Graduate Student Association Constitution

Graduate Student Association Constitution
September 2010

Article I- Name

The organization shall be called the Graduate Student Association; hereafter abbreviated GSA.

Article II- Purpose & Mission

• To provide graduate students with an official and representative forum in which to raise graduate student concerns.
• To provide funding for the purposes of graduate student societies, research projects and educational conferences.
• To provide social/networking opportunities for graduate students.
  
  

Article III- Membership

       Section I- Type of membership shall consist of active membership

              A.  Active membership requires that the member be a full or part time graduate student at Central Connecticut State University.
              B.  Part-time graduate students retain full privileges within the GSA with the right to hold office and vote.
              C.  The GSA recognizes various Graduate Societies.
              D.  The Graduate School at CCSU recognizes 64 academic disciplines.

Article IV- Legislative Body

       Section 1- All legislative power of the GSA shall be vested in the Graduate Student Executive Council, hereafter referred to as the Executive
                          Council.  All acts of the GSA shall be consistent with and subordinate to the provisions of the charter, bylaws, and regulations of
                          CCSU.

       Section 2- The constituent Executive Council shall be the governing body of the GSA for the following purposes:

              A.  To provide an official voice through which graduate student opinion may be expressed;
              B.  To foster awareness of the graduate students position in the University community;
              C.  To represent the graduate student body in decisions affecting graduate students;
              D.  To take action in the best interest of the graduate student body and the University community, which may include the introduction of
                    legislation addressing concerns of graduate students;
              E.  To program activities for individual graduate students and graduate student body at large.

Article V- The Executive Council

       Section 1- Officers of the GSA shall consist of

              A.  President
              B.  Vice President of Finance
              C.  Vice President of Programming
              D.  Secretary
              E.  Promotion and Marketing

       Section 2- Officers will be elected by the graduate student body in the secret ballot election held in April each year.

       Section 3- To be an officer a student must be regularly admitted to a graduate program and be in good academic standing as defined in the
                          Graduate Catalog.

Article VI- Ad Hoc Committees

       Section 1- The Executive Board shall authorize special Ad Hoc committees and refer them any matter that come before the GSA that require
                           additional study.


Article VII- Bylaws

       Section 1: Finance Committee Bylaws

              A.  The Finance Committee of the Graduate Student Association (GSA) of Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) shall be designated
                    with the task of dispersing Graduate Student Association monies.
              B.  All money remaining in all the GSA fiscal accounts from the previous fiscal year will then be placed into GSA reserves.
              C.  The projected enrollment figure for the following academic year is multiplied by the student fee (full-time) by the set amount of activity fee
                    in order to equal the projected budget for the GSA.
              D.  The budget will be divided into percentages to equal 100% to fund the different needs of the GSA. The monies will be dispersed as
                    follows:
                     o  5% of the enrollment figure is placed in the GSA Reserve Account
                     o  8% of the remaining funds shall be set-aside for GSA operational spending
                     o  2% of the remaining funds shall be set-aside for the use for Promotions and Marketing.
                     o  15% of the remaining funds shall be set-aside for Programming for use by the VP of Programming.
                     o  20% of the remaining funds shall be set-aside for society budgets.
                     o  50% of the remaining funds shall be set-aside for conference and research scholarships.
              E.  Eligibility to be a voting member of the committee is reserved exclusively for currently elected and serving Executive Board of the
                   Graduate Student Association. Non-members may attend meetings, but may not vote.
                     o  Serving Executive Board shall be known as the President, Vice President of Finance, Vice President of Programming, Secretary and
                         Promotions/Marketing Chair.
              F.  The Executive Board shall meet once a month to discuss, and make recommendations about society budgets, conference and research
                   scholarships, programs as well as any other germane topics.

       Section 2: Society Budgets

              A.  Each Society must complete the Society Budget Request Form, including all requested information, signatures and materials as
                   appropriate for your budget request.
              B.  Societies shall not assume they would receive funds without filling out the request.
              C.  Societies must have an active President and/or Treasurer and Faculty Advisor in order to be a recognized society.
                     o  In the event that the society becomes inactive, GSA reserves the right to rescind all funds.
                     o  The President, Treasurer and all members of the society must be matriculated graduate students in a program at Central Connecticut
                         State University to receive benefit from the society.
              D.  The Society Budget Request Form and all materials must be submitted to the GSA Vice President of Finance at least thirty days prior to
                    the GSA Finance Committee Meeting.
              E.  Requests must be dropped off at the Graduate Studies Office located in Barnard Hall, Room 102.
              F.  You may receive an invitation to attend a finance committee meeting for final budget approval if you feel the executive board needs a
                   formal justification of the proposed budget.
              G.  Budget requests cannot be more than $2,500.00
              H.  The deadline for submission of Budgets will be determined by the current serving GSA Finance committee allowing the appropriate
                    amount of time for budgets to be received, processed and reviewed with recommendations made.
              I.  Budgets must be submitted no later than the date set by the newly elected executive board each year
              J.  The executive board reserves the right to allow 30 days from submission of budget requests to be approved.
              K.  GSA has the right to deny any requests if the funding set-aside for Societies has no funds.
              L.  Once the Executive Board has reviewed, and possibly altered, the budget recommendations, they will be introduced to the floor for
                   approval.

       Section 3: Conference and Research Scholarship Funding

              A.  The Graduate Student Association will be providing matriculated Graduate Students with Conference Scholarships and Research
                    Scholarships.
              B.  Funding by the Graduate Student Association for Conferences and Research must be in minimum of 30 days before the planned
                   conference or research project so that the appropriate paperwork can be completed.
              C.  Preparatory courses will not be funded. A preparatory course will be defined as any course which coaches students for the passing of
                   any exam to receive licensure or certification.
              D.  Conference scholarship may not exceed $1,000. Research Scholarships may not exceed $500.
                     o  Graduate students are allowed up to three scholarships (any combination of research/conference) per graduate degree.
              E.  The GSA will only provide scholarships to Resident graduate students. Resident graduate students are those that still participate in
                    coursework on campus. A non-resident graduate student is a student that has finished their on-campus coursework.
              F.  A Conference Scholarship will be awarded to graduate students planning to attend a conference related to their field of study. The
                   conference scholarship will cover lodging, domestic transportation (flight, train, bus, and gas mileage), and the cost for registration to the
                   conference. The GSA does not support the cost for food.
              G.  A Research Scholarship will be awarded to graduate students planning to participate in research related to their field of study. The
                    research scholarship will cover supplies and equipment deemed necessary for the research. The research scholarship will also cover
                    travel and lodging if the GSA executive board finds it necessary for the research.
              H.  The Graduate Students Association does not support international travel for research as well as conferences.
              I.  The Graduate Students Association does not facilitate reimbursements. All requests must be made prior to making any purchases or
                  arrangements for travel or research. Conference and research requests should be made no less than 30 days after the designated
                  deadline for conference and research requests or 10 days before the next GSA meeting.
              J.  The Graduate Students does not support conference or research requests made for the summer.
              K.  The Graduate Students Association will have approved applicants sign a form stating that they must provide receipts showing that they
                    have spent the scholarship funds according what they are approved for. The student has 30 days to provide these receipts or their
                    university account will be charged equal to the awarded scholarship amount.