Section 1: The name of the organization shall be the Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Association, hereafter referred to as ChEGSA.

Section 2: The purpose of ChEGSA is to promote social interaction between Chemical Engineering graduate students, and to provide a forum for communication between the Chemical Engineering graduate student body and Chemical Engineering departmental faculty and staff.

Section 1: Membership is open to all graduate students currently enrolled in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Virginia Tech.

Section 2: Membership is open to all graduate students currently advised or co-advised by a current faculty member of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Virginia Tech.

Section 3: Non-voting membership is open to Chemical Engineering graduate student alumni, current Chemical Engineering post-docs, and current and past faculty at Virginia Tech. Non-voting membership is defined by the ability of a member to attend ChEGSA events and meetings, but not having the ability or power of assembly vote, or having the cost of their attendance at ChEGSA sponsored events subsidized by ChEGSA.

Section 4: There are no dues or fees required for membership in ChEGSA.

Section 5: ChEGSA shall not discriminate members based on sex, religion, race, age, disabilities, sexual orientation, or national origin.

Section 1: The elected officers of ChEGSA are the President, Vice President of Internal Affairs, Vice President of External Affairs, Treasurer, Fundraising Chair, GSA Representative, and Webmaster. This group shall be known as the Executive Committee.

Section 2: This section defines the primary roles, requirements, and responsibilities of each member of the Executive Committee

• A. President.
  • Preside over the ChEGSA general body and Executive Committee meetings.
  • Act as a liaison between faculty and graduate students.
  • Delegate responsibilities of the organization to fellow members.
  • Act as liaison between the Chemical Engineering Symposium Chair and the ChEGSA body.

• B. Vice President of Internal Affairs.
  • Serve as the direct interface between the ChEGSA student body and the Chemical Engineering faculty and staff. Responsible for communicating concerns of the graduate student body to both the President and the Department Head. Responsible for communicating the needs of the Department Head to the graduate ChEGSA student body.
  • Organize volunteers for department events such as the Graduate Student Recruiting Weekend.
  • Take minutes during meetings and transcribe them for the website.
  • Update the constitution as required.
  • Assume the role of President should the President be unable to fulfill his/her duties

• C. Vice President of External Affairs.
  • Act as a liaison and direct contact for all persons outside of ChEGSA.
  • All official contact with faculty, alumni, industry members, fundraising leaders, etc. will be approved by this position, in conjunction with the ChEGSA President, to ensure professionalism and a lack of redundancy.
  • Provide direct oversight for the fundraising chair.
  • Responsible for organizing social events outside normal departmental activities designed to build camaraderie within the department.

• D. Treasurer.
  • Handle all aspects of finance. This includes being in contact with department personnel responsible for distribution of funds.
  • Handle the billing and payment in ChEGSA sponsored activities.
  • Make financial reports at regular meetings when necessary.

• E. Fundraising Chair.
  • Organize all fundraising events.
  • Seek funds from campus organizations including (but not limited to) the Graduate Student Assembly.
  • Direct liaison with the Chemical Engineering Department Head and Faculty regarding funds received/requested for ChEGSA from outside sources (alumni, companies, etc.).
  • Will work with the Treasurer to monitor funds and ensure that sufficient money is available for all planned events.

• F. GSA Representative.
  • Must be an active member of the GSA in good standing.
  • Act as the liaison between ChEGSA and the GSA.
  • Informs ChEGSA members of important GSA events and programs via email and updates at the regular monthly meeting.

• G. Webmaster.
  • Ensure that the website is accessible and updated in a timely manner.
  • Work directly with departmental staff (Riley Chan) to maintain connectivity between the ChE website and the ChEGSA website.
  • Post meeting minutes and announcements from ChEGSA Executive Committee and general body meetings.
  • Attend all meetings and be active in helping plan group meetings and activities.

Section 3: Office terms are for one calendar year beginning/ending in the last ChEGSA assembly meeting of the spring semester, which should be no earlier than mid-April and no later than mid-May.

Section 4: This section outlines the general Executive Committee election procedure held every spring.

• A. Nominations.
  • General elections are to be held during the last meeting of the spring semester (generally some point between mid-April through mid-May).
  • Each voting member of ChEGSA has the right to nominate other members or themselves for any position on the Executive Committee. Existing Executive Committee members may run for re-election or a different position. No member shall hold the position of President, Vice President of External Affairs, or Vice President of Internal Affairs for more than one term.
• B. Voting.
  • Elections will take place in the order of President, VP Internal Affairs, VP External Affairs, Treasurer, Fundraising Chair, GSA Representative, and Webmaster.
  • A simple majority of the assembly body will determine the winner. Candidates do not officially take office until all elections are complete.
  • In the event of tie, a reelection will occur involving only the candidates tied for the most votes. In the event this results in another tie, a vote of the current Executive Committee (defined by Article 3, Section 4, Subsection B) will determine the winner.
  • Unselected nominees have the right to run for other positions on the Executive Committee.
  • The GSA Representative has the right to run for an additional position on the Executive Committee.
• C. Unfilled Positions.
  • Should any position(s) on the Executive Committee remain unfilled; the members of the Executive Committee will distribute the responsibilities until another election can take place.

Section 5: An officer shall be removed if he or she does not fulfill his or her duties, or is detrimental to the organization. Officers shall be removed by a nomination from another officer. A list of infringements caused by the officer must be presented. An official notice is required to be given to the officer as notice of impending vote. A 2/3 majority vote at the next meeting is required for the impeachment of the officer. Nominations are held for the vacant office pursuant to Article 3, Section 4.

Section 1: Proposal. Amendments to the constitution shall be presented by members of the organization in writing, and read at a regular meeting. There will be an allotted time questions and debate if necessary.

Section 2: Voting. Amendments to the constitution shall be voted on during the next regular meeting after in which the said amendment was proposed. All members must be informed of the proposed amendment. A majority vote of 2/3 of the present members is required for an amendment to be passed.

Section 3: Alterations. The Vice President of Internal Affairs shall be in charge of altering the constitution with the changes accepted in the amendment.

Section 1: Meeting Times. Meeting shall be held on a monthly basis, or as the President sees fit.

Section 2: Agenda. The President will introduce topics on the agenda, and an open discussion will follow each given topic. Additional topics may be introduced by members after the agenda is covered, before the meeting is adjourned.

Section 1: Purpose. If an agenda item (Article 4) requires more attention, the Executive Committee will establish an ad hoc subcommittee of no more than four students to address the concern. The subcommittee will be entirely in charge of handling the concern and reporting to the membership as a whole at the next meeting.

Section 2: Appointment. The four students will be appointed by interest. If more than four students are interested, a vote of the membership in attendance will determine the composition of the subcommittee.

Section 1: ChEGSA shall not be directly responsible for the Chemical Engineering Symposium. ChEGSA shall, however, provide a forum for which Symposium issues can be discussed during regular meetings. ChEGSA shall facilitate a general election for a Symposium Chair using the method described in Section 4. No member of the Executive Committee, except for the GSA Representative, shall be allowed to run for the position of Symposium Chair. All other members of ChEGSA are allowed to run for the Symposium Chair position.

Section 1: Donations. Donations from Virginia Tech alumni, visitors, and faculty can be accepted, and should be collected by the Treasurer or the Fundraising Chair.

Section 2: Spending. Spending on budget items less than or equal to $100 is at the discretion of the Executive Committee. Spending of funds larger than $100 shall be determined at regular meetings by present ChEGSA members on a basis of a simple majority vote.