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Sample ballotDraft resolution
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Memo from GSC Board of Directors
Letter to the Editor - Bylaws Change
Dear fellow graduate students,On behalf of the Graduate Review Board (GRB), the body of students elected to administer the Caltech Honor Code among graduate students, I have requested the Graduate Student Council Board of Directors (GSC BoD) hold an election on an amendment to the GSC bylaws. The amendment proposes fundamental changes to the relationship between the GRB, GSC, and the graduate student body, in particular by changing GSC bylaws to allow for a more sensible way to amend the GRB bylaws. Most people are not intimately familiar with the GSC bylaws; therefore, I hope to provide some insight on the proposed amendment and the necessary steps for its ratification. I do, however, encourage anyone who has questions or concerns regarding the text of the proposal or the current bylaws to contact me at grbchair@caltech.edu or to visit the GRB website at http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~grb/index.html. Currently, any change to the GRB bylaws must be approved by a majority of at least 20% of the graduate student body, hence approximately 240 votes are required for change. This requirement, while designed to preserve the integrity of the GRB review processes, has in fact lead to a stagnate, out-of-date, cumbersome, and dangerously inflexible system. This is exemplified by the fact that there is no record of a change to the GRB bylaws since the founding of the GSC. This procedure for bylaw amendment is useless and the system suffers under a few ineffective practices that need reform and improvement.
The GRB has struggled with formulating the most manageable and effective improvements to the bylaws to insure continuity and respect in the honor system. Our solution is to allow amendments to the GRB bylaws to be made by the GSC BoD, rather than the entire graduate student body. The Directors are more likely to spend the time reading and becoming familiar with the bylaws than the average graduate student and will have the opportunity to discuss proposed amendments with GRB representatives. If approved, this amendment would allow for sufficient debate and contemplation of the issues among voters. Under the current system, this would be nearly impossible since it would require at least 240 graduate students to put in significant effort to become informed and would also require large, time consuming meetings for all students and GRB representatives. The Directors have volunteered to serve as representatives of the student body and therefore can be trusted to make appropriate decisions for all graduate students.
The proposal does, however, contain several Òsafe guards.Ó First, a small portion of the GRB bylaws will remain protected requiring a full vote of the student body before they can be amended. This section will state the honor code, set the GRB as the body to administer the honor system among graduate students, require the GRB to recommend actions to the Dean of Graduate Students for approval and enforcement, ensure any member of the Caltech community can report an honor code violation, and require any honor code hearing be decided by a panel of at least eight graduate students. Further, a three-fourths supermajority of the BoD will be required to amend the GRB bylaws. Lastly, several reporting requirements are placed on any proposed change to the GRB bylaws. These reporting requirements provide amble time for the student body to provide input on any proposed changes before a vote occurs. The GRB feels these safe guards to be both prudent and adequate.
What can you do?!? As it stands, 20% of the graduate student body needs to vote on these measures before any of theses proposed changes can take place. This vote will be taking place by written referendum over the next couple months. Notices about the exact time and place of the voting will be distributed in the near future using the GSC email list, flyers, and the GSC newsletter. I highly encourage every graduate student to help with this important step toward reform and improvement by voting.
Sincerely,
Scott Miserendino
GRB Chairman