Ratified: April 1997

Article I: Name

This council shall be known as the Graduate Student Senate of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Washington University, hereinafter referred to as the Senate.

Article II: Purpose

The Senate shall:

Represent and advocate the interests of the graduate students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Washington University to:

• the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences,
• the Faculty in the Arts and Sciences,
• the Graduate Council of Arts and Sciences,
• the Graduate-Professional Council of the University,
• any others within the University whose actions or positions may affect the interests of the graduate students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and
• any others outside of the University making decisions or taking positions that affect graduate students in their role as graduate students;

Encourage and facilitate within the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences:

• inter-disciplinary academic activities,
• graduate student governing associations within each department/program, and
• inter-departmental social activities.

The Senate shall be composed of one representative from each degree-granting department or program within the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and three officers. Representatives should send someone in their place to a Senate meeting or function if they are unable to attend. This alternate may speak, vote, initiate acts, and have all other rights and responsibilities of an elected representative for the agreed-upon duration.

Article IV: Representatives

Section 1: Selection of Representatives

1. Department/Program representatives for the upcoming academic year shall be selected at the end of the spring semester, if possible, by the graduate student associations/graduate students of their respective departments/programs.

 
2. Departments/Programs may choose to re-select the same representative for an additional one-year term.

 
3. Representatives shall serve no more than two consecutive one-year terms. If a department/program chooses to select the same representative for a third one-year term, this decision must be approved by the President of the Senate.

 
4. The department/program whose representative is elected as President of the Senate shall select an additional representative to the Senate to serve during the President's term of office.

 
5. Departments/Programs whose representatives are elected as either Vice-President or Secretary of the Senate may choose to select an additional representative to serve during their terms of office.

1. Department/Program representatives shall begin their term of service at the first regular meeting of the Senate in the Fall semester.

 
2. Each representative shall serve on the Senate until one day before the first regular meeting of the following academic year. If a representative cannot serve the full term, s/he must, in consultation with the graduate students of the represented department/program, find a replacement (preferably the representative selected by the department/program for the following academic year) for the remainder of the term.

1. Representation


Representatives shall represent the interests of the graduate students in their department/program to the Senate.
 

2. Communication

 
1. Representatives shall communicate interests, concerns, and department/program activities to the Senate.

 
2. Representatives shall communicate interests, concerns, services, and activities of the Senate to students in their department/program by posting Senate minutes and other information.

 
3. Initiation and Voting


Representatives may choose to initiate Senate acts and vote on Senate initiatives.
 

4. Committees


Representatives shall be willing to chair and serve on committees.

A department/program shall select a new representative whenever the current representative is unable to serve.

Section 1: Election of Officers

1. The Senate shall elect, in the following order, a President, Vice-President, and Secretary by secret ballot and simple majority at the Annual Meeting.

 
2. A quorum of at least ten voting members must be present.

 
3. Nominations are taken from the floor and must be seconded.

 
4. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, a run-off election will be held between the candidates who received the highest number of votes in the previous election until an officer has been elected.

 
5. Candidates that run but are not elected to an office may run for another office.

The term of office begins immediately after the Annual Meeting and lasts through the next Annual Meeting.

1. The President shall convene meetings of the Senate and set the Agenda.

 
2. The President shall act as chairperson and presiding officer of Senate meetings.

 
3. The President shall act as the official representative of the Senate.

 
4. The President shall oversee the Senate budget.

 
5. The President shall regularly report the recent interests, concerns, and activities of the Senate to the Dean of the Graduate School.

 
6. The President shall be a non-voting member of the Senate and shall vote only in the case of a tie.

1. The Vice-President shall exercise the duties and powers of the President whenever the President is absent.

 
2. The Vice-President shall serve the remainder of the President's term if the President resigns, is recalled, or is no longer able to serve.

 
3. The Vice-President shall be a voting member of the Senate if not currently exercising the powers of the President.

1. The Secretary shall take minutes at Senate meetings and notes at Graduate Council meetings.

 
2. The Secretary shall maintain current membership, mailing, email, and phone lists and shall distribute announcements, notes, and minutes to members of the Senate.

 
3. The Secretary shall be a voting member of the Senate.

1. If the President of the Senate resigns, is recalled, or is no longer able to serve, that office shall be immediately filled by the Vice-President.

 
2. If the office of the Vice-President becomes vacant, a special election shall be held at the next regular meeting (or special meeting, if desired) to replace that officer.

 
3. If the office of the Secretary becomes vacant, a special election shall be held at the next regular meeting (or special meeting, if desired) to replace that officer.

 
4. These special elections shall follow the officer election procedures established in Article V, Section 1.B-1.E.

1. An officer may be removed from office for reasons of nonfeasance, malfeasance, or misfeasance through Senate initiative brought by any voting member of the Senate.

 
2. Fifteen voting members must be present for recall to proceed.

 
3. A two-thirds vote is required to remove an officer.

Section 1: Committee Chairs

1. Committee chairs shall be appointed by and serve at the discretion of the Senate President.

 
2. Responsibilities include holding regular meetings, advancing the will of the Senate, and executing any other duties established for committee chairs.

Other officers may be appointed by and serve at the discretion of the Senate President.

Section 1: Regular Meetings

1. The Senate shall meet at least three times a semester to conduct its business.

 
2. These meetings shall be scheduled in advance by the President.

1. Special meetings may be called at the discretion of the President with reasonable notice.

 
2. All functions of regular meetings may occur.

1. The Annual Meeting shall be held each year in April for the purpose of officer elections.

 
2. All functions of regular meetings may occur.

1. Regular and annual meetings shall be open to all graduate students represented by the Senate and to guests previously approved by the Senate President.

 
2. Upon recognition by the President, any person present at a meeting may address the Senate concerning matters of interest to representatives on the senate.

Quorum required to hold regular and special meetings shall be ten voting members.

Article VIII: Bills and Resolutions

Section 1: Quorum

1. A quorum of at least ten voting members must be present for a vote to occur.

 
2. Bills and resolutions (excluding constitutional amendments) require approval by majority vote.

Any voting member may initiate a bill or resolution for consideration by the Senate.

1. The Senate shall create, staff, and disband such committees as it wishes to conduct its business.

 
2. Committee membership shall be open to any graduate student who is represented by the Senate.

Section 1: Role of Senate Members

1. Senate representatives may be proposed to the degree-granting departments/ programs by the Senate to serve as the student representatives on the Graduate Council of Arts and Sciences.

 
2. The Senate shall propose a slate of three Senate members that are also members of the Graduate Council to serve (as representatives of the graduate students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences) on the Executive Committee of the Graduate Council.

1. The Senate President's program may choose the Senate President to be its student representative to the Graduate Council. In this case, the Senate President will be a voting member of the Graduate Council.

 
2. If the Senate President's program chooses another student representative for the Graduate Council, the Senate President will not be a voting member of the Graduate Council. In this case, the Senate's President will be invited (by invitation of the Dean) to attend all Graduate Council meetings in his/her role as Senate President and will be included on Graduate Council mailing list.

 
3. The Senate President will meet with the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences before the fall semester begins each school year to coordinate the issues to be considered that year by the Graduate Council and the Senate.

 
4. The Senate President shall forward Senate initiatives affecting Graduate Council affairs to the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for possible inclusion on the agenda of the Graduate Council or other appropriate body.

1. If this officer's program does not choose to send another student as its representative to the Graduate Council, this Senate officer will be a voting member of the Graduate Council.

 
2. If this officer's program does choose to send another student as its representative to the Graduate Council, this Senate officer will not be a voting member of the Graduate Council. In this case, the Senate officer will be invited (by invitation of the Dean) to attend all Graduate Council meetings in his/her role as a Senate officer and will be included on the Graduate Council mailing list.

 
3. The Secretary shall take notes at Graduate Council meetings exclusively for informational purposes within the Senate.

The President shall select from the Senate membership two representatives to the Graduate-Professional Council.

These representatives shall be responsible for all communication between the Graduate-Professional Council and the Senate.

All procedural matters not specified herein shall be resolved in accordance with the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised.

Section 1: This Constitution and Bylaws shall take effect upon ratification by a simple majority of voting members present.

Section 2: Upon ratification, this Constitution and Bylaws shall supersede and replace all previous constitutions and bylaws of the Senate, including the original constitution that brought this body into being June 18, 1993 and the version as amended and approved April 22, 1994.

Article XIV: Constitutional Amendments

Section 1: Initiation

1. Any voting member of the Senate may initiate an amendment to the Constitution.

 
2. Each amendment must be proposed to the body and circulated to the members in written form one month before the vote occurs.

1. This Constitution shall be amended when a quorum of at least fifteen voting members is present and at least two-thirds of members present vote to adopt the amendment.

 
2. An amendment shall take effect immediately upon adoption.