Constitution

A current version of the SAC constitution is shown below. You can download the Constitution here.

Article I – Name

The Student Advisory Committee, or SAC, serves as the student government for graduate students of the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences (DBBS) through the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

Article II – Purpose/Mission Statement

Section 1 – Mission Statement

Mission: The DBBS Student Advisory Committee (SAC) is committed to the enhancement of overall graduate student experience. To achieve this goal, SAC provides programming to meet the on-demand needs of DBBS students and advocates for student-directed change within the DBBS Administration (Division).  SAC serves as the liaison between DBBS students and the Division, communicating student concerns and working together to meet those needs.

Vision: SAC envisions a graduate experience in which all students graduate with the skills and education to succeed in personal life and professional endeavors.

Value: We value the following:

  1. Development opportunities for the person as a whole, not just science education.
  2. Working to enact change for graduate students, even if the change will not positively affect you but rather the future generations.
  3. Drive and innovation, leading to improvements in current and generating novel programming.

The SAC mission statement shall be “The Student Advisory Committee shall serve as the main liaison between DBBS students and Division administration while upholding student needs as the top priority.”

Article III – Membership

Section 1a – General Members

By matriculating into the Division, all DBBS graduate students are automatically members of the Student Advisory Committee. To maintain this status, students must be a current Ph.D. student or M.D./Ph.D. student in the Ph.D. training years. General Members are given positional voting rights to inform SAC information on how DBBS students feel on school-wide proposals and changes. 

Section 1b – Affiliate Members

Members of the Washington University community who are not current graduate students are known as affiliate members, including but not limited to post-docs, technicians, and undergraduates. Affiliate members have all rights as general members, but are non-voting.

Section 1c – Executive Board

Members of the Executive Board are voted-in leaders of the Student Advisory Committee. They must be in good standing in their program. Executive Board members have full voting rights, including positional and electoral voting rights.

 

Article IV – Executive Board

Section 1 – Leadership Position Eligibility

Leadership positions in SAC are open to graduate students meeting the criteria in Section 1a and SAC shall not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, creed, color, gender identity and expression, political affiliation, religion, sexual identity, socioeconomic class, age, nation of origin, nationality, ability status, citizenship status, marital status, or veteran status.

Section 2 – Leadership Elections

Nominations for Executive Board members will be held in April. If positions (except for Peer-Mentor Co-Coordinator, GPC rep, GSS rep, and first-year liaisons) cannot be filled internally, there will be an open call to all DBBS students to apply for the positions. After soliciting applications, the Co-Directors and any members of the executive board will screen the applications and identify applicants who fit the mission of the roles best. The executive board will then vote on the finalists. If the position is not filled during these elections, then the position will be dormant for that year with the exception of the Co-Director position. If no one applies for the junior Co-Director position, the responsibility will be shared by two committee chairs or senior committee members (defined as a member who has served on SAC for at least one year at the time of elections) who are willing until the position is filled.  Positions are voted on by current Executive Board members through a simple majority. 75% of members must vote during the election process. If there are an even number of voting members, more than 50% must vote in favor for enactment.

There are four positions whose elections do not occur internally: Peer Mentor Co-Coordinator, GPC rep, GSS rep, and First-year liaisons. For these positions, a DBBS-wide call for applications is issued and applicants are voted upon by the DBBS student community (GPC and GSS representatives and Peer Mentor Co-Coordinators) and the first-year community (First-Year Representatives).

Full transition of leadership and term of service begins on July 1st and ends on June 30th.

Any DBBS student may run for an Executive Board position.

Section 3 – Executive Board Composition and Terms

The executive board shall consist of two (2) Co-Directors, a Finance Chair, two (2) Communications Chairs, two (2) Adulting Chairs, two (2) International Student Chairs, two (2) Sustainability Chairs, two (2) Health and Wellness Chairs, a Graduate Student Senate Representative, a Graduate Professional Council Representative, two (2) First-year Liaisons, a Senior and Junior Peer Mentor Coordinator, and Committee Members, at the discretion of the Executive Board. Members will make a written commitment for their term. Committee chair positions may be shared with the consent of both chairs and endorsement by the executive board.

Co-Directors serve two-year term and are elected on a staggered election cycle, with one director being elected each calendar year. Co-Directors have a one-term limit.

Chairs, First-year liaisons, GSS and GPC representatives, and Committee Members are elected annually and serve a one-year term. There are no term limits to these positions.

Senior and Junior Peer Mentor Coordinator serve two-year terms and are elected on a staggered election cycle, with one being elected each calendar year. Senior and Junior Peer Mentor Coordinator serve two-year terms. Call for junior coordinators are sent out each year in the spring, with one being elected each calendar year, on a staggered election cycle. If after one week there are no candidates who are nominated, a call for junior Peer Mentor Coordinator will be sent out again. However, candidates will be evaluated and selected upon discretion by interview with current coordinators and at least one SAC directors instead of election

Section 4 – Leadership Duties

Co-Director: The Co-Directors are responsible for coordinating and overseeing all committees. They serve as the main representatives for SAC and act as the liaisons between the Executive Board and the Division. They provide direction and advice to Chairs and committee members on programming, but generally do not perform the more specific, event-related tasks.

The Co-Directors will:

  1. Attend, preside over, and take notes at Executive Board meetings
  2. Disseminate meeting minutes and agendas
  3. Generate annual report for dissemination to the entire student population
  4. Keep Executive Board informed about all meetings and events
  5. Act as ex-officio members of all committees
  6. Hold Chair and Officers accountable for their responsibilities and assisting as needed
  7. Act as representatives when interacting with the Division
  8. Seek guidance from the DBBS/Staff advisor
  9. Establish yearly priorities for the Executive Board
  10. Organize, run, and lead mid-term check in with all chairs and committee members
  11. Follow responsibilities and duties as defined in the SAC Constitution
  12. The 2nd-year Co-Director will mentor and teach the 1st-year Co-Director
  13. Attend DBBS Executive Council meetings and serve as a member for two years

Finance Chair and Bookkeeper: Maintains electronic records of the SAC budget. In collaboration with the Co-Directors, they will build the yearly budget and attend Director meetings, as needed.  The Finance Chair is expected to help the Co-Directors to lead SAC by attending the upper management meetings and are consulted for many of the organizational decisions.

The Finance Chair and Bookkeeper will:

  1. Attend Executive Board meetings
  2. Maintain an electronic record of SAC budget that is visible
  3. Collect receipts and fill out check requests on behalf of group members who have made purchases on SAC’s behalf, submitted to the Coordinator of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Student and Alumni Affairs
  4. Write and edit blog posts and event follow ups
  5. Help support and run general SAC events
  6. Follow responsibilities and duties as defined in the SAC Constitution

Communications Chair: Responsible for managing SAC social media accounts and chair of the Communications Committee. The Communication Chair is responsible for:

  1. Attend Executive Board meetings
  2. Promote upcoming events
  3. Communicates SAC-related news and announcements to DBBS
  4. Manages the website
  5. Manage committee members and oversee projects
  6. Write and edit blog posts and event follow ups
  7. Help support and run general SAC events
  8. Follow responsibilities and duties as defined in the SAC Constitution

Adulting Chair: Responsible for building and maintaining workshops and seminars, and chairing the Adulting Committee of SAC. The Adulting Chair is responsible for:

  1. Attend Executive Board meetings
  2. Develop and maintain the SAC Adulting Series events
  3. Manage committee members and oversee projects
  4. Write and edit blog posts and event follow ups for Adulting Series events
  5. Help support and run general SAC events
  6. Follow responsibilities and duties as defined in the SAC Constitution

International Student Chair: Responsible for building and maintaining workshops and seminars, and chairing the International Student Committee of SAC. The International Student Chair is responsible for:

  1. Attend Executive Board meetings
  2. Develop and maintain the SAC International Series
  3. Manage committee members and oversee projects
  4. Write and edit blog posts and event follow ups for International Series events
  5. Help support and run general SAC events
  6. Follow responsibilities and duties as defined in the SAC Constitution

Sustainability Chair: Responsible for building and maintaining workshops and seminars, and chairing the Sustainability Committee of SAC. The Sustainability Chair is responsible for:

  1. Attend Executive Board meetings
  2. Develop and maintain the SAC Sustainability Series events
  3. Manage committee members and oversee projects
  4. Write and edit blog posts and event follow ups for Sustainability Series events
  5. Help support and run general SAC events
  6. Follow responsibilities and duties as defined in the SAC Constitution

Health and Wellness Chair: Responsible for building and maintaining workshops and seminars, and chairing the Health and Wellness Committee of SAC. The Health and Wellness Chair is responsible for:

  1. Attend Executive Board meetings
  2. Develop and maintain the SAC Health and Wellness Series events
  3. Manage committee members and oversee projects
  4. Write and edit blog posts and event follow ups for Health and Wellness Series events
  5. Help support and run general SAC events
  6. Follow responsibilities and duties as defined in the SAC Constitution

Graduate Student Senate Representative: Attends monthly meetings on the Danforth campus with GSS, relays upcoming GSS events to SAC. The GSS Representative will:

  1. Attend Executive Board meetings and report updates to SAC Executive Board and DBBS students
  2. Vote or abstain on GSS votes
  3. Write and edit blog posts and event follow ups for SAC events as needed
  4. Help support and run general SAC events
  5. Follow responsibilities and duties as defined in the SAC Constitution

Graduate Professional Council Representative: Attends monthly meetings on the Danforth campus with GPC, relays upcoming GPC events to SAC. The GPC Representative will:

  1. Attend Executive Board meetings and report updates to SAC Executive Board and DBBS students
  2. Vote or abstain
  3. Write and edit blog posts and event follow ups as needed
  4. Help support and run general SAC events
  5. Follow responsibilities and duties as defined in the SAC Constitution

First-Year Liaisons (2): Two members of the first-year class will be elected by a vote of their peers to serve as the First-Year Liaisons to the SAC. These students will be responsible for communicating first-year student concerns, advertising SAC events to the first-year class, and fulfilling all other general duties expected of council members.

  1. Attend Executive Board meetings
  2. Be point-of-contact for first-year students to report issues, concerns, etc to SAC
  3. Write and edit blog posts and event follow ups as needed
  4. Help support and run general SAC events
  5. Follow responsibilities and duties as defined in the SAC Constitution

Peer Mentoring Coordinator: Manages peer mentors, reminds mentors to contact mentees, serves as the administrative contact for the peer mentoring program and the Student Advisory Committee. The Peer Mentor Liaison, in cooperation with the SAC Treasurer, is also responsible for management of the DBBS Peer Mentor Budget.

  1. Attend Executive Board meetings
  2. Innovate and iterate Peer Mentor processes
  3. Develop and maintain Peer Mentoring events
  4. Write and edit blog posts and event follow ups as needed
  5. Help support and run general SAC events
  6. Follow responsibilities and duties as defined in the SAC Constitution

Committee Member(s): Serve under a committee chair building and maintaining programming for the year.

  1. Attend Executive Board meetings
  2. Develop and maintain events in their committee
  3. Perform tasks as assigned by their committee chair(s) and SAC executives
  4. Help support and run general SAC events
  5. Follow responsibilities and duties as defined in the SAC constitution

Commitment

All committee members are expected to performed the aforementioned duties to the best of their abilities for the entirety of the election year. SAC’s ability to make progress on better student lives depends upon the hard work and dedication of its members.

Voting on documents presented to the board

In the event that the executive board is presented with a document to be voted upon whether be it a petition, letter to administration, or a survey, the process will proceed as follows:

  1. The authors of the document will be invited to the monthly SAC meeting to deliver an explanation of the document and the reasoning behind collecting signatories. The board will be able to review the document and pose questions.
  2. The board will vote on the decision to sign the document during the following SAC meeting after having discussions. The vote will pass with a simple majority of the board as long as quorum is met.
  3. If the vote is time sensitive and cannot follow the timeline described above, an emergency meeting of SAC executive board will be called by the Co-Directors to go through the voting process.
  4. The GPC and GSS representatives are responsible for voting on documents presented by GPC or GSS after consulting with the SAC executive board.

Section 5 – Removal from Office

Executive officers may be removed from office by:

  1. Resignation,
  2. A ¾ vote of the executive board, or
  3. A ¾ vote of the general student body (out of those who voted), or
  4. Missed attendance for more than half of the previous six SAC Executive Board Monthly Meetings

Voting for removal can be done either in person or online.

Grounds for removal include:

  1. Failure to comply with their written commitments to SAC,
  2. Breach of SAC constitution, or
  3. Loss of good standing in their program.

Removal process must be initiated by the executive board at a Monthly SAC Meeting. Voting will take place at the following meeting.

If a Committee Chair is removed, it can be filled by any Committee Member. If there is no interest in filling the position, it will remain empty until the next election cycle. The Co-Directors will take over the duties of the empty Committee Chair. If a Co-Director is removed, it can be filled by any Committee Chair, Bookkeeper, GPC or GSS representative, or shared between two Committee Chairs by a ¾ vote of remaining Executive Board members. 

   

Article V – Amending the Constitution

Amending the SAC Constitution can be done at any time during the year and must be initiated at a SAC Monthly Meeting. The written amendment must be provided to all members of the Executive Board and may be voted on at the following SAC Monthly Meeting. All SAC Executive Board members may edit and revise the constitution.

Amendments will be passed by a simple majority of all elected board members. 75% of members must vote on amendments. If there are an even number of voting members, more than 50% must vote in favor for enactment.

Article VI – Advisors and Mentors

Section 1 – Faculty Advisor

The Executive Board will decide if they would like a faculty advisor. They shall nominate one faculty member to serve as the advisor; if an advisor is already selected no vote is required.

  1. The Advisor shall work closely with the executive board to assist in decision making and approve funding.
  2. The Advisor shall step in as needed to ensure that the Student Board continues a reputation of excellence and success.

Section 2 – Mentors

Members of may nominate faculty/staff members to serve as mentors to the organization or a project the organization is working on.

  1. Mentors can serve as connections for members of SAC to get involved inside and outside the classroom, while also being a campus and community resource.
  2. Mentors may be as active as they choose.

Section 3 – DBBS/Staff Advisor

SAC will have the Coordinator of Diversity and Student Affairs as an advisor to provide administrative support. While the board may nominate one faculty or staff member to serve as the advisor, this advisor will still act in an administrative role.

  1. The DBBS Advisor shall work closely with the executive board to assist in decision making and funding from within DBBS and the university at-large.
  2. The DBBS Advisor will discuss their role within the organization during each year after elections through  “Student Org-Advisor Expectations Worksheet.”
Article VII- Sustainability Statement

SAC works to foster a sustainable set of events. SAC will use the Office of Sustainability’s Reusable Serveware whenever possible to reduce waste and shares information about sustainable event options with other student groups.