Constitution

Article 1 Name and Purpose

Section 1: This organization shall be known as Chemistry Association of Graduate Students. (C.A.G.S).
Section 2: The purpose of this organization is to:
A) Provide an organized discussion of students' issues between students and both the Department of Chemistry and the Graduate School. These incluse salary, insurance, committee, unfair treatment and so on.
B) Find ways to raise money for travel grants for chemistry students.
C) Increase interaction between students of the four main divisions of the Department of Chemistry: Organic, Inorganic, Physical, and Analytical as well as between students and faculty.
D) Help new graduate students adjust to to life in the department and get advise about school, housing, banking, shopping, ect. This group shall NOT be used as a means of recruiting members of research groups, that's the Professors jobs.
E) Networking between other departments in the College of Arts and Sciences such as Physics and Biology.
F) Provide information on self improvement opportunities such as public speaking workshops, opportunities to showcase research results, and chances to educate the local citizenry about the advances in the fields of Chemistry.

Article 2 Membership

Section 1: Membership shall be open to any and all graduate students in the Department of Chemistry.
Section 2: Any graduate student in the Department of Chemistry in good academic standing with Kansas State University shall be considered qualified for membership. Membership in the organization shall be open, there shall be no voting to approve new membership.

Article 3 Officers

Section 1: The elected officers of this organization shall be the President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Webmaster, Public Relations Chair, and the Social Chair.
Section 2: Officers shall be elected by a simple majority of votes cast on a secret ballot. Any member wishing to hold office must submit their name to the general membership one meeting prior to the general elections. Any member seeking office shall be allowed a 5 minute campaign speech before a vote is taken. Name calling! negative politicking shall result in a loss of this privilege but not disqualification from election. Officers shall serve a mandatory sentence of one year but get time off for good behavior. No member can serve in the same position for more than two consecutive terms. No member shall hold two offices at the same time.
Section 3: The President is charged with conducting general meetings on a regular basis, presiding over Executive Board meetings, and attending Graduate School Council meetings. The President shall bring any issue voted on by the general membership before the Graduate School Council. The Vice President shall assist the President in discharging his or her duties. In the event that the President cannot perform his or her job the Vice President shall stand in. The Treasurer shall keep all financial records of the organization and make them available to the general membership upon request. The Treasurer shall have the power to sign organization checks, deposit funds in organization accounts, and withdraw funds from organization accounts. The organization's Faculty Advisor shall also have the abilities of the Treasurer. The Secretary shall take minutes of all general meetings and distribute said minutes to the membership in a timely fashion (48 hrs.). The Secretary shall also provide the membership with a meeting agenda 24 hrs in advance of any general meting. The Public Relations Officer is responsible contacting and communicating with other organizations such as college/community news papers and other student groups. The Public Relations officer shall also be in charge of organizing fund raising events for the organization. The Webmaster shall create and maintain the organization's webpage(s). The Webmaster shall create both a regular HTML webpage accessible via the internet and a private group page such as Facebook.com. The Social Chair shall plan activities of a non-academic/ academic- outreach nature. Activities of this nature are those such as BBQ's, pub crawls, holiday gathers.
Section 4: Any officer can be removed from office by a 2/3 majority vote of rio confidence. A new officer shall be elected by the process outlined in Article 3, Section 2.

Article 4 Dues

Section 1: This organization shall have a one time $5 membership fee.

Article 5 Meetings

Section 1: Meetings shall be scheduled on a semester basis for a day and time convenient for the bulk of the membership. All members are required to submit a general class/teaching responsibilities schedule to the President at the first meeting of each semester so that a time can be selected.
Section 2: Special meetings shall also be called with a simple majority vote of the membership. Special meetings shall be called without a membership vote in the event of an issue of such grave importance that immediate action is required to avert a disaster; meteors and lava do not count.
Section 3: A quorum (number ob members required to be present to vote on New Business) consists of 2/3 of the general membership and 3/4 of the 9 Executive Board. The Agenda shall be as follows:
Call to Order
Officer Report(s)
Old Business
New Business
Awards
Dismissal

Article 6 Committees

Section 1: Special Committees may be formed by a simple majority vote of members present. A Committee Chair shall also be elected at that time. Committee membership is strictly voluntary, although the President reserves the right to volunteer members present due to lack of volunteering spirit.

Article 7 Amendments

Section 1: Amendments to the Constitution shall be proposed during new business and require a second motion to be heard. Discussion of the wording of the amendment shall ensue. A draft of said Amendment shall be distributed along with the meeting minutes. At the next meeting the Amendment shall be passed by a 2/3 majority vote. Should the Amendment fail, it may be revised and redistributed, and voted on at the next meeting. Should the Amendment fail a second time, it is considered quashed and must repeat the ENTIRE process before another vote is taken.

Article 8 Ratification

Section 1: This Constitution shall be ratified by a 3/4 majority vote of members present.

These are the major duties for these four officer positions as outlined by OSAS

President
Preside at organization meetings and facilitate executive board meetings
Be aware of all money matters
Assist all executive officers
Provide motivation for the organization
Prepare for all meetings
Serve on various committees or task forces
Be open to all opinions and input
Provide follow-up to organizational tasks
Inform the executive board of other meeting information
Coordinate the executive board transition
Vice President
Preside at organizational meetings in the absence of the president
Direct constitutional updating and revision
Serve as liaison to committees
Perform other duties as directed by the president
Treasurer
Prepare organizational budget
Prepare purchase orders, requisition forms or supply requests
Audit books twice per term with advisor
Maintain a financial history of the organization
Maintain a working relationship with institutional accounting
Infbrm executive board of all financial personnel matters
Coordinate solicitations
Make quarterly reports of all receipts and disbursements
Perform other duties as directed by the president
Secretary
Record and maintain minutes of all organization meetings
Send minutes to all appropriate members and institutional staff
Prepare an agenda with the president for all meetings
Maintain attendance at all meetings
Keep the organization informed
Maintain a calendar of events
Maintain a phone and email directory of all members
Reserve meetings rooms for the term and year
Perfbrm other duties as assigned by the president