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House meetings are for the purpose of keeping the general body of the house informed of the house status, facilitating social interaction, and having the group vote on how to operate the co-op. Meeting minutes are emailed out to all on the email list, so if you are a current member, you will have access to them.
All North Campus [[Inter-Cooperative Council (ICC)|Inter-Cooperative]] Houses are governed by the [https://icc.coop/my-membership/governance/standing-rules/ ICC Standing Rules] and the [[Constitution]] & [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jDMF9yDc_RRIKP4mNqlXKZHvgLX307uxrvUTnzw9KYE/edit?usp=sharing Standing Rules] of the House. These documents can be found online and are often posted around the building. All citations given are to the House Constitution unless otherwise stated.
====Structure====
House Meetings generally use the following structure:
====Frequency====
Regular House meetings are held every two weeks, and special House meetings are called when extraordinary business must be dealt with. House meetings follow the common rules of order called parliamentary procedure, except where otherwise specified in the House Constitution.
==== Proposals ====
[[proposal|Proposals]] for consideration at House meetings must be emailed to the President to be added to the next House meeting’s agenda. See the current President's emails for the deadline for submissions. Only proposals on the meeting agenda, or secondary motions made to these proposals (like amendments), may be debated at the House meeting. During a meeting, any member may request to add a proposal to the agenda, but the House must unanimously consent to adding it. Any other member can object to adding it (III.A.4).
Proposals are debated in the following way:
** Any member may propose an amendment to the proposal under discussion. This secondary motion must be discussed and voted on before returning to consideration of the original proposal. By house tradition, a member may amend his or her own proposal by “friendly amendment” without a vote to do so.
** Any member may move to close debate and vote immediately, but this motion must be passed by a ⅔ majority rather than a simple majority (“half plus one”).
* Though unconstitutional, Escher has chosen to continue Google form ballots since House Meetings were virtual during the [[COVID-19]] pandemic. The [[President]] sends out this ballot following each House Meeting and posts emails results 24 hours later. All votes are cross-checked for duplicates and email addresses that correspond with current residents.
* Proposals pass if a majority of members voting vote “yes”.
====Release Requests====
[[release requests|Release requests]] for consideration at House meetings must be emailed to the President to be added to the next House meeting’s agenda. See the current President's emails for the deadline for submissions.
Release requests are debated in the following way:
* The member requesting the release either gives a verbal statement, reads their written statement, or the [[Vice President of Suites]] reads it in their absence.
* The floor is opened for questions for the member requesting a release.
* The member requesting the release leaves the room for private discussion.
* When private discussion is closed an officer goes to bring back the requesting member.
* The [[President]] sends out this ballot following each House Meeting and emails results 24 hours later.
===Traditional House Meeting Etiquette===
====Hitchhiking====
Three types of things happen at House meetings: announcements and reports, open discussion, and proposals. Members who wish to speak raise their hand and are added to a queue (often called the stack) by the President. ICC tradition allows “hitchhiking”, whereby members “jump the queue” by putting out their thumb to indicate that they wish to add a short comment to the previous statement.
====Straw Poll====
Sometimes, during the course of discussion, a member asks for a straw poll of members. This is a non-binding vote that helps members determine the group opinion.
===Absentee Participation===
If you are not able to attend a meeting but still want your voice to be heard on an issue, you have a couple of options:
* Email the President a statement to be read during the meetingfor your proposal or another person's proposal. This has become more commonplace to do even if members are planning to be present because it can give more context in the agenda and minutes to members who are unable to attend.
* Read the meeting minutes and then vote on the ballot sent to the house via email.