The voice of graduate and
professional students.
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CONSTITUTION
Graduate Student Organization
Statement of Purpose
The graduate and the professional students of Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI), in order to provide an official and representative graduate and professional student government, to give graduate and professional students a voice in matters pertaining to the affairs of the University, to improve the quality of graduate and professional student life for all graduate and professional students, to contribute more effectively to campus life in general, to encourage the highest quality of graduate and professional instruction, to provide a means for graduate and professional students to become involved in determining future University directions and in campus planning, and to otherwise enhance graduate and professional student involvement on the University campus and in the community do hereby establish this constitution of the Graduate Student Organization.
ARTICLE I MEMBERSHIP
The members of the Graduate Student Organization shall be elected or appointed from each academic school with a graduate or professional degree program and from the continuing non-degree students registered in the Graduate School. Hereinafter these schools and the Continuing Non-Degree Program will be referred to as academic areas. Members will meet such criteria as set forth below and in the by-laws.
The students in each academic area shall have the right to select in accordance with the by-laws [one representative and one alternate as members.] Amended on the 8th of September 1997 (Amendment #1).
The representatives shall be graduate or professional students officially registered at the time of their election and during their terms as representatives. They shall be selected annually by the graduate and professional students registered in the academic areas they are to represent.
Amended on the 8th of September 1997 (Amendment #2).
[Each representative shall have one vote at the Graduate Student Organization meetings, which may be cast by his or her alternate or by proxy.] Amended on the 8th of September 1997 (Amendment #3).
ARTICLE II. MEETINGS
Section 1. The Graduate Student Organization will meet regularly on a monthly basis at a time determined and agreed upon by a quorum of the Graduate Student Organization members. Any deviations or additions of general or special meetings will be announced by mail or electronic communication to all Graduate Student Organization representatives and alternates. The Graduate Office will notify Graduate Student Organization representatives of all regularly scheduled meetings at least one week before the meetings. The Graduate Office will notify representatives of special meetings either one week before such meetings or, where lapse of time is shorter, as soon as a meeting date has been set.
Section 2. A general meeting quorum will be defined as fifty per cent of the total number of representatives. Decisions on financial matters will be taken at meetings where two-thirds of the total number of representatives are present.
Section 3. Procedures of the meetings of the Graduate Student Organization and its committees will be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order.
Section 4. Amended on the 8th of September 1997 (Amendment #4).
ARTICLE III EXECUTIVE
Representatives to the Graduate Student Organization will elect from amongst themselves [a chairperson to serve a six-month term beginning in July or in January.] Amended on the 8th of September 1997 (Amendment #5a.2). Such person must have been a member of the Graduate Student Organization for a six months’ period prior to election as chairperson. The chairperson will be elected by a majority of two-thirds quorum. The chairperson’s duties will include moderating the monthly meetings; setting the agenda for the meetings; serving as the official contact for organizations, students, or others who wish to communicate or meet with the Graduate Student Organization; and representing the IUPUI graduate and professional student body at the Board of Trustees Student Affairs Committee meetings. If the chairperson cannot attend to a duty, he or she will appoint a substitute for the occasion from the membership.
Section 1. Amended on the 8th of September
1997 (Amendment #5).
Amended on the 8th
of September 1997 (Amendment #5a).
Amended on the 8th
of September 1997 (Amendment #5b).
Amended on the 8th
of September 1997 (Amendment #5c).
Amended on the 8th
of September 1997 (Amendment #5d).
Amended on the 8th of September 1997 (Amendment #5e).
Amended on the 12th of October 1999 (Amendment
#5f)
Amended on the 12th of October 2000 (Amemdment
#5g)
Amended on the 11th of January 2001 (Amendment
#5g.2)
ARTICLE IV. FUNDING
The Graduate Student Organization represents the responsibility center for graduate and professional student activity fees. All such fees will be under Graduate Student Organization control. The Graduate Student Organization will allocate funds for University-based services which the Organization wishes to support and for Graduate Student Organization administrative costs. Of the remaining funds, the Graduate Student Organization will retain ten per cent for special Graduate Student Organization programs and services. The other ninety per cent of those funds will return to the student organizations of the graduate and professional academic areas from which they were generated. These will be the academic schools in which the graduate and professional students are enrolled.
If an academic area has no student organization, the Graduate Student Organization will retain the monies contributed by students of that academic area, and only such students may apply to the Graduate Student Organization for those funds.
Amended on the 8th of September 1997 (Amendment #6).
ARTICLE V COMMITTEES
Section 1. The Graduate Student Organization shall have the authority to establish various committees, either standing or ad hoc, at its discretion. Size and membership of said committees shall be determined by the Graduate Student Organization in regular meeting. Each committee shall be chaired by an individual member of said committee, as selected by the committee.
Section 2. A finance committee shall be created as a permanent standing committee of the Graduate Student Organization upon the passage of this constitution. It shall be composed of seven members, each from a different academic area, of which four will be representatives from the four academic schools with the largest enrollments as verified by the Office of the Registrar in the first semester of each year after the third week enrollment figures are available. The Graduate Student Organization shall select three of its representatives from schools unrepresented on the committee to fill the remaining three seats.
ARTICLE VI APPOINTMENTS TO UNIVERSITY COMMITTEES
Section 1. The Graduate Office of Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis will provide support services for the Graduate Student Organization. These support functions include, but are not limited to, the following:
Taking and recording of GSO and Finance Committee minutes;
Preparing budgetary reports for each meeting of the Graduate Student Organization and of its Finance Committee;
Handling correspondence issued by the Graduate Student Organization and that
received from other parties;
Printing and duplication;
Preparing and issuing official reports of the GSO and its Finance Committee;
Transferring monies on behalf or at the discretion of the GSO and its Finance Committee;
Arranging for an annual audit of the Graduate Student Organization’s finances by an auditor outside the Graduate Student Organization and outside the Graduate Office;
Preparing requisitions for the administrative needs of the Graduate Student Organization; and
General office support services.
A representative of the IUPUI Graduate Office must be present at each Graduate Student Organization and Finance Committee session to fulfill the above-mentioned duties.
Section 2. The Director of the IUPUI Graduate Office will serve the Graduate Student Organization as faculty and administrative liaison. The Director will review proposed actions of the Graduate Student Organization and its finance committee in order to provide advice and counsel on the efficacy of those actions.
ARTICLE VII. AMENDMENTS AND BY-LAWS
Section 1. Amendments to this Constitution may be proposed by any representative. Amendments meeting with the approval of two-thirds of the Graduate Student Organization Representatives or their alternates shall take effect as part of this Constitution.
Section 2. The Graduate Student Organization representatives shall add or delete from time to time such by-laws to this Constitution as are necessary and proper to effectuate the purposes and policies of this Constitution. A by-law may be proposed by any representative. By-laws meeting with the approval of two-thirds majority of the representatives shall be enacted and enforced under this Constitution.
MEMBERSHIP BY-LAWS
Eligibility for Representation.
A. [One representative and one alternate] (Amended on the 8th of September 1997, Amendment #1) may be selected from each academic area’s student organization, defined as follows:
1. The organization represents the body of graduate students within a graduate degree-granting unit.
2. The organization represents the body of professional students within a professional degree-granting unit.
3. The organization represents a diverse population of graduate students who are not degree-seeking students but are enrolled as non-degree students at the graduate level.
B. [One representative and one alternate] (Amended on the 8th of September 1997, Amendment #1) may be selected by an academic area, which has such students but no such student organization.
C. Any minority or other sizable, campus-wide graduate and professional student organization whose interests have not been represented in the present structure may be admitted for representation by a majority vote of representatives present at the meeting where the vote is taken.
Penalties for Lack of School Representation.
Amended on the 8th of September
1997 (Amendment #7a).
Amended on the 8th of September
1997 (Amendment #7b).
Amended on the 8th of September
1997 (Amendment #7c).
Amended on the 8th of September
1997 (Amendment #7d).
Penalties for Failure to Attend Meetings.
Amended on the 12th of October
2000 (Amendment #8).
AMENDMENTS
Article I. Membership
Amendment #1
The students in each academic area shall have the right to select, in accordance with the by-laws, two representatives as members of the GSO. The representatives shall be graduate or professional students officially registered at the time of their election and during their terms as representatives. They shall be selected annually by the graduate and professional students registered in the academic areas they are to represent. (This amendment replaces the statement; “The students in each academic area shall have the right to select, in accordance with the by-laws, one representative and one alternate as members.”)
Amendment #2 (supplement to original constitution)
Any academic areas that neglect to appoint or elect at least one representative will be penalized in accordance with the by-laws.
Amendment #3
Through its two representatives, each academic area will have one vote at the Graduate Student Organization meetings. (Replaces the statement; “Each representative shall have one vote at the Graduate Student Organization meetings, which may be cast by his or her alternate or by proxy.”)
Article II. Meetings
Amendment #4 (supplement to original constitution)
Section 4. The nine meetings held during the fall and spring semesters are mandatory, so at least one of the two representatives from each academic area must be in attendance during these meetings. Representatives who miss more than two meetings will be sanctioned in accordance with the by-laws. Attendance at the three meetings held during the summer is optional.
Article III. Executive
Amendment #5 (supplement to original constitution)
SECTION 1. Duties of GSO Officers
Amendment #5a
President
1)
Must have served the GSO for at least one year prior to
running for office.
2)
May serve as President for a maximum two terms.
3)
Represents GSO in all affairs.
4)
Serves a one-year term beginning in June and ends with the
elections held the following May.
5)
Calls and presides over meetings: a schedule of all
meetings during a semester must be distributed to all representatives (voting
and non-voting), the Deans of the Graduate School, and the Graduate Office at
least one week prior to the first meeting of the fall and spring semester.
6)
Prepares agendas for general meetings and provides them to
members one week prior to scheduled meeting.
7)
Forms ad hoc committees as needed.
8)
Conducts elections.
9)
Uses Robert’s Rules of Order to conduct GSO business
during meetings.
10)
Writes notification letter to probationary schools
advising that their student activity fees will be withheld until the school’s
status returns to good standing with the GSO; this letter must also be signed
by the treasure and the Dean of the Graduate School.
11)
Casts vote only when a tie arises during voting on GSO
regular and financial business.
12)
Assures that his/her school has a representative to vote
on his/her school’s behalf.
Amendment #5b
Vice-President
1) Shares responsibilities with the President, including representing the President in GSO affairs when the president is unable.
2) Presides at general meetings in absence of the President.
3) Announces and publicizes general meeting at least one week in advance.
4) Secures facilities and ensures planning for social events sponsored by the GSO
Amendment #5c
Correspondence Secretary
1) Records the minutes of the GSO and makes them available two weeks after the meeting.
2) Notifies GSO members of changes in the status of their voting and representation privileges.
3) Updates and distributes a roster each fall and spring semester consisting of the names, addresses, and phone numbers of GSO representatives and representatives of all recognized graduate student organizations.
4) Aids the President and Vice-President in GSO business.
Amendment #5d
Treasurer
1) Is responsible for financial matters of the GSO
2) Presents written financial reports of events sponsored by the GSO.
3) Chairs the Finance Committee.
4) Prepares a written financial summary of GSO activities to be presented at the last meeting of each term, and to be available in the Graduate Office to any graduate student.
5) Aids the President and Vice-President in GSO business.
6) Signs notification letters drafted by the President in reference to withholding a school’s student activities fees.
Amendment #5e
Historian/Alumni Secretary
1) Records and documents all events in which the GSO participates or sponsors. Documentation may include photographs, newspaper clippings, and general notes about the event’s overall outcome.
2) Coordinates with each school’s representative (Director of Development) that handles alumni affairs; keeps and updates alumni records so that the GSO has that ability to network and foster a continual link with our alumni.
Amendment #5g
Sergeant at Arms
1) Ensures that proper order is enforced during all GSO meetings
2) Provides a copy of the GSO constitution at each general meeting.
3) Updates constitutional bylaws and amendments following each meeting.
4) Tallies and records votes at each meeting to substantiate attendance of representatives
5) Aids in GSO business
SECTION II. Compensation of
Officers
Amendment #5f
(Amended on the 12th of October 1999)
1) Certain officers (Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and *Sergeant at Arms(*Amendment #5g.2) are to receive a stipend of $125.00 at the end of each semester if duties are performed satisfactorily.
2) Officers must submit a written report at the end of each semester summarizing their contributions to the GSO and must obtain a majority vote of confidence by GSO members in good standing to receive payment for their term.
Amendment #5h
(Amended on the 12th of October 2000)
3) The elected President of the GSO shall receive an annual stipend of $1000 payable at the end of the academic year.
Article IV. Funding
Amendment #6 (supplement to original constitution)
(Amended on the 8th of September 1997)
If an academic area neglects to appoint or elect at least one representative to the Graduate Student Organization, the Graduate Student Organization will place the balance of that academic area’s student activity fees into the GSO general account by default.
If the representatives of an academic area are dismissed from the Graduate Student Organization, the Graduate Student Organization will retain the balance of that academic area’s student activity fees for the following semester until at least one replacement is appointed or elected from that academic area. If this does not occur within two weeks, the activity fees will be placed into the GSO account by default.
Membership By-Laws
Amendment #7 (supplement to original constitution)
(Amended on the 8th of September 1997)
Penalties for lack of school representation.
Amendment #7a
A. The Graduate Student Organization reserves the right to withhold the student activities fee balance from any academic area that neglects to select at least one representative to the Graduate Student Organization. The amount withheld or possibly forfeited to the GSO will be determined on a semester basis without school representation.
Amendment #7b
A. The Graduate Student Organization will notify on letterhead the dean of any academic area without at least one representative that, because the academic area has no representative, the Graduate Student Organization is considering to withhold the academic area’s student activities fee balance. In the letter, the Graduate Student Organization must explain that the decision to withhold the balance will be based on whether or not the academic area has a reasonable reason for not electing or appointing a representative to the Graduate Student Organization.
Amendment #7c
B. On a case-by-case basis, the Graduate Student Organization representatives will vote on whether or not to withhold an academic area’s student activities fee. The decision must be based on whether or not the academic area has presented a reasonable explanation for not electing or appointing at least one representative to the Graduate Student Organization.
Amendment #7d
C. If the representatives vote to withhold an academic area’s student activities fee, the students from that academic area will not be eligible to participate in any activities sponsored by the Graduate Student Organization until their school elects or appoints at least one representative to the Graduate Student Organization.
Meeting By-Laws
Amendment #8 (supplement to original constitution)
(Amended on the 12th of October 2000)
Penalties for failure to attend meetings.
A. Any academic area which fails to provide representation at two or more regularly scheduled GSO general meetings in the same semester shall be excluded from GSO sponsored programs (including Educational Enhancement Awards) for the remainder of the semester and forfeit their student activity monies for one semester. Eligibility to participate in GSO sponsored programs will be reinstated the following semester if adequate representation is established. Student activity money will be reinstated after the one semester penalty once adequate representation has been established.
B. Adequate representation is defined by attendance of all GSO general meetings in a given semester with the allowance of one excused absence. Attendance will be qualified by voting on at least 2/3 of all proposed motions at each meeting with either a yea, nay, or abstention.