CONSTITUTION OF THE AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS
GRADUATE STUDENT ORGANIZATION
I. MEMBERSHIP
Section 1
The Agricultural Economics Graduate Student Organization (hereafter referred to as GSO) shall consist of all graduate students and/or graduate assistants in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University (MSU). Only MSU students may be officers and/or voting members.
Section 2
The GSO will not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, ethnic origin, sex, age, political persuasion, sexual preference, handicapper status, or marital status.
II. PURPOSE
The purpose of the Organization shall be to serve as the official instrument through which the members may further their collective interests. This includes, but is not limited to:
A. The formation and transmittal of opinions, positions and recommendations, either formal or informal, to appropriate authorities on matters of concern to the membership.
B. The selection of representatives of the Organization to other organizations or committees within the University or outside the University.
C. The administration of responsibilities delegated to the organization or afforded it by other entities.
D. The organization and administration of activities or programs that may be beneficial to the membership.
III. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
The structure of the Organization shall include the General Meeting, the Executive Committee, Committees and Representatives, and the Judiciary.
A. General Meeting
1. The General Meeting shall consist of the members present at any meeting of the Organization which is called in accordance with the procedures defined below. The General Meeting shall be the final authority regarding policies of the Organization. Any formal statement of opinions, positions or recommendations is subject to the approval of the General Meeting.
2. General meetings shall be held at least once a semester. Notice of a General Meeting must be announced in at least one Ag Econ-O-Gram prior to the meeting. The Executive Committee shall call a General Meeting upon their own resolution or if a petition signed by at least five members so requires them. Any meeting called by a petition must be held within twelve days of the presentation of the petition to the President.
3. The agenda of a General Meeting will consist of the following unless amended by a majority vote of those present during the meeting:
a) Call to order by the presiding officer
b) Reading of the minutes from the last General Meeting
c) Reports of Committees and Representatives
d) Unfinished business
e) New Business
f) Adjournment
4. A quorum at a General Meeting shall be defined as one-sixth of the membership of the Organization.
5. Robert's Rules of Order shall be observed by the General Meeting. The Executive Committee shall appoint a Parliamentarian to interpret the rules. The presiding officer at a General Meeting may suspend the Rules of Order upon declaration of intent to do so. A declaration to suspend the Rules may be overruled by a simple majority of those present at the General Meeting. A call to vote on a declaration about the Rules shall be the first order of business. This provision shall not in any way abridge the right of a member of the Organization to call for a committee of the whole as provided for in the Rules of Order.
B. The Executive Committee
1. The Executive Committee shall be the administrative body of the Organization. It shall pursue the purposes of the organization and shall be responsible for the day-to-day matters that may arise. In pursuit of the purposes, the Executive Committee may represent the Organization before other entities or appoint members to do so and may establish special committees. Any appointments, position statements, or committees formed by the Executive Committee must be reported in the Ag Econ-O-Gram.
2. The Executive Committee shall consist of the following Organizational Officers:
a) The President
b) The Vice-President
c) Building Representatives
d) The Secretary-Treasurer
e) COGS Representative
3. The President shall preside at meetings of the Executive Committee and at General Meetings. The President shall serve as one of the student representatives to the Graduate Policy Committee. In the event that the President should choose not to serve on the Graduate Policy Committee or if neither the President or the Vice-President is a graduate assistant in the department, the President must appoint in the President's place another member of the GSO in accordance with the departmental Bylaws, which state that at least one representative to the Graduate Policy Committee must be a graduate assistant in the department. This appointment will be subject to approval by a simple majority of the Executive Committee of the GSO.
4. The Vice-President shall fulfill the duties of the President in her/his absence. The Vice-President will serve as one of the representatives of the GSO to the Graduate Policy Committee. The Vice-President shall also be responsible for the report of the Executive Committee to General Meetings.
5. Building Representatives shall administer the Desk Assignment Policy in the building(s) which he represents and shall represent the members of her/his constituency on all matters concerning those members.
There shall be one Building Representative for every building in which more than fifteen members have office space. Students having offices located in buildings without a representative shall be assigned to be represented by one of the Building Representatives. Assignments shall be made by the President in such a manner that leads to a balanced representation of members by the Building Representative and shall be subject to ratification by a General Meeting. Any change in the number of Building Representatives due to changes in office space locations shall require the approval of a General Meeting.
6. The Secretary-Treasurer shall maintain a record of the minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee and of the General Meetings and shall maintain a file of all documents, papers and correspondence of the Organization. The said file shall be open to all members of the Organization. A record of all minutes of each General Meeting shall be summarized and posted by the Secretary-Treasurer for the information of the members. The Secretary-Treasurer shall also be responsible for all financial affairs of the organization.
C. Committees and Representatives
1. Standing Committees shall be established for specific purposes by a majority vote of a General Meeting. Chairpersons and members of Standing Committees so established shall be appointed by the Executive Committee.
2. Special Committees may be created on a temporary basis by the Executive Committee or by a General Meeting as the need arises. The members of these committees shall be appointed by the Executive Committee.
3. Representatives of the Organization will be named for the following committees: University Council of Graduate Students, the Department Student Affairs Committee, College of Agriculture Council of Graduate Students, and the Graduate Policy Committee. Representatives, other than Graduate Policy Committee representatives and one of the Student Affairs Committee representatives shall be appointed by the Executive Committee.
4. Representatives may also be appointed by the Executive Committee or elected by a General Meeting to any other entity which affords to the Organization the right of representation. In appointing representatives, preference shall be given to members not already serving the Organization.
5. A report must be made by each committee and each representative (except when more than one representative serves on the same body) at every General Meeting.
D. Judiciary
1. Three members and an alternate shall be appointed by the Executive Committee to serve as a Judiciary. The term of office for the Judiciary will run from the beginning of summer semester to the end of spring semester.
2. The Judiciary shall be responsible for:
a) Adjudicating all controversies regarding interpretations and implementation of the constitution and any policies established by General meetings.
b) Officiating elections.
3. An Adjudication shall be initiated by the presentation of a petition to the Judiciary. The petition must be signed by at least five members.
4. Should a member of the Judiciary wish to run for office, she/he must resign. The alternate will become a full member of the Judiciary and the Executive Committee shall appoint a new alternate.
5. If a conflict of interest arises, a member of the Judiciary shall temporarily disqualify herself/herself and the alternate shall act for the member.
6. Decisions of the Judiciary may not be appealed back to the General Meeting.
IV. ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
A. General Format
1. The election for positions on the Executive Committee shall be held annually three weeks prior to final examination week of the spring semester (by e-mail, flyers, etc.).
2. The results of the election shall be announced at a General Meeting to be held on the Friday of election week. The term of office for each position shall commence on the first day of the summer semester.
B. Nominating and Voting Procedures
1. To have his or her name appear on the ballot, a candidate must be nominated during the week preceding the election. A nomination is made by the presentation to the Judiciary of a petition which must include the signature of the candidate, the position sought, and at least five signatures of members whom the nominee, if elected, would represent.
2. Ballots shall be printed under the direction of the Judiciary and shall list the names of all candidates nominated for each position. For each position on the Executive Committee, space shall be provided for writing in names of members not nominated for that position.
3. The time of voting and the location of ballot boxes shall be determined by the Judiciary and announced in the two Ag Econ-O-grams preceding the election. The balloting shall close one-half hour before the General Meeting held on Friday.
C. Determination of Election Results
1. The Judiciary shall count the ballots, certify and announce the results of the election.
2. To be certified the winner, a candidate must receive a simple majority of the votes cast for a position. If no one receives a simple majority of the votes cast for a position, a run-off election shall be held during the following week from among the minimum number of candidates whose combined vote total is greater than 50 percent of the votes cast for that position. If, in the run-off election, no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast for a position, a second run-off election shall be held among the two candidates receiving the most votes.
Neither abstentions nor votes cast for ineligible candidates shall be counted when determining the number of votes required to constitute a majority. Write-in votes shall be disallowed during run-off elections.
3. A member may be a candidate for more than one office, but should she/he win a majority of the votes for more than one position, she/he must choose the position in which she/he wishes to serve. The position she/he refuses shall be filled by a run-off election to be held during the following week from among the remaining candidates receiving votes for that position.
4. Should a write-in candidate receive a majority of the votes cast for a position, she/he must declare her/his intention of serving before her/his election may be certified. Should she/he decline to serve, a run-off election shall be held during the following week from among the candidates receiving votes.
D. Special Election Procedures
1. If no candidates are nominated for a position on the Executive Committee, the members shall not vote for that position in the regular election. The election for that position will be held at the General Meeting on Friday with open nominations from the floor.
2. If a person cannot complete her/his term of service in any position of the Executive Committee, the remaining members of the Executive Committee shall, if necessary, appoint a person to fill that vacancy until the next General Meeting, at which time nominations will be received from the floor and the election will be held.
E. Removal from Office
1. To remove an elected or appointed official of the Organization, three-fourths of the members present and voting at a General Meeting must approve the motion for removal, provided that at least one-half of the members of the Organization are present and voting.
2. The position of a person removed from Office shall be filled at the same General Meeting by means of an election with nominations received from the floor.
V. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
Any proposal for amending this Constitution must be distributed to the membership at least two weeks before it may be considered at a General Meeting. Any amendment so introduced may be amended by a simple majority of members present and voting. A two-thirds majority of those members present and voting is required to amend the Constitution.
Approved at the General Meeting, January, 1989.
Amended September 14, 1992.
Amended March 13, 1997.