Graduate Student Association
CONSTITUTION OF THE SOCIOLOGY GRADUATE STUDENT ASSOCIATION
Revised April 18, 2005
Preamble
THE PURPOSE of the Sociology Graduate Student Association is to assist its members’ academic and professional socialization, and to facilitate positive interactions between students, faculty, and staff.
Article I
Organization Name
This organization shall be known as the Sociology Graduate Student Association (SocGSA).
Article II
Membership
Section A: Membership/Membership Qualifications
1. Membership in the Sociology Graduate Student Association shall be opened to all students enrolled in a master’s or doctoral program of study of the Department of Sociology at Western Michigan University.
2. No individual shall be denied membership because of race, gender, class, religion, age, handicap, national origin, sexual orientation, or veteran status.
Section B: Voting Privilege
1. All members are entitled to vote on any issue brought before the membership.
2. Members will be informed of issues via email and at meetings, and will be given a period of seven (7) days within which to cast their ballot.
3. Voting shall be done by anonymous written ballot, which will be dropped in a ballot box located in the Sociology Department mailroom or other specified location.
Article III
Officers
Section A: Elected Officers and Outlined Duties
Sociology graduate students will be represented and led by a board, which will be composed of two to five members. As a collective body, the board will be responsible for the following duties:
- Attending faculty meetings, presenting relevant information at faculty meetings, participating in any discussions and votes that occur during faculty meetings, and thoroughly reporting the relevant information from faculty meetings to the graduate students in a timely manner.
- Serving as the student member of the Executive Council and the Central Graduate Committee.
- Attending meetings of the Graduate Student Advisory Council (GSAC), providing input into graduate policy at these meetings, serving on university committees as able (and reporting the results of these meetings to GSAC), and thoroughly reporting the relevant information from GSAC meetings to the graduate students in a timely manner.
- Managing and providing detailed information about GSA funds.
- Advocating for and helping to resolve the interpersonal issues (i.e., conflict regarding noise levels or topics discussed in the graduate offices) and professional issues (i.e, teaching assignments, areas exams, treatment of graduate students by faculty) graduate students encounter. This may involve obtaining relevant information and providing this information to affected or interested students or advocating for student interests before the faculty and/or administration.
- Ensuring that all departmental committees have a student member, that the student members of these committees are invited to and actually attend committee meetings, and that the relevant information from these committees is disseminated to the graduate students in a timely manner.
- Informing students of new policies and procedures, as well as departmental and university deadlines for admissions, funding, etc.
- Informing students about job openings, workshops, conferences, and calls for papers.
- Conducting GSA meetings as necessary, and providing complete notes regarding these meetings to graduate students in a timely manner.
- Organizing or facilitating the organization of department activities (i.e., banquets, picnics, potlucks, lecture series, discussion groups), including applying for funding from GSAC and/or the department if appropriate.
- Providing outreach to prospective and incoming graduate students.
- Communicating with the AsSOCiation and the Criminal Justice Student Association and coordinating any activities between one or both of these organizations and the Sociology Graduate Student Association.
- Managing the graduate student offices (i.e., purchasing new supplies, supervising the assigning of desks) and applying for funding from GSAC for office supplies as needed.
- Organizing and conducting fundraising activities as deemed necessary.
A board member will assume primary responsibility for one or more of the first four items. Board members will divide the remaining items among themselves as they see fit.
Board members may take on the responsibilities typically or previously held by other members.
Section B: Committees
When deemed necessary, the Sociology Graduate Student Association shall create ad hoc committees composed of voluntary members.
Section C: Selection of Board Members
1. Election of officers shall occur annually during the third full week in March.
2. Any active member of the Sociology Graduate Student Association may run.
3. Nominations may be given to the current board members verbally, electronically via email, or in writing.
4. Nominations shall be accepted until seven (7) days before the elections. A meeting will be held before the first day of the election period to discuss the ballot.
5. Each member is entitled to one vote, which shall be cast via email or secret written ballot.
6. Votes for candidates shall be accepted during the third full week in March. Both the ballots and the ballot box will be located in the mailroom.
7. No ballots shall be accepted for consideration after the designated deadline.
8. The nominees with the most votes will be elected.
9. Newly elected board members shall assume office at the beginning of the Summer I session. Prior to this date, new board members will meet with the out-going board members to discuss their duties.
10.Board members shall remain in office for the term of one calendar year (from Summer I to the Spring semester of the following year).
Section D: Filling Vacancies
1. If a board member requests to step down, an election will be held to replace him or her. The procedure for this election will reflect that described in Article III, Section C.
2. If the board does not have five members, any graduate student may request that an election be held to fill one or more of these vacancies. The procedure for this election will reflect that described in Article III, Section C.
Section E: Removal of the Officers
1. If a board member fails to perform his/her duties as specified in Article III, Section A, or is in violation of any section of the Western Michigan University Student Code of Conduct, he/she may be removed from office.
2. Any member can request a board member’s removal. The request must be made in writing (which includes the reason for the request) to another SGSA officer or the Faculty Advisor.
3. Once the request to remove a board member has been made, the board member in question shall be notified in writing and given one week (7 days) to publicly defend his/her position at a special meeting of the SGSA.
4. A special meeting shall be called in accordance with Article V, Section B.
5. Removal from office requires a majority vote by the membership.
Article IV
Faculty Advisor
Section A: Faculty Advisor
1. At least one board member shall meet with the chair of the sociology department as soon as possible after the election in order to determine if the chair wishes to serve (continue to serve) as the Sociology Graduate Student Association’s faculty advisor.
2. If the chair is unwilling or unable to serve as faculty advisor, then the association shall accept the chair’s designated representative as faculty advisor.
Article V
Meetings
Section A: Frequency of the Meetings
An initial meeting of the Sociology Graduate Student Association shall be held no later than two weeks after the start of both the fall and spring semesters. The date and time of regular meetings shall thereafter be determined by the active membership and/or the board.
Section B: Special Meetings
1. Special meetings may be held at the request of any member of the Sociology Graduate Student Association, including the board.
2. To request a special meeting, a member shall first contact a board member.
3. The contacted member shall immediately make arrangements for the meeting, and then notify the membership of the meeting no sooner than five (5) days prior to the meeting date.
Article VI
Funds
Section A: Membership Dues
The Sociology Graduate Student Association shall not collect any membership fees.
Section B: Collecting Funds
1. At least one board member shall take steps to obtain funds for the Sociology Graduate Student Association and its activities.
2. These funds may be obtained from the sociology department or from other departments or organizations on campus. Funds needed to offset the cost of specific events may be obtained from the member’s of the Sociology Graduate Student Association’s planning to attend/participate in the event.
Section C: Banking
1. All accounts must be held at Western Michigan University or at the on-campus office of National City Bank.
2. The Sociology Graduate Student Association’s account records may be audited by a party designated by the board.
3. The account records are open to any member and can be viewed at any time.
Section C: Disposition of Funds for the Case of Inactivation
1. In the event the organization dissolves or is inactivated, all monies held by the Sociology Graduate Student Association shall be donated to the Leonard C. Kercher Scholarship Fund.
Article VII
Amendments
The procedure for making a constitutional amendment is as follows: Any member may propose amendments to this constitution. The written proposal must be posted for all members to view for a full week (7 days) prior to the meeting in which the proposed amendment will be considered. At this meeting, there will be discussion of the amendment in an open forum, and the amendment may be revised as a result of this meeting. After this meeting, graduate students will have one full week to vote on the amendment. The voting will be conducted by email and secret ballot; both the ballots and the ballot box will be located in the mailroom.