recognition, the title “Executive Editor” shall remain indefinitely and “Editor-In-Chief” will no longer be instituted. This has been decided because of respect to Indigenous Peoples’ and the prior triggering nature of the title.  

 

SECTION 14

Inclusivity Statement

1. The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse The Racquet Press recognizes and values the diverse identities, backgrounds, and beliefs of our faculty and of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student body. Our definition of diversity includes, but is not limited to ability, age, class, documentation status, gender identity, language, military status, nationality, race, religion, and sexual orientation. We are committed to providing and promoting an environment free of prejudice by addressing issues of equity and justice in our community, and we support the success of marginalized identities.