Bylaws of the Graduate Student Assembly of Yale University

1. ELECTIONS
   1. Timing. Elections should be finished two weeks before the exam period, so that the Transitional meeting (see section A3.) may be held in the week before exams.
   2. Election procedure. The number of representatives elected in a given Spring is calculated from the previous Fall registration numbers. In cases in which no such numbers exist - such as the creation of new departments - the Assembly will hold elections using the most recent registration numbers available. The election is divided into two phases, Nomination and Election, each of which will last a minimum of one week. (see also section F5e.).
   3. Transitional Meeting. The first meeting after the election will be called the Transitional Meeting. The outgoing Steering Committee sets the agenda for this meeting, which is chaired by the outgoing Chair. Outgoing representatives are invited to the Transitional Meeting and may speak from the floor, but they do not vote or make motions. The Summer Steering Committee is elected at the Transitional Meeting.
   4. By-elections. If during the academic year a graduate student wishes to run for an empty Assembly seat, the Elections committee will survey his or her department for objections, allowing at least one week for responses. If there are none, the student will occupy the vacant seat. If any student(s) in the department object then the Elections Committee will hold an election, after a suitable time for other candidates to step forward.
   5. Representatives for BBS and one-year master’s degree programs that constitute their own programs will be elected in the fall, at the same time as elections for vacancies and at-large representatives.
   6. Each fall the Elections Committee will arrange elections for at-large representatives. Each division will be allotted the same number of at-large representatives. The number of science-division at-large representatives must never be greater than the number of humanities or social science at-large representatives. At-large representatives will be elected by the registered students in their divisions.
2. MEETINGS
   1. Procedural Rules
      • Motions. All motions from the floor must be seconded before a vote is taken. Only one motion may be on the floor at any given time. Amendments to a motion may be suggested by any representative; if the motion's original sponsor agrees, the amendment is automatically included in the main motion (this is a "friendly amendment"). If not, a vote must first be taken on whether or not to accept the amendment before the main motion can be accepted or rejected. The Chair may decide to call a vote on a motion at his/her discretion; if a representative on the floor objects, however, a vote must be taken on whether to call the motion to a vote. Any representative may also move that a vote be taken. Representatives may vote in the affirmative, vote in the negative, or abstain on a motion. A motion passes on a simple majority, with abstentions not counted. If abstentions outnumber affirmative votes, however, the Chair must re-open discussion of the motion on the floor.
      • Opposition views. After a motion is passed by the Assembly, any representative or representatives of the floor may express opposition to the vote just taken. Normally, the opposing representative(s) will briefly state the nature of the objection, which will be entered into the minutes. Alternatively, the opposing representative(s) may compose a written explanation of their objection following the meeting, which will be appended to the minutes by the Secretary.
      • Speaking sequence and time limits. The Chair may run the meeting by calling on representatives at his/her discretion, or by keeping a speaking order or queue. Any representative may request that a queue be kept by the Chair, subject to the approval of the Assembly. The Chair may impose a time limit at his/her discretion; alternatively, a limit may be proposed from the floor and agreed upon by general vote. Normally, speakers from the floor should limit their time to one minute.
      • Absence of quorum. If quorum has not been reached, Assembly business may go forward normally, but votes are not binding. When quorum is reached (at the same meeting or a subsequent one), all motions approved without quorum should be read out. The Assembly may then vote on these motions simultaneously or individually.
   2. Order of Business
      • Approval of minutes. Minutes are deemed to be approved unless objections or amendments are raised.
      • Approval of agenda. Agenda is deemed to be approved unless amended.
      • Chair asks for new business from the floor.
      • Reports from Committees. Reports will proceed in the sequence: Steering Committee, Graduate School Standing Committees, Assembly Standing Committees, Graduate School Ad-hoc Committees, Assembly Ad-hoc Committees. Ideally these reports are purely informational, but motions may be entertained during this portion of the meeting provided that discussion is kept to a minimum. At the Chair's discretion, motions may be moved to the Business section of the agenda (see B2c, d). If a committee foresees substantial discussion of an issue, they should notify the Steering Committee in advance.
      • Appointments, old and new business. (Order determined by Steering Committee.)
      • Adjournment. (Must be conducted as a motion.)
3. ASSEMBLY REPRESENTATIVES
   1. Representatives are responsible for attending meetings, communicating Assembly business to their constituency, and communicating the concerns of their constituency to the Assembly. Representatives who cannot attend are encouraged to designate a proxy. All representatives will sign in on an attendance form provided by the Secretary.
4. OFFICERS
   1. Chair. Attends the Executive Committee of the Graduate School or delegates the Vice-Chair to attend. If neither the Chair nor the Vice-chair can attend, the Chair can appoint a proxy, preferably a Steering Committee member. In the absence of the Treasurer, the Chair has signing authority in budgetary matters.
   2. Vice-Chair. Chairs meeting in the absence of the Chair or when requested to do so by the Chair or by a two-thirds vote of the Assembly.
   3. Secretary. Maintains records of Assembly business, accurate lists of Representatives, and attendance. Each meeting, provides the Assembly with an agenda and minutes from the previous meeting. The agenda should also be circulated electronically by the secretary in advance of the meeting. The secretary acquires department enrollment figures for election purposes. In the case of a resignation, the Secretary should inform the Elections Committee of the vacancy.
   4. Treasurer. Chairs the Budget Committee, maintains financial records, and has signing authority in budgetary matters. The Treasurer will not deny expenditures except in unusual circumstances where it is deemed prudent to obtain Assembly approval.
   5. Conference Travel Fund Director. Handles all issues related to the organization and implementation of the CTF. The CTF director publicizes the rules and deadlines, collects all applications and verifies that they are valid, makes the applications anonymous and distributes them to the appropriate readers, reassembles the applications and the readers’ decisions, conveys decisions to applicants, and transmits all award decisions to the financial aid office for the distribution of funds.
   6. Publicity Chair. The Publicity Chair handles issues of publicity, public relations, and printed material. Duties include: writing the GSA Corner for the Graduate School Newsletter, writing GSA related articles and ads for the YDN, dealing with PR issues such as interviews and relations with the press, as they arise, and heading any advertising campaigns.
   7. Webmaster. The webmaster is in charge of maintaining the GSA website, ensuring that all links function, information is up-to-date, minutes are posted, etc… The webmaster will be assisted in up-dating information by the Secretary, as needed, and by any other student(s) she/he should appoint.
   8. Removal of officers. Officers may be removed by a two thirds vote of all Assembly Representatives or, failing that, by a two-thirds vote of Representatives present at a meeting, provided that notice of the motion to remove is disseminated to all Representatives at least one week prior to the meeting.
   9. Sequence of duties. If an officer is unable or unwilling to perform one of his/her duties, those duties will fall on the next officer in this order: Chair, Vice-chair, Secretary, Steering Committee member (at the Chair's discretion).
5. COMMITTEES
   1. Composition. The Assembly must appoint members to its own Standing Committees, and in addition may appoint internal ad-hoc committees. The composition of Standing Committees is determined by simple majority vote, using the general principle of equity between the divisions for voting members. Standing Committees must be composed of Assembly representatives, but Ad-hoc Committees need not be. Selections are made on the schedule specified below, but the Assembly retains the right to add or remove committee members throughout the year by simple majority vote. At least one meeting's notice must be given before voting to remove a committee member. For those committees where members are selected based on division, representatives vote only to select or remove the representative(s) from their division. Having a status between Standing Committees and Ad-hoc Committees, Traditional committees may have non-GSA representatives as members, but must be chaired by a GSA representative.
   2. Structure. All committees select a Chair and a Secretary (who may be the same person). The Committee Chair convenes meetings regularly and runs meetings. The Secretary keeps a record of committee transactions and prepares documents for Assembly review. The committee selects a member to present a report to the full Assembly under "committee reports" in the order of business (see section B2b.).
   3. Tenure. Standing Committees operate indefinitely unless removed from the by-laws. Ad-hoc committees can be constituted or dissolved by a simple majority vote of the Assembly. When establishing an Ad-hoc Committee, the Assembly specifies its termination date. If no date is specified, the Ad-hoc Committee is deemed to be dissolved upon the election of the new Assembly. Traditional Committees are Ad-hoc committees that have been in existence for many years, but not deemed in need of the label “Standing Committee.” These committees need not be reformed each year, but are considered to continue to possess their mandate until they are voted unnecessary by the Assembly. Examples of such committees are: Housing, Transportation, Security, Teaching, etc…
   4. Powers and responsibilities. Committees are authorized to act according the mandate granted by the Assembly, which can specify general principles or specific powers of the Committee. The Committee has spending authority for any funds allocated to it in the budget approved by the Assembly, but the Treasurer or Chair must sign all expenditures. All communications from and actions of the Committee should be presented or reported to the Assembly. Proposed actions which have not been pre-approved in the mandate of the Committee must be approved by the Assembly. Any Committee communication or action may be overturned by a vote of the Assembly. Committee members should not make statements in the name of the Committee or the Assembly in the absence of express consent from the respective bodies.
   5. Standing Committees.
      • Steering Committee. Should be appointed at the first meeting in September. Meets on a biweekly basis with the Dean of the Graduate School, and sets the agenda for meetings. (See also Sections D, E, and 1C3. of the Assembly Charter).
      • Summer Steering Committee. Should be appointed at the Transitional Meeting (see section A3). Meets at least once per month with the dean of the Graduate School, and notifies representatives of important developments in graduate school policy. Sets the date and agenda for the first meeting each fall. The Summer Steering Committee will consist of two students from each division and a Chair, who is preferably the outgoing assembly Chair.
      • Elections Committee. The Vice-Chair heads the elections committee. Should be appointed by the end of September. Administers elections and by-elections as specified in the charter and section A of the by-laws. During the Nomination phase of the election, gathers nominations from departments and publishes them provisionally at least two days in advance of the Election phase, and then publishes them again at the conclusion of the Nomination phase. Also administers the Election phase, including vote counting. Elections may be conducted in any manner according to the discretion of the Elections Committee. Before the end of March, the Elections Committee should present its election plan to the Assembly. In case of a vacancy in the Assembly, the Elections Committee will contact the department concerned and conduct a by-election as specified in section A4. No vacancies will be filled between the end of the Spring term and one week into the Fall term.
6. COMMUNICATION WITH THE GRADUATE STUDENT BODY
   1. Referenda. Any representative may propose that the Assembly hold a referendum as specified in section 1C6. of the charter. If a referendum is approved, an Ad-hoc Committee is appointed to administrate it. To the extent that a referendum is binding on Assembly action, the outcome will be determined by a simple majority of voting students.
   2. Other communications. The Assembly may compose and send emails or other communications to the graduate student body, or any portion thereof.
7. AMENDMENTS TO THE BY-LAWS
   1. The by-laws can be amended by a two thirds vote of all Assembly Representatives or, failing that, by two-thirds vote of Representatives present at a quorum, provided that notice of the full text of the proposed amendment(s) and original text, if any, is disseminated to all Representatives at least one week prior to the meeting.