The ByLaws
of the
Black Graduate Student Association
(a Georgia Institute of Technology student organization)
Download ByLaws PDF
 

Article I – Officers and Committee Chairs
 

Section 1 – Voting and Elections

The purpose of the BGSA will be to:

  1. Full paid members as defined in Article III Section 3.1 in the Constitution shall be eligible to run and vote in an election.
  2. Only one vote per eligible member will be allowed.
  3. General elections shall be held before the end of the spring semester of each academic year.
  4. Only nominees who can commit to availability during executive body and general body meeting times are eligible to be nominated.
  5. The nominees with the majority vote shall take office.

Section 2– Officer Responsibilities

  1. The President is to represent the organization, oversee all organization’s functions, preside over meetings, provide guidance, and to seek the attainment of organizational goals. In addition, the President must:
    1. Provide agenda for Executive Board Meetings.
    2. Set the standard for achieving the organizations long and short-term goals.
    3. Oversee officer transitions in the Spring.
  2. The Vice President is to assume the responsibilities of the President, if the latter is absent. The responsibilities of the Vice President also include assisting the President and overseeing committees. Specifically, the vice president will be asked to do the following;
    1. Participate in all organizational subcommittees.
    2. Assist with the solicitation of resources for the organization.
    3. Help create vision for organization.
    4. Take on responsibilities of other officers and/or chairpersons to help organization run more efficiently.
    5. Ensure organization runs effectively in president’s absence
  3. The Treasurer serves as the primary custodian of all of the organization’s accounts, facilitates monetary exchanges, and will assume the position of the Vice President, if the latter is absent.
    1. Treasure shall maintain financial records (receipts and budgets) and make said information available to the executive board on a weekly basis.
    2. The treasure shall also denote in the BGSA membership database the status of paid members (either electronically or on paper).
  4. The Secretary shall maintain a record of the meeting minutes (Executive and General Body) and be responsible for the timely distribution of this record to the membership. The responsibilities of the Secretary also include the maintenance of the organization’s documents and membership directory. Specifically, the Secretary shall;
    1. Check Mail in Student Center Commons area weekly (obtain mailbox number and lock combination from previous Secretary).
    2. Check Answering Machine located in BGSA Office bi-weekly.
    3. Be responsible for maintenance of the calendar and notification of the upcoming events.
    4. Maintain the content of the BGSA membership database. This includes paper distribution, collection, and data entry of database forms.
    5. Record meeting attendance at both the Executive and General Body meeting
      1. Update and maintain sign-in sheets for General Body meetings.
      2. Compile General Body meeting attendance annually for documentation purposes.
    6. Update and make amendments to the Constitution if necessary.Beyond the above outlined responsibilities, it is imperative for executive board membersto establish campus presence. Hence every officer shall designate one hour every two weeks to spend in the BSO Office.

Section 3 – Committee Chair Responsibilities

All Committee Chairs must be elected as prescribed in Article IV of the constitution.
  1. The Community Services Committee is responsible for organizing activities that promote community involvement including; but not limited to
    1. High School Tutoring (e.g. Tutoring at South Atlanta HS)
    2. Team Buzz
    3. Mentoring Initiatives
      1. (e.g. Undergraduate Mentoring Programs, 1st Year Graduate Student Mentoring Programs)
  2. The Fundraising Committee is responsible for ensuring financial stability of the organization via fundraising activities, Specifically the Fundraising Committee Chair is in charge of the following;
    1. editing of BGSA general program partnership list
    2. editing of [GT]2 partnership packet
    3. editing of BGSA general programs partnership list
    4. submission of [GT]2 partnership packet to [GT]2 partnership list
    5. submission of BGSA general program partnership packet to [GT]2 partnership list
    6. Passing the BGSA general program & [GT]2 partnership list and packet to the incoming fundraising chair.
    7. communicating with BGSA partners
    8. assisting treasurer with on-site registration for [GT]2
    9. mentoring incoming fundraising chair
    10. assisting treasurer in applying for GT funding (SGA)
    11. investigating future funding sources to continue the BGSA legacy
  3. The Information Technology committee is primarily responsible for keeping the general body informed and educated with regards to information technology advances. A secondary responsibility of the Information Technology committee is to maintain the organization’s forms of information dissemination, such as the mailing list and the WWW pages. The Information Technology Chair (ITC) is responsible for the management and acquisition of all IT related hardware, software, or other online resources. Specifically, the ITC is also responsible for maintenance of the following BGSA resources:
    1. Web Presence
    2. Membership Database
    3. Electronic List Services
    4. Online Groups, Forums, Chats, or File Archives
    5. Coordination / Technical Management of online stores or vending services.
    6. Acquisition and retention of BGSA domain names and aliases.
    7. In addition, the ITC shall also in conjunction with the Public Relations Chair ensure the standardization of all BGSA logos, letterhead, brochures, pamphlets, publications, etc.; such as to provide uniformity of preserve and brand recognition.
    8. Aid with Online Calendar Maintenance and notification to general body of upcoming organizational events.
    9. The ITC will Aid with Online Calendar Maintenance and notification to general body of upcoming organizational events.
    10. The ITC is responsible for the keeping safe of all GT BGSA general office use passwords. The ITC should maintain a list of all such passwords to be kept under lock and key.
  4. The Public Relations Committee is responsible for the recording of the organization’s activities via photography and the production and maintaining of a corporate sponsor brochure. Specifically the Public Relations chair acts as the point of contact for internal (e.g., campus administrators) and external relations and will do as follows;
    1. Maintain a photo gallery on the BGSA Website
    2. Take pictures at each BGSA Event
    3. Develop and maintain the BGSA Brochure
  5. The [GT]^2 Committee is responsible for coordinating the annual graduate student technical symposium. The elected [GT]^2 Committee Chair will oversee all aspects of the symposium.
  6. The Recognition Night Committee is to plan the recognition dinner each semester.
    1. The recognition dinner is held primarily to honor the organization’s graduating Master's and Ph.D. students.
  7. The Social Committee is responsible for organizing social events for membership.
  8. The University Relations Committee is primarily responsible for keeping the membership informed of current events with respect to the institute. The University Relations Committee is also responsible for coordinating the organization’s involvement in activities sponsored by the institution, including; but not limited to
  9. GT Transitions
  10. FOCUS Weekend
  11. GT Black Alumni Association.
  12. Beyond the above outlined responsibilities, it is imperative for executive board members to establish campus presence. Hence every committee chair shall designate one hour every two weeks to spend in the BSO Office.

Section 4 – Standing Committees

  1. The BGSA Advisory Board is a Standing Committee that serves as guidance for and support of the BGSA Executive Board and BGSA. The Advisory Board helps to maintain BGSA visibility beyond the borders of Georgia Tech and to establish a professional pipeline of corporate and academic representatives who serve to uphold and promote the BGSA mission, vision and goals. The Advisory Board is governed by the "BGSA Advisory Board Constitution and By-laws," which require a 2/3 majority vote of the BGSA membership to amend. At no time is the Advisory Board to overpower the BGSA Executive Board but rather serve as a network and resource for BGSA.
  2. Additional Standing Committees shall be permitted as deemed plausible by the Executive Board. Full instatement of a Standing Committee requires 2/3 majority vote of the BGSA membership.

Section 5 – Executive Board Transitions

All Officers and Committee Chairs must aid in the transition of executive board members each academic year. Specifically executive board members will be held responsible for:

  1. Mentoring the newly elected chair or officer
  2. Facilitating a smooth transition and
  3. Transferring all pertinent documents

Section 6 – Removal of Elected Position

If by chance, an elected official or chair is found to be negligent or unprofessional in his or her duties, the president (or the vice president in the case of a negligent president) will be asked to notify said person of their duties. In the event, that an executive board member continues to neglect assigned duties after being warned, said member shall resign from the executive board. In the case of officers, re-elections shall ensue as outlined in Section III, Article V of the Constitution. Committee Chairs maybe chosen by presidential appointment.

Article II – Membership

Section 1 – Member Selections

  1. Membership in BGSA shall not be based on sex, race, religion, ethnic group or national origin.
  2. There shall be no upper limit for the number of members in BGSA.
  3. In addition to the definition of full membership as outlined In Article III. Section
  4. 1 of the Constitution, a full membership will be granted to paid members of the organization.
  5. Associate membership shall be open to any student enrolled at Georgia Tech, any member of the Georgia Tech faculty and staff, and any Georgia Tech Alumni.
  6. Meeting attendance is not mandatory to maintain membership.

Section 2 – Dues

Membership dues are as follows:

  1. Semester long membership - $15.
  2. Full academic year membership - $30.

Article III – Meetings

Section 1.

General body meetings shall be held bi-monthly.

Section 2.

Executive board meetings shall be held bi-monthly.