The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Council at the University of Virginia

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By-Laws of the Graduate Student Council

The following bylaws shall govern the operations of the Graduate Student Council (hereafter Council) of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (hereafter GSAS).

I. GENERAL POLICIES

A. Meetings

1. The Council shall meet at regular intervals no less than three times each semester, excluding summer semesters.
2. Additional meetings may be called by the President when necessary, or by petition from one-third of all voting members.
3. The President shall make reasonable public notice of the date, time and location of all Council meetings, and distribute an agenda to all voting members in advance.

B. Elections

1. Elections for President, Vice-President, Second Vice-President, and Treasurer will take place at a regularly scheduled Council meeting during the month of March.
2. The President, Vice-President, Second Vice-President, and Treasurer shall be elected by separate ballots in the order listed above, so that unelected candidates can be nominated for another office.
3. Before each vote, the President will request nominations from the voting members of the Council.
4. Upon nomination, each candidate will be allowed a reasonable amount of time to present his or her qualifications to the Council and answer questions.
5. In the event that more than one candidate is nominated for an office, the vote shall be conducted by secret ballot. All run-off elections shall be conducted by secret ballot as well.
6. No voting member who has been nominated as a candidate may cast a ballot.

C. E-Mail Communications

1. The Second Vice-President shall oversee the distribution of periodic e-mail announcements to all graduate students in the GSAS. The following means of communication may be used for this purpose:

1. Directors of Graduate Studies and department secretaries.
2. Representatives on the Council.
3. Departmental graduate student e-mail lists.
4. E-Mail lists created by the Office of the Vice-President for Student Affairs.

2. E-mail announcements shall be limited to publicizing events and opportunities for GSAS graduate students, as well as news and information from the Council. Personal notices or outside advertisements are prohibited.
3. E-Mail announcements shall be distributed as follows:

1. To prevent unnecessary e-mail traffic, the Officers shall only send out announcements according to a regular monthly schedule.
2. The Second Vice-President shall set a monthly deadline for the submission of notices by outside parties, which shall then be combined and circulated as a single e-mail message.
3. Drafts of all announcements must be reviewed and approved by all four Officers before being distributed.

4. The Second Vice-President shall also maintain a separate e-mail list for the Council’s internal use. However, under no circumstances shall the Council conduct official business or hold a vote by e-mail in lieu of a regularly-scheduled meeting.

II. COMMITTEES

A. Committee Policies

1. All voting members of the Council are required to serve on at least one standing committee or ad-hoc committee. However, exceptions shall be made for Council officers and members of the Student Council, Honor Committee, and Judiciary Committee, as well as representatives appointed by the President to official University committees.
2. The President and Vice-President shall assemble a list of committee assignments at the beginning of the academic year, taking into account the preferences of each Council member.
3. Committee assignments shall be approved by a majority vote of the Council at the first regularly scheduled meeting of the academic year.
4. The President may make changes to committee assignments with the consent of the individual(s) involved and the Council as a whole.

B. Standing Committees

1. Budget Committee

1. The Budget Committee shall be responsible for overseeing the Council’s finances.
2. The Budget Committee shall meet before each regularly scheduled Council meeting to review all submitted funding requests and make recommendations to the Council.
3. The Budget Committee shall also be responsible for proposing annual budgets to the Council.
4. The Budget Committee shall consist only of voting members of the Council, and be chaired by the Treasurer.

3. Student Life Committee

1. The Student Life Committee shall be responsible for addressing issues affecting underrepresented graduate students, investigate complaints from graduate students and recommend action when necessary.
2. The Student Life Committee shall be responsible for advising the Council and the administration about quality of life issues such as health insurance, child care, and transportation.
3. The Student Life Committee shall nominate a Chair, to be approved by the Council, who will deliver regular reports to the President and the Council about the Committee’s activities.
4. At the discretion of the Chair, graduate students who are not voting members of the Council may serve on the Student Life Committee in a non-voting capacity.

4. Social Committee

1. The Social Committee shall be responsible for organizing events and activities to encourage social interaction among graduate students in different departments.
2. The Social Committee may use Council funds to sponsor events, provided that such funding does not violate Article III, Section A, Paragraph 3 of these Bylaws.
3. The Social Committee shall nominate a Chair, to be approved by the Council, who will deliver regular reports to the President and the Council about the Committee’s activities.
4. At the discretion of the Chair, graduate students who are not voting members of the Council may serve on the Social Committee in a non-voting capacity.

5. Professional Development Committee

1. The Professional Development Committee shall be responsible for addressing issues affecting graduate students conducting research, such as library holdings, lab policies, and research fees.
2. The Professional Development Committee shall also be responsible for overseeing the annual Graduate Research Exhibition.
3. The Professional Development Committee shall be responsible for addressing issues that concern graduate student instructors and teaching assistants, such as training, evaluations, and stipends.
4. The Professional Development Committee shall also sponsor events and undertake initiatives to promote graduate student teaching.
5. The Professional Development Committee shall nominate a Chair, to be approved by the Council, who will deliver regular reports to the President and the Council about the Committee’s activities.
6. At the discretion of the Chair, graduate students who are not voting members of the Council may serve on the Professional Development Committee in a non-voting capacity.

C. Ad-Hoc Committees

1. At the discretion of the President or a majority vote of the Council, ad-hoc committees may be formed to address issues which do not fall under the jurisdiction of a standing committee.
2. All ad-hoc committees shall be dissolved automatically at the end of each academic year, unless the Council votes to renew them.

III. BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS

A. Guidelines

1. The Council and the Budget Committee will follow the Board of Visitors guidelines for the use of student activity fee funds. In particular, the Council recognizes that “the purpose of the student activity fee is to provide financial support for student organizations that are related to the educational purpose of the University of Virginia. As a required student fee, the monies collected by the University for funding student activities are public funds which must be administered in a manner consistent with the educational purpose of the University as well as with state and federal law.”
2. The Council and the Budget Committee shall make funding decisions according to the following criteria:

1. The number of disciplines in the GSAS that will benefit from the proposed event or activity.
2. The number of GSAS graduate students who will participate in (or benefit from) the proposed event or activity.
3. The financial support provided by other sources, as well as funds currently held by the organization.
4. Whether GSAS graduate students are the primary beneficiaries of the proposed event or activity.
5. The Council’s past history of funding the event or activity.
6. The verbal and written presentation of the request.
7. A review of the line items of the request.
8.The discretionary funds available in the Council’s budget.

3. The Council’s funds may not be used for the following items, in accordance with University policy:

1. Alcoholic beverages.
2. Religious activities.
3. Social entertainment or related expenses.
4. Philanthropic contributions and activities.
5. Political activities.
6. Activities which would jeopardize the University’s tax exempt status.
7. Loans or temporary deposits for any of the items listed above.

B. Procedures

1. All funding requests must be submitted to the President and the Treasurer before the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Budget Committee.
2. Funding requests must include:

1. A full explanation of the activity or event.
2. A detailed description of expenses and a summary of the total costs of the activity or event.
3. A complete list of all other sources of revenue (including currently held funds).
4. The amount being requested from the Council, and what these funds will be used for.

3. Any individual or organization requesting funds must deliver a presentation to the Budget Committee.
4. Debates on funding requests shall be closed to all except voting members of the Council. No Council member with a conflict of interest may take part in a funding debate or vote on a request.
5. The Budget Committee shall recommend a specific amount of funding for each submitted request by email to the Council at least three business days before the meeting. The requestor shall be notified immediately of the Committee’s decision, and the requestor will be given the opportunity to appeal the recommendation to the Council.
6. Council will vote on the Budget Committee recommendations as submitted as though it were a motion on the floor. The possible recommendations will be to fund at some amount, not to fund or discuss the issue more in the council meeting. There may be a brief explanation as to why the recommendation was made but there will not be further discussion from the council. Further time can be given to discussion of budget recommendations only via majority vote on a motion to that affect.
7. If the individual or organization requesting funds chooses to appeal the Budget Committee’s recommendation, the following procedures shall be followed:

1. The appeal must be submitted in writing, and may be no longer than one page.
2. The appeal must be received by the President at least twenty-four hours before the Council’s next regularly-scheduled meeting, at which time the Council is scheduled to vote on the funding request in question.
3. The appeal may only challenge the denial of requested funds, and may not request additional funding not stated in the original request.
4. The appeal shall be distributed to the Council before it votes on the funding request in question.

8. The Treasurer shall retain photocopies of all signed disbursement forms that have been submitted to the GSAS Budget Officer within the past two years.
9. The Council shall not agree to pay any individual a stipend or salary, unless the GSAS Budget Officer has been consulted about tax and human resources issues.
10. The Council reserves the right to investigate whether its funds have been misused, or used for a purpose other than described in the original funding request. Such incidents may be referred to the University Judiciary Committee, the Honor Committee, or the administration for further action.
11. The Council may also make use of its own funds as follows:

1. The Officers may use Council funds to prepare for regularly scheduled meetings, provided that the Council has approved such expenditures in its annual budget.
2. Committees may apply for funding by submitting a request to the Budget Committee as described above.

C. Budget

1. The Treasurer, with the approval of the Budget Committee, shall submit a budget for the upcoming academic year to the Council at its final regularly-scheduled meeting of the academic year. This budget must be approved by the Council before it adjourns for the summer.
2. This budget shall specify:

1. Anticipated revenues for the upcoming academic year.
2. The size of any surplus left over from the current year.
3. Funds allocated to the Officers to prepare for regularly-scheduled meetings.
4. Funds allocated for Council-sponsored events, such as the Graduate Research Exhibition.
5. Discretionary funds which may be allocated to graduate student organizations over the course of the academic year.
6. The size of a “reserve fund” for use in financial emergencies.

3. This budget shall remain in force for the entire academic year, but may be altered at any time by a majority vote of both the Budget Committee and the Council.