Pre-Optometry Club, UW (UWPREOPT)
Last active term
Club Name
The name of the club will be Pre-Optometry Club, UW (UWPREOPT). We are not agent or representative of the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA), and our views and actions in no way represent the WUSA.
Governance
The club will uphold the values, mission, and mandate of both the University of Waterloo (UW) and WUSA through following the directives outlined in the WUSA Clubs Manual, all WUSA By-Laws, Policies, and Procedures, as well as all policies and procedures outlined by the UW Secretariat. Furthermore, the club will abide by all laws of the Region of Waterloo, Province of Ontario, and Government of Canada. All club matters will ultimately be governed by the WUSA Clubs Manager.
Purpose
The purpose of the club is to gather University of Waterloo students, staff, faculty and members of the UW community at large to
educate UW undergraduate students interested in pursuing Optometry as a career about the field, as well as the requirements and application process for UW School of Optometry and various American optometry schools.
Club events, activities, and/or initatives will include
As we are an informative club, we do not host weekly meetings. Instead we host various events throughout the term (please note our club only runs Fall and Winter terms).
We begin the fall term by hosting a beginning-of-term (BOT) meeting where we introduce the club, its goals, the executive team and their positions for the year. The BOT also gives members a chance to mingle and meet other people who share similar interests.
During the fall we also host speaker events from American optometry schools. These events involve having an admissions officer come in to talk about their school's optometry program. Topics include prerequisite courses, required GPA/OAT scores, job shadowing, interview process and fees/tuition. Speaker events take up the bulk of our fall term as there are many optometry schools in the states.
Undergraduate planning night (UPN) is another popular event we host in fall term (we host a winter UPN as well). UPN is aimed at first and second year science students (or students in a related field such as AHS who are also taking some science courses). During this event we go through the prerequisite courses for UW School of Optometry and the execs discuss the courses in detail based on their personal experiences, giving feedback and advice. We also go through elective courses that we recommend (again, from personal experience) and we answer any questions members may have regarding applying to optometry. Fall term UPN is focused on courses offered in the winter, while winter UPN focuses on courses offered in the fall.
Testimonial night is another popular event hosted during the winter term. This event aims to have members' questions regarding applying to optometry school, job shadowing, taking the OAT, etc., be answered by students currently in the optometry program, as we bring in current UW optometry students to speak.
A presentation given by a representative from AOSA (The American Optometric Student Association) is also hosted during winter terms. This event aims to educate students interested in optometry about the field itself and what to expect when working as an optometrist, in addition discussing the career outlook for optometry.
We end both fall term and winter term with an end-of-term (EOT) social where members can come to hang out, relax and play some board games.
Membership Structure
The club will be fully inclusive and welcoming to both its current and potential membership. New membership is welcome and accepted at any time during a club’s active term. Eligible club members may be current: WUSA Members, as outlined by the WUSA By-Laws; UW graduate students; UW staff or faculty; and/or members of the UW community at large, as defined in the Clubs Manual.
Only current UW students (graduate or undergraduate) may hold voting membership within the club. UW Staff, faculty, and members of the UW community at large may hold non-voting membership within the club. (If Applicable) UW undergrad students who are eligible to obtain voting membership in the club who do not wish to pay the club membership fee at the time of joining may hold non-voting membership within the club. Voting membership can be obtained for said members by paying the membership fee.
At least two thirds of the club's membership must be current UW students (graduate or undergraduate).
Membership Fee
The membership fee is $2.00 cash per term payable to the Finances director no later than one month after the first day of class. If joining after the first month, membership is due at the beginning of their first club function. Membership fees will be used for
The purpose of the membership fee is to cover costs associated with printing for our events including speaker events and UPN, as well as gifts that we purchase as a thank you for our speakers (American optometry school speakers, AOSA speaker, testimonial night speakers, etc). Our membership fee is lifetime therefore members do not pay the fee every year. They pay it once and it's good for as long as they are an undergraduate student at UW.
Executive Officers
The majority of executives will be current UW students (graduate or undergraduate). The club president will be a current UW undergraduate student. All club executives will be elected, not hired or appointed. The term of office for all executive positions is one academic term, as outlined by the UW Registrar’s Office. All club decisions will be determined by executive vote, as no executive officer (not even the President) holds decision making power for the collective.
The President ensures that:
- The club operates according to the guidelines of its constitution and some agreed upon guidelines for running a meeting, such as Robert's Rules of Order;
- The club works towards its objectives as agreed upon by the membership; and
- Their successor is trained.
The President is a signing authority.
The Internal Communications Director ensures that:
- Records of what the group has done are maintained, distributed, and are accessibile to all the members;
- Meeting minutes/notes are recorded and made available to all voting members;
- All club correspondence is monitored and brought to the attention of the appropriate person(s);
- Their successor is trained.
- Read, relay, and respond to incoming emails on behalf of the club.
The Internal Communications Director is a signing authority.
The Finances director ensures that:
- The club's WUSA bank account and all financial transactions for the club are monitored and verified;
- All club revenues are collected, deposited into the club's WUSA bank account, and reconciled correctly and within a timely manner;
- Club cheque requests are submitted correctly and in a timely manner; and
- Their successor is trained.
The Finances director is a signing authority.
The First year representative ensures that:
- Help recruit as many new members of the club as possible
- Work with social media director for outreach to first years
- Promote club to friends and other students and connect with existing members to facilitate broadening of our club base
- Ensures that the next First year representative is trained.
The Second year rep ensures that:
- Help recruit as many new members of the club as possible
- Work with social media director for outreach to second years
- - Promote club to friends and other students and connect with existing members to facilitate broadening of our club base
- Ensures that the next Second year rep is trained.
The Events coord ensures that:
- - Book rooms for events (when in-person is possible), submit event forms
- - Book rooms for events (when in-person is possible), submit event forms
- - - Work with Social Media Director to ensure promotion of upcoming events
- - - Handle AV equipment for in-person events (when in-person is possible)
- Ensures that the next Events coord is trained.
The Events coord ensures that:
- Ensures that the next Events coord is trained.
The Graphic designer ensures that:
- - Design professional and eye-catching marketing posts and stories for instagram and facebook
- - - Coordinate with Social Media Director for active posting
- Ensures that the next Graphic designer is trained.
The Social media manager ensures that:
- - Managing posts and stories on instagram and facebook
- - - Responding to DMs and comments on instagram
- - - Coordinate with Graphic Design Director for the creation of posts and stories
- Ensures that the next Social media manager is trained.
The Outreach director ensures that:
- - Help recruit as many new members of the club as possible
- - - Work with social media director for outreach, to other clubs and services or companies
- - Creates new event ideas to increase the club’s outreach
- Ensures that the next Outreach director is trained.
It is important to assure that the person with the most information and/or knowledge in the club is not the full-time chairperson. Therefore, the club will occasionally rotate the role of chairperson among voting members.
Meetings
General Meetings
The club will hold termly general meetings. Quorum for general meetings will be 15 voting members of 20% of voting membership (whichever is more).
Executive Meetings
The club will hold monthly executive meetings. Quorum for executive meetings will be 2 executives or at least 51% of the executive body (whichever is more).
The first meetings (both general and executive) of the following term will be arranged by the outgoing executive. At said meetings, subsequent meeting dates and locations will be set. Meeting dates and times will be forwarded to voting members by:
Emergency meetings can be called by an executive via:
- Phone
and must be sent to the appropriate members at least 48 hours prior to the meeting time.
ELECTION PROCESS
Elections shall take place at the end of each term for the following academic term. Only University of Waterloo students who are members of the club can vote. Club members must be notified, by email, two weeks in advance of the meeting where executive elections will take place. The term of office shall be for one term. An executive can only hold office (any position) for a total of up to three terms.
Nominations for executives can be made from any club member. The majority of executives must be undergraduate University of Waterloo students. The successful candidate will be the one with the most votes. In the case of a tie, a re-vote will take place until the tie is broken.
IMPEACHMENT AND DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES
A movement to impeach an executive officer may be made by any executive officer or by petition of at least five voting members. When the motion is made the Clubs Manager will be informed. An emergency general meeting will be called as soon as is reasonably possible. No club funds will be spent until the issue is resolved.
At the impeachment meeting, the individual(s) who initiated the process will state their case. Afterwards, the officer(s) under impeachment will have an opportunity to defend their position(s) on the matter.
There will then be a question and answer period followed by the selection process for a Chief Returning Officer (CRO) who will oversee the voting process to ensure the decision is fair and democratic. Any executive officer who is neither the initiator nor subject of the impeachment may volunteer as CRO. If there is no such officer, then any voting member of the club present at the meeting may volunteer. If there are multiple volunteers, then the CRO will be selected based on a simple majority vote cast by secret ballot and tallied publically by the chairperson of the meeting. If there is no such volunteer for CRO, then the meeting will be at a standstill until either an eligible executive officer or voting member volunteers.
The vote will be by a “YES/NO” secret ballot, tallied publically by the CRO. If at least two thirds of the votes are for impeachment, then said officer will immediately be stripped of their position. The remaining executive may choose to call an immediate by-election to replace the newly vacant executive officer position.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
A claim against any executive officer or club member regarding a potential conflict of interest can be made by any executive officer or by petition of at least five voting members. If such a claim arises, then said individual(s) under suspicion have the opportunity to remove them self (or themselves) from said potential conflict without acknowledging intention of wrongdoing. In the event the claim is contested, then the Clubs Manager will be informed and an emergency executive meeting will be called to determine the validity of the claim. Executive officers who have a claim against them cannot vote to determine the validity of said claim. If executive quorum is not possible due to the removal of said vote(s), then an emergency general meeting will be called and the same proceedings described for impeachment will be used to determine the validity of the claim.
If the claim is validated and there is suspicion of intentional wrongdoing, an immediate impeachment proceeding may be called by any executive officer or by petition of at least five voting members, of whom are not named in the claim. If it is determined that a club member is involved in intentional wrongdoing, the impeachment proceeding will be called to determine said member’s club status.
AMENDMENTS
Constitutional amendments may be proposed by any executive officer or by petition of at least five voting members. The amendment will then be voted on by referendum. The voting procedure will be the same as for the impeachment process. If the vote passes, the amendment and the vote will be forwarded to the Clubs Manager for final approval. If the Clubs Manager approves, then the constitution will be amended and any changes will be inserted into the constitution.
A motion to officially close the club will follow the same procedure as a constitutional amendment. If such a motion passes, then the club will be purged from the clubs system.
AFFILIATIONS
No organization(s) is/are currently affiliated with this club.