Preamble : WOLV-TV serves to provide University of Michigan students an opportunity to gain experience in television production and management. Its goal is to create and cultivate an accessible educational organization that provides informative, engaging and entertaining programming to the University community.

I.Management and Structure

1. The Executive Board or E-Board will serve as the governing body of WOLV-TV.

A. The E-Board will be comprised of the General Manager(s) and Department Heads, each of whom will hold a single vote, though no person may have two votes.
B. The E-Board will be responsible for handling all matters of policy, direction, personnel, and organization of the station.
C. The E-Board will meet regularly at a time chosen by the General Manager(s) to discuss the execution of its duties.
D. The E-Board will make decisions by majority vote unless otherwise specified by this Constitution.
E. The E-Board will make budgetary decisions by a ¾ vote.
F. A member of the E-Board may vote in favor, against, or abstain on any proposal. A vote of “abstain” will be wholly discounted.
G. The E-Board will appoint by ¾ vote new General Manager(s), Department Heads, Producers, Station-Wide Managers, and other officers as the E-Board sees fit at the end of each school year. A person may be reappointed to a position but no person may be guaranteed any office. The E-Board may develop guidelines for this process, which will be updated annually, and may include details of what specifically will be required of station officers.
H. Any member of WOLV-TV may be admitted to the E-Board as an “Executive Board Member” by unanimous vote of the E-Board; that individual will then hold a vote on the E-Board.
I. The E-Board may make decisions only if no more than one member of the E-Board is absent at the time that the decision is made, except when the punishment of a member of the E-Board including the GM(s) is being considered, in which case the E-Board may make decisions only if no more than one member of the E-Board in addition to the E-Board member being considered for punishment is absent.

2. The General Manager(s) or GM(s) will serve as the leader(s) of WOLV-TV and the Chairperson(s) of the E-Board.

A. There may be no more than two M(s) but there must be one GM.
B. The GM(s) will be responsible for setting station goals, assigning the departments tasks in support of those goals, overseeing the progress of the station towards reaching those goals, and handling any interdepartmental disputes
C. The GM(s) will conduct all interactions with any outside groups, except where otherwise provided for in this document, and unless the GM(s) delegate this responsibility to another person.

3. The Department Heads or Directors will oversee the operation of the different divisions of WOLV-TV.

A. The Department Heads will be responsible for organizing the operations of a single Department, setting goals for that Department, assigning department members tasks in support of those goals, overseeing the progress of the department towards reaching those goals, and handling any intradepartmental disputes.
B. The Department Heads will be responsible for informing the Executive Board of any goals set by the department.

4. There will be six Departments, each of which will have a Director: Operations, Programming, Business, News, Sports, and Entertainment.

A. The Operations Department will be responsible for maintaining station equipment, managing use of station equipment, ensuring cohesive technical operations, maintaining station communications, and overseeing training.
B. The Programming Department will be responsible for maintaining a broadcast schedule, maintaining a studio schedule, ensuring continuous broadcasting of material on WOLV-TV, content control, and quality control.
C. The Business Department will be responsible for recruitment activities, publicity activities, public relations, sale of advertising space, sale of recording services, and any other sales.
D. The News Department will be responsible for producing news programming, coordinating with other news agencies, and handling the coverage of news events.
E. The Sports Department will be responsible for producing sports programming, coordinating with athletic organizations including the University Athletic Director’s Office, and handling the coverage of sports events.
F. The Entertainment Department will be responsible for producing entertainment programming, defined as programming not relating to news or sports.

5. There will exist other WOLV-TV officers.

A. A Producer or Technical Producer will oversee the production of a show and will be responsible for the creation, content, and quality of that show as well as the management of the crew of that show.
B. A Station-Wide Manager will oversee a certain aspect of station operations.
C. An Associate Producer will assist the Producer of a show.
D. A Chief will serve as the Operations or Programming equivalent of a Producer, overseeing a certain aspect of the duties of those departments.
E. No station officer may resign from his/her position without providing two weeks notice.

II.    Membership

1.    Any current undergraduate student or current graduate student of the University of Michigan may be a member of WOLV-TV.
2.    Section (1) of this article notwithstanding, the GM(s) may grant special permission to any individual to participate in WOLV-TV activities.
3.    WOLV-TV will be an equal opportunity organization. WOLV-TV will not allow discrimination of any sort against any group. The GM(s) will quickly and openly investigate any reports of discrimination or prejudice.

III.     Checks and Balances

1.    The Executive Board may reverse the decision of any Producer, Director, or the GM(s) by ¾ vote. A Director may reverse the decision of a Producer within the department of that Director. A Producer may reverse the decision of any lesser official working on that producer’s show. A decision by the E-Board may be appealed to the E-Board but only once.
2.    A Director may suspend any individual within the department of that director, the GM(s) may suspend any WOLV-TV member, and the E-Board may suspend a GM by majority vote. The E-Board will decide by ¾ vote whether to ban from WOLV-TV, whether to remove from any office, and/or whether to take punitive actions against any suspended member within two weeks of the suspension of that member. The E-Board will immediately appoint a new individual by ¾ vote to fill any vacated position within WOLV-TV.
3.    The Director will appoint an individual to fill in an interim capacity any vacated position within the department of that Director until that point at which the E-Board selects a new person to serve in that office. The GM(s) will appoint an individual to fill in an interim capacity any vacated Director position until that point at which the E-Board selects a new person to serve in that office. The E-Board will appoint an individual to fill in an interim capacity the position(s) of the GM(s) if said position(s) are vacated until that time at which the E-Board appoints a new individual to serve as a GM.
4.    The E-Board may remove from office, take punitive action against, or ban from WOLV-TV a member for any of the following offenses: failing to perform the duties of an office (not punishable by a ban), violation of University security policy as described in the Student Code of Conduct and the ITD Proper Use Policy, unauthorized possession or improper handling of station equipment, behavior on premises that is disruptive, unbecoming and/or causes embarrassment to viewers, station personnel, and/or community or University staff, misuse of funds and/or resources, actions detrimental to professional functioning of the organization, inappropriate use of station communications technology, any illegal activity including drug or alcohol abuse.
5.    If the person being removed is a member of the E-Board including a GM, his/her vote will not be considered in the decision to remove that individual.

IV.    Procedures

1.    The GM(s) will determine access to WOLV-TV facilities, except where University Housing has decided on access.
2.    No person may use WOLV-TV letterhead except for official station business.
3.    No person may use email resources except for official station business.
5.    The GM(s) and Operations Director must have ownership of all email groups.
6.    No person may make a long-distance call or any fax from WOLV-TV without the express permission of the Operations Director or GM(s). A detailed log must be kept of any such usage.
7.    WOLV-TV will endeavor to provide fair coverage of all events. The News Department will always provide equal access to all sides in any coverage of a political story on WOLV-TV. Any other show will always warn viewers that any political views expressed are not those of the station or the university.

V.    Appropriate Content Guidelines

1.    WOLV-TV content must be free from libelous slander.
2.    WOLV-TV content must be free from obscenity, defined as content which would offend contemporary community standards and lacks serious educational, artistic, or scientific value.
3.    No minor may appear on WOLV-TV unless parental permission is obtained.
4.    WOLV-TV will not tolerate any plagiarism.
5.    The owner of a property must give permission before any image of that property is broadcast on WOLV-TV.
6.    WOLV-TV may not broadcast copyrighted material without proper permission. Exempt from this rule is material of legitimate news or editorial content, provided that only a small segment of the material in question is broadcast.
7.    WOLV-TV may not broadcast any material that may violate community standards laid out by University Housing.

VI.    Amendment, Ratification, Severability, and Revision.

1.    This Constitution will take effect upon its ratification by unanimous decision of the E-Board.
2.    This Constitution may be amended or superseded at any time by a unanimous decision of the E-Board.
3.    In the event that any one or more of the provisions of this Constitution for any reason be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain valid and enforceable.
4.    The E-Board will examine this Constitution every year following its ratification and will amend it as necessary.

VII.    Ownership

1.    All property, intellectual and capital, contained on the premises of WOLV-TV are wholly owned by WOLV-TV and the Regents of the University of Michigan.
2.     Programming produced by WOLV-TV may not be re-distributed or rebroadcast for use outside the Fair Use Doctrine unless express permission is given by the E-Board for such redistribution or rebroadcast.