The Newtown High School Technology Team, in order to preserve order and promote a more productive and effective Team, do establish this Policy for the current and future Newtown High School Technology Team. The Technology [Tech] Team, from here on referred to as the Team, exists to provide a social medium for the exchange of knowledge among students with a preexisting understanding and a never-ending curiosity regarding technology of all kinds, as well as a learning environment to increase the Team’s ability as a whole. Members from here on refer to people who are active in the Team, and follow all expectations and requirements as defined in Article 2. Preliminary Members from here on refer to people who are active in the Team but have not been voted in as a Member.
Members of the Team will be expected to take responsibility for any of their own actions, including, but not limited to, directions given to Preliminary Members, activity in productions, attendance to meetings, and other Team tasks they take part in. Activity in all aspects of the Technology Team must be evident: members are expected to attend both meetings a week, and required to attend at least one. If a reason is given to the Secretary prior to the meeting or by the next meeting, it will be recorded as an excused absence and will not count toward grounds of a strike. An exemption from required attendance can be presented to the sitting advisor and President. Failure to contact the Secretary will result in the absence being marked as unexcused. After 5 unexcused absences, a strike may be brought up. Members are required to attend and edit, at least one event a month. This minimum is subject to change based on the amount of available productions during the month. Members are also expected to be working on Personal Projects, progress on which is to be shown at least once per month.
Each member is responsible for voting on all new policies, rules, members and all agenda topics brought to a vote. Members are responsible to be present for voting, and if they cannot be present, attempt to voice their opinion in said vote if possible. If a member believes that the outcome of a vote was not in the Team’s best interests, they can request a re-vote. The advisor and president will review the request and either approve or deny it. If a member finds that they have a conflict of interest in a vote where they have something personal to gain from a vote, or they feel they would act in favoritism, they are responsible to bring it forward and relinquish their vote.
Each Member is required to show progress on a personal project at least once per month. This progress can be shown at any regular meeting, during the time allotted to “Project Updates”. It is the Project Manager’s responsibility to record if each member has presented that month, and this checklist is available to any and all Team Members. Work completed in a group project can also fulfill this responsibility. This responsibility can only be forgone for any member by approval in a majority vote from the standing executives. The exemption status awarded by the majority vote, however, can only be extended to a maximum of three months. If the exempted member is unable to produce progress on a project after their exemption has expired, they have failed their member responsibilities and are to be stricken.
Tech Team has claim over and uses the rooms B253 (i.e. Lockdown) and B132 (i.e. Headend). The cleanliness and presentability of these rooms falls under the responsibility of all Members and Preliminary Members. All members of Tech are required to follow the rules that come with the room as designated by the current executives. The room, although not being overseen by an adult must be treated as though there is one in the room. This includes but is not limited to keeping a regular voice level, lack of profanity; no exceptions for public displays of affection or lewd or sexual conduct. No persons from outside of the Team are allowed in either room at any time, excluding custodians and other school staff.
Usage of the Tech Team funds must always go through one of three approval processes. On any order worth less than $30 USD, only the approval of the President and the Vice President are required. On any order greater than $30 up to $1000 USD, the vote of the Executive board is required. On any order exceeding $1000 USD, the majority vote of the whole team is required. Any and all orders must be placed by the Treasurer, through the Team Advisor. Any and all net fund change must be recorded and publicly available to all members.
Membership in the Tech Team is primarily earned through trust as well as contribution and display of ability. Candidates for membership are required to work with, and contribute to, the Team, in order to be eligible for membership. A candidate will be immediately expected to begin working at becoming a Member when the Preliminary Member displays their continued desire to become a part of the Tech Team. Membership is the official association of the Team with a Member. A Member will have access to B253, the resources of the Tech Team as designated by their access level, an ID card allowing them to exit out of study halls and cafeterias, and the ability to vote upon various Team decisions (including, but not limited to, the induction of new Members). A failed attempt at membership does not immediately preclude Preliminary Members from subsequent attempts, except in extenuating circumstances as defined by the current President and Vice President. In the event that they are not voted in, they are given a one-month waiting period, after which they are able to choose to be voted on again at their discretion.
It is the duty of all existing members of the Team to evaluate and observe Preliminary Members in all school areas on their behavior, participation, work ethic, hygiene, general participation, and any other qualities that members of the Team would require. Once a Preliminary Member becomes a Member, these expectations are not dropped. In order to remain a member of the Team, they must follow the responsibilities mentioned in Article 1 Section 1 and adhere to all school rules outlined in the Student Handbook. This includes, but is not limited to, unexcused absences or tardiness in school, bullying of other students and/or staff, harassment in any form of other students and/or staff, theft, vandalism, and wearing inappropriate clothing.
All Members must adhere to standards of the Tech Team in the following: professional standards of behavior and participation of events (including but not limited to Board of Education meetings, Team meetings, school-sanctioned sports events, and staff related services), upholding personal responsibilities and Team-wide responsibilities, continuous activity within the Team, and anything defined by the sitting President or Vice President as an expectation.
In order for a Preliminary member to become a full member of the Team, they must complete the following requirements. Complete a project that shows skill in their field, or a willingness to learn. This project is judged by the members of the team, and should show the Preliminary member’s willingness to work and interact with the team. They must also film a minimum of five hours of official tech team events, as well as edit at least one event filmed by that preliminary member. Once their project is completed, they must be nominated by a member for membership. Following nomination, they must present the project to the team, following which the current members will discuss the Preliminary member’s merits as a full member, as well as the quality of the project. Afterwards the team will vote to decide whether the Preliminary member will become a full member. If a two thirds majority is reached, the Preliminary member can advance to the rank of full member. In addition, the Preliminary member must complete and pass with a grade of 75% or above, the member evaluation. This is a test on the Team Policy, as well on how we run events, and school rules in regard to the two Tech Rooms. No Preliminary member can become a member until they know the policy and Team well enough to pass the member evaluation. All Preliminary members are required to fulfill the following responsibilities, or risk expulsion from the team, as well as all activities and opportunities associated with the team.
- All Preliminary members must be constantly working on their project. At least once a week they must present progress on their project, or have a valid excuse as to why no work could be completed. If no valid excuse is given, or if they have not made progress for more than a month regardless of excuse, they have failed this responsibility.
- Preliminary members are expected to attend any and all meetings they can. They are able to take advantage of excused absences, however they are only allowed a maximum of ten. Preliminary members are only allowed two unexcused absences before this responsibility is failed. If either of these responsibilities are failed, the Preliminary is immediately stricken and expelled from the team. They can appeal to the executives, but this must be met by a two thirds majority vote to be accepted.
Elected Positions are President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Broadcast Director, Production Manager, Technical Director, and Project Manager. Responsibilities are as follows:
The President of the Tech Team is responsible for maintaining order in the Team and acting as a leader and figurehead of the Team. Often the President is the major decision holder on a vote, or facilitates votes. It is their job to delegate work to those in the Team responsible and to enforce the rules when necessary. As the leader of the Team they lead all meetings and makes most, meetings with administration. Although they are the leader when it comes of decisions in any member or executive vote, their vote means no more or less than any other member or executive’s does.
The Vice President of the Tech Team is responsible for maintaining order within the team as equally as the president is. Although not the leader of the team they are technically second in line, and should act as though. Often the Vice President acts many duties of the President, they should be able to lead the team in the absence of the President.They are in charge of delegating work and finding work that needs to be done and either doing it or tasking it to be done.
It is the job of the Broadcast director to maintain, run and update NTV and all broadcast equipment surrounding it. If an issue arises with the channel it is the broadcast director's job to deal with it as soon as possible. As well as that it is also their job to maintain the TVs throughout the school and make sure they are running and performing as expected. Then overall they need to ensure that all content on the channel is up to date and is running in a logical schedule.
It is the job of the Treasurer to maintain and record all budgets and resources. All orders and money goes through the Treasurer. It is their job to ensure that all resources are checked out and inventoried accurately, as well as that all resources return promptly and securely. Any issues regarding inventory or funds goes to the Treasurer. Finally their job is to maintain a cleanliness in any of the team's rooms.
The Secretary’s job is to manage the documents and fluidity of meetings. It is the responsibility of the secretary to write and distribute meeting notes for each and every meeting. At the beginning of the meetings the secretary needs to take attendance, collect excuses and prepare any documents or forms needed to run a meeting smoothly. Outside of meetings the secretary is in charge of managing resources like the Holocron, email lists, new members and any forms we’re currently collecting results for.
Production Manager is responsible for all the scheduling of productions, recording of hours and negotiating for paid productions in and outside of school. They work in conjunction with the Broadcast Director to ensure that productions are edited, and filmed to a degree of quality. All productions need to be covered and it is the Production Manager's responsibility to ensure this. If a production is missed it looks poorly on the entire team, and it is the Production Manager's job to ensure that never occurs.
It is the Project Manager's job to ensure that all members are doing their work. They are the resource to be used by all probationary members when they are working towards their member projects. It is their job to record what projects have been presented, completed, and who is ready to present. They are also responsible for speaking with members who are not performing work on projects, and then informing the rest of the executive staff so action can be taken. They are responsible for ensuring that the team is full of hardworking members and ensuring the removal of inactive members.
It is the Technical Director's role to maintain the functionality of the tech room equipment. The Technical Director is to work on any and all issues concerning the tech computers, and to ensure all technical equipment is functional. The Technical Director is also responsible for filtering requested programs to be installed onto the tech computers and determine which programs will be allowed. The Technical Director should know the computers inside and out and be able to answer any questions members may have.
Elections will occur no more than two months prior to the end of the school year, and any position that is not filled in the Election will be elected within the first month of the following school year. It is the responsibility of all Members to vote on those who will fill these roles annually. If a position is not filled or needs to be filled, then members of the Team will be nominated. After nominations are taken, a vote will take place among all members similar to how one occurs when an executive originally takes position.
All Executive members share an equal vote in any executive vote, as well as any member votes. No position gives more power over another. All executive votes must have a two thirds majority. It is also the responsibility of those not in an official position to work with those who are and follow their decisions. Should a decision be questioned, a vote may be proposed, and majority ruling within the Team will enable it to be overturned.
A strike is where the Team takes action over an instance regarding the breaking of any of the rules regarded in the Policy, as well as when any member deems that a strike may be in the Teams best interest. Strikes, although covering many aspects, cannot cover the breaking of school rules. These aspects include but are not limited to misuse of equipment, failure to follow instructions, unexcused absences, and/or lack of contribution to the team. If a strike is brought to the Team that is seen as a violation of school rules, then it will be presented to the administration and regarded as a school issue and not a Tech Team one. A strike is presented to the Sitting Adviser and executive staff. They will then vote to determine whether or not the strike is justified based on the information given. The vote must receive at least a two thirds majority in favor of striking. If they need more information or they believe the grounds for the strike are limited, then the strike will be declined. However if they see that the strike has merit, then they will determine to strike the individual(s) and add additional consequences if needed. After the strike is decided upon, the Adviser either agrees or vetoes the strike. In the case that the member being stricken wishes to overturn the decision on their strike they may bring it to a team vote, where the Team will be presented the strike and the stricken member may present their case. The vote must receive two thirds majority in favor of overturning the strike in order for an action to take place. Strikes occur and count on a year to year basis and strikes that occur in previous years do not carry over. We use this as part of the belief that people can change. If someone cannot be responsible year in and out, they will continue to receive strikes.
Each Member has a certain number of strikes available to them, and certain punishments based on how many they have already received.
- On a Member’s first offence they receive, the consequence is a minimum two week suspension of their card. All permissions of a full member are to be returned to them at the end of the defined period.
- On a Member’s Second offence, they are demoted to Preliminary Status and suspension of their card until they regain membership.
- This offence is the final straw. Any Member that receives this strike will be suspended from the Team for the remainder of the year. They are no longer allowed to be in our rooms, use our equipment, or utilize any of the perks of being in the Team. However, they will be allowed to rejoin at the beginning of the next year with a clean slate.
When a student joins the Team as a Preliminary member they are under evaluation. A Preliminary is given one strike at which they can receive. The Preliminary period is used by the Team to determine if we can trust them. If they receive a strike during their Preliminary period, they will be removed from the Team for the remainder of the year (in accordance with the final offence). They can however appeal to the executives during a meeting they request to be given a chance to reaffirm their Preliminary status. This must be met by a two thirds majority. This gives Preliminary members who really wish to be dedicated a second chance and is not to be misused.
When a member is voted into the Team, that shows our belief that we can trust them; with that trust allows for a cushion. That of which you are able to receive two extra strikes before their final offence terms are put into action. This means that a Member receives their first and second offence consequences before they are able to receive their third. Members are expected to follow and abide by any expectations outlined in the prohibited behaviors document.
Blacklisting is an action which standing executives can take in response to rule or policy breaks that are not deemed worthy of a strike. A blacklist can be created by a majority vote of the standing executives, and members placed on the blacklist lose all access the the Team Rooms without explicit permission from the President or Vice President. Members are removed from the blacklist once the offense has been cleared, (i.e being late on project updates, then providing the required update) or if the time period assigned to the member by the standing executives has expired. Such a time period is only assigned if the issue is not able to be corrected, otherwise blacklist standing is permanent until the issue is resolved. Members placed on a blacklist can appeal to be removed to the standing executives, and a majority vote can remove the member from the list and restore their access to the rooms.
If a member is blacklisted, and their peers allow them into the room, the member who refused to enforce the policy is viable to be stricken. In order to avoid member ignorance to the status of the blacklist, this blacklist, if at any time it is in use, must be posted in the rooms to ensure that all members know who is allowed access to the Team rooms.
This document may only be revised in the case that there is a supermajority vote to do so. Minor changes may be voted on by the current elected position holders while major changes must be voted on by all present members of the Team. Major changes would include but are not limited to the redefinition of positions, how membership is attained, how a position is attained; redaction or addition to the current placed system, etc. Minor changes would include but are not limited to spell corrections, formatting corrections, etc. All members who have previously agreed to the Terms also agree to any future additions so long as they remain a member of the Team.