Constitution of the Humanities Division Graduate Student
Council
Preamble: Whereas the University of Chicago,
through its appointed Deans, has declared that each Division of
School in the University must form an organization in order to
implement certain programs requested by the University and
Whereas the duly appointed representatives of the Students of
the Division of the Humanities have met and discussed the manner
in which said organization will implement the policies
aforementioned
It is hereby resolved that:
- 1.0 The name of the organization will be the Humanities
Division Graduate Student Council (HDGSC).
- 1.1 The purpose of the Humanities Division Graduate
Student Council will be:
- 1.1.1 To represent the graduate students in the
Division of the Humanities.
- 1.1.2 To allocate funds provided by the Student
Activity Fee.
- 1.1.3 To foster intradepartmental, as well as
interdepartmental and divisional, activities.
- 2.0 The structure of the Humanities Division Graduate
Student Council will be as follows:
- 2.1 Each Department or Committee in the Division of
the Humanities will designate one representative to the
Humanities Division Graduate Student Council.
- 2.2 These representatives collectively form the
Humanities Division Graduate Student Council.
- 2.3 The Humanities Division Graduate Student Council
will name officersfrom among its members whose duties
are described below.
- 3.0 Duties of the Officers — President:
- 3.1 The President will call the quarterly meeting of
the Humanities Division Graduate Student Council before
the completion of the third week of every quarter and a
final meeting of the academic year in the before the
completion of the third week in May.
- 3.2 The President will preside over the
aforementioned meetings of the Humanities Division
Graduate Student Council.
- 3.3 The President will solicit a representative to
sit in on quarterly Student Government meetings.
- 3.4 The President will take minutes of the Council's
meetings and distribute them to all
representatives.
- 3.5 The President will be in charge of the
administration of Council-approved funding.
- 4.0 A member of the Council will be elected
Vice-President and will serve as a backup for the President.
The Vice-President will also serve as aid and counsel for
both the President and the representatives to the Council,
and will chair the Budget Review Committee
Meetings.
- 5.0 In the event that the President is unable to fulfill
his or her obligations to the Humanities Division Graduate
Student Council, he or she will inform the Council so that
the Vice-President may assume leadership of said
organization.
- 6.0 The Council may organize other committees as it
deems useful.
- 6.1 The Budget Review Committee will be comprised of
representatives – on a volunteer basis – whose duties
are:
- 6.1.1 To review budget requests prior to the
quarterly meeting and to make recommendations to the
Council at that quarterly meeting.
- 6.1.2 To set deadlines for the submission of
budget requests.
- 6.1.3 To set deadlines for the submission of
quarter-end budget reports.
- 7.0 The Council does not dictate that there be a quorum
in order for Council meetings to occur. Rather, it is agreed
that a minimum of four representatives, in addition to the
President, be present in order to approve or reject any
requests for funding.
- 8.0 Funding
- 8.1 Any student or group of students registered in
the Division of the Humanities may request funding for
an activity thought to be of appeal to other students in
the Division.
- 8.2 Requests for funding are to be submitted
by the deadline set by the Budget Review Committee
(the first Friday of each quarter) or the requests
will not be considered.
- 8.3 A majority vote of the Council will constitute
approval of a request.
- 8.4 The President will be responsible for notifying
the student designated as the student director, if said
student is not a Representative on the Council.
- 8.5 No group will be denied funding for an activity
because of race, creed, religion, political or sexual
orientation of the group's membership or expected
participants.
- 8.6 Monies from this fund will not be disbursed on a
per capita departmental or committee basis.
- 8.7 All activities funded by the Humanities Division
Graduate Student Council must be primarily for graduate
students.
- 8.8 Monies from this fund will not be used for
honoria or travel expenses.
- 8.9 No activity will be funded in whole or part
which violates any University, State, or Federal
regulation.
- 8.10 No activity will be funded solely by the
Council which should rightly receive funding from
another entity in The University.
- 8.11 Attendance by a representative at the
quarterly meetings is mandatory in order for that
representative's department to receive funding for
that quarter. If a department or committee is not
represented at a quarterly meeting, that department
or committee will not receive funding for that
quarter.
- 8.12 Attendance at the final meeting of the
academic year, at which amendments are voted upon
and officer elections for the following year
conducted, is mandatory. The final meeting of the
academic year will take place in the second or third
week of May. If a department or committee is not
represented at the final meeting of the academic
year, that department or committee will not receive
funding for the Fall Quarter of the coming academic
year.
- 8.13 No University approved workshop will be funded
in whole or part by the Council.
- 8.14 Departments are allowed a maximum of
$200/quarter for off-campus events.
- 8.15 No department will receive more than 1/9 of the
total budget available for allocation in any quarter.
The amount available for allocation will be decided upon
by the Budget Review Committee in consultation with the
Dean of Students.
- 9.0 Procedures for Receiving Money and
Accountability
- 9.1 Once approval for funding has been granted, the
Humanities Division will transfer funds to the
appropriate departmental accounts. It is the
responsibility of each representative to the Council to
maintain, monitor, and track said accounts and to
establish reimbursement and payment procedures in
cooperation with an authorized signator in the
representative's department or committee. It is also the
responsibility of each representative to submit an
accurate and timely quarter-end report of all spending
for that quarter.
- 9.2 There is a $100 maximum allowance per department
or committee for expenditures for events taking place
before funds are allocated at the regularly scheduled
quarterly meeting. Any expenditure made under this rule
will be reported at the quarterly meeting and considered
as part of the quarterly budget request.
- 9.3 Any expenditure that exceeds the amounts
approved, allocated, and transferred by the Council to
the departmental or committee accounts will not be the
responsibility of the Council, but of the department in
question.
- 9.4 No later than the last day of the Autum, Winter,
and Spring quarters, each representative will submit,
via email, to the President of the Council an accurate
quarter-end report of funds allocated, spent, and
remaining. If any quarter-end report is not
received by the deadline set by the President of the
Council and the Budget Review Committee, that
department's budget request for the following
quarter will not be considered.
- 9.5 Funding does not carry over from quarter to
quarter. Any allocated but unspent money at the end of a
quarter returns to the general fund to be reallocated
the following quarter.
- 9.6 Failure to adhere to these regulations may
result in the Council's denial of funding requests.
- 9.7 In the event that any deadline or attendance
requirement is not met, the President, Vice President
and Dean of Students will confer to determine if an
extension is warranted or not, or if an extension should
be considered by the Council.
- 10.0 This constitution may be amended at any time by a
majority vote of the representatives of the
Council.
Amended on May 10, 2005.
Frances L. Spaltro, President
John P. Boyle, Vice President