EGSA Constitution
Article 1 - Name
1. This organization shall be called the Cornell University Engineering Graduate Student Association, also known as Cornell University EGSA. In this constitution and the EGSA Bylaws it is referred to as the "Association" or the "EGSA."
Article 2 - Purpose
1. The Association is organized and will be operated exclusively for educational and scientific purposes. These purposes are specifically:
- To promote an increased knowledge of and greater interest in the scientific community.
- To promote greater interest in science and engineering.
- To promote educational, professional and social interactions among engineering graduate students and faculty.
2. The methods for achieving these purposes may include, but are not restricted to, holding of meetings for the presentation and discussion of engineering both on the academic and the corporate level, guest lectures, social events, student-faculty luncheons, publication of newsletters, corporate information sessions and a mentorship program to assist incoming graduate students in engineering.
3. This Association will serve students at Cornell University and other interested persons in the Cornell community.
Article 3 - Membership
1. Eligibility. Any person may become a member of the Association upon approval by the Executive Board. Approval generally requires graduate student status in the College of Engineering, active participation in the EGSA, and subscription to the electronic mailing list egsamembers-l@cornell.edu.
2. A member of the Association may be suspended or expelled for demonstrating lack of integrity or for other reasonable cause after a hearing of the case before the Executive Board.
3. Membership Changes. All persons who were members before this section became part of the constitution remain members as now defined in the constitution.
Article 4 - Officers
1. The Officers of this Association shall be: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Web Administrator.
2. All officers of the Association must be members of EGSA and full-time graduate students at Cornell University.
3. The officers shall be elected by a plurality of the votes cast at the annual Officer Election meeting held at the end of the fall semester. They shall take office in January and serve until their successors take office.
4. No member may serve in the office of President or Vice President for more than two consecutive years.
5. In the event of the resignation of one of the current officers, appointment to the position shall be made by the current set of officers with the approval of the faculty advisor(s). The exception to this shall be the resignation of the President; in this event the Vice-President shall assume the office of President and a Vice President shall be appointed as described above. All appointments to vacated officers' positions shall occur in the two week period following the effective date of the vacancy.
Article 5 - Duties of Officers
1. The President is the principal officer and is responsible for leading the Association and managing its activities in accordance with the policies and procedures of the EGSA. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association and of its Executive Board. With the advice of the Association's Executive Board, the President shall appoint all members of committees of this Association and all Committee chairs.
2. The Vice President shall preside at meetings in the absence of the President, assist the President in the management of the Association, and perform other duties that may be assigned by the President.
3. The Secretary shall keep the minutes of all Association and Executive Board meetings. The secretary's duties include:
- Maintenance of the records of the Association.
- Preparation of the Annual Association Report which is presented at the Annual Officer Election Meeting.
- Notification to Cornell University of any changes in the elected officers of the Association.
- Performance of other duties as assigned by the President.
4. The Treasurer shall handle all financial matters and maintain the Association's financial records. Duties of the Treasurer also shall include:
- Preparation of the Association's Annual Financial Report for presentation to the Association at the Annual Officer Election meeting.
- Completion and submission of the Annual Budget to the Executive Board.
- Disbursements from the Treasury for Association expenditures, with authorization of the Executive Board, and inclusion of all such disbursements in the annual treasurer's report.
- Performance of other duties as assigned by the President.
5. The Web Administrator shall handle all matters pertaining to the maintenance and updating of the EGSA Web Site. These duties shall include:
- Processing all Association meeting minutes, reports, event announcements and other information and distributing those relevant to the Engineering graduate student community on the EGSA web site.
- Keeping the EGSA web site up to date in announcing and reporting on all events and activities of the Association.
- Distributing news external to the Association which is relevant for graduate students in the College of Engineering.
- Maintaining the web site.
- Performing other duties as assigned by the President.
Article 6 - Faculty Advisor
1. The Faculty Advisor shall be a voting Member of EGSA and either a member of the faculty or full-time staff of Cornell University.
2. The Faculty Advisor shall be selected by the Executive Board immediately following the Election Meeting.
3. The Faculty Advisor shall be generally responsible for the activities of the Association. Specifically, the Advisor:
- Helps provide continuity from year to year as student leadership and personnel change
- Promotes good student-faculty relationships
- Helps maintain university standards in all activities of the Association
- Exercises financial supervision, if necessary, by promoting prompt payment of bills and overseeing the settlement of all accounts in the event of dissolution of the Association.
- Represents the Association interests to the faculty and administration.
Article 7 - Executive Board
1. The Executive Board shall consist of the present Association officers and the Faculty Advisor.
2. The Term of the members of the Board shall coincide with the terms of the officers.
Article 8 - Meetings
1. Meetings shall be held as planned by the Association Executive Board. The Association shall hold meetings only in places that are open and accessible to all members of the Association. The Annual Officer Election meeting shall be held at the end of the fall semester. At this meeting, the Secretary and Treasurer each shall present a report. Also, the election of officers shall be held.
Article 9 - Amendment and Voting Procedures
1. All proposed changes to the Association's Constitution or Bylaws shall have been approved by the Executive board before submission to the Association membership for a vote.
2. No official business of the Association shall be conducted unless a quorum of the Association is present.
3. A quorum of the Association shall be defined as 50 percent of the voting membership of the Association.
4. A simple majority of the members present and voting shall be required to carry a motion.
5. To vote on the Constitution or Bylaws, the Association should have a quorum that is 50% of the members present unless specified otherwise and the action will be passed by a plurality of affirmative votes (majority of those voting yea or nay).
6. Officers will be elected by a plurality of votes cast.
Article 10 - Dissolution of the Association
1. Dissolution of this Association by consent of the members shall consist of unanimous agreement of all its officers together with a majority vote at a meeting which has been publicized in advance to all members of the Association for the purpose of taking this vote.