Ball State University English Department

Our Constitution & By-laws (SAGE)

Article One: Name
The name of this organization will be the Student Association for Graduates in English (SAGE) of Ball State University.
Article Two: Purposes
1) To Improve the communication among graduate students in English, not only between students but also between students and faculty and to provide a social arena for that purpose;
2) To aid the professional development of graduate students by learning to pool our knowledge in an effort to develop the skills needed to function as professionals in English professions-not only teaching;
3) To pursue opportunities that will advance the professional and political position of English graduate students.
Article Three: Membership
Section 1: All resident graduate students actively enrolled in a masters or doctoral degree program in English at the Ball State University are eligible to be members of the Student Association for Graduates in English (SAGE). Faculty and staff are also eligible for membership but cannot hold any office other than faculty advisor.
Section 2: Membership will not be denied for reasons of race, religion, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, handicap, or veteran's status.
Section 3: The SAGE executive board will be voted into office by the membership as described in Article 1 of the By-laws. Only SAGE members (as defined in Article Three, Section 1) may serve on the SAGE executive board.

Article Four: Executive
Section 1: The executive power of SAGE will be vested in a seven person executive board.
Section 2: The legislative power of SAGE will be vested in the SAGE executive board and the other active members.
Section 3: The executive board will consist of the president, the vice-president, the secretary, the treasurer, the webmaster, the university relations representative, and the social chair.

Article Five: Legislative Voting Procedures and Amendments
Section 1: Motions made at regular meetings that do not represent amendments to the Constitution or changes in the By-laws of this Association will be considered to be passed if they receive a simple majority of votes cast by members present at the meeting.
Section 2: Amendments to this constitution may be adopted at any regular meeting following a general assembly vote in which a simple majority of the SAGE members choosing to vote on the issue will constitute a passing or failing of that motion, provided that notice of the proposed amendment was presented at the previous regular meeting or that the written text of the proposed amendment was placed in members mailboxes at least a week prior to the meeting at which the vote is to be taken.
Section 3: If the executive board of the Association deems it necessary, or if so moved and seconded by the members present at a meeting, an issue (such as amending either the constitution or by-laws) may be referred to the general membership of SAGE through a ballot. The SAGE secretary will prepare and distribute such ballots to all SAGE members and will report on the tally of the votes by the next scheduled meeting. The measure will be considered passed if it receives a simple majority of those ballots submitted to the SAGE secretary.

Revised: 14 December 2005


BY-LAWS of SAGE
Article One: Election Policy and Procedures
Section 1: All officers and committee representatives must have been enrolled at BSU for at least one (1) semester before they may assume office. No one may hold the office of president for more than one term unless it is discovered at the end of the nomination process that the office is not being sought by another active SAGE member. At that time, the incumbent may submit her or his name for that position once again. The same will hold true for the other executive board positions. However, the maximum term limit will be restricted to two consecutive terms regardless of how the position came to be held.
Section 2: Officers will be elected near the end of the Spring semester of each year for the following academic year. When possible, no fewer than two branches of study shall be represented on the executive board and no more than three persons from any of the four branches-Literature, Linguistics, Rhetoric and Composition, and Creative Writing-will serve at one time.
Section 3: The term of office will extend for one year from May 15 after the election and renewable for one additional year. The term limit is no more than two consecutive terms or four consecutive years in one position.
Section 4: Vacancies in office will be filled by the second meeting ensuing the moment the vacancy occurs. Vacancies will be filled following the same procedure as annual elections.
Section 5: Nominations for officers and committee representatives will be accepted by the vice president from the SAGE members. Voting will be conducted by mail ballot. The vice president will supervise the writing, distributing, and tallying of the ballots.
Section 6: All officers will be elected by plurality unless fewer than one dozen members are present at that meeting. In the case of a lack of attendance, the election will fall to a simple majority vote of the general membership either through email or hard copy ballots.

Article Two: Powers and Duties of Officers
Section 1: President
a. The president of SAGE will preside over all meetings.
b. The president will act as the primary representative of this organization. The duties in this respect are three-fold: represent SAGE at Department meetings, act as liaison to new students at the graduate level and act as liaison to Lambda Iota Tau (LIT; the undergraduate English honorary). The duties with regard to department meetings includes voicing SAGE concerns as a representative of the graduate student body when necessary and approved by the executive board, reporting via email and posting the department and Association minutes, and other items of business determined to fall within the confines of the position's title. The duties as liaison to new students is to help acclimate new students to Ball State University, the department, fellow students and faculty (when possible) and Muncie.
c. The president may make appointments to non-executive committees and any subcommittees with the approval of the executive board.

Section 2: Vice-President
a. The vice-president will preside over meetings of the organization during the absence of the president.
b. The vice-president will assist the president in his or her duties as head of the organization as needed or requested by the president.
c. The vice-president will assume the duties and responsibilities of the president if for any reason the president is no longer able to serve.
d. The vice-president will supervise elections of SAGE officers and committee representatives.

Section 3: Secretary
a. The secretary will record accurate minutes of any meeting of the organization and post a copy for all interested members to read to the department bulletin board and via email to all members.
b. The secretary will notify the organization members of meetings.
c. The secretary will provide the advisor of the organization, the English Department Chair and the department's Director of Graduate Studies with a list of executive officers each year or, in case of a vacancy in any position, each semester.
d. The secretary will supervise voting on legislative issues in those cases in which mail ballots are deemed appropriate.

Section 4: Treasurer
a. The treasurer will keep a complete record of the financial business of the organization.
b. The treasurer will be responsible for the disbursement of funds necessary for the operation of the organization and its functions as raised form various fundraisers and those funds received from Ball State University upon approval of the Executive Board.
c. The treasurer will present a financial report at each meeting of the organization.
d. The treasurer will be responsible for applying for all organizational funding through the university upon approval of the Executive Board.

Section 5: Social Chair
a. The social chair will oversee all social functions of the organization in cooperation with voting and non-voting members.
b. The social chair should report plans and activities at each meeting of the organization.
c. The social chair will arrange all fundraising activities in cooperation with the executive board members.
d. The social chair will organize at least one social function per semester.

Section 6: Webmaster
a. The webmaster will design, update, and maintain the SAGE web page in a timely fashion with information that will support graduate student professionalism and foster graduate student collegiality.

Section 7: University Relations Representative
a. The university relations representative will keep graduate students abreast of happenings at the department and university levels.
b. The university relations representative will be required to attend at least one SAGE meeting and one English Department meeting per month.

Section 8: Procedures for Removal from Office:
Executive officers and committee representatives may be removed from office by resignation, by a majority vote of the executive board, upon three absences from the regular and executive board meetings or by a three-fourths vote of the active membership. An executive officer may not be impeached unless a motion has been made at a previous meeting.

Article Three: Executive Board
Section 1: The executive board will meet when called by the president.
Section 2: A quorum of the executive board will be a majority of the members of the executive board.
Section 3: Each April, members of the executive board will meet one-on-one with their newly elected counterparts to answer questions and to provide an 'outgoing packet' of information which will include a narrative of the position and a log of responsibilities. These packets will also be filed with the secretary.

Article Four: Advisor
SAGE is required to maintain a faculty advisor. The advisor will be a faculty member who volunteers. In case of a tie vote by the executive board, the advisor will be asked to cast the deciding vote. The advisor, otherwise, is not a voting member of SAGE.

Article Five: Meetings
Section 1: Regular meetings of the entire active membership will be held at least once a month during the fall and winter semesters at a time deemed most advantageous to the general membership and that does not conflict with scheduled faculty meetings.
Section 2: Meetings of the executive board will be held immediately prior to or immediately following each regular meeting and at least once prior to each semester (fall and spring) or as designated by the president.
Section 3: Emergency meetings may be called by the executive board at the request of the president.

Article Eight: Amendments
Amendments to the By-laws may be presented at any meeting by any member of the organization and may be passed at the next business meeting by a two-thirds majority of the members present.
Revised: 14 December 2005