GRADUATE STUDENT COUNCIL CONSTITUTION

GRADUATE STUDENT COUNCIL CONSTITUTION Graduate Student Council acts as the official student governing body of Polytechnic Graduate School of Engineering, whose purpose is to foster NYU and SOE community, provide an open forum for all of its constituents, and promote leadership. 1

Table of Contents Overview Name Mission Statement Guiding Principles Membership & Voting Honors Structure Executive Board Elections Meetings Right to Information Amendments Impeachment Vacancies Bylaws Duties of Executive Officers Elections Voting Committees 2

Overview Name The name of this official representative body of all the Graduate Students (Full time/ Part time) at NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering shall be the Graduate Student Council (GSC). Mission Statement To enhance and continuously improve the overall experience of the Graduate Student Body. To serve as a medium for expression of thoughts, ideas or concerns associated to academic as well as extracurricular activities. To build a platform for Graduate Students to socialize, visualize ideas and organize events. To facilitate the budget allocation and disbursement process for the Graduate Student Clubs at NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering. Guiding Principles All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in the Student Council of New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering. All acts of the Student Council shall be consistent with and subordinate to the provisions of the charter, bylaws, and regulations of New York University. The Student Council shall have the power to create binding legislation congruous with this Constitution. NYU- SOE Graduate Student Council shall coordinate and administer the activities of its officers and committees in accordance with this Constitution. Student Council shall also maintain an unbiased and non- discriminatory position on all issues pertaining to race, gender, sexuality, political and religious affiliations, and age. Finally, Student Council shall not be affiliated with organizations that have such biased, partisan, or discriminatory views, and Student Council shall not provide funding for said organizations. The Graduate Student Council elected officials, including the appointed commissioners, alongside the Office of Student affairs, will collaborate to uphold this Constitution. 1. Our Programs seek to encourage NYU spirit and community 2. Our goal is to foster NYU- SOE community 3. We act as a liaison between SOE students and departments 4. We work to exemplify and promote leadership 5. Students interests and passions should always be primary focus for events 6. We strive to evaluate and improve our programming to anticipate and meet the needs of students 3

Membership and Voting Honors Any enrolled graduate student who has completed at least one semester or equivalent credit load can be a part of the executive board of GSC. Any enrolled graduate student can be a part of committees under the umbrella of GSC. All the members of the Graduate Student Body shall have the privilege to vote and elect the Executive Officers of the Graduate Student Council. Only an existing member of the GSC shall be nominated to run for President position in the Executive Board. Elected Officials of Graduate Student Council shall consists of: I. President II. Vice President III. Treasurer IV. Secretary V. University Senator Appointed Commissioners shall consists of: I. Organizing Commissioners II. Marketing Commissioners III. Designing Commissioners IV. Finance Commissioners Structure Executive Board General Attend all: a. Weekly Executive Board Meetings b. Weekly General Meetings 4

c. Other meetings mandated by position Represent Student Council and NYU- SOE to the school and all of New York University. A quorum shall consist of a simple majority of all Student Council Executives Once designated, neither the day nor the time of a Student Council General Meeting shall be changed, nor shall a Student Council meeting be cancelled except by either a vote of a majority of the student Council members present at a meeting of the Student Council or by the Student Council officers. The Executive Officers of the GSC shall be: a.) The President b.) The Vice President c.) The Secretary d.) The Treasurer The term of each position in the Executive board shall be one year. An Executive Officer shall hold no more than one position in the GSC. Elections All the members of the Graduate Student Body shall get to vote and elect the Executive Officers of the GSC. The person occupying the post of the Vice- president will serve as the Election Director for the Spring General Election and the fall and spring appointments. In a situation where if the Vice- president is standing for the election any other executive board member shall act as the Election Director. Elections for the Executive Officers shall be held during the spring semester and they shall take office beginning of the succeeding fall semester. The Student Council Vice- President and the Executive Board have exclusive control of the student council Election. The Executive Board shall appoint the chair of each committee of the GSC. It is necessary for the Chair to state intent before being appointed. Meetings The Executive Board shall meet no less than once in two weeks during the semester. The day and time of these meeting shall be consistent and approved by the Officers of the board. These meetings shall be called GSC Executive Meetings. The committees shall meet with the Executive Board no less than once in two weeks during the semester. These meetings shall be called the GSC Council Meetings. GSC Committees shall meet no less then once in a week. These meetings shall be called GSC Committee meetings and shall be lead by the vice- president and the Secretory. Prior approval of the majority of the board shall be mandatory for the cancellation of these meetings. GSC shall host once a month General Body Meeting inviting all the clubs under the umbrella to share the most recent updates/activities. These shall be open to the entire Graduate Student Body. 5

Right to Information Any member of the Graduate Student Body shall have the right to review the documents of the GSC. The documents will be available for review on the website of the Office of Graduate Life. The Vice President of the GSC with consultation with the GSC Advisor will make Hardcopies available for review. Prior request of at least 3 business days in to be made to the GSC in this case. Amendments Propositions for Amendments to the Constitution and the Bylaws shall be presented in writing to the Executive Board and shall require a 2/3 rd vote of the quorum of the GSC to be implemented. Impeachment Impeachment of any elected officer for a neglect or abuse of duty may be effected by a majority vote of the Executive Board in a special procedure organized by the GSC Advisor and the Executive Board. Vacancies The resignation of a Student Council member shall be required in writing. This Letter of resignation must be submitted personally to the president, who will notify the student council at the next meeting. Student Council executive seat becoming vacant after the spring elections shall be filled and appointed by the remaining executive members. Here the first preference shall be given to GSC council members. Student Council committee seat becoming vacant any time of the year shall be filled and appointed by the GSC executive board. This seat shall be open to the entire Graduate Student Body. Bylaws 1. Duties of Executive Officers The President: Shall convene and preside over all GSC meetings. Shall serve as the official representative of the GSC outside the Graduate Student Body of NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering. The President will be required to present a report at all monthly UCSL meetings. 6

If he or she is unable to attend the meetings, he or she is to send a notification to the Chair of the Student Senators Council and send a GSC representative from the GSC Executive Board. Perform any function if need be for the benefit and welfare of the GSC. The Vice President: Shall be an ex- officio member of the Organizing Committee and shall serve as a liaison between the GSC and the committees. Assume the duties of the President in his or her absence or if the office becomes unoccupied. Present and maintain Financial, Event Programming and any other records of the GSC as well as the Graduate Student Clubs. Shall act as the election director for the spring elections and the fall and spring appointments. The Secretary: Shall record and distribute minutes of all GSC as well as Executive Board meetings. Shall be in- charge of the public relations of the Executive Board. He or she shall perform other duties delegated by the President to bolster the administration of the GSC, and represent GSC whenever needed. Shall act as a liaison between the Volunteering Committee, Marketing, Designing and the Executive Board. Shall be responsible for scheduling all the weekly Executive Board Meetings and other weekly and bi- weekly meetings. Shall take minutes at the GSC Executive, Council, Committee and general body meetings. The Treasurer: Shall take all decisions related to Finance for the annual year. Shall be in- charge of the Finance Committee and act as a liaison between the Finance Committee and the Executive Board. Shall take all decisions related to budget approval and allocation to the four Graduate Student Council Committees in conjunction with the Finance Committee. Shall take all decisions related to budget/funds approval and allocation to all the Graduate Student Clubs in conjunction with the Finance Committee. 2. Elections The GSC shall participate in the All University Elections to elect its Executive Board. A 2/3 rd vote of the quorum of the GSC shall be required to do so otherwise. Any unoccupied position of the Executive Board shall be appointed by the Graduate Advisory Board, which consists of the elected members of the executive board and the GSC advisor by means of an application process. Committee Members have to be appointed by the Advisory Board by way of application process. 7

Once the committees have been formed the Advisory Board by way of application process shall also appoint the committee chairs. The Executive Board members shall chair their respective committees in the interim. All voting for an election shall be done by a secret ballot. Requirements: Any member of the GSC must have a Cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 The President must have completed at least one semester at NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering before taking office. Any member of the Graduate Student Body is eligible to take up any other position of the GSC abiding by the details in these Bylaws. 3. Voting All GSC members get to caste one vote in any proposal or in any elections. A majority of votes is required to pass any proposal. All the members of the Executive Board must be present to vote. All voting for a proposal can be done by a show of hands. A quorum shall be defined as the collection of all the members of the Executive Board and the Chairs of Each of the four committees. If the council is unable to make a quorum it may grant attending non- member Graduate Students voting rights by a minimum 2/3 rd vote of the present members. 4. Committees The Marketing Committee (Team) Mission: The Marketing Committee focuses on promoting the activities of the GSC as well as on raising awareness about the University wide activities carried out by the various student councils at other schools at the graduate level. Composition: Max up to 5 members selected by application process reviewed by the GSC Executive Board. Duties and Responsibilities: To keep the graduate student body informed about all issues related to graduate student life including: o Activities/Events organized by the GSC o GSC General Body Meeting o GSC Administrator Policies Responsible for all the Tech involved with the GSC: o Maintain and Update the GSC Website. o Maintain and update the email(s) associated with the GSC. o Maintain and update all Social Media for the GSC. o Maintain all other Technology platforms like Google Drive, Survey Monkey etc. o Responsible for answering any information queries related to the GSC. o Modes of dispersing information can be the GSC website, Grad Life newsletter, emails, posters, flyers, brochures, social media, videos. To assist the Office of Graduate Life in promoting and advertising their activities/events. 8

Act as a liaison between the Graduate Student Community at the School of Engineering and The GSC. Act as a liaison between any other Clubs/ Committees/ Councils/ Department/ Offices looking to work with the GSC. To co ordinate with the other Committees of the GSC. Organizing Committee Commissioners Mission: To act as a planning commission and to organize and plan events that would be beneficial for the graduate students. We aim to increase participation of graduate students on campus and build a platform where students can pitch their own ideas about the type of events they want to see on campus. Composition: Max up to 5 members selected by application process reviewed by the GSC Executive Board. Selection: Max up to 2 members selected during Spring Elections, 1 from fall intakes and 1 from the spring intakes. Selection will be by application process reviewed by the GSC Executive Board. Duties and Responsibilities: To act as a planning commission and to organize and plan events that would be beneficial for the graduate students at the School of Engineering. To assist the Office of Graduate Life in all activities and events. To work with the Undergraduate Student Council Programming Board whenever required for planning events/activities. Coordinate with other Graduate Student Council Committees for planning activities/events. To work/coordinate with other Clubs/ Departments/ Offices/ Programming Boards/ Committees in planning/organizing activities/events when required. The Finance Committee Mission: The purpose of the School of Engineering Graduate Student Council Finance Committee is to assure that the funds of the School of Engineering Student council are properly handled for the benefit of all students. To this end, the Finance Committee will hear presentations on, investigate, and deliberate over all requests for funding in a timely and judicious manner. Composition: Max up to 3 Graduate Students selected by application process reviewed by the GSC Advisory Board. One staff member (Office of Grad Life) Treasurer Duties and Responsibilities: To pass the annual budget for the Graduate Student Council. Allocate and approve the budget/funds for all the GSC Committees. Allocate and approve the budget/funds for all the Graduate Student Clubs. 9

Maintain and update a record of the funds for the GSC. The Volunteer Committee Mission: To support, maintain and bolster the activities carried out by the GSC and the Office of Graduate Life focusing mainly on the execution of these activities. Duties and Responsibilities: Assist all the Graduate Student Council Committees in all events/activities. Assist the Office of Graduate Life in all activities/events. 10