The name of this organization shall be the Graduate Student Association, abbreviated as GSA.

ARTICLE 2

The purpose of the GSA is to represent and give voice to the concerns of all graduate students at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). The GSA will work to foster greater participation of the graduate student body in the life of the University, and will serve as a channel of communication between the graduate students and other segments of the University community, such as the faculty and administration.

ARTICLE 3

Membership shall be limited to students either currently enrolled or enrolled in the previous semester at UAH. No further requirement for membership may be imposed. No dues, nor any other membership fee, shall be collected. Each member of the GSA is allowed one vote. Issues subject to a vote shall be posted two weeks prior to voting. Posting is defined as all of the following: emailed to current GSA email list, posted in the GSA Gopher, printed in the Pulse section of the Exponent.

A member may post a vote in the following ways: During the GSA meeting or by email or writing to the GSA Secretary. Absentee votes are receivable from one week prior to the meeting to the moment the vote is taken at the meeting. Email votes are due by noon of the meeting date.

ARTICLE 4

Working Committees: The backbone of the GSA is its working committees. These groups arise when an issue is identified and are dissolved when the issue is resolved. Some committees will be short lived and others will continue indefinitely. Committees will be led by a committee chair, who will report progress to the GSA at meetings. The chair is responsible for forwarding electronic information to the Vice-President for posting.

The administrative officers of the GSA shall be a President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Terms of office shall be for one academic year, beginning in the spring semester. Officers shall be elected in January by majority vote of the current members.

President: The main role of the president is to coordinate the working groups and to administrate the GSA meetings. The president will also act as a liaison to international graduate student organizations. Coordination between these bodies is critical to the mission of the GSA.

Vice-President: The VP will assist the president where necessary. The VP will also organize the flow of information from working groups to the GSA membership by virtue of email and the Pulse section of the Exponent. The VP will work closely with the publicity committee to coordinate public announcements.

Secretary: The secretary will maintain a current membership and committee list, and keep minutes of the meetings. These minutes will be emailed to the Computer committee who will forward them to the GSA email list. The secretary will also monitor the GSA mailbox in the University Center.

Treasurer: The treasurer will manage funds acquired by the GSA.

Department Liaisons: A voluntary liaison is encouraged to exist for each academic department recognized at UAH. The liaison will assist the Publicity Committee in the distribution of announcements for the represented department.

ARTICLE 5

Meetings of the GSA will be held as called by its officers and will be conducted in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order, as deemed necessary by the President.

ARTICLE 6

Amendments to this Constitution may be proposed during meetings of the GSA via petition signed by 10 or more members. Proposed amendments will then be posted via email and discussion shall ensue. The amendment will be recounted at the next following meeting and shall be adopted if approved by the majority of members.

ARTICLE 7

The GSA will nominate members to the Graduate Advisory Council (GAC) by election with the exception that the GSA President will automatically serve on the GAC. The GAC meets regularly with the Dean of Graduate Studies. Ideally, each school (Science, Liberal Arts, Nursing, Engineering, and Administrative Science) will be represented on the GAC.