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APSSC Bylaws

ARTICLE I: Authorization and Scope of the Bylaws

  1. These bylaws are authorized by APS and APSSC.
  2. The Bylaws provide for the organizational and administrative structure and personnel policies and procedures for the APSSC. It is intended that these Bylaws be a statement of general policy.

ARTICLE II: Name and Purpose

  1. The name of this organization shall be the Association for Psychological Science Student Caucus (APSSC).
  2. The purpose of this organization is to be a representative body of the student affiliates of the Association for Psychological Science. As such, the APSSC is committed to the goals of that organization, which are to promote, protect, and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in research, application, and the improvement of human welfare. Further, the Student Caucus seeks to enhance the professional development of its members and improve the education of the science of psychology.

ARTICLE III: Membership

  1. All student affiliates of the Association for Psychological Science shall be members of the APSSC.
  2. All student affiliates shall be treated without discrimination on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, or mental or physical disability. This does not preclude the Student Caucus from carrying out activities, which have as a goal the amelioration of conditions that may restrict members from full participation in the Student Caucus, or its activities.

ARTICLE IV: Officers, Duties, and Terms of Office

  1. The officers of the Student Caucus shall consist of an eight-member executive board including a President, a Graduate Advocate, a Communications and Marketing Officer (CMO), a Membership and Volunteers Officer (MVO), a Student Notebook Editor, a Researching Injustice and Social Equality (RISE) Coordinator, an Undergraduate Advocate, and either a Past-President or a Member at Large. The APSSC Executive Board retains the rights to modify the titles and descriptions of the officer positions as needed to best serve the goals and development of both APS and the Student Caucus.
  2. All officers of the Student Caucus Executive Board, with the exception of the Undergraduate Advocate, President, and Past-President/Member at Large, shall be elected by a majority vote through an online ballot system by current student affiliates prior to the Annual Convention. Elected Executive Board officers must be present at the APS Annual Convention immediately following their election. The executive officers shall serve a minimum of one-year terms (based on the convention cycle). All officers will have full voting rights on the board. In the case that an elected officer is unable to complete his/her duties and chooses to resign before the term’s end, the President (or Past-President in the event of incapacity of the President) shall then appoint a person to take over the duties of the vacant office with the approval of the majority of the Executive Board until the next APS Annual Convention.
  3. The President of the Student Caucus must have served a minimum of one year on the Executive Board and shall be elected by a majority vote of the Executive Board. The standing President shall be excluded from this election except in the case of a tie when the standing President will cast the deciding vote. The President will serve a minimum of two terms including one as President and one as Past President. In the event that a President is unable or unwilling to complete their term the Past President/ Member at Large will serve as President ad litem until the end of the term. The President or President ad litem will have full voting rights with the exception noted above.
  4. The Past-President position is an automatically assumed position at the annual convention following the election of a new President. Should the current President be unable or unwilling to assume the position, the Executive Board retains the right to elect a Member at Large to serve in the position. The Past President/ Member at Large will serve a one-year term. The executive officers shall serve one-year terms (based on the convention cycle). The Past President/Member at Large will have full voting rights on the board with the exception noted above.
  5. Each member of the Executive Board shall perform the usual duties of the respective office and specific duties provided elsewhere in the Bylaws. Qualifications for persons who are nominated to run for an Executive Board position are:
    1. All students shall be student affiliate members of APS.
    2. Individuals must be a student for at least one semester of the term of office for which they are nominated.
    3. All Executive Board positions shall be held by students with graduate school status, with the exception of the Undergraduate Advocate who may be a current undergraduate student affiliate.
  6. The Executive Board officers’ specific duties shall include the following:
    1. PRESIDENT: Serves as exclusive liaison between the Student Caucus and the APS Board of Directors; chairs the APSSC Executive Board meetings; and serves as an ex officio head of all non-standing committees.
    2. GRADUATE ADVOCATE: Serves as a graduate student’s advocate; is responsible for the Student Research Award and Student Grant Competition, including advertising, organizing the review process, and the final selection of winners.
    3. UNDERGRADUATE ADVOCATE: This officer is appointed by the President-Elect and confirmed by a majority vote of the APSSC Executive Board. The Undergraduate Advocate serves as a liaison to the Executive Board and provides the Board and APS with feedback that represents the needs and concerns of the undergraduate student population. Besides advocating for undergraduate student issues, he or she is also responsible for working with the Communications and Marketing Officer and disseminating information to undergraduates in psychology through the Campus Representatives Program. The Undergraduate Advocate may form a committee if he or she chooses at which point the Undergraduate Advocate would act as Chair of that committee. The Undergraduate Advocate is also responsible for coordinating and chairing one student panel at the Annual Convention, as well as publishing the Undergraduate Update with the assistance of the Student Notebook Editor and RISE Coordinator. Serving as the Editor of the Undergraduate Update involves soliciting and editing submissions from student affiliates.
    4. RISE COORDINATOR: Responsible for advising the APSSC on issues and projects relating to international and underrepresented groups, organizing the RISE Research Award competition including advertising, organizing the review process, selecting the final winners and participants in the symposium, and coordinating and chairing the RISE Research Award Symposium at the Annual Convention.
    5. COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING OFFICER (CMO): Serves as the exclusive liaison between the APSSC and the APS Webmaster. The CMO is responsible for developing, soliciting, and updating website content, developing, and publishing the APSSC monthly e-mail newsletter, designing and disseminating marketing materials for the APSSC, and taking minutes for the Executive Board meetings. The CMO also co-coordinates the volunteer program with MVO at the convention.
    6. MEMBERSHIP AND VOLUNTEERS OFFICER (MVO): Helps facilitate student affiliates’ travel and boarding to APS Convention, as well as design membership recruiting programs and materials for APSSC Campus Representatives program. The MVO serves as Liaison between the Meetings Manager and the APS staff on site to co-coordinate volunteers (with CMO) at the convention.
    7. STUDENT NOTEBOOK EDITOR: Serves as the exclusive liaison between APSSC and the APS Observer. The Editor must review and endorse any submissions claiming to represent APSSC before they are forwarded to APS for any further consideration. The Editor is responsible for soliciting and writing articles and announcements for the Student Notebook in the APS Observer and for providing the Observer with the appropriate and necessary materials by given deadlines. The Editor will also serve at the associate Editor for the Undergraduate Update, and assist the Undergraduate Advocate in soliciting, reviewing, and publishing articles therein.
    8. PAST-PRESIDENT: This position is automatically given to the President at the end of his/her term. In the event the President is unable to serve a second year, this office will be elected and referred to as Member-at-large. Even though this position is primarily advisory the position retains responsibility for annually updating the APSSC Executive Handbook, conducting the annual Student Caucus Survey and compiling results, coordinating, and chairing one panel at the annual convention, and providing general oversight to special projects as deemed necessary.
    9.  STUDENT RESEARCH COORDINATOR (SRC): Serves as the coordinator for both the Student Research Award process as well as acting as the chair for the Student Research Award Symposia at Convention. The SRC’s responsibilities tend to be heaviest during the months surrounding the Student Research Award competition (mid-January to mid-March).
  7. The Advisory Committee of the Student Caucus will be composed of the Executive Board and all Committee Chairs.
  8. Any member of the Executive Board may be removed from office by the unanimous vote of the other Executive Board members. The President (or Past-President in the event of incapacity or removal of the President) shall then appoint a member to take over the duties of the vacant office with the approval of the majority of the Executive Board until the next APS Annual Convention. In the case of a President’s removal, the Past-President /Member at Large will resume the President’s position until the next Annual Convention.

ARTICLE V: Standing Committees and Special Project Committees

  1. Standing committees will be formed in the following manner: Committee chairpersons will be recommended to the President by Executive Board members and appointed by the President with the approval of 2/3 of the Executive Board. Committee members will serve the length of the term of the existing Executive Board.
  2. Special project committees will be formed as needed in the following manner:
    1. Special committees shall be formed as needed to serve more brief terms than standing committees. The President shall name a chairperson with the approval of 2/3 of the Executive Board. The committee shall cease to exist at the completion of the named task of the special committee, at the end of the term of office of the executive board, or at the discretion of the Executive Board with 2/3 votes to dissolve the committee.
    2. The committee will report to the Executive Board as needed.

ARTICLE VI: Rules of Procedure

  1. The rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order (Newly Revised) shall govern the Student Caucus in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these Bylaws or any special rules of order the Student Caucus may adopt.

ARTICLE VII: Amendments

  1. These bylaws may be amended by 2/3 votes of the members who reply to an email ballot sent to the total membership. Bylaws amendments may be initiated by the Executive Board, by petition of 2/3 of the Advisory Committee, by petition of 2/3 of the voting student members attending the national conference, or by petition of 5% of the total student membership. Prior to being sent out for approval by the total membership, APS must provide preliminary approval of the changes.
  2. Amendments to Article IV of these bylaws may be made by a majority vote of the Board. The Board will periodically review the officer positions and deities, and make changes as necessary to ensure the effective operation of the Student Caucus.
  3. Periodically, but at intervals no greater than every five years, the Executive Board may appoint a special committee to review the then-current Bylaws and the operation and structure of the Caucus (including officer positions), and to make recommendations about them to the Executive Board.

ARTICLE VIII: Dissolution

  1. In the event of the dissolution or termination of the Student Caucus, all of the assets and titles to, and possession of, the property of the Student Caucus shall pass to the Association for Psychological Science; or if APS no longer exists, to the American Association of the Advancement of Science; or if AAAS no longer exists, to a similar scientific society selected by the Board of Directors