We, the graduate students of North Georgia College and State University, in order to form a democratic, efficient, and responsible graduate student senate to represent, lead, and unify the graduate student body, to identify and act with the graduate students upon any matter involving the graduate students’ interests, to promote common understanding between graduate students, faculty, and administration, while protecting the individual rights and needs of graduate students, do hereby establish and adopt this constitution and bylaws for the North Georgia College and State University Graduate Student Senate.

ARTICLE I – NAME

The name of this organization shall be the Graduate Student Senate.

ARTICLE II – PURPOSE

The purpose of this organization shall be:

1. To serve as the active graduate student instrument for meeting the objectives of the Preamble of this Constitution.
2. To organize as a unified body of graduate students to identify and satiate the needs of all graduate students enrolled.
3. To provide appropriate structure for enhancing the experience of graduate education.
4. To encourage the interest and participation of graduate students in campus government and existing activities and promote scholarship.
5. To promote the interaction and cooperation of all graduate students with each other, faculty, and undergraduate students on campus.

ARTICLE III – MEMBERSHIP

Membership in this organization shall consist of elected officers and representatives of all enrolled graduate students of North Georgia College and State University.

ARTICLE IV – ORGANIZATION

The Graduate Student Senate shall be the representative body of the graduate students composed of executive officers, elected representatives, and ex-officio members.

ARTICLE V – OFFICERS AND REPRESENTATIVES

Section 1. Elected Representatives

a. There shall be three (3) voting Senators from each graduate program on campus as defined in the bylaws.

b. There shall be two Student Government Association (SGA) Representatives.

Section 2. Executive Council

a.       The Executive Council shall consist of a President, Vice President, and Secretary, and Comptroller and the Student Government Association Representatives.

b.      Each executive officer shall be selected from and approved by the members of the Graduate Student Senate pursuant to the bylaws.

c.      Vacant Senate office positions resulting from these elections will be filled by election from the respective graduate programs.

Section 3. Advisors

a.       The Advisor shall be a member of the faculty or staff.

b.      The Advisor shall serve as ex-officio member of the Graduate Student Senate.

c.       The Advisor, in cooperation with the Graduate Student Senate, will select a liaison from the faculty or staff of each of the graduate programs on campus. 

d.       The Advisor and his or her liaisons will solicit relevant information from the graduate programs and provide such information, as needed, at the regular meeting of the Graduate Student Senate..

Section 4. Term of Office

a.       The Executive Council, elected Senators, and SGA Representatives shall serve for one academic year.

ARTICLE VI – MEETINGS OF THE SENATE

Section 1.      The Graduate Student Senate shall meet at least bi-monthly at a time and place as specified by the Executive Council.

Section 2.      Special meetings may be called as necessary by the Executive Council.

Section 3.       All meetings shall be conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order.

Section 4.      All meetings shall be open to all students and faculty.

Section 5.       A quorum of one third (1/3) or 5 members, whichever is greater, of the voting membership is needed to transact business.  At least two graduate programs must be represented.  One vote is allowed for the Vice President, Secretary, Comptroller, each of the three (3) Senators from each program, and both SGA representatives.

ARTICLE VII – AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION

Section 1.  The Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of quorum present of the Graduate Student Senate.

Section 2.  The proposed amendment must be submitted and read at least on meeting prior to its being voted on.

Section 3.  Following approval of the Graduate Student Senate, the amendment must be submitted for approval to the Student Government Association and the Student Life Committee.

BYLAWS

The rules and regulations contained in these bylaws of the Graduate Student Senate shall serve to provide structure for the development and maturation of the Graduate Student Senate within all of the areas they are applicable in which they are not inconsistent with the rules and regulations for North Georgia College and State University.

Faculty advisor Barry D. Friedman delivered this message to a Student Government Association hearing on April 8, 2003, on the issue of whether student-activity fees should be used for students' travel to academic events.

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Subject: Use of Student-Activity Fees

     In response to the inquiry about the proper uses of student-activity fees, the Graduate Student Senate wishes to offer its perspective. The GSS believes that it should receive a budget amounting to one-half of the total of student-activity fees paid by graduate students. The GSS also believes that its budget should be utilized in ways that are relevant to the needs and interests of graduate students, that help to create a unified community of graduate students, and that advance the interests of NGCSU.

     In so far as travel by students to conferences is one of the topics to be discussed at the hearing on April 8, let us address that matter specifically. The GSS believes that it is desirable and even essential that part of its budget should be used to facilitate the travel of graduate students to attend conferences, and especially to present research papers at conferences. The GSS along with the graduate faculty have agreed on the five benefits of graduate students' travel to conferences to present research papers. This kind of activity:

     - Provides graduate students experience in making public presentations on scholarly topics.

     - Enhances NGCSU's reputation as a center of scholarship.

     - Provides an opportunity for NGCSU's graduate programs to receive feedback from professors at other universities; i.e., it is a way for our programs to receive a form of peer review.

     - Helps to develop a permanent connection between the student and the university because the student has a tangible indication of the university's support of his/her professional development.

     - Guards against the problem of in-breeding of ideas because students listen to research papers presented by professors and graduate students at other institutions, and interact with them in the course of panel discussions.

     In closing, let us provide a reminder that the GSS wishes to have an adequate budget to fund this and other kinds of activities, and that the GSS believes that it should not have to obtain approval from the Student Government Association to receive a sufficient budget and to allocate that budget in a manner that serves the interests of graduate students.

     Thank you for your consideration.

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     Faculty advisor Barry D. Friedman announces that the Graduate Council adopted the resolution shown below at its meeting of February 19, 2003.

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WHEREAS, graduate students at North Georgia College & State University pay a total of nearly $40,000 in student-activity fees annually, and

 WHEREAS, the needs and interests of graduate students for “student activity” are emphatically distinct from those of undergraduate students, and

 WHEREAS, those needs and interests are more likely to involve travel to present papers at conferences and to involve assemblies at which visiting speakers will speak, and

 WHEREAS, current university procedures place the decision about how student-activity funds will be distributed almost entirely in the hands of undergraduates, who are generally insensitive to the needs and rights of graduate students, and

 WHEREAS, the Graduate Student Senate is underfunded in so far as it currently receives only $6000 out of the $40,000 paid by graduate students, therefore

 BE IT RESOLVED, that the Graduate Council requests that the administration ensure that the Graduate Student Senate will receive a budget in the amount of $20,000 for the 2003‑2004 academic year, and

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the council requests that the Senate’s budget for subsequent years will change in accordance with the proportion by which the amount of graduate students’ student-activity fee payments change, and

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the council requests that this decision be removed from the discretionary budgeting process operated by the Student Government Association hereinafter.

               Adopted at a meeting of the Graduate Council on the 19^th day of February 2003.