The GEA shall have one representative from each of the first 5 years for 5 total members, who will be chosen before the start of the year in which he or she will serve.
All individuals who will be in years one through four can vote for a representative from their cohort.
All individuals who will be in the fifth year and above are invited to vote for the 5th year representative.
The current GEA representatives will identify anyone who is ineligible to be the representative for the following year. Examples of reasons for ineligibility include going on the job market or being away from Rice during the year.
At sometime in April, the GEA sends an email to all current graduate students informing them of the eligibility criteria and giving any eligible individual who wants to opt out 24-hours to do so.
For the incoming first-year cohort, the same election procedure will occur, but it will be postponed to the end of math camp.
If a cohort has more than one eligible individual who does not opt out, an election will be held using Election Buddy or a similar web-based service using anonymous approval voting. The election poll will remain open for three days.
If there is only one eligible individual in a cohort who doesn't opt out, that person will be the representative.
If all individuals opt out, the representative will be chosen at random from the eligible individuals.
