Constitution of the GSB PhD Association

Article I: Name of Organization

Graduate School of Business PhD Association

Article II: Statement of Purpose

The PhD Association works to enrich the quality of social and academic life for doctoral students in Stanford's Graduate School of Business.

Article III: Eligibility for Membership

Any registered doctoral student in the Stanford Graduate School of Business is automatically a member.

Article IV: Officers

The officers and their responsibilities are as follows:

President
Oversees all areas of responsibility for the PhD Association. Represents the doctoral student community in meetings with deans and faculty. Heads search committee for annual Distinguished Faculty Award.
Vice-President
Plans all orientation activities for incoming first-year students, as well as any Admit Weekend related PhD Association activities. Acts as liaison to library staff. Runs the election of new officers. Maintains PhD Association website.
Secretary
Maintains soda and vending machines in the PhD lounge. Runs the office lottery. Acts as liaison to IT and Building Services staff. Maintains copy machine accounts and enforces copy code billing.
Treasurer
Handles payments of vendors and reimburses students for PhD Association related expenses. Acts as liaison to dining services.
Social Chair
Plans periodic social events for doctoral students.
First-Year Representative
Representative of the first year student body. Communicates first year issues to other officers. May be assigned additional duties as needed.

All officers, other than the first year representative, are elected by majority vote of the PhD student body at the end of the spring quarter. Ballots are conducted by email vote. Any registered doctoral student is eligible for candidacy. Officers serve for one year.

The first year representative is appointed by the president in the fall of the academic year.

If the president resigns before completing his or her term, the vice-president will immediately assume the president's title and responsibilities. If no vice-president is available, the position will be offered to the secretary, then the treasurer, and finally the social chair until a successor is found. If any officer other than the president resigns before completing his or her term, the position will be filled by presidential appointment. The remaining officers must unanimously approve the president's selection.

If an officer becomes unable or unwilling to fulfill his or her duties, he or she can be removed from office by a unanimous vote of all other officers.

Article V: Amendment

Reimbursement Procedures and Event Planning

  1. Any PhD student can request funding from the PhD Association for activities.
  2. The PhD Association will only fund events that have been allocated budget according to the procedure outlined below.
  3. All PhD Association-funded events will be announced to the PhD Unofficial email list well in advance.
  4. Any person requesting the right to make an expenditure must specify in advance the maximum amount that will be spent on the activity and provide valid receipts for the expense afterwards.
  5. All PhD association expenditures must be approved in advance by a majority of the PhD association officers.
  6. The treasurer must sign off on EVERY expenditure, after checking that it fits the budget and won't affect any previously planned expenditures.
  7. The social chair must approve any expenditures on social events.
  8. Any expenditures made in violation of these rules will be reimbursed only with a unanimous vote by the PhD officers, and probably only after a long delay.
  9. If you don't have an email record of all these approvals you'll probably run into trouble.

Article VI: Dissolution of Organization

If and when the PhD Association should ever be dissolved, all substantial property (pool table, gas grill) will be auctioned off to the doctoral student body. The proceeds from the auction, along with all remaining funds, will be distributed equally among all registered graduate students.

Article VII: Procedure to Amend the Constitution

The constitution can be amended by majority vote of the officers. Any amendments must be reported to the student body with fourteen days.

Back

Date: August 2001