Chapter 8: Internal Committees

8.01 Definitions
  1. Internal committees shall refer to the following official GSS committees:
    1. Governance Committee
    2. Budget Committee
    3. Committee on Conduct and Discipline
    4. Committee for the Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award (OFA Committee)
    5. Senator Emeritus Committee

8.02 Selection of Internal Committee Members
  1. Members are appointed by the Executive Council and/or their committee Chairs.
  2. Membership in each internal committee will be open to all active members of the body in addition to those directly appointed to the committees via the Executive Council and/or committee Chairs.
  3. All internal committee’s will be composed such that they meet the following minimum requirements: more than one gender identity represented, at least on international and one domestic student represented, and more than one field of study represented. Chairs of committees are not to count to these minimum requirements

8.03 Governance Committee
  1. The committee shall be chaired by the Vice President, whom shall form the committee prior to the third general body meeting and hold the first Governance meeting.
  2. The Chair shall not have a vote unless a tie needs to be broken.
  3. The committee shall enforce the regulations set forth in Chapter 16.
  4. The committee shall always keep an updated R&P Binder in the GSS office.
  5. The committee shall be the official interpreters of the R&P and Constitution of GSS.
  6. The Chair of Governance committee will organize at least one full Governance meeting a month, but are encouraged to meet more as needed.
  7. Governance committee will assist in the writing and technicalities of all resolutions presented from body members to Governance committee. This is meant to act as a review of potential resolutions. Governance may not block resolution unless they are noncompliant with governing doctrine or resolution formatting.
  8. Governance committee will ensure that progress is being made on the implementation of Resolved points in passed resolution. Explanations of changes will be sought after from resolution sponsors if implementation of the resolutions changes or progress is not made.
  9. Governance committee will constantly be seeking avenues by which to advance the legislative agenda of the GSS body in the interest of graduate students
  10. Governance committee is responsible for writing at least one End of the Year Issue Summary regarding their actions and accomplishments as a committee (Chapter 15.09).

8.04 Budget Committee
  1. The committee shall be chaired by the Treasurer, whom shall form the committee prior to the third general body meeting and hold the first Budget meeting.
  2. The Chair shall not have a vote unless a tie needs to be broken.
  3. The committee shall enforce the regulations set forth in Chapter 11.
  4. The Chair of the Budget committee will organize at least one full Budget meeting a month but are encouraged to meet more as needed.
  5. In the event that no budget requests are made of GSS within the month, the Budget meeting will meet to discuss sponsoring other events currently occurring or planning to occur on campus to fund.
  6. Budget committee should seek these events based on the applicability to graduate students and visibility that would be provided to GSS.
  7. Budget committee will be responsible for the logistic implementation of the OWG and Travel grants every semester. Budget committee members do not need to serve as reviewers but should act as organizers of the grant review and act at the discretion of the Treasurer.
  8. Budget committee will work in conjunction with the Treasurer, OWG reviewers, and the Graduate College to improve and clarify the guidelines of the OWG.
  9. Budget committee will constantly be searching for other funding sources that GSS and graduate students can benefit from.
  10. Budget committee is responsible for writing at least one End of the Year Issue Summary regarding their actions and accomplishments as a committee (Chapter 15.09).

8.05 Committee on Conduct and Discipline
  1. The committee shall be chaired by the Vice President.
  2. The Chair shall not have a vote unless a tie needs to be broken.
  3. The committee shall enforce the regulations set forth in Chapter 12.

8.06 Committee for the Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award (OFA Committee)
  1. The committee shall be chaired by a graduating member of GSS.
  2. The Chair shall not have a vote unless a tie needs to be broken.
  3. The Chair and committee shall be selected by the Executive Council no later than the second week of the spring semester.
  4. The committee shall create, review, and finalize an application for candidates for the Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award. The committee shall use the application from previous years for guidance.
  5. The committee shall make the application available to the public no later than week four of spring semester.
  6. The application shall be due no later than week seven, and a decision by the committee shall be made and reported to the Graduate College no later than week eight.
  7. The committee members shall not submit an application.

8.07 Senator Emeritus Committee
  1. A committee shall be selected no later than the second general body meeting by the Executive Council. The committee shall have a Chair and a minimum of four additional members. All committee members must be current GSS members and not graduating that same spring semester.
  2. The committee shall have the authority to make recommendations for the Executive Emeritus, Senator Emeritus and Graduating Senator awards.
  3. The committee shall have the authority to determine the number of awards provided and the recipients of those awards.
  4. The committee shall issue applications for the awards no later than the tenth week of spring semester.
  5. A minimum of two weeks, from the date of availability, or longer will be granted for application submission as deemed appropriate by the GSS Emeritus & Awards Committee.
  6. With the approval of the Executive Council, the committee will determine the date and manner of awarding the Executive Emeritus, Senator Emeritus and Graduating Senator awards.
  7. The committee shall use the time period between the closure of the awards application submission and determined award date to analyze and create the resolution for the awards in the next general body meeting.

8.08 Orientation, Training, and Engagement Committee
  1. The committee shall be chaired by the Treasurer, who shall form and hold the meetings and the responsibilities that are listed below.
  2. Membership of the committee should be primarily composed of individuals within the body who have spent at least one year as an active body member prior the year the orientation is initially held.
  3. Orientation/Training of new GSS body members shall meet the following criteria.
    1. The training shall be held over 2-days and shall be held prior to or in concurrence with the first GSS general body meeting.
    2. Space will be provided for introductions. Body members will be able to provide preferred names and pronouns but will not be required to do so.
    3. After introductions, presentation of GSS history and last year’s major policy projects and wins will be given.
    4. Following GSS history and projects, a community building activity of the committee’s choice will be conducted amongst body members.
    5. Lunch shall be provided to all participants at the cost of GSS or other university partners.
    6. Smaller group discussions will be conducted amongst Senators, Representatives, and Commissioners
    7. Day 2 of orientation should focus on policy and process as it relates to the functioning of GSS.
    8. Diversity and Inclusivity training will also be conducted on the second day of training. This can be conducted by an on-campus representative or by a GSS member. Topics covered should at least include pronoun usage, unconscious bias,
  4. Individuals that work on the GSS training prior to the start of the Fall semester (excluding the Treasurer) will have such work count as their full committee requirements due to the unusual timing of the work outside of an active school year.
  5. A more condensed orientation shall be held in the spring semester at the committee’s discretion to orient body members appointed during the year
  6. More explicit guidelines of how to conduct orientation of new members can be found in Appendix F.