Office of Graduate Affairs

Constitution Outline Worksheet

*Please copy and paste the following to a word document

Introduction

Every graduate student club and organization is required to have a constitution. You must submit a draft constitution to the Office of Graduate Student Affairs before pursuing signatures for club approval. Please upload the draft to the online application for club/organization recognition.

Draft Constitution Guidelines

Generally, a constitution consists of the following eight statements. Please complete each section to the best of your ability:

  1. Purpose
  2. Membership
  3. Officers
  4. Meetings 
  5. Election of Officers
  6. Constitutional Amendments
  7. Statement of Nonexclusivity

Purpose

  • Mission statement
  • Main goal
  • What you hope to accomplish (this should be unique to other clubs offered for graduate students)

Example: The primary goal of the Brandeis Advertising and Marketing Club is to provide opportunities for students to learn about the various aspects of the marketing and advertising industries through outside speakers, alumni networking and related events held in the Boston area. The club seeks to provide shadowing opportunities for members through a list of alumni and industry contacts. Finally, the group will aspire to increase the course offerings and career resources designated for students interested in marketing and advertising.

Membership 

  • Outline how one gains membership to the club (NOTE: clubs must be open to all members of the Brandeis community. Some performance-based clubs, such as dance troupes, may require auditions.)
  • The GSA will not recognize any clubs requiring fees for membership, as this may prohibit some members from joining.

Officers

Outline the various officer positions and their roles in the club. Example follows:

  • President
    Coordinating club meetings, providing overall leadership to the club, working directly with the GSA adviser to ensure the club is operating within the expectations of the college, acting as chief spokesperson of the club, etc.
  • Vice President
    Assisting the president with the fulfillment of his/her duties, providing support for club events, working with the treasurer to establish budgets for events, etc.
  • Treasurer
    Keeping a record of all financial transactions, meeting with the GSA adviser on a regular basis to review account balances, preparing budgets, responding to funding requests, etc.
  • Secretary
    Keeping detailed minutes of all meetings, coordinating with the publicity coordinator on flyers, maintaining the club’s web page, etc.

Meetings

Give a detailed description of what you hope to accomplish during each club meeting, frequency of meetings, how these meetings may operate and how long meetings are intended to last.

Example: The African Dance Club will hold as many instructor-led classes as possible each semester, subject to budget constraints. In addition, a formal meeting without dance instruction will be held each semester for elections or to discuss other relevant club matters such as fundraising. Each dance class is to begin with 15 to 30 minutes of stretching, followed by one hour of instruction.

Election of Officers

Describe how the officer positions will be filled, e.g., by a majority vote of club members at the end of each semester, elections by the current executive board, etc.

Constitutional Amendments

Detail how amendments to your constitution will be decided in the future, should the need arise, e.g., upon discussion at monthly board meeting, followed by a majority vote of members present.

Statement of Nonexclusivity

Adopt and abide by the following statement:

[CLUB NAME] is open to all members of the Brandeis community. [CLUB NAME] does not discriminate against members on the basis of race, color, ancestry, religious creed, gender identity and expression, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, disability, political affiliation, ideology, veteran status or any other category protected by the law.