Michigan State University
Department of Community Sustainability

Graduate Student Organization

 

 

Article I – Name and Purpose

 

Section 1.  The name of the organization shall be: “The Department of Community Sustainability (CSUS) Graduate Student Organization”.

 

Section 2. The purpose of the organization shall be: “To engage CSUS graduate students in valuable co-curricular experiences that foster a sense of community with a shared vision of a sustainable world”.

 

 

Article II - Membership

 

Section 1.  Membership is open to and automatically includes all currently enrolled graduate students in the Department of Community Sustainability. Membership does not require participation, dues, or any other obligations for these individuals. The organization will promptly honor any requests for abdication.

 

Section 2.  The organization will not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, age, gender, gender identity, disability, height, marital status, political persuasion, sexual orientation, veteran status, or weight in its programs and activities. Only currently enrolled MSU graduate students may be officers or voting members.

 

 

Article III - Officers

 

Section 1.  Officers shall serve for one year, starting the second Monday of April. Officer positions shall include the following. 

 

1. A Coordinator

2. A Co-Coordinator

3. A Finance Coordinator

4. An International Students Liaison 

5. A CSUS Graduate Affairs and Curriculum Committee (GACC) Liaison 

6. A University Council of Graduate Students (COGS) Representative 

7. A Faculty Liaison 

8. A Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC) Representative 

 

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Section 2.  Officers shall be nominated (by self or others) from within the organization’s membership. All nominations shall be confirmed with the nominees for them to become candidates. Members shall have not less than one week from the time of distribution to submit nominations. All members shall be entitled to 1 vote in elections. Elections shall be held electronically. Members shall have not less than one week from the time of distribution to cast their vote. A simple majority will determine the winner. In the case of a tie vote, candidates shall be given the opportunity to 1) agree to share equitably the duties of office or 2) agree to split the term of office between two six month periods. If such an agreement cannot be reached, a meeting of the membership shall be held exactly one week from the close of voting, and secret ballot voting shall be conducted by those present at the meeting until such time as a majority is reached.

 

First-year graduate students starting in the Fall semester also have the option to become an officer. If there are vacant officer positions, they can fill the position. If there are no vacant positions, the student and Coordinator should discuss other roles the student can have.

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Members may not hold multiple offices, a nominee cannot run for more than one of the officer positions, and may not accept more than one officer position. In the case of an unfilled position after the initial election, an officer may temporarily fulfill the role of a second officer position until a permanent officer is identified for the empty position. 

Vacant positions may be filled at any time throughout the year, but such terms will end on the second Monday of April. Any person wanting to fill a vacant position throughout the year must declare their intentions to the Coordinator.

 

A transition meeting shall be held with the outgoing and incoming officers not less than one week before the start of the new officers’ terms. During this meeting, outgoing officers shall inform the incoming officers of relevant information including but not limited to general processes, current projects, and how to access GSO resources (such as the CSUS GSO Google Drive account). See Appendix 1 for suggested tasks to be completed during transition.

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Section 3.   

 

The responsibilities of the Coordinator shall include:

1) Ensuring that meetings are held regularly; 2) acting as facilitator of meetings, listing agenda items, and ensuring equity and balance (see Article IV); 3) ensuring that all administrative issues essential to the function of the organization are addressed at meetings in an efficient and timely manner; 4) responding to members requests for redress, discussion, or reporting of personal, academic or procedural issues to relevant parties within the organization, faculty, departmental administration, or University administration with due discretion (anonymously if requested); 5) coordinating meetings with prospective and incoming students; and 6) working in close partnership with the Co-Coordinator to accomplish tasks.

 

The responsibilities of the Co-Coordinator shall include:

1) Coordinating the facilitation of social events by identifying individuals or groups who will take responsibility for this function on an ad-hoc basis; 2) engage with members through the CSUS GSO social media accounts; 3) maintain the GSO website; 4) compile notes from monthly meetings and make them available to all members (for example, through the CSUS graduate student email list or GSO website); 5) assuming the duties of the Coordinator upon request (given sufficient notice) when the Coordinator is not available to perform them; and 6) working in close partnership with the Coordinator to accomplish tasks.

 

The responsibilities of the Finance Coordinator shall include:

1) Accounting for monetary expenditures and receipts; 2) Maintaining and reporting on the financial records of the organization; 3) Administration of banking and accounting procedures in accordance with University rules and the decisions of the organization (such as keeping records of and coordinating which members are “authorized signers” for the account); and 4) File income taxes in April (if income was made and if not actively Tax Exempt).

 

The responsibilities of the International Students Liaison shall include:

1) Leading efforts to help welcome, orient, and ease the transition of new international students (for example, updating and distributing the CSUS GSO “Unofficial Guide to MSU” to new students in a timely manner); 2) Identifying the unique cultural, academic, bureaucratic, and logistical needs and challenges of international students within the department; 3) Increase awareness and amelioration of these issues; 4) Helping to facilitate social and intellectual interaction between international students and their peers within the department (for example, coordination and planning of the annual International Dinner).

 

The responsibilities of the GACC Liaison shall include:

1) Attending GACC meetings and sharing CSUS graduate student concerns, perspectives, and activities with GACC; 2) Reporting relevant issues to CSUS graduate students and soliciting their opinions when necessary; and 3) Working in collaboration with GACC members to organize and plan workshops (for example, Lunch and Learns and RCR trainings).

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The responsibilities of the COGS Representative shall include:

1) Attending COGS meetings and sharing CSUS student concerns, perspectives, and activities with COGS; 2) Reporting relevant issues to CSUS graduate students and soliciting their opinions when necessary; 3) Advocating for CSUS graduate students rights within the university; and 4) Helping to facilitate interaction between CSUS graduate students and those from other departments.

 

The responsibilities of the Faculty Liaison shall include:

1) Attending faculty meetings and representing CSUS graduate students perspectives when necessary; and 2) Reporting relevant issues to CSUS graduate students and soliciting their opinions when necessary 

 

The responsibilities of the SSLC Representative shall include: 

1) Attending weekly SSLC meetings and sharing CSUS student concerns, perspectives, and activities related to sustainability issues; 2) Reporting relevant issues to CSUS graduate students and soliciting their opinions when necessary; 3) Collaborating with other SSLC representatives to develop sustainability-focused programs, events, and campaigns 4) Helping to facilitate interactions between CSUS graduate students and other SSLC representatives.

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The responsibilities of the DEI Representative shall include: 
1) Attending monthly DEI meetings and sharing CSUS student concerns, perspectives, and activities related to sustainability issues; 2) Reporting relevant issues to CSUS graduate students and soliciting their opinions when necessary; 3) Collaborating with other DEI committee members to foster a diverse community that promotes trusting relationships, active engagement across differences, inclusion, and a sense of security and belonging.  4) Helping to facilitate interactions between CSUS graduate students and other DEI committee members.

Section 4.  An officer may be removed only by vote of the general membership in which a simple majority of ballots cast support such action. A tie vote will be considered insufficient for removal. Such a vote may be initiated by a 2/3 majority vote within an official organization meeting in which a quorum exists. Voting will follow the same procedures outlined in Section 2 regarding officer elections. 

 

 

Article IV – Operating Procedures

 

Section 1.  Meetings will be held monthly over the academic year including the months September, October, November, January, February, March, and April. Monthly meetings will not be required during the months of December, June, July, or August. 

 

Section 2.  Meetings shall be open to all members of the organization, and each member shall have equal privilege in adding agenda items, participating in discussion, and expressing opinions.  A quorum shall consist of at least 5 organization members including at least 2 officers.  Organizational decisions (other than officer elections and approval of constitutional amendments) require quorum, and shall be made by “consensus”. 

 

“Consensus” consists of general agreement among the members of a given group or community, each of which exercises some discretion in decision making and follow-up action.  Achieving consensus requires serious treatment of every group member's considered opinion. Once a decision is made it is important to trust in members' discretion in follow-up action. In the ideal case, those who wish to take up some action want to hear those who oppose it, because they count on the fact that the ensuing debate will improve the consensus. In theory, action without resolution of considered opposition will be rare and done with attention to minimize damage to relationships.  A basic outline of the consensus process is as follows:

 

1. Discussion of the item: The item is discussed with the goal of identifying opinions and information on the topic at hand. The general direction of the group and potential proposals for action are often identified during the discussion.

2. Formation of a proposal: Based on the discussion, a formal decision proposal on the issue is presented to the group.

3. Call for consensus: The facilitator of the decision-making body calls for consensus on the proposal. Each member of the group usually must actively state their agreement with the proposal, often by using a hand gesture or raising a colored card, to avoid the group from interpreting silence or inaction as agreement.

4. Identification and addressing of concerns: If consensus is not achieved, each dissenter presents his or her concerns on the proposal, potentially starting another round of discussion to address or clarify the concern.

5. Modification of the proposal: The proposal is amended, re-phrased or ridered in an attempt to address the concerns of the decision-makers. The process then returns to the call for consensus and the cycle is repeated until a satisfactory decision is made.

 

Although the consensus decision-making process should, ideally, identify and address concerns and reservations early, proposals do not always garner full consensus from the decision-making body. When a call for consensus on a motion is made, a dissenting delegate has one of three options:

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• Declare reservations: Group members who are willing to let a motion pass but desire to register their concerns with the group may choose "declare reservations." If there are significant reservations about a motion, the decision-making body may choose to modify or re-word the proposal.

• Stand aside: A "stand aside" may be registered by a group member who has a "serious personal disagreement" with a proposal, but is willing to let the motion pass. Although stand asides do not halt a motion, it is often regarded as a strong "nay vote" and the concerns of group members standing aside are usually addressed by modifications to the proposal. Stand asides may also be registered by users who feel they are incapable of adequately understanding or participating in the proposal.

• Block: Any group member may "block" a proposal. Blocks are generally considered to be an extreme measure, only used when a member feels a proposal "endanger[s] the organization or its participants, or violate[s] the mission of the organization" (i.e., a principled objection).

Retrieved October 8, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus_decision-making.

 

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Article V - Amendments

 

Section 1.  Any member of the organization may propose amendments to this constitution.

 

Section 2.  Amendments may be made through the consensus process when membership quorum exists (See Article IV, Section 2).

 

Section 3.  Amendments must be ratified by a vote of the general membership in which a majority of electronic votes indicate support for such action. A tie vote will be considered insufficient to amend. All members shall be entitled to 1 vote. Elections shall be held electronically. Members shall have not less than one week from the time of distribution. A simple majority will determine the outcome. In the case of a tie vote, a meeting of the membership shall be held exactly one week from the close of voting, and secret ballot voting shall be conducted by those present at the meeting until such time as a majority is reached. 

 

Article VI - Appendix

 

Includes a suggested annual GSO timeline and task list to follow. Contains additional information about critical steps that must be taken during the officer transition period. Located on the GSO Google Drive (access available to officers)

 

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Created October, 2007.

Updated October 2015, August 2017, and February 2021.