PPPMB GSA CONTITUTION

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Article I. Name

Section I.1 The official name of this organization is the ‘Plant Pathology Graduate Student Association’, herein written as the GSA.

Article II. Objectives

Section II.1 The objectives of the GSA are to represent and promote the professional activities of graduate students, and to facilitate communication among graduate students and between graduate students and faculty of the Field of Plant Pathology at Cornell University.

Article III. Composition

Section III.1 The GSA is comprised of a general membership body consisting of all interested Cornell Plant Pathology graduate students and those students working on a graduate degree under a faculty member with an appointment in the Field of Plant Pathology, and of the Executive Council, herein by written as EC. The EC is further defined in Section 3.02 of Article III. The GSA is further subdivided into Committees, as defined in Section 3.03 of Article III.

Section III.2 The EC: The EC consists of five elected members from the GSA. These elected positions and their responsibilities are further defined:

(a) President: The President of the GSA presides over meeting of the GSA and represents the students when called upon by members of the Field of Plant Pathology. The President also may not vote unless to break a tie.

(b) Vice-President: The Vice-President of the GSA presides over meetings of the GSA when the President is unable. The Vice-President also aids the president when called upon. The Vice-President is acting President in case the President is unable to fulfill their duties. The Vice-President shall serve as the Plant Pathology GSA representative to the School of Integrative Plant Science Graduate Student Council (SIPS GSC) and shall coordinate communication with other SIPS GSAs when appropriate.

(c) Secretary: The Secretary records the minutes of the meetings, distributes reports, and conducts elections and correspondence designated by the GCS. The Secretary is acting President in case the President and Vice-President are unable to fulfill the duty. The Secretary is responsible for activities associated with solicitation, review, and selection of awardees of the Outstanding Service Award, as detailed in Article VI, Section VI.4

(d) Treasurer: The Treasurer records all financial transactions, coordinates all funding and fundraising activities of the GSA and assists the President in preparing and defending the GSA budget before the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Finance Commission. The Treasurer must submit a ledger upon request of the President or the EC. The Treasurer is acting President in case the President, Vice-President, and Secretary are unable to fulfill the duty.

(e) The Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GPSA) Representative: The GPSA representative attends all GPSA meetings and reports concerns, suggestion and questions of the GSA at these meetings, and keeps the GSA informed of the GPSA activities.

Section III.3 The GSA forms committees as necessary for temporary (limit 1 year) purposes. Any additional permanent committees will need to be added in the form of an Amendment to the Constitution. All committees must have members who represent both the Ithaca and Geneva Departments of Plant Pathology, with the exception of the Social Committee, which may consist of entirely Ithaca-based students. All committees are volunteer-based, but should consist of at least three members. Unless the committee description indicates otherwise, committee chairs will be chosen by the committee upon formation and will be approved by the GSA. Each member of the EC must serve on a minimum of one committee.

(a) Colloquium Committee: The Colloquium Committee handles all arrangements for one or more of the annual GSA sponsored Colloquium speakers.

(b) New Student Committee: The outgoing New Student Committee assigns current graduate students as mentors to incoming new students, updates the New Student Handbook and sends the handbook out to incoming new students by June 1st of each year. The incoming New Student Committee works with the Director of Graduate Studies to organize an orientation program for incoming students. Plant Pathology Graduate Student Association Constitution

(c) Prospective Student Committee: The Prospective Student Committee meets with the Director of Graduate Studies to organize an orientation and program for visiting prospective students.

(d) The Social Committee: The Social Committee organizes social activities each semester for the GSA. The committee also organizes activities when requested by the Field or either Department, in addition to activities with an inter-departmental origin.

(e) The Fundraising Committee: The Fundraising Committee coordinates at least one event or sale per year to benefit the GSA. The Treasurer is the default chair of this committee, but may choose to yield the chair to a member of the GSA approved by the GSA. In that case, the Treasurer must remain a member of this committee.

(f) The Sustainability Committee: The Sustainability Committee liaisons with the Horticulture Sustainability Committee, and any other sustainability-focused group decided on by the members of the GSA’s Sustainability Committee, to develop and maintain educational materials and programs to decrease waste and energy use from campus activities.

Article IV. Elections

Section IV.1 Elections are to be held yearly before the Spring commencement weekend and will cover all offices of the EC detailed in Section 3.02.

Section IV.2 Members elected to the EC may not hold the same elected office for more than two consecutive years.

Section IV.3 In the event of a resignation of a EC member, the GSA shall hold an election meeting within 1 month, to vote for an immediate position fulfillment. This acting Council Officer will remain a member of the GSC until the subsequent spring elections. A temporary officer will still be eligible to serve for two additional terms at that Office.

Article V. Meetings and Voting Definitions

Section V.1 Meetings

(a) General meeting of the EC and the GSA will be convened when there is business to be conducted. Plant Pathology Graduate Student Association Constitution

(b) Within one month after general elections, the newly elected EC Officials will meet with previous EC Officials for the purpose of transferring of responsibilities.

(c) An announcement of all GSA meetings will be posted at least 72 hours before the meeting convenes.

(d) GSA meetings are open to all GSA members.

Section V.2 Voting Privileges and Requirements

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(a) Resident voting members are defined as those students receiving a degree from the Field of Plant Pathology, based in Ithaca or Geneva. Any students abroad, or located at a research station other than Geneva, or who are receiving their degree from a different department do not have voting privileges, though they are members of the GSA.

(b) Any resolution or general vote presented at a meeting will require a majority vote to pass. This vote will be conducted and determined by those resident voting members who are present at that meeting.

Article VI. The Outstanding Service Award

Section VI.1 Description of the Outstanding Service Award

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(a) This award will be presented by the PPPMB GSA to a member of the PPPMB graduate student body in recognition for outstanding contributions to the advancement of PPPMB graduate students.

Section VI.2 History of the Outstanding Service Award

"This award was created in April of 2018 in honor of Morgan E. Carter, who served as President of the PPPMB GSA from 2016 to 2018. Morgan’s commitment to advance the interests of the PPPMB graduate student body went above and beyond the call of her office. During her tenure as President, Morgan worked tirelessly to advocate for the interests of the PPPMB student body. She was directly involved in the forming of the Graduate Student Council in order to create a centralized voice for graduate students from different sections, advocated for student involvement in the faculty hiring process, facilitated opportunities for PPPMB graduate students to engage with academic and industry professionals to explore future careers, and much more. Morgan’s reliability, Plant Pathology Graduate Student Association Constitution dependability, and selfless efforts reflected her devotion to improving the lives of current and future graduate students."

Section VI.3 Criteria for nomination for the Outstanding Service Award

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(a) Any person may nominate another person for the award; however, no person may self-nominate.

(b) Nominees must be, or have been, a member of the PPPMB graduate student body.

(c) Nominees must have demonstrated a selfless commitment to serving the interests of the PPPMB graduate student body and have made a significant contribution to the advancement of the interests of PPPMB graduate students.

Section VI.4 Solicitation, review, and selection of recipients of the award

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(a) To preserve the integrity of the award, it should be noted that the award need not be given annually, but only under conditions which reflect the spirit of the award; that being a demonstrated selfless commitment to serving the interests of the PPPMB graduate student body, and a significant contribution to the advancement of the interests of PPPMB graduate students.

(b) The Secretary will be responsible for soliciting nominations for the award annually if none are presented.

(c) Nominations will be presented to the Secretary and voted on by the Executive Committee; the awardee must receive a majority of the vote.

(d) If a member of the Executive Committee has either nominated, or been nominated, that member is not eligible to vote.

Article VII. Constitutional Changes

Section VII.1 All proposed amendments to the Constitution must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the resident voting GSA membership.

Section VII.2 Proposals for amendments to the Constitution must be submitted in writing to the EC.

Section VII.3 No vote on any proposed amendment may be taken in less than seven days after the amendment has been submitted in writing to the GSA from the EC.

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