The Harvard Graduate Dormitory Council : Gdc

March 2006

Article One: Name

The name of this organization shall be the Graduate Dormitory Council.

Article Two: Purpose

The major objective of the Graduate Dormitory Council (GDC) is to work for the improvement of Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) Residence Hall life. This goal is achieved by:

Maintaining close communication with residents on important Residence Halls issues.
Representing the interests of residents on all matters affecting Residence Hall life.
Cooperating with GSAS Housing Services and the Office of Student Services in the solution of problems affecting residents.
Working with other Harvard student organizations in meeting the needs of residents.
Promoting and organizing social activities in the Residence Halls.
Providing alternative funding for dorm-wide social events sponsored by Resident Advisors or residents.

Article Three: GDC Representatives

A. Designation of Floor Representatives

During each academic year, at least one volunteer from each floor in each Residence Hall will agree to serve as a representative to the GDC.

All residents of the GSAS Residence Halls are eligible to be representatives, regardless of sex, race, creed, age, color, national origin, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or disability.
There is no limit to the number of individuals who may serve. (Note: There is a limit to the number of individuals from each floor that may vote at GDC meetings, however. See Article 5, Section B.)
A vacancy on the Council from any floor shall be filled as soon as possible.

B. Responsibilities of Floor Representatives

Attend GDC monthly meetings.
Apply for funding for social events at GDC meetings.
Report to GDC any supply or GDC-provided equipment problems by checking that the GDC-provided equipment on their floor is in working order.
Help organize social activities together with floor representatives and RAs for their Residence Halls.

Article Four: Officers

A. Number of Officer Positions

There shall be no more than 10 officer positions in a given year.
- The title and responsibilities of each officer position for the following year are subject to change by a vote of the Executive Committee.
- There may be less than 10, but no fewer than 7 officers in a given year if all positions can not be filled during the Spring GDC elections.

Note: GDC officers bypass the housing lottery, but still pay for housing, so the upper limit of 10 officer positions was set by the GSAS Housing Office and the GDC President in Spring 2006.

[The GSAS Housing Office and the GDC President also agreed that the ten positions are at the discretion of the GDC, and in that sense the 10 positions are not in danger of being removed from availability to the GDC by reducing the number of resident appointments allowed to bypass the lottery for this purpose.]

B. Description of Officer Positions

President
- S/he shall be the chief executive officer and shall carry out the decisions of the Council.
- S/he shall call and preside at meetings of the GDC and the Executive Committee.
- S/he shall be the chief spokesperson for the GDC to present its decisions and recommendations to any bodies concerned with the formulation of GSAS Residence Hall policy.
- S/he will act as a liaison to the GSAS Housing Services.
- S/he will be responsible for ensuring that the GDC is regularly represented at meetings of the Graduate Student Council.
- S/he will be responsible for keeping the constitution up-to-date.
Vice-President/Secretary
- S/he shall keep a permanent record of all GDC meetings.
- S/he shall be responsible for monitoring the attendance of the representatives at GDC meetings and determining the voting eligibility of attendees.
- S/he shall provide three day notification to all representatives and residents of the time and place of GDC meetings
- S/he shall be responsible for all GDC correspondence.
- S/he shall ensure that a copy of the GDC Constitution is available upon request.
- S/he shall fulfill the responsibilities of the President if the President cannot.
- S/he will act as a liaison to other campus organizations. Which organizations need to have active contact will be determined by the GDC.
Treasurer
- S/he shall receive and distribute all monies on behalf of the GDC.
- S/he shall maintain the GDC bank account and monitor any GDC income (e.g. laundry and vending machines) and any GDC investments (e.g. surplus income invested from previous semesters).
- S/he shall prepare a financial report to present to all GDC officers and representatives at regular GDC meetings. The GDC books shall be open to every Council member. A copy of the report will be available upon request.
- S/he shall coordinate with counterparts in other Harvard student organizations in cases where the GDC shares joint financial responsibilities.
- S/he shall provide reports and other information as requested to GSAS Housing Services.
Social Coordinators
- There shall be two social coordinators.
- The social coordinators shall organize social functions sponsored by the GDC.
- They are responsible for the GDC Welcome Barbecue and GDC Bagel Brunch during orientation week in September and the GDC End of the Year Barbecue at the end of the Spring term.
- Along with the Vice President, they shall help coordinate the timing and organization of social events sponsored by GDC open funding, which are voted on at GDC meetings independent of the social budget.
- They are responsible for advertising their events throughout the GSAS residence halls via flyers, the GSAS Friday e-mails, the gdc-events e-mail list (as available), and posting event information for both their events and open funding events on the GDC website.
- They shall maintain the gdc-events e-mail list (as available) through the Harvard Computer Society with help from the GDC webmaster.
Movie Officer
- S/he shall hold at least three movie events per semester.
- S/he shall be responsible for advertising movie events throughout the GSAS Residence Halls.
- S/he shall hold at least one video office hour per week for the GDC Video Library in Perkins 20.
Video Librarian
- S/he shall maintain (and expand as possible) the GDC video library.
- S/he shall hold at least two video office hours per week for the GDC Video Library in Perkins 20.
- S/he shall be responsible for advertising the video library, including its check out procedures, return policy, and the video library hours to residents throughout the year via flyers, e-mails to the gdc list (as available), and the GDC website.
- S/he shall keep the video list up-to-date, and help the webmaster maintain the online movie database and checkout system.
- S/he shall be responsible for overseeing movie checkout procedures and enforcing video return policies.
Web Officer

S/he shall maintain the GDC website. The web site should provide the following minimum information:

Weekly update of GDC events, Dudley House events, and events around campus, organized through the online calendar.
GDC meeting schedule for the year.
Contact information and officer positions for the current GDC officers.
The GDC Constitution.
Video list and check-out procedures.
Links to information about residence halls relevant to incoming, continuing residents.
Contact information for the RAs, Dudley Fellows, Graduate Student Council members, and other campus organizations.
S/he shall instruct the GDC officers, GSAS Resident Advisors, Dudley House Fellows, and Graduate Student Council officers regarding how to add information for relevant campus events to the GDC website.
Along with the social coordinators, s/he may maintain and moderate web forums, and/or gdc-events list for discussing issues related to residence hall life, (e.g. requests to purchase movies for the video library and for movie showings).
Should have experience with web design.

Equipment Officer
- S/he shall diagnose, replace, and install small televisions, DVD players, remote controls, and VCRs, upon being notified of the problem (most likely by an RA or the facilities manager). This does not include the large televisions.
  - Upon notification, evaluate the device to see if it is in fact broken (and fix the connections, etc to make it functional if it is not). This does not entail repair of physically damaged equipment.
  - Order new unit if necessary, to be paid for with GDC funds (up to the total annual funds the GDC has allocated for such acquisitions; if such funds have been spent for the year, no more acquisitions are to be made until the following year). Any relevant extras, such as cables or security devices, are to be acquired.
  - Once the new unit has arrived, arrange with the facilities manager for physical transportation of the new unit to the relevant location, and for removal and disposal of the broken unit. The facilities manager will transport the devices, and the Equipment Officer should accompany him or her to install the unit (and make it secure).
  - Install unit
- S/he shall maintain remotes for the televisions by replacing broken or lost remotes (to limit of relevant budget) and supplying RAs with batteries. S/he shall also help program remotes as necessary.
- S/he shall maintain the equipment room, and keep an inventory of it.
- S/he shall be responsible for acquiring grills or other significant items.
- S/he shall check, once a week, to see if there are ping pong balls at the ping pong table, and if the vending machines are stocked.
Public Service Officer
- S/he shall undertake at least three public service projects in the dorms each term. Likely events include clothing drives, food preparation and distribution, coordination with various local humanitarian programs, application for outside funding, etc.
- S/he shall coordinate with and act as a liaison to the Public Service RA(s) and the Public Service Dudley Fellow(s).
- S/he shall be responsible for advertising events to residents throughout the year via flyers, e-mails to the gdc list (as available), and the GDC website.
Resident Advisor Liaison to the Graduate Dormitory Council
- There shall be one or more representatives from the GSAS Resident Advisors who serve as liaison(s) between the RAs and the GDC
- S/he shall represent the GSAS Resident Advisors, the GSAS housing office, and the GSAS office of student services at the meetings of the GDC Executive Committee.
- The RA Liaison(s) shall be adjunct GDC officer(s), attending GDC executive and general meetings, and with the same voting privileges as full GDC officer(s).
- The RA Liaisons(s) shall not count toward the maximum GDC officer limit of 10 (Article 4: Section A) because their relationship to the housing office, subsidized housing, and bypassing of the housing lottery, are arranged independently from that of the volunteer GDC officer positions.

All Officers shall be responsible for the training of their replacements for the following academic year beginning immediately after the election and ending upon the completion of the Spring term.

C. The Executive Committee

The Executive Committee consists of the ten officers plus Resident Advisor Liaison(s).
The Executive Committee shall meet before the regular meetings of the GDC to prepare an agenda and to discuss and vote on funding applications. The President is responsible for calling and presiding over these meetings. The Vice President is responsible for communicating the time and location of these meetings and is responsible for the attendance of the GDC officers.
The Executive Committee may act on behalf of the Council between GDC meetings and during the summer.
The Executive Committee shall organize the GDC for the academic year beginning in September, and shall begin training the new officers as of the March elections.

D. Election of Officers

Any resident who has attended at least two GDC meetings (other than the election meeting) is eligible to vote in the elections for officers.
Any resident is eligible to run for an officer position, regardless of GDC status.
The order of the election is left to the discretion of the Executive Committee at the time of voting.
Officers shall be elected by secret ballot by a majority vote; no proxies shall be allowed.
All voters shall rank the candidates in order of preference, and each ballot shall be credited towards its first choice candidate. If no candidate should receive a majority of votes, the last place candidate shall be eliminated and ballots credited to that candidate redistributed to their respective next eligible choices. This procedure continues until one candidate receives a majority.
Should two positions of the same type be open, the winner of the first position shall be determined as provided for in (5) above. The winner of the second position shall then be determined by an immediate recount of all ballots according to the same runoff process, with the name of the already-elected candidate eliminated.
For an election meeting, residents must be present at the time that the Vice President verifies attendance requirements, in order to be eligible for voting. No walk-ins after that point shall be allowed. This will allow the Vice President to verify compliance to all voting procedures.

E. Officer Recall and Replacement

Any officer may be recalled from his/her office by a two-thirds vote of all members of the GDC or by a two-thirds petition of all dormitory residents.
If an elected GDC officer is unable to fulfill GDC duties for the entire year (e.g. absence during fall or spring term) s/he will be automatically removed from the position and deprived of room and privileges.
If an officer of the Council shall be unable to serve or shall be recalled from his/her office, one or more successors shall be elected by the GDC as soon as possible in accordance with the provisions of Section C of this Article. The only exception is if the President should be unable to fulfill his/her duties, then the Vice President shall assume these duties and a new Vice President will be elected. The total number of officers may not exceed ten.
If an officer should resign or be recalled, the GDC may recommend to GSAS Housing Services that s/he be asked to give up his/her room in the Residence Halls.

Article Five: Relationship with other Graduate Student Organizations

GDC shall strive to maintain good collaboration and communication with the other graduate student groups on campus (e.g. Dudley House, the Graduate Student Council).
At most, one fifth of the funds allocated to social events may be spent on events organized and sponsored jointly with other graduate student organizations at the discretion of the Social officers, with agreement of the President and Vice President.

Article Six: GDC Meetings

All meetings of the GDC shall be open to all residents. All residents shall have the privilege of the floor.

A. Frequency, Notification, and Quorum Requirement

The GDC shall meet at least once per month during the academic year, except in January. The President may call additional meetings as s/he sees fit and must do so upon the petition of three GDC officers.
The agenda, date, and place of the meeting shall be decided upon by the whole Council. The Vice President/Secretary shall announce the time and place of the meeting to all residents at least three days prior to the meeting.

B. Voting Eligibility and Procedures

For election of officers, Article Four, Section C overrides this subsection.

Each floor in the GSAS Residence Halls shall be represented in the GDC in proportion to its population, with approximately one vote per every eight residents on the floor (i.e. three votes for each floor except: Child Basement—one vote, Perkins Hall—five votes per floor).
- For the purposes of voting eligibility, officers do not count toward the population of their floors. Also, votes by officers do not count toward the vote limitation of each floor.
- Adjustments shall be made, if necessary, to reflect any changes that have occurred in the number of Residence Halls, floors, or residents per floor, in order to preserve the ratio of approximately one vote per eight residents. Any “close calls” on the number of votes that any particular floor shall be decided in favor of the larger number of votes.
At any GDC meeting, if more residents appear from a floor than there are allotted votes for that floor, the priority for voting eligibility shall be determined by “seniority”: i.e. the number of GDC meetings attended since the beginning of the academic year, with higher priority going to whomever has attended the most meetings.
- In case of ties in seniority, eligibility to vote shall be determined by tossing a coin. The tie-breaking shall be repeated before every vote, unless those tied for seniority agree among themselves as to whom shall vote on each issue.
At any GDC meeting, no person present shall cast more than one vote at any time a vote is taken, except officers who have been assigned proxies in accordance with the provisions on proxies listed below.
Anyone who knows in advance that s/he cannot attend a particular GDC meeting may be counted as present at that meeting, provided s/he notifies one of the GDC officers before the meeting and does one of the following:
- Asks the officer to mark him present and to vote either for or against as his proxy on particular issues.
- Asks the officer to mark him present and also to allow a specific person from the floor to vote on his behalf. This provision shall have the effect of conferring upon the proxy the absentee’s seniority for all purposes during the meeting. The proxy himself will also be marked present for the purpose of future seniority determinations.
- A proxy may be invoked no more than once per semester by any person.
Resident Advisors may participate in all GDC meetings under the provision applied to all residents, and to the extent permitted by GSAS Housing Services. Participation includes but is not limited to speaking at GDC meetings, voting, electing officers, and running for office. (GSAS presently prohibits Resident Advisors from concurrently acting as an officer of the GDC.)
Residents must be present at the time that ballots are handed out, in order to be eligible for voting. No walk-ins shall be allowed after that point. This will allow the Vice President to verify compliance to all voting procedures.

Article Seven: By-Laws and Standing Rules

The GDC may pass by majority vote all by-laws and standing rules it deems necessary. By-laws and standing rules may be repealed by majority vote.

Article Eight: Amendments

The Constitution may be amended by two-thirds vote of the GDC. One week’s written notification of a GDC vote on an amendment shall be provided to residents by the Vice President/Secretary. A copy of all amendments shall be sent to GSAS Housing Services.

Article Nine: Ratification

This constitution became effective on March 2006, when it was approved by a two-thirds vote of the GDC.

GDC BY-LAWS

The Funding of Events Proposed by Residents

Each year a portion of GDC funds should be available for sponsoring social events proposed by residents. The exact amount is left to the discretion of the GDC Executive Committee.
All residents are welcome to submit event proposals to the GDC for funding approval. GDC-sponsored events must be aimed at residents of more than one floor of the residence halls.
In order for an event to be sponsored by the GDC, a budget proposal must be approved in advance. No events will be funded retroactively. Event proposals will be voted on at GDC general meetings open to all residents. Event organizers need to inform the Executive Committee of their proposals prior to a meeting and present the proposals at the meeting. If an event costs more than $200, the event organizers are also required to discuss the budget with the Executive Committee before the meeting. Events that cost no more than $100 can be approved by the Executive Committee at a committee meeting. Events that cost no more that $20 can be approved at the discretion of the GDC President or Treasurer.
At a GDC general meeting, event proposals will be voted on in accordance to the voting eligibility regulations in the GDC Constitution. The Executive Committee should agree upon the methods of voting and funds allocation at the beginning of each academic year, and revise them when deemed necessary. The Executive Committee should publicize these methods and other related policies to all residents.
GDC-sponsored events should be posted at least three days in advance in the area of target residents. The posters must state that the event is “GDC-sponsored.” Event organizers should submit receipts to the GDC Treasurer within two weeks following an event for reimbursement.
The event organizers are responsible for obeying all applicable rules concerning events held in the GSAS Residence Halls.
All appliance, equipment, and supplies remaining from a GDC-sponsored event become the properties of GDC. The Executive Committee owns the rights to make arrangements of such appliance, equipment, and supplies.
This GDC by-law was approved by a majority vote of the GDC Executive Committee on April 19, 1998.
Each voter may vote for any number of events, so long as the combined budget for those events does not exceed the total allotted events budget.
The highest vote-getting event shall be funded, followed by the next-highest, and so on, until an event is reached on the list which cannot be funded with the remaining budget. The proposers of said event shall be offered the remaining funding, provided they can use it to hold said event. If they cannot, the funding shall continue to move down the list of proposed events in the same manner until the end of the list is reached or the budget is exhausted.
In case of a tie between two or more proposed events that cannot all be funded, funding shall first go to the least expensive event, then to the next least expensive, and so on, according to the system outlined above. If events are equally expensive, the tie shall be determined randomly.
The budget may be increased during vote counting by unanimous decision of the Executive Committee.
This by-law was approved by a majority vote of the GDC on February, 2003.
All unused event funding shall be rolled over to the next meeting.
Proposers of an event are encouraged to provide as many details as possible before a vote. However, there are no restrictions on when an event may be held and how many times funding may be requested for an event. These shall be left to the decision of the electorate. The only GDC restriction is a cap of $400 per event.

Addendum I: Accountability Guidelines

This section outlines accountability guidelines formulated during the year 2004-05. Ratification of these guidelines may be undertaken by subsequent GDC executive committees. Ratification requires following the appropriate procedures for constitutional amendments as outlined under Article Eight.

A. Biannual evaluation of GDC Officers

At the last executive meeting of each term, the executive committee shall meet to evaluate all GDC officers. For each officer, the committee shall vote Yes/No to the question “Has s/he fulfilled responsibilities adequately for Fall/Spring?”. Voting shall be anonymous. Ballot counting shall be done in public with all officers present.
A “NO” vote by two-thirds of the executive committee is sufficient and necessary for recalling an officer (at least five “NO” votes if the committee has eight officers).
Only officers who are not recalled may be compensated as outlined in section B.

B. Compensation for GDC Officers

For the year 2005-2006, each officer shall be provided with an annual compensation of $150, paid out in two installments.
All officers who receive an adequate number of “YES” votes (see section A) shall receive the $150 compensation in the form of a term bill credit of $75 each term.
If an officer is recalled at the end of the Fall term, his/her compensation shall be provided to whoever is elected as the replacement. If an officer is recalled at the end of the Spring term, his/her compensation shall remain unused, as part of the GDC funds.
Continuation of the compensation policy is left to the discretion of future executive committees.

C. Guidelines for officer evaluation

Below are rough guidelines for evaluating each officer. This list is not exhaustive. Each executive committee shall use its own discretion in evaluating additional aspects above and beyond the following -

President
- Has s/he ensured smooth running of the monthly GDC meetings?
- Has s/he been effective in carrying out the decisions of the council?
- Has s/he been effective in liaisoning with GSAS Housing Services?
Vice President
- Has s/he provided timely notification of GDC meetings to the committee and the resident body?
- Has s/he fulfilled responsibilities with respect to elections and attendance procedures?
Treasurer
- Has s/he provided budget information to the executive committee and any resident who requests it?
- Has s/he distributed monies on behalf of the GDC in a timely manner?
- Has s/he provided reports and other information requested by the GSAS Housing Services?
Social Coordinator
- Has s/he organized the beginning- and end-of-year GDC events effectively?
- Has s/he organized at least one other social event per semester in addition to the yearly GDC events?
- Has s/he fulfilled provided access to items in the store room when requested by RAs or residents?
Video Librarian
- Has s/he held adequate video office hours?
- Has s/he made video check-out policies clear to residents?
- Has s/he made enhancements to the library as permitted by the yearly budget?
Movie Officer
- Has s/he held at least three movie events per semester?
- Has s/he done effective advertising for the movie events?
Web Officer
- Has s/he provided frequent updates of events around campus?
- Has s/he kept the GDC information on the website up-to-date?
- Has s/he made enhancements to the website in providing information to residents and forums for feedback and discussion?