ARTICLE III – Officers, Duties, and Terms
Section 1-Officers: There will be nine (9) officers for SPUGSO. The nine (9) positions will be as follows:
- Chair/Faculty Representative
- Graduate Student Senate (GSS) Representative
- Secretary
- Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) Representative
- Undergraduate Studies Committee (USC) Representatives
- International Studies Council (ISC) Representative
- Two (2) Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) Stewards
- Newsletter Administrator
Section 2-Duties: The nine (9) officers will form the Executive Committee of SPUGSO.
1. Chair/Faculty Representative: The Chair will act as the SPUGSO administrative officer of academic affairs and community outreach activities. In addition, the Chair will act as the Faculty Representative of the Spanish and Portuguese graduate students and will attend all of the Spanish and Portuguese Unit (SpanPort) Faculty meetings so that s/he can inform the rest of the graduate students about important issues related to them. Furthermore, the Chair will call and oversee all general and special meetings as well as preside as the election officer in charge of running the election of the SPUGSO officers for the following academic year. The outgoing Chair is to remain an honorary member of the Executive Committee and will act as a Co-Chair who will serve as an advisor to the incoming Chair.
2. Treasurer/Graduate Student Senate (GSS) Representative: The GSS Representative will attend all GSS meetings and inform fellow SpanPort students about current graduate student activities and matters that directly affect them. In addition, as the treasurer of SPUGSO, s/he will be responsible for all the money received and spent by SPUGSO, subject to prior approval from the Executive Committee. S/he is to stay in good communication with the GSS, to apply for line-item and ad hoc funding from the GSS. In addition, s/he will be responsible for the maintenance of the SPUGSO expenditure and income records and present a status report of the budget to the Executive Committee each semester.
3. Secretary: The Secretary will be responsible in keeping a record of the current list of the members of the Executive Committee. S/he will be in charge of making the agenda for every executive and special meeting as well as writing the minutes for these meetings. In addition, s/he will be responsible with sharing all relevant information (meeting minutes, announcements, etc.) with the active general members of the SPUGSO.
4. Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) Representative: The GSC Representative will participate in the SpanPort GSC meetings that deal with issues in the graduate programs such as curriculum, examinations, course loads, or any other issues that the SpanPort graduate students would like to raise. However, the GSC Representative will not participate in any meetings where personnel, peers, or future peers are considered.
5. Undergraduate Studies Committee (USC) Representatives: The USC Representative will participate in the SpanPort USC meetings that deal with issues regarding the undergraduate program. In addition, they will be in charge of communicating any matters related to the undergraduate students to the Spanish and Portuguese Club and Sociedad Nacional Honoraria Hispánica (National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society) Chapter, Omicro Tau. S/he is responsible for actively promoting a relationship between undergraduate and graduate students within the unit.
6. International Studies Council (ISC) Representative: The ISC Representative will participate in the SpanPort ISC meetings and help promote the Study Abroad Programs offered within the unit. S/he is responsible for contacting each faculty member associated with each Study Abroad Program.
7. Two (2) Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) Stewards: The two (2) GEO stewards will act as liaisons connecting the membership of their academic department to the GEO committees. Primarily through informal, day-to-day communication, they listen to the SpanPort graduate students’ concerns, inform them of their rights and benefits, and encourage them to participate in the union.
8. Newsletter Administrator: The Newsletter Administrator will have to collect, by email, and put together all SpanPort faculty graduate students’ latest achievement and awards, conference participations, invited talks, future course offerings, future workshop offerings, and planned future events such as the film festivals on our unit newsletter in consultation with Barbara Zecchi. It is also the responsibility of the said graduate student to solicit brief description/summary of the work/event and photos from the faculty and the graduate student population.
Section 3-Terms: Each officer will serve one (1) academic year term (i.e. from May until April of the following year).