PSGSA Constitution

Organizational Guidelines and Statement of Objectives
Political Science Graduate Student Association
Approved, February 24, 2000

PSGSA seeks to represent graduate students in the Department of Political Science. Its mission is to communicate with the university administration and department faculty and administration on behalf of PS graduate students; to facilitate faculty-student interaction; to facilitate student-initiated academic activities outside of the usual curriculum; to enhance social interactions among graduate students within the department; and to secure from the department the funding necessary for these activities.

Officers and Members:

Co-President: There will be two co-presidents, elected as a ticket: at least one of the two must have advanced to candidacy before the date of election. It will be the responsibility of the co-presidents to convene quarterly meetings, and to pursue (with the help of volunteers from among their fellow students) the objectives and plans approved at those meetings.

Social Chair: Though this office is traditionally held by a first-year student, one or more students of any year may be elected. It will be the responsibility of the social chair(s) to coordinate, advertise and execute any social functions held among students, or among faculty and students, under the auspices of PSGSA, though not under the auspices of any student-initiated groups funded through PSGSA.

Conference and Fellowships Coordinator: (Added October 25, 2000) Each year, one or more students will be chosen at the first PSGSA meeting of the year to coordinate efforts with the Graduate Student Administrator for the frequent publication and dissemination of conference paper proposal and/or fellowship application deadlines.

TA Committee Chair: (Added May 8, 2001) Each year, one or two students will be chosen at the first PSGSA meeting of the year to chair the TA Committee. The Chair will recruit at least five members for the committee; the committee will be charged with awarding the annual TA award, and devising other programs to encourage excellent TAing within the Department.

Elections: Elections will be held within the first two weeks of Winter quarter each year, coordinated by the outgoing presidents; elections will be run over e-mail or by the distribution of ballots in students mailboxes; all active graduate students will receive the opportunity to vote. Election will be by plurality. Nominations will be solicited from all students a week in advance, and no student will be placed on the ballot without their consent.

Removal of Officers: An elected or appointed officer may be removed by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of either PSGSA members present at a meeting with the quorum for business, or of PSGSA members voting over e-mail.

Members: All registered graduate students in the Department of Political Science at Stanford University are considered members of the Political Science Graduate Student Association.

Meetings: There must be at least one meeting per quarter, to be advertised via e-mail one week before the meeting; five students other than the elected officers will constitute a quorum for business.

Representation of Students:

Keeping in mind that student concerns and ideas for new initiatives will change from year to year, thus requiring new programs from their representatives, PSGSA will attempt to represent students in at least the following ways;

By attending Faculty meetings. PSGSA will advocate for the inclusion of a graduate student representative in all faculty meetings, to express the concerns of graduate students on those issues of particular concern to graduate student education and life (not necessarily to be privy to all faculty discussions);

By relaying student concerns to Department faculty and administration regarding the expenditure of departmental resources on programs to enhance graduate education and life (e.g., on the graduate computer room, on graduate office
space, etc.);

By serving as a liaison between the Graduate Student Administrator and graduate students for the appointment of volunteer student representatives to committees on admissions, hiring, and eventually tenure;

By serving as a liaison between the Graduate Student Administrator and graduate students to publicize opportunities for TAships and other funding;

By articulating to the Department faculty or administration (as circumstances require) the specific or individual interests of graduate students.

Faculty-Student Relations:

PSGSA will encourage programs to increase professional interaction between faculty and students, such as weekly brown bag lunches with faculty (or guest) speakers, or other more informal sessions with the goal of introducing students to the research interests and career wisdom of faculty.

Student-Initiated Academic Activities:

Numerous field-specific (and issue-specific) working groups have been formed by virtue of the individual or group initiative of students within the Political Science Department; these groups greatly enhance the educational experience of students. PSGSA will seek to secure funding (through the Department and through the funding arms of the ASSU) and provide programmatic support for one such working group within each subfield (American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Organizations and Political Theory) which will be open
to all graduate students.

Social Interactions:

The development of working relationships among graduate students first requires the development of social relationships between graduate students. Toward this end, PSGSA will organize (through its Social Chair), encourage and
help to secure funding for social events open to all PS graduate students.

Budget:

The PSGSA will attempt to secure from the department the funding necessary for the programs mentioned above. It will not seek to control any set of funds
(final approval being left to departmental administrators), but to guarantee that a reasonable sum is set aside within the departmental budget each year for the abovementioned programs.

Disposition of Property:

In the event of the PSGSAÆs dissolution, all funds and properties belonging to the PSGSA will become the property of the Department of Political Science at Stanford University.

Amendment Procedures:

This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) majority of PSGSA members present at a meeting with the requisite quorum for business, or by a two-thirds majority of PSGSA members voting over e-mail.