September
2014
DELEGATES TRAINING
BY: MARY JUNE FLORES
INTERNAL VP
STRUCTURE
Delegates
Exec Board
Exec Staff
Non-Exec
Officers
Business
Office
(indirect)
Project
Coordinators
Graduate
Council Reps
STRUCTURE CONTINUED
 Delegate Assembly
 1 rep per 100 students in each graduate degree program
 If all seats filled, over 150 delegates in GA
 Executive Board (elected by Delegates)
 President
 official spokesperson, meets with admin & alumni, signs contracts & checks
 Internal VP
 chairs delegates, supports non-exec officers, space & internal operations,
serves as back up to President (e.g. meets with admin)
 Campus Affairs VP
 Supports and liaises with Project Coordinators, appoints students to
committees, meets with Provost
 External Affairs VP
 Voting member of UCSA & SAGE, advocates w/ city, state, and federal
legislators
 Treasurer (Non-voting)
 Creates and manages GA budget, approves expenditures above $500
STRUCTURE CONTINUED
Executive Board Staff (hired)
 Includes legislative directors, chief of staff, executive
assistant
Non-Exec Officers (elected)
 Rules Officer
 Funding Officer
 Environmental Sustainability Officer
Graduate Council Reps
 3 voting reps and 1 alternate
STRUCTURE CONTINUED
 Project Coordinators (hired for 2 year positions)
 Graduate Student Support Project
 Graduate Minority Student Project
 Queer Trans Advocacy Project
 Graduate Women’s Project
 Graduate Student Parent Advocate
 Graduate Social Club
 Graduate Minority Outreach, Recruitment and Retention
 Women of Color Initiative
 The Berkeley Graduate
 Project Coordinator Assistant (part of Business
Office)
GA-ASUC RELATIONSHIP
 Associated Students of University of California (ASUC)
 Officially recognized student government at Cal
 GA is grad arm of ASUC
 ASUC is a 501(c)3 organization
 ASUC owns businesses in Lower Sproul which generate revenue
 ASUC student fee ($27.50/semester)
 GA-ASUC MOU
 Specifies fee and revenue split between ASUC-GA
 If GA and ASUC take opposing stances, GA speaks for grads,
ASUC speaks for undergrads
 Clarifies other grad/undergrad roles of ASUC/GA
HISTORY OF ASUC
 ASUC built much of campus and at one point owned:
 Cal football team
 Cal logo
 Cal band
 Campus bookstore (still owns)
 Change to semester system meant loss of financial
revenue from the bookstore and financial
mismanagement lead to major debt
 University bailed out ASUC but removed ASUC’s right to have
it’s own fulltime professional staff
 Created the ASUC Student Union and joint oversight board called
the Student Union Board
DELEGATE RESPONSIBILITIES
 Delegates’ responsibilities include:
 Attending monthly GA delegates meetings
 Attending monthly committee meeting
 Delegates each get 1 alternate who can fill in for them at
Delegates meetings (i.e. vote as their proxy)
 Alternates may also serve on a GA committee (and are voting
members)
 Alternates can only vote if active delegates are absent at
delegate meetings
 Delegates should report back to their departments and solicit
feedback from their departments on key policy and advocacy
issues
COMMITTEES
 GA Internal Committees:
 Funding
 Rules
 External Affairs
 Campus Affairs
 Faculty Mentorship Awards
 Environmental Sustainability
 Budget
 Campus administrative and academic committees
DELEGATES’ ROLES
Delegates are the ultimate authority at the GA
 Can overrule the Executive Board
 Control the budget and funding for student
organizations
 Can remove officers and project coordinators (PC)
 Can vote to change the bylaws and GA Charter
 Can direct any officer, PC, or staff to take action or
issue a statement
 Can remove GA reps to committees
 Act as legislative arm of the GA
BYLAWS SECTION 1
 GA mission:
 The Graduate Assembly's mission is to improve the lives
of University of California, Berkeley graduate students and
to foster a vibrant inclusive graduate student community.
 GA is official voice of all UC Berkeley graduate
and professional students.
 GA shall not take any action that would threaten
tax exempt status of ASUC.
BYLAWS SECTION 2
 Defines Delegate membership & must renew
certification form each year
 Defines ex-officio non-voting members as:
 PCs
 Non delegate/alternate graduate students serving on a
committee
 GA stipend-staff
 Grads serving in ASUC Senate
 ASUC Student Union staff as recognized by GA
 Specifies attendance requirements and must have
valid email on file with the GA
BYLAWS SECTION 2 CONTINUED
 Specifies who are elected officers
 Elected officers may not serve as delegates/alternates
 Delegates and Exec Board can direct officers to take
action
 If directions contradict, Delegates trump Exec Board
 Elections for officers can take place between March May (unless vacancy mid-year)
 Only delegates can nominate candidates, including self
 Recall rules are in the GA Charter
 Exec Board can vote to withhold stipends for any GA
person
 Delegates can override
BYLAWS SECTION 2 CONTINUED
 Annual budget
 Officers submit budget proposals by March 1 to Budget Comm.
 Specifies officers roles and duties
 Exec Board reviews job descriptions annually
 Graduate Council Reps
 Elected by delegates
 Take directed action from delegates, Exec Board, or CAVP
 Can be a delegate or alternate but not any other GA position
 Can be recalled by 2/3 votes of Delegates
BYLAWS SECTION 2 CONTINUED
 Project Coordinators
 In addition to job descriptions, delegates can direct PCs
 Exec Board can hire stipend staff positions
 Must strive to reflect diversity of grad population in hiring
 Must give priority to graduate student hires
BYLAWS SECTION 3
 Regular Delegates meetings
 Are first Thursday of every month with following exceptions:
 Sept meeting is on 2 nd Thursday
 No meeting in January and June-August
 Quorum is defined in the Charter
 Special meetings can be called – see Charter for rules
 There must be public notice of meetings and publicly
available minutes from meetings
 All meeting materials must be posted 1 week in advance
 changes can be made after this date to posted material
 Of ficers, Grad Council Reps, and Workgroup chairs give
reports each meeting
 Of ficers cannot vote or make motions, Chair breaks ties
though
BYLAWS SECTION 4
 Defines GA Committees and how new committees can be made
 Committee membership
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
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Voting members can only be graduate students
Can invite other ex-officio members
Min 3 voting members, max of 15
No proxy votes allowed
Quorum is 50% + 1
 Committee or Workgroup Chairs
 Selected by the committee except where officer is chair via duties
 Vice chairs can be selected if needed
 All committee and workgroup meetings and minutes are public
 But can vote to go into close session if necessary
 All materials must be posted 1 week in advance
BYLAWS SECTION 4 CONTINUED
 Committee/Workgroup chairs must present budget by March 1
 Defines internal GA Committee duties
 Defines Exec Board membership and powers including:
 The Executive Board may act on behalf of and not as the Delegate
Assembly on matters of immediate concern when the Delegate
Assembly is not is session. Matters of immediate concern are those
matters on which the Delegate Assembly would normally take action
but which require urgent attention, and for those matters for which
the financial or legal circumstances have changed significantly since
the last Delegates Assembly session
 These decisions are subject to delegates review, modification, or
reversal
 If a committee cannot meet/act, Exec Board may act on its behalf.
BYLAWS SECTION 5
 Defines the GA Projects and that PC hires are for 2yrs
 PCs must report at least once a semester to
Delegates
 And end-of year report to Exec Board
 PCs must submit proposed annual budget by Feb. 15
 Exec Board or Delegates can authorize search for a PC
 Defines search membership
 Removal requires 2/3 votes for Exec Board and Delegates
BYLAWS SECTION 6
 Defines Sustainability standards for the GA
 Defines rules for approving student group funding
 Defines Resolution types as:
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Standing policy
Directed action
Budget amendment
Bylaws amendment
Funding procedure
Charter amendment
 Delegates, alternates, or of ficers may author resolutions
 Resolutions are referred to committees for review and then
voted on at following delegates meeting
 ¾ vote of delegates can suspend this rule and fast -track a vote on a
resolution during the meeting the resolution is introduced
DELEGATES MEETINGS
 Sample Agenda:
 Approve minutes and agenda
 Refer resolutions to committee
 Announcements
 Officer reports
 Advocacy discussion
 Funding approvals
 Resolution approvals
 Meetings run using Robert’s Rules
 See Robert’s Rules cheat sheet posted on GA website
RESOLUTIONS
 See sample from previous meetings at
ga.berkeley.edu/delegates/meeting
 Template available on GA website
 For help with writing a resolution email Mary June
(MJ) Flores at internal@ga.berkeley.edu
LEAD CENTER & DELEGATES
 GA advisor for Delegates housed in the LEAD Center
 Chris Wong
 LEAD Center also helps advise student organizations
and does leadership development programs
 Located at 102 Hearst Gym
 Business Office at Anthony Hall
 Helps with processing funding applications and
reimbursements
 Staff of 7 provides support for GA and PC related events ( ie:
NGSO, NGMSO, socials, workshops, etc.)
QUESTIONS?