Constitution

The Purpose of this Constitution is: 

1. To provide a general philosophy and rationale for the Graduate Student Association. 

2. To provide a general orientation for the membership. 

3. To lend stability and continuity to the Graduate Student Association. 

4. To provide an understanding of the operations, practices and procedures carried on within the various parts of the Graduate Student Association.

ARTICLE 1: Name and Compliance

I.I Name: This organization shall be known as the Graduate Linguistic and Applied Linguistic Students Association (GLASA), the name under which it is officially registered with York University Graduate Students Association (YUGSA). It will hereinafter be referred to as GLASA. 

I.II Compliance: GLASA operates at York University, subject to York University and York University Graduate Students Association (YUGSA) policies and procedures. 

Article 2: Preamble

GLASA represents and advocates for the collective interests of the Graduate Program in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics graduate students in all matters of departmental policy and action at York University. The GLASA seeks to build community among the graduate students, faculty, and larger university, with consideration for diverse experiences and interests. Above all, the GLASA works to optimize the environment within which graduate students develop, both professionally and personally. 

Article 3: Membership

The members of GLASA are Linguistics and Applied Linguistics graduate students. Current enrollment in the graduate program is sufficient for membership. No general membership dues will be collected from members, although members may be expected to pay nominal fees for specific events.

Article 4: Meetings

GLASA meetings will be moderated by the President and held a minimum of once per semester during the fall and winter semesters of the academic year. All members are invited and encouraged to attend. Normally, any voting will take place in the meeting, and members who are not in attendance at the meeting forfeit their right to vote, unless a proxy vote has been arranged in advance. GLASA does reserve the right to decide, by a majority vote or the decision of the President, to put any vote to the entire GLASA membership. In these cases, the issue will be presented via written or electronic memo to all members, and members will be given a pre-specified period of time in which to cast their ballots. Before any official action is taken by the GLASA, a majority vote must be obtained for those votes taken outside of meetings (as per the stipulations outlined above). In all cases, the votes of all members will be weighed equally.

Article 5: Elections and Eligibility

Elections for GLASA offices will be held in March of every year. Only GLASA members may hold official positions. All nominations and candidacies must be submitted to the electoral officer by the nomination date, 1 month in advance of the election, to be set by the electoral officer each year. Individuals may nominate themselves for more than one position on the executive team, however no one individual may hold more than one elected position on the executive team at a given time. Polls will open online for 7 days during the first week of March. Membership will be advised of the polls' opening date and will be provided with digital ballots. All those ballots cast before the polls close at midnight on the 7th day will be counted. The results of this electoral meeting will be distributed to all GLASA members.

Article 6: Elected and Appointed Positions

GLASA has four elected officers: President, Vice-President Internal, Vice-President Events, and Treasurer. In addition to elected officers, GLASA has seven classes of appointed officers: 

1. Events Committee Members (up to 10)

2. LAL Exec Committee Representatives (2 - 1 MA, 1 PhD)
   The president shall generally act as the LAL Exec Committee PhD Representative unless there is a conflict, at which point the president shall appoint a PhD representative.

3. YUGSA Councillors (2) 

4. CUPE Representative (1) 

5. MA Representatives to the GLASA Exec (2) 

6. Elections Officer (1)
   Elections Officer may not hold any elected positions at any time during their tenure in the position. 

7. Floating Disciplinary Balance Representative (1).

The Floating Disciplinary Balance Representative is a contingent role to be filled whenever the elected executive comprises more than 60% members from one of the departments’ two disciplinary specializations (Linguistics; Applied Linguistics). In the case that the executive’s composition is thus imbalanced, a Floating Disciplinary Balance Representative from the lesser represented discipline will be appointed.

Appointed positions will be filled by the elected executive on the basis of an application process conducted each September, with the exception of the Elections Officer who will be elected in January in anticipation of the elections held in the Winter term. Appointments will be made on an annual basis.

The positions of President, Treasurer, and Elections Officer must be filled each year. Should no candidacies be put forward for the VP roles, these duties may be distributed between the President, Treasurer, and appointed Social Committee Members.

Section 6.1:  Requirements of Officers

The Officers of GLASA must attend >75% of regularly scheduled Executive meetings, either locally or remotely. Exceptions may be made for Events Committee Members.

President

• Requirements: The president is responsible for organizing and overseeing meetings and elections, communicating with other officers, calling special meetings, coordinating officers in special tasks, coordinating between GLASA and the department, as well as undertaking all administrative tasks for a 12-month elected term.

• The president must be a PhD student. If a Master’s student wishes to be president, they must co-president with a PhD student.

• Following the 12-month elected term, the outgoing president will act as the continuity officer for an additional 5 months through the transition period of the new executive from May to September every year. The outgoing president’s role as continuity officer  is to ensure the continuance of institutional knowledge from the previous executive to the new executive.  

• If the outgoing  president is not able to fulfil the role of continuity officer for any reason, they shall appoint another officer from the GLASA executive to fulfil the role of the continuity officer through the transition period. 

Vice-president Internal

• Requirements: The VP Internal is responsible for overseeing the officers of the internal positions, such as CUPE rep, FGS rep and YUGSA rep. The VP Internal must ensure that these officers attend executive meetings and must attend these meeting should an officer be unavailable. The VP Internal is the resource for questions and concern for these specific officers.

Vice-president Events

• Requirements: The VP Events is responsible for overseeing the officers of the Social Events Committee. The VP Events is also responsible for coordinating the planning and delivery of GLASA events including marketing, catering, etc.

Treasurer

• Requirements: The treasurer is responsible for drafting GLASA’s budget and presenting it to the executive, membership and YUGSA, keeping the membership informed of GLASA’s current budget, reporting the amount of expenditures by GLASA at each meeting.

Article 7: Replacing Officers and Representatives

If a member serving in an elected position other than the President, resigns or is otherwise unable to fill their position, the GLASA executive committee will appoint a replacement to fill the remainder of the term. If the President resigns or is otherwise unable to fill their one year term, an election will be held following all the guidelines and stipulations for a regular election. Replacement members for any position, including those elected, will serve only until the end of the original term of that position.

Article 8: Finances 

GLASA’s money will be primarily acquired through funds allocated to GLASA by YUGSA and the department. Any expenditures of GLASA must be in accordance to GLASA’s annual budget, approved by the membership. Only if GLASA exceeds its budget or needs money for a special event may dues be collected. This must be approved by a majority of the membership. All monies belonging to GLASA shall be deposited and disbursed through a bank account established for GLASA. All funds must be deposited within one week of collection. 

Article 9: Ad Hoc Committees 

Ad hoc committees may be created at any time by an executive committee majority vote. Appointments to the ad hoc committee will be the responsibility of the executive committee. Each ad hoc committee must select a contact person so that GLASA members and others can communicate efficiently with that committee. All ad hoc committees are responsible for maintaining records of their activities and for reporting pertinent information to members at the GLASA meetings.

Article 10: Amendments and Revisions

An amendment can be added to this constitution with a 2/3 vote of all voters. The amended constitution must be presented to the YUGSA office in the beginning of every academic year.