The Graduate Student Council amended their constitution and bylaws at their March general body meeting on Wednesday to adopt new election processes and rules.
Now, candidates must apply for approval through a formal nomination process in March. All candidates are required to submit a campaign poster that includes details about their candidacy, degree track, department and other personal information. Previously, the steps to declare one’s candidacy were more informal.
Elections will also now take place at the general body meeting in May, rather than in April, to avoid conflict with graduate commencement speaker elections. GSC previously amended their governing documents in October to move elections from near the end of the calendar year to near the end of each academic year.
Candidate nominations will only be rejected if their positions include “hateful” or “negative” language in their campaign materials, according to GSC President Kevin LoGiudice ScM’21 GS.
“The barrier to entry is basically just make this (campaign poster) and be respectful about it, and you’ll be a candidate,” LoGiudice said.
Approved candidates will be announced at the April general body meeting, after which all campaign materials will be sent out to voting graduate representatives. Applications will remain open for positions without a running candidate.
In April, GSC representatives will submit questions for candidates to be answered during the May election meeting. Candidates will receive the questions before the meeting. Previously, questions were asked in an open forum but are now submission-based due to “issues with targeted questions,” according to LoGiudice.
During the meeting, candidates will have the opportunity to give a two-minute campaign speech, then answer the selected questions. Representatives will then vote with paddles — a measure implemented to discourage non-representatives from trying to vote, according to LoGiudice — after candidates are sent out of the room. Winners will be announced directly afterward.
Any positions that are left vacant after the May elections will be filled during a special election at the September general board meeting, LoGiudice said.
Ian Ritter is a senior staff writer covering graduate schools and students. He is a sophomore from New Jersey studying Chemistry and International and Public Affairs. When he’s not at the Herald, you can find him playing clarinet or explaining the rules of kickball to confused listeners.
