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University of Wisconsin-Madison

Constitution for the AOS GSA

Article I. Name

The name of this organization shall be formally known as the Graduate Student Association of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, but will be called informally the Graduate Student Association, herein referred to as the GSA.

Article II. Objectives

  1. Facilitate dialogue between graduate students and the faculty, staff, university, and other outside organizations.
  2. Initiate and foster constructive development within the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department, herein referred to as AOS, and the University that benefits the graduate student body.
  3. Promote the voice and ideas of the graduate student body in all aspects of the AOS Department and, where necessary, in the University
  4. Pursue service and outreach opportunities.
  5. Hold general meetings to further promote these objectives.

Article III. Membership

Membership is free, automatic, and inclusive of all AOS affiliated graduate students. Students may remove themselves from membership by notifying the Facilitator. Undergraduate American Meteorological Society (AMS) officers are allowed to attend GSA closed meetings, but may not vote.

Article IV. Duties of Officers

  1. The elected officers of the GSA shall be the Facilitator, two (2) Faculty Liaisons, the Treasurer, the Secretary, two (2) AOS department Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee representatives, an AOS department Alumni Liaison, the Outreach Coordinator, the Welcome Coordinator, the Seminar Coordinator, and the Social Coordinator. This list of positions shall hereafter be referred to as the GSA Board.
    1. Primary elections will be held in the Spring semester, at least one (1) month before the end of the semester. During this election period, the Facilitator, Treasurer, Secretary, the Outreach Coordinator, the Welcome Coordinator, the Seminar Coordinator, and the Social Coordinator. At least one (1) Faculty Liaison and at least one (1) DEI representative for the Fall semester will be elected.
    2. At the beginning of the Fall semester, the Alumni Liaison position and one (1) Faculty Liaison and one (1) DEI representative may be elected. The timing of this election is to provide first year students the opportunity to become involved in GSA, though it is not necessary that these positions only be filled by first year students.
  2. Each member of the GSA Board must be a member of the GSA with no expectation to graduate during their elected term.
  3. The officers must hold a joint meeting of incoming and outgoing officers following the election of new officers before the end of the spring semester in order to acquaint the new officers with their duties.
  4. The GSA Board shall introduce the GSA to first year graduate students through department orientation procedures.
    1. Either the Facilitator or the Welcome Coordinator will attend the recommended department orientation, after discussing timing with the Department Graduate Chair.
  5. The duties of the Facilitator shall be:
    1. Organize and lead general meetings.
    2. Attend AOS Department Graduate Committee meetings (meeting times irregular).
    3. Disseminate pertinent information to the membership that they receive while serving as Facilitator.
    4. Authorize financial expenditures in conformance with this constitution.
    5. Aid and oversee the actions of the other officers as necessary.
    6. Make an effort to ensure proper representation is provided at department, college, or University functions on short notice.
    7. This position is not intended to be a decision-making or executive position.
  6. The duties of the Faculty Liaisons shall be:
    1. Attend all Faculty meetings in order to represent the ideas and agenda of the graduate student body.
    2. Report items of interest from Faculty meetings to the GSA.
    3. Notify the Facilitator of inability to attend a Faculty meeting at least three (3) days before the scheduled meeting.
  7. The duties of the Treasurer shall be:
    1. Authorize financial expenditures in conformance with this constitution.
  8. The duties of the Secretary shall be:
    1. Take meeting minutes, at meetings where quorum is obtained, including a record of:
      1. Every motion successfully introduced.
      2. A summary of the motion and attached text.
      3. Important points from the discussion.
      4. Whether or not the motion was approved.
    2. Promptly update the GSA website with both minutes and committee membership.
  9. The duties of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) representatives shall be:
    1. Serve as the GSA liaison for the AOS DEI committee.
    2. Attend AOS DEI meetings and share graduate student concerns, questions, and perspectives.
    3. Report items of interest from DEI meetings to the GSA.
  10. The duties of the Alumni Liaison shall be:
    1. Serve as the GSA liaison for the AOS Alumni Association and attend AOS Alumni Association meetings.
    2. Act as the main point of contact between the graduate students and alumni.
    3. Report items of interest from Alumni Association meetings to the GSA.
  11. The duties of the Outreach Coordinator shall be:
    1. Organize and lead the GSA Outreach Committee, if formed.
    2. Organize outreach events.
    3. Act as the main point of contact for schools, organizations, etc. for outreach events.
  12. The duties of the Welcome Coordinator shall be:
    1. Organize and lead the GSA Welcome Committee, if formed.
    2. Support department welcome events (fall and spring) and organize additional GSA welcome events.
    3. Act as the graduate student point of contact for the AMS prospective student booth and organize a group of graduate student representatives for the booth.
    4. Act as the point of contact for prospective student visit events (coordinating graduate students to meet the prospective students at meals, etc.)
    5. Work with other GSA coordinators to ensure welcome events meet the expectations and goals of the GSA.
  13. The duties of the Seminar Coordinator shall be:
    1. Organize and lead the GSA Seminar Committee, if formed.
    2. Organize seminars for the year by reaching out to faculty, students, and SSEC/CIMSS employees to present.
    3. Introduce speakers at seminar if there is not already a volunteer to do so.
    4. Organize a team of graduate students to set up coffee/cookies before seminar, and fill in any missing weeks if necessary.
  14. The duties of the Social Coordinator shall be:
    1. Organize and lead the GSA Social Committee, if formed.
    2. Organize social events and activities throughout the year.
    3. Work with other GSA coordinator to organize social events to help meet the goals of the GSA.

Article V. Committees

  1. Committees can be created for addressing issues of the GSA at any time.
  2. A committee shall consist of at least three (3) members of the GSA.
  3. When a committee is formed, members of the committee must immediately select a committee head. The exception is for standing committee chair positions, including the Outreach Coordinator, the Welcome Coordinator, the Seminar Coordinator, and the Social Coordinator.
    1. The responsibility of the committee heads will be to report to the full GSA and Facilitator the activities, concerns, and/or business of the committee.
  4. An ad hoc committee cannot make any binding decisions.
  5. An ad hoc committee is not intended to represent GSA as a whole.
  6. Committees shall be reformed after officer elections each year.

Article VI. Annual Teaching Award

  1. The GSA should vote to give an annual teaching award between weeks five (5) and ten (10) of the spring semester, before the departmental award ceremony.
  2. All faculty members who taught a graduate course, level 500 or above, or a seminar since the end of the previous academic year, will be eligible for the award.
  3. Notification that voting for the teaching award must be disseminated to the membership at least one (1) week before the voting.
  4. Voting shall be conducted by secret ballot.
  5. Each GSA member present may vote for zero, one, two, or three of the candidates.
  6. The top candidate who receives yes votes from at least two thirds (2/3) of the present members will receive an award.

Article VII. How Decisions Are Made

  1. All binding decisions made by the GSA must meet a quorum of the membership:
    1. Quorum is defined as two-thirds (2/3) of the membership in attendance at the first meeting of the year.
    2. The Secretary shall record quorum at the first meeting of the year, and announce before all binding decisions if quorum is present.
  2. All binding decisions must be made according to the following voting procedure:
    1. A member of the GSA may motion to vote on a decision.
    2. If a second member of the GSA motions to vote on the same decision, the following sub-procedure will occur:
      1. The Facilitator will oversee all voting procedures.
      2. Any decision involving a member of the GSA must be voted upon by secret ballot.
      3. The Facilitator, for all decisions not involving a member of the GSA, and unless stated otherwise in this constitution, may select one of the following voting procedures:
        1. Unanimous Consent: the facilitator will ask the GSA if a vote in favor of a decision (i.e. Unanimous Consent) may be made via Unanimous Consent. If one (1) or more members objects to Unanimous Consent, voting will be conducted by secret ballot.
        2. Anonymous Voting: the Facilitator will ask the GSA to close their eyes, and then raise their hands in favor of the decision. The facilitator will ask again for the GSA to close their eyes, and then raise their hands in opposition to the vote. The result of the vote will be determined based on the number of votes in favor of the decision to the number of votes in opposition of the vote. In the event of a tie, voting will be conducted by secret ballot.
        3. Secret Ballot: the Facilitator will distribute blank paper to the GSA membership. The GSA membership will write down their vote on the paper and return the vote to the Facilitator. The Facilitator will count the votes and announce the result of the vote to the GSA membership.
  3. General Student Meetings:
    1. Meetings of the membership shall be held in a location accessible to the membership at least once a month.
    2. The dates of future meetings shall be determined when necessary by the Facilitator.
      1. Announcement of the future time, locations, and agenda of a meeting shall be emailed to the members at least three (3) days in advance.
    3. All binding decisions made by the GSA must take place during a General Student Meeting.
    4. All General Student Meetings must comply with all rules governing GSA meetings as specified in the Constitution and by-laws.
    5. GSA meetings, or portions thereof, may be open or closed to non-members. Only GSA members may vote.
  4. Election of Officers
    1. Elections for officers shall be conducted at a General Student Meeting.
    2. Elections shall be conducted during the spring semester, for the following academic year.
    3. Each GSA member is eligible to one (1) vote per officer, representative, and chair position, except for Faculty Liaison and DEI representative where each member is eligible for two (2) votes.
    4. A GSA Board member is elected if a majority vote is achieved.
    5. If no candidate achieves a majority of votes, then a run-off between the top two (2) candidates shall immediately occur.
    6. The duties of offices left unfilled after the election, or anytime during the term, may be delegated to the elected officers by the Facilitator, until those offices are filled at a future General Student Meeting.
  5. Recall of Officer:
    1. Any GSA member can initiate a recall procedure. To initiate, a member must create a petition stating the reasons for recall, which must be signed by one-fourth (1/4) of the GSA membership.
    2. If the petition is completed, the member must present the petition at the next General Student Meeting.
    3. A special meeting must occur within one to three (1-3) weeks of the academic calendar after a petition is presented.
    4. During the special meeting:
      1. The accuser shall present their complaint.
      2. The accused shall present their defense.
      3. A quorum of GSA members must be present to vote on officer recall. Voting shall be conducted by secret ballot.
      4. The Treasurer will preside over the meeting if the Facilitator is the accused.
      5. If the accused is found guilty and removed, the office shall be filled as in Article VII, section 4, subsection f immediately.
      6. If the accused is acquitted, they shall resume their post.
  6. Resignation of Officer:
    1. An officer may relinquish their position at any time.
    2. An officer may relinquish their position by submitting a resignation letter to the Facilitator. If the Facilitator wishes to resign, they may submit a letter of resignation to the Treasurer.
    3. The vacant office will be filled in accordance to Article VII, section 4, subsection f.

Article VIII. Expenditures

  1. The GSA will maintain a bank account at UW Credit Union.
  2. There will be three signers: the Facilitator, the Treasurer, and one other.
    1. Suggested third signers include: the graduate chair, the department chair, the department administrator, the financial specialist, or another member of the department who has a long-term position.
  3. All checks written by the GSA must have two signers.
  4. The allocation of funds must be approved by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) majority of graduate students present at the time of meeting, unless other external constraints are placed on the monies by the sources.

Article IX. Constitution Ratification and Amendments

  1. Amendments may be made to the Constitution at any time, pending the following conditions are met:
    1. Ratification of amendments must be approved by two-thirds (2/3) of the membership present at a general meeting.
    2. At least one (1) week before the meeting, the full text of the pending amendment(s) shall be distributed to the whole graduate student body through the agenda for the next general meeting.
    3. Voting shall be conducted by secret ballot.
  2. Anything not outlined in the Constitution may be expounded upon in the by-laws.
  3. A simple majority at a GSA meeting may amend by-laws.