Graduate Council Constitution and Bylaws

Computer Science Graduate Council
Department of Computer Science
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, VA 24061

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Contents

1 Objective of the Graduate Council

The primary objective of the Computer Science Graduate Council (the “Council”) is to facilitate the interface between graduate students and the faculty and staff of the Department of Computer Science. The Council will facilitate the management of departmental resources, including hardware, software, and office equipment. Furthermore the graduate council will promote the social life of computer science graduate students and it will seek out positive recognition and awards for the students, faculty and staff of the Department of Computer Science and for the Department of Computer Science as a whole.

2 Meeting Time

The Council will hold meetings as needed and not less then once every two weeks during the fall and spring semesters of Virginia Tech’s school year. The Council may also meet in the summer session to coordinate summer activities and to prepare for fall events. A strict majority of Council members consitutes a quorum. A quorum must be present to conduct Council business; however, information may be exchanged between members at the meeting if a quorum is not reached. Attendance at each Council meeting is mandatory, but may be excused by the President. An excess of unexcused absences (more than one out of three meetings) should result in impeachment.

3 Council Positions and Committee Assignments

Eight members will serve on the Council. Membership on the Council (for all but the President and First-Year Representative) carries the responsibility of committee service. In addition to the duties ensued by belonging to a committee, the Council member will report the activities of each committee regularly to the Council and, as necessary, to the graduate students. The president will appoint the other members to fill the following positions and assignments.

3.1 Council Positions

3.1.1 President

The President will coordinate the meetings of the Council, selecting an appropriate time, collecting an agenda, announcing the meeting, ensuring the attendance of its members. The president will appoint the other members to fill the Council positions and committee assignments. Furthermore, the President will address the entire body of graduate students at meetings and social events.

3.1.2 Treasurer

The Treasurer will maintain the Council checkbook and process all monetary exchanges on its behalf. The Treasurer will work with closely the Social Director to help fund social activities.

3.1.3 Secretary

The Secretary will collect the minutes of each council meeting, report them in a timely fashion to the council, and archive them in the graduate council user account. The Secretary will review the computer science department’s public information (e.g., Web site) and make requests for updates on the students’ behalf.

3.1.4 Webmaster

The Webmaster will maintain the public information of the Council, including the graduate student information, the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), graduate student forwarding databases, and this Constitution and Bylaws. This information will be published in the medium designated by the Council by the Webmaster. Currently (2006), it is available via the World Wide Web at http://csgrad.cs.vt.edu/. The Webmaster will remain informed and assist graduate students in publishing their personal information via the publishing mechanism used by the Council (e.g., the World Wide Web).

3.1.5 First-Year Representative

The First-Year Representative will be elected from the body of new students each fall to encourage the new students to participate in student events and inform them of relevant Council, Department, and University policies.

3.1.6 Social Director

The Social Director (SD) will pursue opportunities for social activity of the graduate students. These should include periodic ”Festive Ethnic Dinners,” a “Welcome-to-New-Students Party” near the start of fall semester, a “Winter Holiday party” near finals week of the Fall semester, and a “Spring Party” near finals week of the Spring semester.

Furthermore the SD will seek out shows, movies, happy hours, participatory and spectator sporting events, etcetera, for groups of students to attend. The SD will ensure that students will contact him or her to facilitate all social activities within the department. The SD will work closely with the Treasurer to secure the appropriate monetary resources for these events.

3.2 Committee Assignments

3.2.1 Graduate Program Committee (GPC)

Represent graduate students to the GPC.

3.2.2 Faculty Meetings

Represent graduate students at faculty meetings.

3.2.3 Graduate Student Assembly (GSA)

Represent computer science graduate students to the GSA.

4 Elections

The Council must execute the following elections, adhering to the specified procedures.

4.1 General Election

The General Election for the Council will occur near the end of the spring semester each year.

The Council is elected by and from the body of graduate students in the Department. The graduate council will determine the schedule of the election, so that its results are available before the first day of final exams.

1. Graduate council will appoint an Election Coordinator (EC). The Election Coordinator will be a graduate student who has respectfully declined possible nomination for the next year’s council.
2. The EC will call for nominations for the Council along with a deadline for close of nominations.
3. Graduate Students may nominate themselves and as many others as they want.
4. At the close of nominations, the election coordinator will report the results to the existing graduate council. Anyone with two (2) or more nominations will be considered for the ballot.
5. All nominees will be notified of their nomination. At this point they may decline their nomination if they choose to do so. If the number of candidates is less than seven (7), then the candidates will include people that received less than two (2) nominations. If the number of candidates is still less than sevent (7), then all of those candidates will be members of the Council and no balloting will take place.
6. The election coordinator will make the ballot public, declaring all the candidates. The EC will call for a vote, issuing a deadline for ballot submission.
7. Each graduate student in the department may cast seven (7) total votes for the Council, designating one (1) of these votes as a vote for President of the Council.
8. The EC will collect the ballots and tally the results, ranking the candidates in order of number of votes, and submitting that list to the Council.
9. The existing Council will designate the top seven (7) candidates as members of the new Council.
10. The president will be the candidate that receives the most votes for president, if that person is among the top seven candidates. Otherwise, the EC will publish a run-off ballot that contains the top seven candidates. Each graduate student may vote for one of these. The person that receieves the majority of these votes will be the Council president. If an exact tie results, the Council will break the tie.
11. Conduct during this election is bound by the spirit of the Honor Code of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and by the good sense of the EC and the existing Council.
12. The new President and the new Council will be inducted at the Spring Party. The existing President and Council will step down, and the new President and Council will be the President and Council.

1. The Council will appoint an Election Coordinator (EC).
2. Nominations will be collected from the new students by the EC.
3. Nominees will be notified of their nomination. Nominees may decline at this time.
4. The EC will publish the ballot and call for a vote, issuing a deadline for ballot submission.
5. Each new student may vote for one candidate.
6. The EC will rank the results. If one candidate has a majority of votes, then that candidate will be the New Student Coordinator. If not, then a run-off will take place between the students with the majority of votes cast. The Council will publish the run-off ballot and call for a vote, issuing deadline for ballot submission. This process will iterate until a New Student Coordinator is chosen. Exact ties will be broken by the Council.

4.2 Special Election, Filling Empty Seats

Should the number of members of the Council fall below seven (7), by resignation or impeachment, the Council may refill the empty seats by a general election, using the process specified in Section ??, substituting “all active graduate students” for “new students.”

5 Repopulation

Should a member of the Council resign, graduate, or be impeached, then the council will refill the position on the Council with a Special Election to fill an empty seat. Should the President resign, graduate, or be impeached, the Council will first select a new President from its membership, then refill the seat on the Council.

5.1 Impeachment of a Council Member

The Council may impeach one of its members, including its President, by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the entire Council.

5.2 Impeachment of the Entire Council

First-Year Representative The Council may be impeached in its entirety by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the graduate students in the Department. The voting body must designate an Election Coordinator and hold an election to refill the council.

6 Amending the Constitution and Bylaws

This constitution and bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the entire Council.

7 Revoking the Constitution and Bylaws

This constitution and bylaws may be revoked by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of all the graduate students in the Department. The graduate students will then be governed by the Department itself.