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Constitution of the Sociology Graduate Student Association

ARTICLE I: NAME

The name of the organization shall be the Sociology Graduate Student Association, hereafter referred to as SGSA.

ARTICLE II: PURPOSE, POWERS, SCOPE AND NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY

Section I. Purpose

  1. To promote communication among graduate students and between the students and faculty of the department.
  2. To promote the development of the intellectual and social interests shared by the graduate students.
  3. To act as a student advocate group to facilitate an exceptional learning environment for both students and faculty.

Section II. Powers

  1. To hold elections for SGSA officer positions.
  2. To rule on all matters not designated to officers as defined in the constitution.
  3. To establish, maintain, and disburse organizational funds, as deemed appropriate by the membership.
  4. To propose and facilitate the adoption of amendments to this constitution.

Section III. Scope

The scope of this organization encompasses all matters that affect members of this organization in relation to academic and college community activities.

Section IV. Non-Discrimination Policy

This organization and its members shall not discriminate against any individual(s) for reasons of race, ethnicity, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, sex, gender, age, handicap, or veteran status.

ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP

Membership in SGSA is open to all OSU graduate students interested in sociology. Further, being a sociology graduate student in the OSU Department of Sociology automatically confers the rights and privileges of SGSA membership unless the student does not desire such rights and privileges. Graduate students outside of the Department of Sociology only need to express their desire to join SGSA to the executive officers of the organization in order to become a member.

ARTICLE IV: OFFICERS

Section I. Requirements

The officers of this organization must be OSU graduate students in the Department of Sociology, enrolled in at least three credit hours per quarter and maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0.

Section II. Executive and Representative Offices

  1. The Executive offices are as follows:
    • President
    • Vice President of Financial Affairs
    • Vice President of Student Affairs
  2. The Representative offices are as follows:
    • Cohort Representatives
    • Departmental Committee Representatives
  3. An Officer may hold more than one position only so long as there are no other eligible and willing students to occupy the position.

Section III. Duties

  1. All officers will assist in SGSA designated roles as defined by the need of the organization.
  2. The duty of the Executive includes guiding SGSA to ensure appropriate direction as defined by the purpose and scope of the organization. Specific duties and responsibilities of the Executive in general include, but are not limited to the following:
    • Organize general meetings of SGSA no less than once a month during the academic year
    • Attend Executive meetings as necessary
    • Inform all members of current SGSA activities and meeting minutes
    • Organize and hold the annual elections and special elections when necessary, as defined in Article V, and with the assistance of the Elections Committee
    • Appoint an advisor, as defined in Article VII of this constitution
    • Provide accountability of Representatives to ensure the success of SGSA
    • Create and disband non-departmental, non-standing committees as outlined in Article X, Section III
    • Meet with the SGSA advisor on a regular basis as needed
    • Meet with the Chair of the Department of Sociology on a regular basis
  3. Specific duties of the President include, but are not limited to:
    • Holding all members of the Executive responsible to their duties in order to ensure the duties of the Executive are sufficiently met and adhere to the general principles of the organization and this constitution
    • Run general and Executive meetings or appoint an Executive member to serve in their absence
  4. Specific duties of the Vice-President of Finance include, but are not limited to:
    • Responsibility for the accounting and disbursement of all monies
    • Assist in the fulfillment of all Executive duties
  5. Specific duties of the Vice-President of Student Affairs include, but are not limited to:
    • Responsibility for maintaining and distributing meeting agendas and minutes, as well as any necessary notification of issues
    • Assist in the fulfillment of all Executive duties
  6. The cohort representatives are responsible for the following:
    • Representing the interests of their respective cohort
    • Reporting SGSA business to their respective cohort on a bi-monthly
    • Submitting reports to the Executive on the status of their respective cohort at every SGSA meeting
    • Standing committees, as set forth by this constitution
    • Assisting with election process, as defined in Article V of this constitution
  7. Department Committee Representatives
    • as elected by the SGSA, departmental committee representatives will act on the behalf of the entire organization to the designated department committees
    • Department Committee Representatives are responsible for reporting the proceedings of the committee meetings at every SGSA meeting
    • Department Committee Representatives are subject to Ohio State’s policy regarding student representation on department-wide committees.

ARTICLE V: ELECTIONS

  1. Elections shall be annually held during Spring Quarter.
  2. An election committee shall exist for the purposes of assisting the Executive in running the election as defined by article X, section II, subsection D, part 1.
  3. All open positions will be posted during the third week of the quarter by the election committee and Executive.
  4. The nomination process will run from Monday-Friday during the 4th week. Nominations for officers may be made by any member of the SGSA. After nominations are made, the election committee and Executive will contact the nominees to verify that the nominee will accept the position if voted into office.
  5. Elections will be conducted by secret ballot and in a secure manner by the election committee and Executive.
  6. All officers will be elected by receiving a plurality of votes from members of SGSA. Members of SGSA will be able to vote for only the cohort representative of their cohort. Cohort Representatives shall be elected by a plurality of their respective cohort whereas all other offices shall be elected by a plurality of SGSA.
  7. In the event of a tie, a special run-off election will be conducted by the election committee and Executive in a timely fashion and in a similar manner as regular elections. Special elections will also be conducted by the election committee and Executive in a timely fashion and in a similar manner as regular elections, to fill any vacant positions or if a winner declines his or her position.

ARTICLE VI: TERMS OF OFFICE

All officers shall be elected for a term of one year. Officers may serve consecutive terms.

ARTICLE VII: ADVISOR(S)

  1. The faculty advisor(s) shall be a member of the Ohio State Department of Sociology and will advise members of the SGSA in accordance with the policies of the University.
  2. The Executive is responsible for choosing and discussing potential advisors within an adequate timeframe. The Executive will then ask the faculty member of their choice to be the SGSA advisor.
  3. If this advisor declines the position, the Executive will reconvene and discuss other potential options. This process will continue until a faculty member agrees to be the advisor of SGSA.

ARTICLE VIII: MEETING AGENDA, VOTING PROCEDURE AND AMENDMENTS

Section I. Meeting Agenda and Amendments

  1. The Executive will be responsible for setting the publicly announced agenda for SGSA meetings
  2. Items that SGSA members want placed on the agenda must be submitted to a member of the Executive at least 5 official university days before an SGSA meeting
  3. Proposed constitutional amendments and petitions for officer removal must be submitted to a member of the Executive of SGSA at least 10 official university days before an SGSA meeting

Section II. Voting at Meetings

  1. Items placed on the agenda, proposed constitutional amendments, and petitions for officer removal are only up for a vote when a quorum of twothirds of officers or 20 percent of the membership of SGSA are present
  2. All members of SGSA may vote on issues, proposed constitutional amendments, and petitions for officer removal given:
    • They are an active member, defined as a member who has been present at an SGSA meeting within one calendar year of the meeting they are voting at.
    • They are a new cohort member, present at the meeting.
  3. A majority of attending, eligible voters must vote in the affirmative for an item, constitutional amendment, or petition for officer removal to pass.

ARTICLE IX: FUNDING

Section I. Funds

  1. The Vice President of Finances for SGSA will be responsible for controlling the finances, accounts, and placing funding proposals on the SGSA agenda.
  2. Funds may only be dispersed by and on behalf of active members of SGSA.
  3. The following are goals of funding for SGSA, but are not limited to:
    • Organizational social activities
    • Student professional development
    • Executive discretionary fund
    • All others as voted upon by SGSA active members

ARTICLE X: COMMITTEES

Section I. Departmental Committees

  1. SGSA will establish and organize departmental committees will be established and organized by the SGSA under the discretion of the Executive.
  2. Creation of new or disbandment of current departmental committees requires an affirmative vote following the guidelines established in Article VIII, Section II of this constitution.

Section II. Standing Committees

  1. There will be a certain number of standing committees, the number and substance of which will be decided upon by SGSA membership in the same manner as set for departmental committees.
  2. As part of their elected duties, each cohort representative will be a member of a standing committee. Elected committee members are responsible for
    • Forming the bodies of the committees
    • Organizing committee meetings
    • Fulfilling the duties of the committees
    • Consistently reporting to the Executive
  3. Committee updates will be part of every SGSA meeting
  4. Five standing committees will be established by this constitution until such a time as they are disbanded through the proper methods outlined in this constitution. These standing committees are:
    • Election Committee:
      • This committee is responsible for carrying out elections as outlined in Article V of this constitution.
      • Election committee members are responsible for advertising SGSA elections heavily in the weeks preceding them.
      • The chair is responsible for ensuring the validity of elections. She or he is also responsible for delegating responsibilities such as ballot creation, signing-up election volunteers, and ballot counting to the members of the committee.
      • The election committee chair will also work closely with executive officers on this task.
    • Community Service Committee:
      • This committee is responsible for keeping SGSA involved in community service projects both on campus and in the Columbus area.
      • The chair is responsible for working with executive officers to determine which projects are best for SGSA membership, and then plan with community service committee members the best way to implement SGSA participation.
      • This committee is also responsible for advertising service projects/events, and ensuring that all SGSA volunteers follow through with the projects.
    • Social Events Committee:
      • This committee will be responsible for working with executive officers to design and implement social activities for members of SGSA.
      • These events should meet the desires of the whole of SGSA, and should be regular occurrences, as finances allow.
      • The social events chair is responsible for delegating responsibilities to members, and ensuring that the social event is carried out in a way that is in keeping with the goals of this organization.
    • Graduate Student Office Committee:
      • This committee is responsible for the general environment of the graduate student offices.
      • These duties include, but are not limited to: maintaining the eating/lounge area, ensuring that there is paper for the computer area, and taking stock of necessary supplies (toner, overheads, etc.).
      • The chair will be the liaison between the department and the graduate students in terms of letting the graduate chair and other necessary departmental members know when the graduate student offices are in need of something, contingent on the approval of the executives.
      • This committee will also work with the Social Events committee to do activities within the local area of the graduate student offices, such as decorate when appropriate, continue the upkeep of the bulletin board, and have social activities during the day as deemed appropriate.
    • Institutional Memory Committee:
      • This committee is responsible for documenting the business of SGSA throughout the year.
      • As needed, members are responsible for obtaining, documenting and summarizing information from each committee chair and the executive board concerning any changes that were made and/or any issues or problems that may have come up, etc. and their resulting outcomes. This information is recorded for current and future members in order to identify and eliminate recurring issues believed to have already been solved.
      • The chair is responsible for updating content on the SGSA website - including, but not limited to, obtaining meeting agendas from the executive, posting the agenda prior to meetings, obtaining meeting minutes, and posting meeting minutes after each meeting.

Section III. Additional Committees

Additional non-departmental, non-standing committees may be created by the Executive as deemed necessary. Topical substance and appointment of committee chairs will be at the discretion of the Executive.

ARTICLE XI: REGULAR AND SPECIAL MEETINGS

  1. Regular SGSA meetings shall be held no less than once a month during the academic year. Times and places shall be determined by the Executive.
  2. Special meetings shall be called by SGSA officers when conditions and situations are necessary.
  3. Attendance at meetings is strongly encouraged but not mandatory for SGSA members. For officers, appropriate fulfillment of duties necessitates active participation, including frequent attendance of regular and special meetings.

ARTICLE XII: RATIFICATION

Section I. Approval

The constitution of the SGSA of The Ohio State University shall become effective upon the approval of the SGSA members through the procedure outlined in this constitution.

ARTICLE XIII: DISSOLUTION

Section I. Disbanding

At such time that the members of SGSA decide to dissolve the organization an affirmative vote by two-thirds of the voting body is needed. If the majority decides to disband, SGSA ceases to exist under this constitution.

Section II. Remaining Funds

Upon dissolution, any funds remaining in the SGSA bank account will be turned over to the Sociology department to be used as supplementary grant money for graduate students. This process will be overseen by the advisor and Vice- President of Financial Affairs.