To encourage and promote scholarship and research by Texas Tech University graduate students through various avenues.
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Article III - Membership
Every graduate student at Texas Tech University is a member of the Texas Tech University GPSA and is entitled to vote in elections for executive officers and members of the Graduate Student Congress.
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Article IV - Elections
The time of elections for executive officers and members of congress shall be determined by the Congress. Those elected assume office at the start of the following academic year and serve until their successors are chosen. Contested elections results shall be determined by the Congress.
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Article V - Meetings
All meetings of the institutions of the Texas Tech University GPSA shall be open to the public unless a special closed session is called by a two-thirds vote of those present and entitled to vote. Official meetings will be held on a regular basis. A quorum at all meetings, unless otherwise specified in the rules of an Association body or institution, is a majority of those members who are entitled to vote.
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Article VI - Officers, Executive Committee
The officers of the Texas Tech University GPSA shall be the President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. They shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Association in April of each academic year.
If the office of the President shall fall vacant, the Vice President shall become the President. If any other executive office shall fall vacant, the President shall appoint an eligible graduate student to fill it for the balance of the term. The appointment is subject to approval by two-thirds of those Members of congress present and voting.
The Executive Committee of the Association will consist of the officers and the chairpersons of the standing committees of the Congress. The Executive Committee may speak for the general body during the summer terms or at other times when it is not feasible to convene the Graduate Student Congress to deal with the matter at hand. All such decisions made by the Executive Committee require ratification by a majority of the Congress.
The President may establish and appoint special boards and commissions, with the approval of two-thirds of the Members of congress present and voting. the activities of these boards and commissions shall be reported to the Congress from time to time.
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Article VII - The Graduate Student Congress
Legislative powers under this Constitution shall be vested in a Graduate Student Congress, consisting of one (1) Member of Congress and one (1) Alternate Member of Congress representing each academic department with a graduate program. Every graduate student is eligible to vote for his or her department's Member and Alternate Member, and each student shall have two votes. The candidate with the highest number of votes in each department shall be elected as Member of Congress, and the candidate with the second highest number of votes in each department shall be elected as Alternate Member of Congress. If there is a tie for the highest or second highest number of votes received, a run-off ballot shall be held to break the tie. Members and Alternate Members shall serve until their successors are chosen.
The Vice President of the Texas Tech University GPSA shall serve as the speaker of the Congress, but shall not vote except to break a tie.
The Secretary of the Texas Tech University GPSA shall serve as the Clerk of Congress.
The standing committees and other committees of the Congress shall be determined by the Congress. The Speaker shall appoint the members of each committee, including the chairperson, except that the Speaker will serve ex officio as chairperson of the Committees on Rules and Administration, and the Treasurer will serve ex officio as chairperson of the Committee on Budget and Finance. The appointments shall be ratified by majority vote of the Congress. Alternate Members of Congress may be appointed as full voting members of committees, but an Alternate Member shall not vote in plenary sessions unless substituting for the regular Member for the department in question.
The Speaker shall submit every bill passed by Congress to the President for approval. If the President approves, he or she shall sign it, and it shall become a law. If the President disapproves, he or she shall return it to the Congress with his objections. The Congress shall reconsider the bill, and if it approves it by a two-thirds vote of those Members present and voting, the bill shall become law notwithstanding the objections of the President.
The President and other executive officers have the right to address the Congress on any matter relating to their officers or the general state of the Graduate School or the Texas Tech University GPSA. They shall not, however, have the right to participate in the debates of the Congress without the approval from a majority of the Members present.
The Congress shall have the power to remove for cause, by vote of two-thirds of those Members present, any of its members, any executive officer, or any other official of the Texas Tech University GPSA.
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Article VIII - Judiciary
Congress, if it deems it necessary, may establish courts to interpret this constitution and laws made under it and to settle disputes arising within the Texas Tech University GPSA. Congress may also grant other functions to the courts that it deems necessary.
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Article IX - Advisors
A pool of faculty members from the Graduate School Administration and various departments will advise the Texas Tech University GPSA.
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Article X - Amendments
An amendment to this Constitution may be proposed by two-thirds of those Members of Congress present and voting at a meeting of the Congress. The vote shall be taken by a roll call vote, and the results recorded in the journal. Amendments may also be proposed by petition signed by no fewer than thirty-five (35) graduate students and presented to the Congress. All proposed amendments shall be submitted to the Annual General Meeting of the Association and shall be ratified if approved by a majority of those graduate students present and voting.
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Article XI - Adoption
This Constitution shall take effect upon its ratification by a majority of students voting on the issue.
**The use of masculine pronoun in this Constitution is only for the sake of simplicity and is not intended to disparage or deny in any way the rights or privileges of women members of the Texas Tech University GPSA.
