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Governance

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Governance

Full Council

The Council of Graduate Students (COGS) is the constitutionally authorized government for all graduate and professional students at Michigan State University.

COGS is based on a parliamentary system. Each department elects a Representative to sit on the COGS Full Council. The Full Council conducts monthly meetings, open to the public, to discuss issues important to graduate and professional students and vote on policy. For more information about representation on the full council, please see COGS REPRESENTATIVE Information

Meeting Minutes

Fall 2024 & Spring 2025 Full Council Meetings:

All meetings will be hybrid  – at 110 Chittenden hall and via Zoom, on Wednesdays from 6:30-8:30 PM EST. COGS Full Council Meetings are open to the public.  Please email us at office@cogs.msu.edu if you would like to receive the Zoom Link(s) for any of our full council meetings. If you are interested in coming in-person, kindly inform the office so that we may monitor room capacity.

Fall 2024 Full Council Meetings:

September 18

October 16

November 20

December 4

Spring 2025 Full Council Meetings:

January 22

February 19

March 19

April 16

View and download current year and previous years’ approved legislation HERE.

Committees

Graduate & Professional Student Committee Service

COGS appoints graduate and professional students to a variety of COGS and University committees in order to provide the graduate/professional student voice in developing policy. You do not have to be a COGS representative to serve on a committee. Please email our office if interested.  office@cogs.msu.edu

COGS Executive Committee (Executive Board)

This body is comprised of five elected officers (President, VPIA, VPEA, Treasurer, Secretary) and two liaisons from each professional school (Law & Medical Schools), and 3 Eboard-appointed members (Parliamentarian, Director of Event Planning, Director of Equity & AntiDiscrimination). The committee meets once a month and is chaired by the COGS President. 1-year term.  10 seats.

ELECTIONS TAKE PLACE AT MARCH FULL COUNCIL MEETING.  Only COGS representatives in good standing and grad/professional students who have attended at least 5 regular monthly full council meetings are eligible to run for the elected Executive Board positions, per the COGS bylaws.  APPLICATIONS FOR APPOINTED POSITIONS OPEN FROM MID MARCH TO MID APRIL EACH SPRING. All currently enrolled graduate & professional students who will be enrolled in the 25-26 academic year are eligible to apply for the appointed positions.

COGS 2025-2026 Executive Board – Appointed Positions. Apply Now through April 8th!

Graduate & Professional Students Needed! APPLY NOW to be an active member of the COGS Executive Board. Applications are available each spring for the appointed positions on the COGS Executive Board for the coming year.  If you are interested in getting involved, please consider applying for one of these important volunteer positions. Applications typically open in March each year and close in mid-April.

COGS Director of Event Planning: Takes the lead in coordinating Fall Welcome and other social events for graduate & professional students throughout the year. (Term: April/May 2025-May 2026)

COGS Director of Equity and Anti-Discrimination:  Works with Eboard, Council and campus partners to address issues of bias and discrimination among the graduate and professional student population. Liases with graduate student affinity groups at MSU. (Term: April/May 2025-May 2026)

Director of Event Planning APPLICATION Director of Equity and Anti-discrimination APPLICATION

University Committees

Listed in this section are the Committees, the number of seats allotted for COGS appointments, and the committee description. Click on the Icon above the listing to go to the website for the committee.

COGS Committees

Listed in this section are the COGS Committees, the number of seats allotted, and the committee description.