Ecology and Evolution Graduate Student Association Constitution   

Ecology and Evolution
Graduate Student Association Constitution   


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I: NAME AND PURPOSE
A. This organization shall be known as the Ecology and Evolution Graduate Student Association.
 
B. The purpose of this organization shall be to further the social, cultural, academic and research interests of the students in the graduate program in Ecology and Evolution and to act as an intermediary between the graduate students and the faculty.

II: MEMBERSHIP
All currently-enrolled students in the graduate program in Ecology and Evolution shall be voting members of this organization and be eligible for leadership roles in the organization. Students in other graduate programs are welcome to join meetings and events as non-voting, associate members, but are ineligible for leadership roles.

III: MEETINGS
A. At least one regular meeting shall be held each Fall and Spring semester, with the time and place of each meeting to be determined by the President.
 
B. A quorum for all regular and special meetings shall consist of members present.
 
C. Any situation not provided for in this constitution shall be decided according to Robert’s Rules of Order, Revised.

IV: OFFICERS
A. The elected officers of the Ecology and Evolution Graduate Student Association shall include a President, a Vice-President, a Communications Officer, Secretary, and a Treasurer.
 
B. All officers shall serve without salary or financial remuneration.
 
C. The President shall:
  1. Preside at all meetings of the organization;
  2. Prepare and submit semi-annual Funding Application requests to the Rutgers Graduate Student Association
  3. Coordinate, with the Ecology & Evolution Graduate Program Director, the announcement and disbursement of the Ted Stiles Memorial Award for Ecological Research & Conservation
  4. Serve as the Grand Marshall to the Annual Halloween Party;
  5. Perform other such duties as customarily pertain to this office.
 
D. The Vice-President shall:
  1. Be an aide to the President;
  2. In the case of the absence or disability of the President, Vice-President will assume and perform the duties of the President;
  3. Act as the representative of the organization at meetings of the Rutgers University Graduate Student Association.
 
E. The Communications Officer shall:
  1. Oversee all official correspondence of the organization, specifically ensuring that all elected officers and standing and special committees conduct crucial communications involving official business in a timely and efficient manner as established by this Constitution and all documented EcoGSA event timelines of action;
  2. Maintain a current email listing and website for the organization.
 
F. The Secretary shall:   
  1. Keep the record of the proceedings of all meetings and submit these to the Communications Officer to include on the EcoGSA website;
  2. Maintain a comprehensive public collection of the records of all meeting proceedings and official written business;
  3. Maintain a public log of the customary responsibilities of all elected officials and standing committees, including EcoGSA event timelines of action;   
  4. Coordinate EcoGSA elections, including but not limited to announcing the call for candidates, and commissioning an impartial elections supervisor to be approved for duty by a majority of the Elected Officers. 
 
G. The Treasurer shall:
  1. Maintain the financial records of the organization;
  2. Be responsible for receiving all revenue of the organization;
  3. Pay all authorized bills for the organization;
  4. Render and account at each meeting, or more often if requested by the President, all receipts and expenditures;
  5. Submit, at the last regular meeting of the Spring term, a written, detailed annual report of the income and expenditures of the organization;
  6. Submit all receipts, exhausted check books, and written financial records (with sensitive information and account numbers blacked out) for the year to the Secretary for inclusion into the comprehensive public collection of records on May 1st.​

V: COMMITTEES
A. The standing committees of this organization shall be:
  1. The Seminar Committee;
  2. The Representative Committee;
  3. The Symposium Committee;
  4. The Outreach Committee;
  5. The EcoEvoDiversity Committee;
 
B. Each Committee Chairperson(s) shall:
  1. Be responsible for all activities of that committee in a timely manner under the supervision of the Communications Officer;
  2. Be responsible for all proper financial accounting of that committee under the supervision of the treasurer;
  3. Give an oral account of their committee’s status and activities at each meeting;
  4. Carry out all directions of the organization;
  5. Serve without salary of financial remuneration.
 
C. The Seminar Committee shall:  
  1. Have two elected co-chairpersons;
  2. Organize speakers for a weekly Student Seminar which allows members of the organization to present their research to the other members for feedback;
  3. Allow all members interested in presenting their research an equal opportunity to have a seminar;
  4. Adequately advertise Student Seminars to members and appropriate others via email, websites, and posters;
  5. Arrange for all necessary media equipment and room requirements for Student Seminars;
  6. Arrange for appropriate and abundant refreshments at Student Seminars.
 
D. The Representative Committee shall:
  1. ​​Have two elected co-chairpersons, one pre-qualifying exam and one post-qualifying exam;
  2. Accurately represent the feelings of the organization’s members to the Faculty;
  3. Attend all appropriate DEENR Departmental and E&E Program meetings as representatives of the Ecology & Evolution Graduate Student Association to the Faculty;
  4. Inform members of issues and of proceedings of Faculty/Representative meetings;
  5. Coordinate first year student mentorship program.
 
E. The Symposium Committee shall:
  1. Have one elected chairperson;
  2. Organize (along with equivalent committees at Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, and other participating institutions) the Student Symposium;
  3. Accurately represent the feelings of the organization’s members when organizing the Symposium;
  4. Allow all interested members an equal opportunity to present their research at the Symposium;
  5. Ensure (to the extent that member interest makes it possible) that Rutgers is equally represented at the Symposium;
  6. When the Symposium is held at Rutgers, make proper arrangements for all media equipment and room requirements.
 
F.  The Outreach Committee shall:
  1. Have one elected chairperson;
  2. Coordinate outreach events broadly concerning ecology, evolution, and/or sustainability that specifically reach non-university-affiliated populations.  
  3. Curating a list of local outreach and mentoring opportunities that is readily accessible to all interested members of the organization;
  4. Inform members of upcoming outreach and mentoring events, and ensure all interested members of the organization have an equal opportunity to conduct outreach activities at these events;
  5. Distribute an annual Outreach Award:
    1. The purpose of the Outreach Award is to encourage members to use their expertise in the fields of ecology, evolution, and/or sustainability to develop and implement outreach activities that primarily serve non-university-affiliated populations;
    2. The specifics of the award will be determined by the Outreach Chairperson and the President of EcoGSA, with input from all interested EcoGSA members, prior to the announcement of the award. The announcement and disbursement of the Outreach Award is the responsibility of the Outreach Chairperson;
    3. The grant reviewing committee will consist of two faculty members who have demonstrated an interest in outreach, the President of the EcoGSA, the Chairperson of the Outreach Committee, or two other qualified EcoGSA members if the President and Outreach Chairperson recuse themselves.
 
G. The EcoEvoDiversity Committee shall:
  1. Have one elected chairperson, or two elected co-chairpersons;
  2. Designate at least one elected chairperson to represent the EcoGSA as a liaison to Graduate Program DEI Committee;
  3. Pursue activities which support their mission statement:
    “As ecologists we know ecosystem health and functioning needs biological diversity. As evolutionary biologists we understand that genetic diversity makes possible the long-term sustainability and evolution of populations. Likewise, as scientists we recognize innovative, forward-moving, impactful scientific discovery requires human diversity. Therefore, we seek to increase the representation of racial, ethnic, socio-economic, gender identity, and religious groups in our discipline through the support of, recruitment of, and outreach to individuals from underrepresented groups.”
    by coordinating events and discussing topics broadly concerning human diversity in the disciplines of ecology and evolution;
  4. These may include but are not limited to:
    1. Curating a list of diversity-related resources available both within and without Rutgers;
    2. Sponsoring the invitation of scientists from diverse backgrounds to speak at weekly seminars;
    3. Collaborating with the Outreach committee to create and implement activities to reach out to the community and educate the public in ecology, evolution, and sustainability;
  5. Inform members of upcoming mentoring, outreach, and discussion events, and ensure all interested members of the organization have an equal opportunity to be involved;
  6. Meet a minimum of twice per semester.
 
H. Special Committees:
  1. May be established by the President or by a vote of the organization;
  2. Shall report to the organization at all meetings.

VI: CANDIDATES AND TERM LIMITS
A. All candidates for an office will be members of the organization and intend to be members of the organization for the length of their term.
 
B. The call for candidates must be announced by email on March 1st.
 
C. In order to appear on the ballot, a candidate must notify the Secretary of their intention to run by March 31st.
 
D. No individual shall be a candidate for an office in which they have previously served two terms. A partial term shall be considered a full term if it is longer than ½ the length of a normal term.
 
E. No individual shall hold more than one elected officer position in the organization concurrently.

VII: ELECTIONS AND VACANCIES
A. Elections
  1. The date of the election meeting, to be held in the month of April, will be announced via email and the EcoGSA website by the President no later than March 31;
  2. The Secretary will commission an impartial Elections Supervisor who must be approved by a majority of the current Elected Officers. The Elections Supervisor will be responsible for tallying and certifying election results at the annual election meeting;
  3. Officers and Committee Chairpersons shall be elected by a majority of the legal votes cast by the members of the organization, during the open voting period which shall run from the Monday immediately preceding the annual election meeting through the time at which the President closes the vote during the election meeting itself;
  4. Newly elected officers shall take office on May 1st and serve through April 30th of the following year.
 
B. An Officer or Committee Chair shall lose their position should they:
  1. Cease to be a member of the organization;
  2. Fail to attend at least three-fourths of the regular meetings each term without approval of one Officer;
  3. Be removed by unanimous vote of all other Officers and Committee Chairs for failure to perform their duties.
 
  C. Vacancies
  1. If any elective office or Committee Chair shall become vacant, the President shall order at the earliest date a special meeting of the organization for the purpose of filling such office;
  2. The requirements outlined in Article VI, Sections A, D and E shall still hold;
  3. The member thus elected shall immediately enter upon his/her duties and shall remain in office until the next regular election.
  
VIII: AMENDMENTS
A. The proposed amendment must be submitted to the Vice-President in writing by no fewer than eight members of the organization.
 
B. The proposed amendment shall be discussed at the next regular meeting after it was submitted, provided that all members of the organization have been previously informed of its content via email by the Vice-President.
 
C. Three-fourths of the legal votes cast shall be required to pass the amendment.

IX: ADVISOR
A. A member of the faculty of the graduate program in Ecology and Evolution shall serve as the advisor to the organization and shall be approved for the following year during the annual election meeting.

X: UNIVERSITY REGULATION
This organization shall be in full compliance with all pertinent University Regulations and any other rules, regulations, and policies of Rutgers University that may be relevant to its activities.