Bylaws
Article I: Name
Article II: Purpose
Article III: Membership
Section 1. Membership includes all active University of Chicago graduate students in the Physical Sciences Division who are charged the Student Life Fee. Voting, event hosting, event attendance, board membership eligibility, and all other rights and privileges of the PSD-SC shall be open to all eligible members.
Article IV: Eligible Events
Section 0. Definitions. As used in these Bylaws, the following terms shall have the meanings specified below:
(a) “UNIVERSITY-AFFILIATED EVENT(S)” shall refer to events run and organized by university-affiliated students or organizations, including but not limited to home brewing competitions, poker tournaments, and video game parties.
(b) “THIRD-PARTY EVENT(S)” shall refer to events run and organized by person(s) outside of the PSD, such that the student host will act as a liaison.
Section 1. Events to be funded by the PSD-SC must adhere to the applicable requirements, as outlined in Art. IV, Sec. 3–6.
Section 2. Events may be university-affiliated events or third-party events.
Section 3. Events less than two (2) weeks from the proposal date, may be rejected outright at the discretion of the Board.
Section 4. All events must be accessible to any PSD-SC member, regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, disability, or citizenship status, with the exception detailed in Art IV. Sec 4.1.
Section 4.1. Events with legal-limitations on age are eligible.
Section 5. All events must be open to all PSD-SC members, regardless of departmental or program affiliation.
Section 6. Third party events will be subsidized at a non-zero cost to the attendee.
Section 7. University-affiliated events may be subsidized at a non-zero cost or as a free-to-attend event.
Article V: Event Proposal and Hosting
Section 0. Definitions. As used in these Bylaws, the following terms shall have the meanings specified below:
(a) “HOST(S)” shall refer to the PSD-SC member(s) who submit(s) the event proposal.
(b) “PROPOSED TICKET COST” shall refer to the estimated total cost per ticket to purchase from the vendor, including applicable fees. If required, the cost of a bus will not be included in this cost per ticket and shall be regarded as a separate entity. This amount is included in an event proposal.
(c) “ACTUAL TICKET COST” shall refer to the actual total cost per ticket to purchase from the vendor, including applicable fees. If required, the cost of a bus will not be included in this cost per ticket and shall be regarded as a separate entity.
(d) “SUBSIDIZED PRICE” shall refer to the price at which the tickets will be sold to PSD-SC members.
(e) “PURCHASE NUMBER” shall refer to the total number of tickets purchased or to be purchased from the original vendor.
Section 1. Any PSD-SC member (Art. III) is eligible to submit an event proposal to the current PSD-SC board, if not made ineligible per Art. V, Sec. 14.
Section 1.1. The following information shall be required in the proposal: Event name, event description, event location, event date, estimated ticket cost plus any additional costs, suggested subsidized price, and suggested purchase number.
Section 2. The PSD-SC Board (Art. VI) will vote on all proposals and return a decision of rejected, modified-approved, or approved.
Section 2.1. In the event that a host is also a member of the Board, they shall automatically forfeit their Board member privileges and voting power.
Section 2.2. An approved proposal requires a yay vote by at least two-thirds (⅔) of the Board. Failure to meet this requirement results in a rejected proposal.
Section 2.3. A modified-approved proposal is an approved proposal (Art. V, Sec. 2.2) where the subsidized price, purchase number, or both have been modified by the Board from the host’s original proposal.
Section 2.4. The Board will return a decision to the host via email within no more than two (2) weeks from the proposal’s submission. Should the Board fail to meet this requirement, the host may demand, via email, a decision from the board within seventy-two (72) hours from the host’s demand. Should the Board continue to fail to return a decision within seventy-two (72) hours from a host’s demand for a decision, the host’s proposal will be approved at the discretion of the Dean of Students Office, contingent on the host forwarding all applicable emails to the administrative representative and getting explicit approval from the Dean of Students Office.
Section 3. The host shall be responsible for acquiring tickets, renting supplies/venues, chartering busses, and making any other arrangements necessary for the event.
Section 3.1. The actual ticket cost shall be equal to or less than the proposed ticket cost. Should the actual ticket cost fail to meet this requirement, the host must halt purchases and alert the Board. The Board may adjust their decision as deemed necessary and return a new decision to the host within five (5) days.
Section 3.2. The purchase number shall adhere to the purchase number agreed upon in the proposal. Should the host purchase more tickets than the agreed upon purchase number, the host will not be reimbursed for the extra tickets, nor will they be permitted to sell them to PSD-SC members during normal sales.
Section 3.3. Any other changes to the approved event must be submitted to the board for re-approval before ticket purchase. The Board may adjust their decision as deemed necessary and return a new a decision to the host within five (5) days.
Section 4. The cost of the event will be covered in full by the host, and will be reimbursed in full by the PSD-SC, according to Art. V, Sec. 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3.
Section 4.1. The host must meet all requirements outlined in Art. V Sec. 1 and 3 and receive approval from the Board in accordance with Art. V Sec 2.2 or 2.3. Failure to do so will result in the host being ineligible for reimbursement at the discretion of the Board.
Section 4.2. The host is responsible for obtaining and submitting receipts for all expenses to be reimbursed by the PSD-SC. Failure to submit receipts will result in the host being ineligible for reimbursement.
Section 4.3. If the host fails to hold a ticket sale and the host has not yet been reimbursed, the host forfeits their right to reimbursal. If the host has already received reimbursement, the student forfeits their right to host future events for the remainder of their time at the University of Chicago.
Section 5. For third-party events, the host(s) will receive two (2) free tickets in total to the event they are hosting.
Section 6. The host is responsible for drafting an advertisement email to be distributed to the PSD-SC membership. The draft must include an event description, date and time of the event, subsidized ticket price, number of available tickets, ticket sale time and location, and the contact information of the host. This draft must be sent to the PSD-SC Secretary (Art. VI) at least five (5) days before the ticket sale time. The PSD-SC Secretary (Art. VI) will distribute the email.
Section 7. Ticket sales for the event must not begin before the specified time and place outlined in the advertisement email.
Section 8. The host will take a record of buyers’ names, email addresses, and department affiliation, which must be submitted to the PSD-SC Board within one (1) week of ticket sales.
Section 9. Event tickets may only be purchased by PSD-SC members.
Section 10. A total of two (2) tickets may be purchased by each PSD-SC member, who may bring a non-PSD-SC member as their guest.
Section 11. Deposit of ticket sale money must be made within two (2) weeks of the final ticket sale or two (2) weeks after the event, if unsold tickets remain.
Section 12. If unsold tickets remain after the event has passed, the host must forfeit them to the Board in order to be eligible for reimbursement for the unsold tickets.
Section 13. In the case that the tickets are sold out but there is excess demand, the host will collect a “waitlist” of additional PSD-SC members interested in the event who weren’t able to obtain a ticket. The host must submit this waitlist to the board with an indication of whether they have the ability and/or interest to purchase additional tickets. Further tickets may be purchased for the waitlist in accordance with the bylaws outlined in Art V, Sec. 2.
Section 14. Failure of the host to abide by the bylaws outlined in this document shall result in the loss of future hosting privileges at the Board’s discretion.
Article VI: Board Members
Section 1. There shall be three PSD-SC board members: a President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer.
Section 2. The board members must be eligible PSD-SC members (see Art. III).
Section 3. Board members will serve one-year terms, through one calendar year (January 1st through December 31st). Board members will be elected in Fall quarter (Art. VII).
Section 4. All Board members must submit a vote on every event proposal submitted. Should the proposal change, all Board members must re-submit a vote.
Section 5. Board members may not vote on event proposals they have submitted, in accordance with Art. V.
Section 6. The President shall be additionally responsible for general organization of the PSD-SC and being a liaison with outside groups and entities. The President is responsible for organizing the quarterly meetings with the PSD-SC member body at large, and must reserve a room in an accessible location for all PSD-SC members. The President is responsible for maintaining communication between the board members and planning board member meetings as necessary.
Section 7. The Treasurer shall be additionally responsible for keeping a balanced record of the PSD-SC finances. These records shall be made available to all board members. The Treasurer shall make brief reports to present at each quarterly meeting. These reports should summarize expenditures over the previous quarter and expected funding capabilities but should only include relative values like percents and fractions and should not include any explicit monetary values.
Section 8. The Secretary shall be additionally responsible for communication of the PSD-SC activities to the PSD-SC membership. This communication includes, but is not limited to, emails with details about upcoming events and reminders for ticket sales. The Secretary must respond to any emails received from PSD-SC members in a timely fashion. The Secretary shall also keep notes during any board meetings.
Article VII: Elections
Section 1. A solicitation for candidate self-nominations for the PSD-SC board will be sent via email in the Fall quarter to the PSD-SC membership.
Section 2. Current board members may run for additional term(s).
Section 3. Nominated candidates will submit short summaries about themselves to be distributed to the PSD-SC membership.
Section 4. An online, anonymous election will be conducted to elect the PSD-SC board members for the following calendar year.
Section 5. Board members shall be elected by a simple majority of voters.
Section 6. In the case of any vacancies on the PSD-SC Board, the currently-active Board must make a public call for new candidates, and hold a special election within sixty (60) days of the vacancy. If a vacancy persists after the special election, any further attempt to fill the vacancy is up to the discretion of the currently-active Board, contingent upon approval from the Dean of Students Office.
Article VIII: Bylaws
Section 1. Bylaws will be voted on by the Dean’s Student Advisory Council.
Section 2. Any proposed additions or alterations to the bylaws must be made known to the PSD-SC membership at least two (2) weeks prior to ratification, during which time the Board must allow for member feedback on the proposed change(s).