GSG Committee Handbook

Committee Appointment and Membership

1. Committee members will be appointed by the Vice President for Committee Affairs. Committee members may be appointed, reassigned, or removed by the Vice President of Committee Affairs at any time. Committee chairs and committee members cannot appoint or remove other members of the committee.
2. The first meeting of the committee for a new legislative session will be convened by the Vice President for Committee Affairs. All members of the Committee must be present for this meeting. At the first meeting, the following items of business must be disposed:
   1. The Vice President for Committee Affairs will explain these instructions to members of the committee.
   2. Committee members must elect a chair.
   3. Committee members must decide on a set of Committee Standing Rules
   4. The name of the committee chair, and the Committee Standing Rules, will be communicated to the Vice President for Committee Affairs.
3. Once the committee has been initially convened, new committee members assigned by the Vice President for Committee Affairs should be oriented by the committee chair.
4. One person does not constitute a committee; a committee whose membership falls below two people is considered inactive.
5. Committee chairs, or committee members (in the absence of an elected chair) must contact the Vice President of Committee Affairs to request the addition of new members should the committee decide that increased membership is desired.
6. Questions on committee procedure, requests for committee assignment or reassignment, or discussions of conduct of committee members, should be referred to the Vice President of Committee Affairs.

Disposal of Committee Business

1. Business will come before the Committee in one of the following ways:
   1. Questions committed by the Assembly to the committee.
   2. Tasks assigned by the Executive Committee to the committee on behalf of the Assembly.
   3. Initiatives approved by a majority of committee members.
   4. (Ways and Means Committee only) Proposed legislation or other matters submitted to the committee for inclusion on the Assembly agenda.
   5. (Budget and Finance Committee only) Event Funding Requests.
2. Every item of business that comes before a committee will have a due date. In some cases (e.g. EFRs submitted to the Budget and Finance Committee) the due date will be statutory. In other cases, the item will come with a specified due date. It is the committee's responsibility to ensure that all items of business are completed by their specified due dates, or inform the Vice President for Committee Affairs as soon as it becomes apparent that this is not possible.
3. Every item of business submitted to the committee should be communicated to the Vice President of Committee Affairs for tracking purposes.
4. In accordance with Robert's Rules of Order, committee deliberations and decisions on items of GSG business may not be made over email.
5. Committee members who no longer wish to serve out their term of appointment should contact the Vice President for Committee Affairs regarding this decision. Ex-officio members of a committee who no longer wish to serve their term should contact the appointing authority (usually the GSG President).
6. Committee chairs and the Vice President for Committee Affairs are mutually responsible for scheduling regular meetings to discuss the progress of committee business.

Conduct of Regular Committee Meetings

1. Committee meetings may be called by the Committee chair, or any two members of the committee. Committee meetings should be called in a timely fashion to allow for consideration of committee business prior to its due date.
2. Quorum of the committee is a majority of the committee members.
3. The chair of the committee, or a designee of the chair, must serve as the committee secretary. The purpose of the secretary is to record decisions of the committee, not the content of committee deliberations. Minutes of committee decisions must be provided to the Vice President for Committee Affairs after each meeting.
4. Committee business is conducted under the following rules
   1. Members are not required to obtain the floor before making motions or speaking, which they can do while seated.
   2. Motions need not be seconded.
   3. There is no limit to the number of times a member can speak to a question, and motions to close or limit debate are not allowed.
   4. Informal discussion of a subject is permitted while no motion is pending.
   5. Sometimes, when a proposal is perfectly clear to all present, a vote can be taken without a motion being introduced. Unless agreed to by unanimous consent, however, all proposed actions of a board must be approved by vote.
   6. The chairperson can speak in discussion without rising or leaving the chair; and can make motions and vote on all questions.
5. When making substantive recommendations or decisions on important GSG matters, the committee should give graduate students an opportunity to appear before the committee and present their view son the subject at a time scheduled by the committee. This meeting is called a hearing. During actual deliberations of the committee, only committee members have the right to be present.
6. Committees may adjourn with a set time for the next meeting, or with the understanding that the committee will be reconvened as described in Section III.A.

Reports of the Committee

1. Reports constitute the primary output of committee work. Reports may be of two types:
   1. Informational reports summarize recent activities of the committee, including decisions made by the committee on any business referred to it. This type of report does not propose any particular course of action, and need not be approved or adopted by the Assembly.
   2. Recommendations of the committee, for instance on items of business committed by the Assembly, for the Assembly to take a particular action, must always be in the form of bills or resolutions.
2. Reports may only contain material that is agreed to by a majority vote of committee members.
3. Committee reports must be submitted to the Vice President for Committee Affairs at least two days prior to the GSG Assembly meeting at which the report is to be presented. The committee chair or designee presents the report at the Assembly meeting.
4. Reports should be written in the third person. Thus, "the committee recommends..." is preferred over "we recommend...".