SIPGSO Constitution
The Pennsylvania State University Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese Graduate Student Organization (SIPGSO) December 3, 2003
ARTICLE I - PURPOSE
Section A
The purpose of the SIPGSO is to provide a forum for graduate students in the department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese to discuss and educate members about issues which directly affect them both as Graduate Students and Teaching Assistants. These may include but are not limited to:
- teaching assignments
- department regulations
- academic program and teaching administration concerns
- opportunities available for graduate students at PSU
Section B
The SIPGSO will also strive to create a more cohesive group of graduate students (i.e., the mentoring of new students by more advanced students) as well as better communication between graduate students and faculty and administration.
ARTICLE II - MEMBERSHIP
Section A
Membership shall be divided into active and associate members.
- Active members shall include currently enrolled graduate students in the Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese at the University Park Campus
- Associate members shall include all other members. Associate members shall not hold office, vote, officially represent the organization or solicit funds on campus on behalf of the organization
- SIPGSO does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, physical handicap, age or sexual orientation
Section B
Membership in SIPGSO shall not be contingent on payment of dues unless approved by majority vote.
ARTICLE III - OFFICERS
Section A
Only full-time, officially registered students shall be eligible to serve as appointed or elected officers
Section B
The offices shall be as follows:
- One (1) President
- One (1) Vice-President
- One (1) Secretary
- One (1) Treasurer
- One (1) GSA Representative
- Two (2) Representatives to the Department's Faculty Committee, one of whom will be a linguistics student and the other a literature student
- One (1) Representative to the International Programs Committee
- One (1) Representative to the Faculty Activities Committee
- Two (2) Representatives to the Graduate Committee, one of whom will be a linguistics student and the other a literature student
In order to be eligible for an office of the Executive Committee, a student must be a full-time, officially registered student at University Park who at least in his/her second semester of study in the department. Representatives must also be full-time, officially registered students but can hold the position in any semester of study.
The president and vice-president are ineligible to hold representative positions during their term of elected office. In cases where there are not enough nominees to fill all the positions on the executive committee and the representative positions, the secretary and treasurer, may hold one of the representative positions in addition to their position on the executive committee.
In addition, if a representative must miss a meeting, a substitute may attend in his/her place, provided the substitute comes from the same field, literature or linguistics, as the representative. If a representative misses more than two meetings of his/her committee, a replacement shall be elected following the procedure in Section C.
Executive Committee:
- The President of the SIPGSO shall preside over meetings, appoint committees and have the authority and responsibility of conducting the activities of SIPGSO with consent of membership.
- The Vice-president shall assist the President in his/her duties and shall assume the duties of the President in his/her absence or incapacity. The Vice-president shall assist the President in presiding over general meetings.
- The Secretary shall be responsible for all correspondence, recordings, reports of minutes and announcements that may be required by the members and officers of SIPGSO. The Secretary shall also be responsible in maintaining the organization’s LIST-SERVE, collect nominations during elections, and distribute information regarding SIPGSO and faculty committee meetings to the membership and appropriate representatives, respectively.
- The Treasurer shall be responsible for maintaining all financial records, collections and disbursement of funds and preparation of financial reports. The treasurer shall also be responsible for investigating possible sources of funding and for bringing these sources to the attention of the group.
Representatives:
- The GSA Representative shall serve as a liaison between the Department's graduate students and the University's Graduate Student Association. They will report pertinent information received at GSA meetings and pass along important regarding events, etc. of said organization.
- The two (2) Representatives to the Faculty meetings will serve as a liaison between said Faculty Committee and the SIPGSO. They will provide reports of current issues being discussed by the committee and related graduate student concerns discussed in the SIPGSO to the faculty. One representative shall be a student in the area of linguistics and the other a student in the area of literature. These representatives shall share one vote on decisions reached by the faculty, and it shall be decided by vote at SIPGSO general elections which of these representatives will carry the official vote to the faculty. Issues that will be brought to vote at faculty meetings will be presented first to SIPGSO via the listserv, and the representatives will vote according to the majority opinion as voiced by those who respond to these announcements. The representatives will not attend meetings or vote on issues related to personnel, as in tenure reviews, hiring, and issues concerning individual graduate students.
- The representative to the International Programs Committee will attend meetings with the purpose of keeping SIPGSO informed with regard to developments in PSU’s programs abroad and the opportunities for graduate students to participate in those activities. This representative will also make the interests of graduate students and SIPGSO heard at these meetings.
- The representative to the activities committee will be responsible for attending the meetings of the departmental activities committee, and reporting to the secretary of SIPGSO the proceedings of said meetings, so that the secretary may advise SIPGSO members via the list serve. This representative will also collect proposals from the SIPGSO membership for scholars they would like to invite to give presentations at PSU and will prepare the necessary documentation regarding such potential invitees in order to present this information to the activities committee and contact the person in question.
- The two representatives to the graduate committee will attend meetings of this committee and report to SIPGSO about its activities. They will also bring SIPGSO concerns to the attention of the committee and represent the interests of the graduate students to this body. They will not be involved in meetings about personnel issues or questions involving individual graduate students.
Section C
In the event that an office becomes vacant, nominations will be taken at the meeting immediately following the announcement of the vacancy. Elections will be held at this meeting and will follow procedures as listed in Article VIII.
ARTICLE IV - MEETINGS
Section A
The SIPGSO shall hold a minimum of two meetings per semester. General meetings will take place only during the fall and spring academic semesters.
Section B
The President and Vice-President shall determine meeting dates and frequency of meetings, while remaining open to requests from members for special meetings.
Section C
Under special circumstances (i.e., issues requiring immediate action) the executive committee may choose to call special meetings. If a member of SIPGSO who is not part of the executive committee wishes to call a special meeting, s/he should speak with the president or vice-president in order to schedule the meeting.
Section D
The Secretary shall notify members of regular and special meetings via the LIST-SERVE at least one week in advance.
ARTICLE V - VOTING
Section A
A simple majority of those active members present shall be sufficient to decide an issue before the SIPGSO.
ARTICLE VI - FINANCES
Section A
All funds of the SIPGSO shall be deposited and handled through the Office of Associated Student Activities (ASA).
Section B
Expenditures in excess of $75.00 must be presented to the membership for approval prior to expenditure. The Treasurer and at least one other member of the executive committee shall approve all other expenses.
Section C
The Treasurer shall be responsible for submitting a budget request to the Student Organization Budget Committee (SOBC) each spring semester, if SIPGSO wishes to apply for funding from this source. The yearly budget shall be presented to and approved by the members as defined in Article V prior to submission.
ARTICLE VII - ADVISOR
Section A
Due to the nature of the SIPGSO, the organization will not be required to have a faculty or staff advisor. Membership may, however, decide by majority vote to select an advisor.
Section B
Should the general membership wish to have an advisor he/she must be a member of the Perm State Faculty or Staff. It is advisable that an advisor not be a faculty member in the Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.
ARTICLE VIII - ELECTIONS
Section A
Elections will be held in March of every year.
Section B
Nominations for officers and representatives shall be accepted beginning two weeks before the last regular meeting and will close immediately prior to the election. Nominations from the floor will be accepted at the election.
Section C
Votes will be submitted by written ballot. An election committee of three to five members (only one of whom may be an officer or representative) selected by the executive committee, in addition to the President, shall conduct elections, count votes and name the newly elected officers. No individual involved in conducting elections may be a potential candidate.
Section D
A simple majority of those present shall be sufficient to elect a candidate. In the event no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, a runoff election between the top two candidates will be held immediately.
Section E
The officers and representatives shall be elected to serve for a term not to exceed one year. New officers will begin their term of service on the day after the last day of classes of the spring semester in which they are elected, and will serve until the last day of classes of the following spring semester.
Section F
Officers may serve for unlimited consecutive terms, provided they are reelected each year.
ARTICLE IX - AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
Section A
This constitution can be amended at any general meeting by a two-thirds majority vote provided that the proposed amendment has been submitted in writing to all general members prior to the meeting.
Section B
Any active member may propose an amendment to the constitution. Proposed amendments should be submitted in writing to a member of the executive committee (preferably the secretary) who will make all active members aware of the amendment and the date that the vote will take place.
Section B
The Judiciary Committee of the Graduate Student Association must approve all amendments to this Constitution.
ARTICLE X - PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall govern SIPGSO in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are consistent with this Constitution and any special rules of order SIPGSO may adopt.
ARTICLE XI - ACCESSIBILITY OF THIS CONSTITUTION
Copies of this Constitution are available to anyone upon request, and on the SIPGSO website in both English and Spanish.
