The official name of this organization shall be the Graduate Student Council of Dartmouth College, heretofore known as the Graduate Student Council (GSC).
GSC membership shall include graduate student representatives enrolled in Ph.D. or Masters programs at Dartmouth College from the following: School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, Thayer School of Engineering, and The Dartmouth Institute.
Graduate students within each department shall elect representation according to the procedure outlined in Article VI. Departments shall be entitled to one representative for every 25 graduate students enrolled in that department, such that departments with up to 25 graduate students shall elect one representative, departments with up to 50 graduate students shall elect two representatives, and so forth, to a maximum of four representatives.
A representative may resign by informing the Communications Chair(s) in writing of their intent to resign. The representative shall be considered resigned from the GSC immediately upon submission of the resignation.
Dismissal
Members may have their membership withdrawn for failure to adhere to the requirements for membership as stated in the Constitution or Bylaws.
A supermajority vote of two-thirds quorum at a regular or special meeting shall be sufficient to withdraw membership.
Members to be voted upon in this regard will be notified of the intention to do so in writing at least one week prior to the meeting at which the vote will be taken.
Automatic Dismissal
Any member who does not attend three meetings in a row, and does not respond to emails from the executive board regarding their absence, will be automatically dismissed (note that sending a proxy counts as attending a meeting).
The GSC shall call for nominations from the department again and elect a new member before the next general body meeting. If the department fails to elect a representative, the GSC has the power to appoint a representative from that department (as given in Section C.1.e. of the Bylaws).
A member who has been automatically dismissed has a 14-day window after being notified of their dismissal to appeal. They may request to be reinstated by emailing the executive board to explain their absence and then appearing at the next general body meeting.
A member who was dismissed and then reinstated must follow the guidelines set out in Section C.1.f. of the Bylaws for the remainder of the year.
Dartmouth prohibits any form of discrimination against any person on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, national origin, citizenship, disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other legally protected status in the administration of and access to the College's programs and activities.
Hazing is strictly prohibited at Dartmouth College, by both College policy and New Hampshire law. Dartmouth College is first and foremost an educational institution. College hazing prevention policies and response procedures for hazing incidents are based on that educational mission. Hazing practices within the Graduate Student Council are prohibited pursuant to New Hampshire state law and Dartmouth College Policy.
Elected officers shall consist of: President, Vice President, Finance Officer, Communications Chair(s), the Chair(s) of the Committee for Addressing Racism and Equity, Academic Chair, Student Life Chair(s), Service Chair, External Affairs Chairs, and Social Chair(s).
The President shall chair all meetings of the GSC and shall call special meetings as needed. The President shall vote on GSC matters only in the case of a tie.
The Vice President shall oversee any ad hoc committees or task forces of the organization.
The Finance Officer shall maintain records and report on the financial transactions of the GSC.
The Communications Chair(s) shall take, record, and file meetings minutes.
To conduct business at any regular or special meeting, a quorum of voting membership must be present. A quorum shall be defined as one-half of the minimum GSC membership plus one, where the minimum GSC membership is defined as one representative from each department.
Should the GSC be unable to make quorum at a given meeting, they may elect to grant attending, non-voting members voting rights for the current meeting with a two-thirds vote of the present members.
All voting members of the General Council will sit on one of the following standing committees, chaired by their respective executive officer: Communications Committee, the Committee for Addressing Racism and Equity (CARE), Academic Committee, Student Life Committee, Service Committee, External Affairs Committee, and Social Committee.
Board members shall assist the Chair in the pursuit of their respective duties as outlined in the Bylaws.
Board members shall report directly to their Chair. Each Chair shall report directly to the President.
Ad Hoc committees may be appointed by a majority vote of the quorum at a regular meeting of the GSC. Recurring Ad Hoc committees do not need to be voted on each year.
In appointing such committees, GSC members must specify the purpose and chair of that committee, and establish its duration.
Committee chairs shall report directly to the Vice President.
The GSC shall elect graduate student representatives to College committees, referred to as external committees.
The GSC must vote to create the position of external committee representative before holding nominations for that position.
Once created, the position must be advertised to the larger graduate student body for the duration of time until the upcoming General Council Meeting, at which elections for that position will be held.
Any graduate student at Dartmouth College shall be eligible to serve on an external committee. No student may serve as representative to more than one College committee, unless no other eligible person is willing to serve.
The candidate receiving a plurality of votes shall serve as the representative on that committee.
If a position on an external committee must be filled before the next regular meeting, the Executive Board shall appoint a representative to that committee.
Representatives to external committees are elected for one year terms, unless otherwise specified by the external committee procedures, in which case the term of office specified by the external committee shall be observed. After the appropriate term of office, the positions as representatives to external committees are open for general election at the next regular meeting. Representatives may run for reelection.
Representatives to external committees shall deliver a report to the GSC at least once per academic year.
The Assistant Dean of Graduate Student Affairs, or an alternate designee as indicated by the Dean of the School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, shall serve as the primary advisor to the GSC.
The GSC may, by a majority vote of membership, appoint other persons to serve as special advisors to the GSC on an ad-hoc basis for a designated period of time.
Officers should meet with the advisor at least once per term.
An advisor may not vote in GSC matters or hold office. All GSC decisions shall remain subject to the processes and procedures outlined in the GSC Constitution and Bylaws.
Proposals for amendments to the Constitution must be presented in writing to the President, and made available to the General Council at least one week prior to the next regular meeting. Proposals will be presented and discussed at the next regular meeting following submission.
