the Constitution

Revised April 28, 2005

Statement of Purpose

Joyful Noise is a Christian a cappella singing group composed of students from Carnegie Mellon University, the University
of Pittsburgh, and the Community College of Allegheny County. It is open to any university student by audition. The group
was formed in October 1993 for the purpose of glorifying God through music, singing a cappella songs in styles ranging from hymns to popular songs. In addition, we perform skits and give talks about the joy of a relationship with Christ.

We rehearse twice a week for two hours each, and meet once a week for two hours ("ruckus") to discuss business, study
the Bible together, and just have fun. We hope to perform about once a week on campuses, in churches, at nursing homes, prisons, camps, or anywhere else God gives us the opportunity.


Officers

The Pitch is the musical director of the group, responsible for planning and conducting rehearsals and performances. 

The Booking Agent is responsible for scheduling all gigs and working with all individual group members’ schedules.

The Business Manager is responsible for the financial and organizational aspects.  This includes such duties as managing and dispensing funds, organizing transportation, paperwork (sheet music), and reserving rooms.

The Ruckus Manager plans ruckuses, or delegates their planning on a weekly basis.

The President acts as the figure head for the group. Though any important decisions should be made by the group as a whole, the President also acts as the final arbiter in all issues. The role of President is not a separate officer, but instead, this responsibility will be included either with the Pitch or the Ruckus Manager (to be decided by unanimous vote with
Officer Selections each year, or as needed).

These descriptions are meant as guidelines only. The exact division of responsibilities between any pitch, business manager and ruckus manager will depend on their particular personalities, and how they work best together. Additional officers may be selected as needed (e.g. music keeper, birthday manager, web designer, PR rep.).


Membership and Officer Selection

Auditions will be held at the beginning of every fall semester, and, at the discretion of the group, at the beginning of the spring semester.  New members are selected by unanimous vote, based on their audition.  In addition, prospective members must commit to attending all rehearsals, and at least three quarters of the ruckuses.

The officers for each year will be selected by unanimous vote at the end of the preceding year.