It’s that time of year again! Nominations are open for eight executive board positions until 8 pm on Monday, Feb. 29th. You may self-nominate as well. Below, you will find important dates, the process, as well as other crucial information about positions. Do not hesitate to contact executive board members about specific positions and duties!
Important Dates
Nominations Open: January 25, 2016 during New Business (8 pm)
Nomination Acceptance: January 25, 2016 – February 29, 2016
Nominations Close: February 29, 2016 during New Business (8 pm)
UGSA Council Votes: March 28, 2016 during New Business (8 pm)
Officer Service Begins: April 25, 2016 until April 2017
Nomination Process
Eligibility: Any graduate student may be nominated regardless of full-time or part-time status.
Applicants may study within any program (PhD, MS, etc). While having experience with the UGSA is helpful, it is not required. Past officers have successfully been elected without serving as a UGSA Representative first.
Nomination Process: Nominations may be submitted via two methods: (1) an email to the list
group-ugsa-reps@ncsu.edu [or via group-ugsa-execs@ncsu.edu if you are not a current GSA
Rep], or (2) in person during our all-council meetings. In both cases a nomination may be as simple as “I nominate name for the position of position.” Optionally, you may include additional supporting text. All nominations must receive a “second”. A second may be announced verbally at a council meeting, or by a reply to the nomination email. For example “I second the nomination of name for the position of position.”
- Nomination Acceptance: Nominees must either accept or decline their nomination prior to the voting period. This may be done in person at a council meeting or via email to the UGSA Reps list.
- Personal Statement: All nominees that accept their nomination should submit a personal statement within two weeks of being nominated so that it may be shared with the UGSA Representatives. Additionally, this personal statement will be posted on the UGSA website.
Election Process
Each nominee that has accepted their nomination will be allotted time to address the GSA
Council immediately prior to voting. The time determination is as follows:
- President and Vice President positions shall each give speeches of 10 minutes or less.
- Treasurer, Secretary, and Public Relations officer shall receive:
- A time limit of 15 minutes for each position [Each officer position IS separate]
- Which will be divided evenly among candidates
- With a minimum of 2 minutes and a maximum of 5 minutes
- These [potentially confusing] time limits may be changed at the council meeting via a majority vote, if the council desires to do so.
- A time limit of 15 minutes for each position [Each officer position IS separate]
Voting will commence on paper ballot. In the event no candidate receives the majority of votes, then the two candidates receiving the most votes shall have an immediate runoff. In the event of a tie, the presiding officer will vote to break the tie.
If the election is uncontested, then it will be proceed verbally. The nominee may opt to be present or leave the room. Additionally, “If the nominee’s vote is necessary to break a tie, he or she shall be asked to cast a vote in the presence of the quorum.”
Service Term
As a reminder, each officer serves from April’s GSA Council Meeting at the start of ‘New
Business’ —until— the conclusion of ‘Old Business’ in April of the following year. More or less, exactly 12 months.
Upcoming officers start serving in April, but are elected in March. This month of overlap with the previous officers is a valuable time to begin understanding your new role in close detail.
Although you have no obligation, it may be wise to begin serving or observing alongside them if possible to help ensure a smooth transition.
Reach out to us with questions!
GSA Officer Positions in Brief
- President
- Vice President of External Affairs
- Vice President of Academic Affairs
- Vice President of Internal Affairs
- Vice President of Communication
- Treasurer
- Secretary
- Public Relations Officer
Each officer receives a stipend based on their UGSA role. This stipend is determined by the budget passed in the previous year.
As the president’s meetings may be scattered across multiple NCSU campuses and buildings, a parking pass is absolutely essential to the role and will be provided free of charge. All other officers are eligible to purchase a ‘Student Leader’ parking permits if they choose. The SL permit is valid in “C”, “CC,” “CD,” “DD,” “RC,” “RE,” “RP,” “RW,” W,” “P,” and “V” areas.
A detailed description of each role now follows:
Position: President
Liaison to the UGSA Committee: Special Projects and Political Action
Constitutional Definition:
- Call and preside over UGSA council meetings
- Call UGSA elections and special elections whenever necessary
- Represent the UGSA at University and Student Government functions
- Be the primary representative for the UGSA on significant university committees, such as the University Council, Tuition and Fee Review Advisory Committees, Chancellor’s Liaison, etc.
- Represent the UGSA to the Directors of Graduate Programs (DGPs), Board of Trustees and the Association of Student Governments – Matt
- Represent graduate students on any Nomination/Search committees for new University personnel that have relevance to graduate students – Matt
- Coordinate with the Secretary and Vice President of Academic Affairs to serve as the UGSA Representative to the Administrative Board of the Graduate School
- Communicate regularly with the Student Body President, Student Senate President, Chair of the Faculty Senate, and Chair of the Staff Senate to foster collaboration
- Serve as a member and liaison, but not chair, of the Political Action and Special Projects Committee
- Perform those duties imposed on the office by the Student Body Constitution.
- Connect with, and bring significant and relevant speakers to the UGSA council meetings.
- Work with the Treasurer, and then Executive Board, to create, manage, and appropriately adjust the UNIVERSITY GRADUATE STUDENT ASSOCIATION
- Lead goal setting discussions with the Officers over the summer
- Work with the Vice President for Internal Affairs to coordinate new Representative orientation and update the Representative Information Packet
Position: Vice President of External Affairs
Liaison to the UGSA Committee: Community Service Committee
Constitutional Definition:
- Preside over UGSA council meeting at the request of or in the absence of the President
- Act as proxy for the President at University or Student Government functions at the President’s request
- Serve as a member and liaison, but not chair, of the Community Service Committee
- Promote and appoint willing graduate students to serve on University Standing Committees
- Actively track attendance of appointed graduate students to University Standing Committees by collecting brief reports following each attended meeting and present these reports during UGSA regular council meetings
- Reappoint University Standing Committee seats that have a record of unsatisfactory attendance
- Be responsible for maintaining UGSAs “organizational membership” to the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students (NAGPS) and collaborating with the Political Action and Special Interests committee to facilitate transportation, hotel accommodations, payment of attendance fees and advertising to the NAGPS Advocacy Summit (LAD) as well as keep UGSA members apprised of academic enrichment and pre-professional development opportunities external to NCSU
- Coordinate the planning and facilitation of the fall and spring International and University Graduate Student Orientations, New Graduate Student Information Fair and Social Event.
- Coordinate the planning and facilitation of the spring UNC System Graduate Student Association’s Leadership and Networking Workshop.
- Serve as a UGSA representative on the University Standing Committee on Committees.
Position: Vice President of Academic Affairs
Liaison to the UGSA Committee: Research Recognition Committee
Constitutional Definition:
- Serve as a member and liaison, but not chair, of the Research Recognition Committee.
- Provide leadership for and assist the Research Recognition Committee with the recipient selection process and disbursement of funds for the competitive UGSA Travel Award.
- Serve as the contact person for the receipt and response of student inquires related to the UGSA Award for Conferences
- Compile, organize and distribute all received application packets by the specified deadline to the Research Recognition Committee.
- Work closely with the Graduate School, and be the primary coordinator for Graduate Education Week.
- This includes assisting the Research Recognition Committee with the running and hosting of the Annual Graduate Student Research Symposium.
- Monitor and educate the UGSA Council on both current and future changes to academic policies at NCSU that affect graduate students.
- Coordinate with the President and Secretary to serve as the UGSA Representative to the Administrative Board of the Graduate School.
Position: Vice President of Internal Affairs
Liaison to the UGSA Committee: Departmental Outreach and Leadership Committee
Constitutional Definition:
- Be responsible for obtaining a letter of credentials and constitution from each chapter, graduate degree program and SIG, and verify each chapter’s registration with the Student Organization Resource Center
- Appoint and oversee the operations of the UGSA Internal Standing Committees and serve as a liaison with those committee chairs
- Serve as a member and liaison, but not chair, of the Departmental Outreach and Leadership Committee.
- Maintain parliamentary procedure at UGSA council meetings and have a copy of Roberts’ Rules of Order present at each council meeting
- Work with the Treasurer and Secretary on the calculation and distribution of chapter rebates.
- Give the secretary a list of representatives and chapter (GSA) officers’ contact information.
- Notify the secretary to contact the representative and chapter officers if a representative fails to remain in good standing on his/her internal standing committee.
- Obtain and verify the minutes of the meetings of the internal standing committees every month.
- Lead discussion and revisions of the Representative Information Packet with the Officers before the first Council Meeting of Representatives in August
- Plan and coordinate new Representative Orientation with the Officers
Position: Vice President of Communication
Liaison to the UGSA Committee: Publicity Committee
Constitutional Definition:
- Maintain the UGSA Website.
- Maintain the UGSA email list-serves.
- Serve as a member and a liaison, but not chair, of the Publicity Committee.
- Work with the Executive Board to provide and maintain a prompt and reliable flow of information from the UGSA and its constituent members.
- Communicate pertinent information regularly to the graduate student body in a manner deemed appropriate (blog, e-newsletter)
Position: Treasurer
Liaison to the UGSA Committee: Social Committee
Constitutional Definition:
- Keep the financial records of the UGSA.
- Serve as a member and liaison, but not chair, of the Social Committee
- Work with the Vice President for Internal Affairs and Secretary on the calculation and distribution of chapter rebates.
- Coordinate the submission of annual budget requests from the UGSA internal standing committee chairpersons. The budget requests may be submitted in a manner chosen by the Treasurer and approved by the UGSA Council
- Submit the annual budget, approved by the Executive Board, to the UGSA Council
- Oversee block grant requests in accordance with the UGSA Block Grant Policy.
Position: Secretary
Liaison to the UGSA Committee: Teaching Effectiveness Committee
Constitutional Definition:
- Record and maintain minutes of the UGSA council meeting and circulate copies of the minutes to the council members
- Maintain a roll of council members and call the roll whenever a roll call vote is taken
- Determine and announce whether or not a quorum is present for each council meeting
- Serve as a member and liaison, but not chair, of the Teaching Effectiveness Committee as appointed by the Vice President for Internal Affairs
- Prepare and carry out UGSA correspondence
- Work with the Vice President for Internal Affairs and Treasurer on the calculation and distribution of chapter rebates.
- Contact the representative and chapter officers if a representative fails to remain in good standing on his or her internal standing committee.
- Contact the representative and chapter officers when the GSA representative is absent from a Council meeting.
- Coordinate with the President and Vice President of Academic Affairs to serve as the UGSA Representative to the Administrative Board of the Graduate School
Position: Public Relations Officer
Liaison to the UGSA Committee: Publicity Committee
Constitutional Definition:
- Write a Press Release after each All-Council Meeting.
- The Press Release should not simply be the meeting minutes. It will instead be a concise summary of the main points discussed at the meeting that conveys to our stakeholders how the GSA is enhancing graduate student life at NCSU.
- This should be distributed to all Representatives and any other outlet the GSA deems necessary.
- Serve as a member and a liaison, but not chair, of the Publicity Committee.
- Hold regular meetings, no less frequently than monthly, with media outlets to ensure the GSA is represented in their publications.
- Create an annual report to highlight the GSA’s accomplishments and provide goals for the upcoming year.
- Write articles for media outlets after major GSA events.
- Proof and provide editorial support to the GSA newsletter submissions prior to publication
- Take pictures at GSA events and share them online via Facebook, Twitter, etc.
- Keep Twitter and Facebook accounts of the GSA active and updated to effectively communicate with the graduate student body.
- Actively recruit students to follow the GSA on Facebook and Twitter at GSA events.
- Maintain a presence on departmental GSA Facebook pages and ensure that GSA material is being publicized in the individual GSAs