Bylaws of the Associated Students of Green River College (ASGRC)
Updated May 2023
ARTICLE I: PURPOSE
Section 1. The purpose of the ASGRC is to act as a voice for the student body of Green River College and as a bridge for students and faculty and staff to help connect them to discuss work on making GRC a more inclusive, collective, and diverse community. The ASGRC Senate shall be the only representative of the students officially recognized by the Board of Trustees.
- Refer to Article II Objectives of the ASGRC Constitution for a more comprehensive definition of the student/administrative relationship.
ARTICLE II: MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. The Associated Students of Green River College, (ASGRC), includes the Student Senate and all recognized student organizations. All students currently enrolled at GRC shall be members of the ASGRC with the privilege of holding office and voting in any special election process. Part-time students can hold the office of Senator, but are not eligible for the offices of President, Vice President of Governance, and Vice President of Finance. Students registered for ten or more units of college class work at GRC shall be considered full-time students.
Section 2. Membership is the term used to define the minimum number of persons composing a group. Member is the term used to define one who belongs to, or is part of, a group.
ARTICLE III: EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
Clause 1. Executive Positions
Section 1. The ASGRC Executive Officers are comprised of the President, Vice President of Governance, and Vice President of Finance.
Section 2. The ASGRC President, Vice President of Governance, or Vice President of Finances are selected during the spring Selection Process
Section 3. The term of office for all Executive positions shall be one academic year (fall to spring).
Clause 2: Qualifications
Section 1. Candidates for ASGRC President, Vice President of Governance, and Vice President of Finance must have completed at least one full-time quarter by the end of fall quarter in the academic year the selections are held.
Section 2. Candidates for the office of ASGRC President, Vice President of Governance, and Vice President of Finance must have a cumulative GPA of 2.75 at the time of selections, as well as throughout their term of office. They must also be enrolled as a full-time student each quarter during their term of office.
Section 3. The ASGRC President, Vice President of Governance, and Vice President of Finance must complete leadership training prior to the beginning of fall quarter.
Clause 3: Nomination
Section 1. Upon self-nomination for ASGRC President, Vice President of Governance, and Vice President of Finance, candidates must apply via the application process which will be offered both digitally and in paper format.
Section 2. After completion of the application, the candidate then must schedule an interview with the ad hoc Selection Committee, which consists of the current ASGRC President, Vice President of Governance, Vice President of Finance, at least three Senators from the Senate Governance Committee and the Director of Student Life or designee.
Section 3. The ad hoc Selection Committee will present the final candidate for each of the executive positions (ASGRC President, Vice President of Governance, Vice President of Finance) to the Senate no later than the Senate Business meeting during week four of spring quarter. The Senate will ratify the candidates into office with a 2/3 super majority vote.
Clause 4: Duties
Section 1. The ASGRC Executives shall work with the ASGRC Senate and be responsible for the execution of all legislation. The ASGRC Executives shall serve as Chairs to the ASGRC Senate, and its committees as required by the Bylaws.
Section 2. The ASGRC Executive members are required to attend all scheduled ASGRC Senate meetings. Officers are allowed one (1) unexcused absence, or three (3) excused absences. Additional absences should be appealed to be excused at the discretion of the ASGRC Governance Committee.
Section 3. It shall be the duty of the ASGRC President to:
- Be the Voice of Student Government
- Represent the Student Voice and present a monthly report at Board of Trustee Meetings
- Plan, delegate, and evaluate, set goals, and create ideas, tone and direction
- Communicate ideas and information and appoint committees and task forces
- Coordinate with the Student Life Office and plan for Executive Officer transition for the coming academic year
- Chair the Commencement Speaker Committee
- Chair the Student Senate Outreach Committee
- Be the Washington Community and Technical College student Association (WACTCSA) representative for GRC and attend all WACTCSA meetings
- Recruit senators with ASGRC Vice President of Governance and Vice President of Finance
Section 4. It shall be the duty of the ASGRC Vice President of Governance to:
- Presiding over the Senate, but shall have no vote unless the Senate is equally divided
- Perform the duties of the President in their absence
- Chair all ASGRC Senate meetings including but not limited to: creating weekly agendas and inviting guest speakers, etc.
- Serve as a voting member on the Commencement Speaker Committee and the Technology Fee Committee
- Recruit senators with the President and Vice President of Finance
- Chair the Student Senate Governance Committee
- Swear in newly selected Senators
Section 5. It shall be the duty of the ASGRC Vice President of Finance to:
- Chair the ASGRC Senate Finance Committee
- Chair the 522 Budget Development Committee
- Serve on the GRC Technology Fee Committee
- Serve as the Parliamentarian for the ASGRC Senate
- Help Clubs to complete paperwork for Senate Budget Requests
- Review all governing documents of the Club Council in conjunction with the Assistant Director of Student Life
- Recruit senators with the ASGRC President and Vice President of Governance.
Clause 5: Appointed Officers
Section 1. The ASGRC Secretary position shall be filled by the Student Life Program Specialist. The duties of the Secretary shall be to handle and keep on file all ASGRC correspondence, reports, and minutes. For specific duties, refer to the job description on file in the Student Life Office.
Section 2: President Pro Tempore
- Nominations from the Senate floor and the election of the President Pro Tempore will be held during the second Senate meeting of fall term.
- The Senate shall vote on the nominees for President Pro Tempore at the third meeting of fall term.
- In the event of the resignation of the President Pro Tempore, a new election must be held at the following Senate meeting.
- The President Pro Tempore will take over the duties of the Vice President of Governance for presiding over Senate meetings in the Vice President's absence.
Section 3: Senate Parliamentarian
- The ASGRC Vice President of Finance shall hold all the Parliamentarian duties. The duties of the Parliamentarian shall be to make sure that Parliamentary Procedure, as defined in Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised and the ASGRC Bylaws, is adhered to during Senate meetings.
ARTICLE IV: SENATORS
Clause 1: Members
Section 1. The structure of the Senate will be composed of 15 seats. Each seat shall be filled with a member of the current student body who demonstrates the qualifications.
Section 2. Voting members of the Senate will include five (5) Finance Committee Senators, five (5) Governance Committee Senators, and five (5) Outreach Committee Senators.
Section 3. ASGRC President and Vice President of Finance will serve as non-voting members. The Director of Student Life and designees will serve in an advisory capacity.
Section 4. Senators will be selected via application selection process.
Clause 2: Qualifications and Terms of Office
Section 1. Any member of ASGRC shall be eligible for any officer position or appointment.
Section 2. All Senators and non-voting Senators are required to maintain a minimum cumulative GPA level of 2.2, verified by the ASGRC Secretary, or to petition the Senate for an exemption of the ASGRC requirements based on special circumstances. For students who do not yet have a GPA at GRC, they must earn a 2.2 GPA their first quarter and maintain it while in office.
Section 3. Candidates for ASGRC Senate must be enrolled in a minimum of five (5) credits per quarter while attending GRC and participating in the ASGRC.
Clause 3: Senator Selection
Section 1. Senators will be selected via application.
- Upon self-nomination for a Senate position, candidates must pick up an application or fill out an online application from the Student Life Office.
- Applicants for Senate Positions shall sign up for interviews with the Executive Officers, the Director of Student Life, and the Assistant Director of Student Life.
- The Vice President of Governance shall announce the selected officers for the Senator positions.
Section 2. Spring Selection
- Up to 10 Senators shall be selected before the last Senate meeting of spring quarter to serve as senators for the following fall to spring academic year.
- The ASGRC President, Vice President of Governance, and Vice President of Finance shall be sworn in at the last official Senate meeting of spring quarter to serve as the Executive team for the next academic year.
Section 3. Fall Selection
- Selection for the remaining fall Senators shall start within four weeks of the beginning of fall Quarter.
- The remaining Senator positions selected in the fall shall be sworn in at the first official Senate meeting of fall quarter.
- There shall only ever be 30 members of the sitting Senate body at any given time. 15 voting members and nine (9) non-voting members and three (3) Executive Staff.
Section 4. Non-voting Senators of the ASGRC Senate can be appointed during the initial selection process by the ASGRC Executive Committee.
Section 5. The powers of the ASGRC non-voting Senate members shall be to review general policy concerning activities of the ASGRC; to make recommendations to the ASGRC President and Vice Presidents; To review Constitutional amendments and Bylaws for this association and to review expenditures of ASGRC funds.
Clause 4: Senator Duties
Section 1. All Senators must attend all Senate meetings and committee meetings within one quarter. Senators are allowed one (1) unexcused absence, or three (3) excused absences. Additional absences can be excused by appealing to the ASGRC Governance Committee.
- “Tardy” shall be defined as when an officer is not yet present when the meeting is officially called to order. Three (3) tardies shall result in an unexcused absence.
- “Absent” shall be defined as when an officer has not arrived to the meeting by the end of the committee reports.
- An excused absence is allowed when arranged by the officer 24 hours prior to their absence, at the discretion of the presiding officer; or in case of an emergency. As Senator should communicate via GRC email to the ASGRC Vice President of Governance and the ASGRC Secretary to arrange an excused absence.
Section 2. All voting senators shall vote on all legislation which is brought to the floor of the Senate. Any Senator failing to vote on three pieces of legislation in any one quarter will lose their Senate position.
Section 3. All Senators are required to keep an updated notebook record of Senate meetings.
Section 4. A Senator shall remain in contact with students of GRC through interpersonal interaction or via electronic means. They shall be prepared to answer questions posed by their constituents and bring constituent concerns to the attention of the ASGRC Senate.
Section 5. A Senator must participate in the committee to which the Executive Officers of ASGRC have appointed them. Any Senator failing to participate in the assigned committee will face the loss of membership in the ASGRC Senate.
Section 6. ALL Senators, including non-voting members must attend all Senate meetings and must also attend their respective committee meetings determined by the Executive Officers.
Section 7. ALL Senators, including non-voting Senators must adhere to the same attendance policy as the Executive Officers (Stated in the ASGRC Constitution Article VIII, Clause 7, Section 1, Subsections 1-4).
Clause 5: Probation
Section 1. The Vice President of Governance must notify any Senator who has failed to meet the requirements to maintain office within one (1) week in writing, from notification of the Bylaws violation.
Section 2. No Senator shall be deprived of their normal power while on probation. Probation is a condition that may be imposed upon an ASGRC officer or Senator by the Governance Committee for failure to fulfill the requirements to maintain office.
Section 3. A Senator may only be placed on probation once per term of office. Any further violations shall result in expulsion by the Governance Committee.
Section 4. A Senator on probation for failure to maintain the GPA standard shall have until the next official release of grades to meet the requirements of the previously mentioned Bylaw.
Section 5. Senators who are on probation for exceeding the number of Senate absences may not have any unexcused absences or tardies and may have only one (1) excused absence while on probation.
Section 6. Senators shall be immediately reinstated when the conditions for the Bylaws they violated are satisfied.
Section 7. Failure to complete the probation requirements stated in the time period stated shall result in removal from the ASGRC Senate. If a time period is not specified, then the conditions must be met by the end of the quarter in which the probation is received.
Clause 6: Appeals
Section 1. A Senator who has been found in violation of the ASGRC Constitution or Bylaws may submit an appeal to the Governance Committee. The officer must notify the Vice President of Governance of their appeal within one (1) business day from the time they become aware of the violation.
Section 2. The appeal must be completed and turned in to the Vice President of Governance by the beginning of the next committee meeting. If the next committee meeting is less than four (4) business days away, the appeal may be turned in at the following committee meeting.
Section 3. Once the Governance Committee has received the appeal, they have one week to review to make a determination.
Section 4. No senator shall be deprived of their normal power during the appeal process.
Clause 7: Vacancies
Section 1. Vacancies in the office of ASGRC President, Vice President of Governance and Vice President of Finance shall be filled in accordance with Article IV, Section 3 of the ASGRC Constitution. All vacant Senatorial seats (offices) shall be filled by a majority vote of the Senate within one (1) academic month of the time of the vacancy. Any student at Green River can apply to be a senator.
Section 2. A written resignation of a senatorial position must be turned in two weeks before vacating office.
ARTICLE V: SENATE STANDING COMMITTEES
Clause 1: Committees
Section 1. Standing Committee is a permanent committee, which considers matters of an ongoing nature. The Senate Finance, Outreach, and Governance committees shall be considered standing committees.
Section 2. The Senate Finance Committee shall review all requests for money from the 522 Legislative Budget. The committee will research requests and budget use and shall be part of the budget development process for the next fiscal year. This committee will also handle all club funding requests.
Section 3. The Senate Governance Committee shall review all ASGRC Governing Documents and shall be responsible for the development of the ASGRC Bylaws, subject to the approval of the Senate. Investigate issues that are voiced by both day and evening students, hear appeals of discipline of Executive Officers and Senators, and request checking of qualification standards of all Executive Officers and Senators by the ASGRC Secretary or delegate.
Section 4. The Senate Outreach Committee shall be responsible for communications between the ASGRC Senate and the student body. The Outreach Committee shall also be responsible for putting on a specific outreach event each quarter to help better acquaint students with ASGRC on campus and on branch campuses.
Section 5. The Executive Committee shall have the final authority in deciding committee members. The membership of each committee should consist of five voting members.
Section 6. Attendance requirements of special meeting shall be as stated in Article IV, Clause 4, Section 1 of the Bylaws.
Clause 2: Selection Jurisdiction
Section 1. It shall be the duty of the Governance Committee to create the Senator application, timeline, and guidelines.
Section 2. It shall be the duty of the Outreach Committee to publicize and promote the spring selection process.
Section 3. It shall be the duty of the full-time Secretary to review the qualifications for all candidates for ASGRC office before being sworn in.
- After completion of the application, the candidate then schedules an interview with the Executive Committee, which consists of the current ASGRC President, Vice President of Governance, Vice President of Finance, the newly selected ASGRC President, Vice President of Governance, Vice President of Finance and the Director of Student Life or designee.
Section 4. The Vice President of Governance shall swear in all newly elected Senators at the last meeting of spring quarter.
Clause 3: Technology Fee Committee
Section 1. The Technology Fee Committee meets to determine the Technology Fee budget as well as if the technology fee needs to be changed. The following ASGRC members are required to be a member of the committee:
- ASGRC Vice President of Finance
- ASGRC Vice President of Governance
- Three students appointed by the ASGRC Executive Committee
- ASGRC President - non-voting
Section 2. The ASGRC Executive Committee shall appoint three students to serve on the Technology Fee Committee for the duration of the academic year. The Executive Committee must make all three appointments by the end of fall quarter. If an appointed position becomes vacant, the Executive Committee shall appoint another student to fill the vacancy.
Section 3. The Technology Fee shall be reviewed and approved by the ASGRC Senate at least every two (2) years. Any changes in the Technology Fee must be voted on and approved by the ASGRC Senate.
Clause 4: Commencement Speaker Committee
Section 1. Voting members of the Commencement Speaker Committee are:
-
Representing the student body
- ASGRC President (Chair)
- ASGRC Vice President of Governance
- Two (2) students appointed by the ASGRC Executive Committee
-
Representing staff and administration
- One (1) staff member appointed by the ASGRC Executive Committee
- One (1) faculty member appointed by the ASGRC Executive Committee
- The Director of Student Life
Section 2. The ASGRC Executive Committee shall appoint two (2) students to serve on the Commencement Speaker Committee that will not apply to be the Commencement Speaker. The ASGRC Executive Committee must make all appointments by the end of the third full week of spring quarter. If an appointed position becomes vacant the Executive Committee shall appoint another student to fill the vacancy.
Section 3. In the event that a student on the Commencement Speaker Committee would like to apply to be the Commencement Speaker, that student will be replaced by another student appointed by the Executive Committee.
Clause 5: Ad Hoc Committees
Section 1. Committees shall be formed, when necessary, to facilitate the working of the student body. Ad Hoc Committee is a temporary committee, appointed by the President or Vice President of Governance, for the purpose of completing a specified task or objective. Upon satisfactory completion of such, the committee will be dissolved.
Section 2. The ASGRC Vice President of Governance can appoint Ad Hoc committees of the Senate. Committee members shall be nominated by the ASGRC Vice President of Governance and ratified by the Senate.
Section 3. The ASGRC President may appoint Ad Hoc Committees and will report to the Senate the purpose of the Ad Hoc Committee and the membership of these committees. These committees do not need to be ratified by the ASGRC Senate.
Section 4. The Committee chairperson shall be responsible for:
- Representing the committee to the Senate
- Running the meetings
- Selecting non-voting members, upon approval of the committee