Board Elections

Board members are allowed to serve only for 2 years. Nominations will open on the first Monday of March the semester the previous board's term is up. Elections will be held the last Friday of March. Graduate students in the Chemistry and Biochemistry department will vote on an online ballot to select their new members.

The winners are decided by majority votes, and must accept their victory before we can announce the results. In the case of a tie, board members will vote to resolve it. Victors are allowed to decline their position on the board should they win, and the position will be given to the next runner-up. The winners will be announced once everyone has accepted to be on the GSA board.

New members will begin attending meetings the first week of April and begin their term the first week of May.

Nominations

Requirements for nominations are as follows:

  • Must be a graduate student within the department, or working under a PI that does research under the department. For example, a material science student that works in a lab in the Chemistry and Biochemistry department may be eligible for nomination.
  • You may nominate yourself.
  • Board members must all be from different labs. Meaning, there should not be two or more members that work under the same PI within the same term.
  • Graduate students must have attended school for at least 12 months.
  • You must have not previously served a term on GSA. GSA members are only allowed to serve for one term.

GSA Responsibilities

We strive to build a community within the department to help establish connections and support across labs. Grad school is hard, and no one understands that better than each other! We organize social events to bring everyone together and de-stress from our work. These events may look like coffee and donuts, or game nights. 

Our big event is our Summer Picnic that is held in August before the semester starts. Every lab is invited including their families. It is a great way to meet the new first years and relax from a day at work. The annual picnic is held at Bozeman Pond where we will hold raffles, games, and grill some hamburgers. The picnic is in a potluck fashion, so everyone is free to bring whatever dish they want!

In addition to fun social events, we strive to organize opportunities for everyone to refine their research presence. We aim to host workshops for professional development that will help after graduation, and events that allows everyone to show off their research to their peers. This includes our grad student poster sessions we host at the end of the year.

We maintain a snack bar on the second floor break room next to the elevator. Our duties include making sure we stay stocked up on snacks and budgeting our spending on the food we provide for you. The food is not free, but we make it affordable.

We are always open to suggestions made by you! If you are a grad student in the department and you want to see an event happen please email us: [email protected]

Officers and their Roles

The president is in charge of communications between GSA and faculty. They are responsible for the GSA debit card and is the signer on the account. They review funding applications for submission.

The vice president assists the president in their duties and can assume them in the event the president is unable to do so or resigns midterm. They are responsible for preparing meeting agendas and taking meeting minutes.

The treasurer is in charge of managing GSA's bank deposits and the debit card as well. They are second signer on the banking account and are in charge of the general accounting for GSA. Their tasks include managing snack bar money, keeping spreadsheets up to dat, and completing funding applications.

Communication officers get the word out for all events or sales we may have. They manage our email, websites, and any social medias we may have.

Our shared responsibilities are making Costco trips to restock the snack bar, organizing events, fundraisers, and making reservations for activities.

Any bylaw may be amended or added via majority vote of the board. Any individual spending exceeding $50 must be approved by the majority of the board members.

Funding sources

Some of our plans may require some funding like hosting our annual summer picnic, and maintaining the snack bar. We are a non-profit organization, so most of our funding comes from Student Engagement; but we also get additional support from our snack bar and GSA merchandise that help us give back to our grad community in anyway we can!