Amnesty International
Last active term
Club Name
The name of the club will be Amnesty International . 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
The purpose of the club is to gather University of Waterloo students, staff, faculty, and members of the UW community at large to tackle the human rights violations and injustices that occur on a global scale. Our vision when we introduce Amnesty International into UWaterloo is to contribute our resources and effort to create a world in which every member of society is able to experience their human rights. Therefore, our mission is to work together as a team to take action through various initiatives in order to prevent and end the abuse of human rights. As the UW Chapter, we also have the intention of honouring Amnesty International's current core values. They value forming a global community of human rights defenders based on principles of international solidarity, effective action for the victim, global coverage, the universality and indivisibility of human rights, impartiality and independence, and democracy and mutual respect. We intend to uphold these values and the activities/initiatives AI x UW will participate in will aid in the achievement of them. It is different than the other human rights clubs at UWaterloo as Amnesty International is an actual organization that we wish to support through the creation of this club. Additionally, we focus on a plethora of human rights issues and are more widespread; they are not related to only one specific issue, religion, nationality, or culture.
Club events, activities, and/or initatives will include
-Fundraising events with all proceeds being donated to Amnesty International to aid them in achieving their vision.
-Frequently sharing petitions with members, students, faculty, and alumni to raise awareness about issues and provide everyone with the ability to take a stand
-Sending letters/messages regarding human rights violations and issues around the world.
-Providing students with the ability to become activists in human rights movements.
-Aiding with legal work.
-Contributing to several campaigns.
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
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 Co-President 1 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.
- -Hosting meetings with existing members
- -Organizing fundraisers
- -Interacting with the Amnesty International organization
- -Running the social media pages (this is to provide additional information for existing members of the club).
- -Make sure all members are comfortable participating in club events.
- -Making sure that the club is staying in line with the primary focus outlined.
The Co-President 1 is a signing authority.
The Co-President 2 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.
- -Responsible for the non-existing members of the club
- -Responsible for all the secretary roles
- -Hosting meetings with co-president 1.
- -‘Advertising’ the club on all social media platforms.
- -Organizing booths in order to prompt the Amnesty international club to non-members.
The Co-President 2 is a signing authority.
The Finance 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.
- -responsible for the fundraising money and ensuring it collected, counted, tracked, and sent to the correct place.
The Finance Director is a signing authority.
The External Events Director ensures that:
- ● Acts as the primary person to be in contact with outside organizations when hosting events (such as fundraising events).
- ● In charge of collaborating with other outside groups for campaigns.
- ● Making sure everything needed for the events is attained.
- ● Ensuring tabling/fundraising events are going as planned
- ● Communicate requirements for external events with all members of the group and ensure they understand what is expected.
- ● The next External Events Director is trained.
- Ensures that the next External Events Director is trained.
The Internal Events Director ensures that:
- ● Assisting with the execution of internal events (such as writing letters, setting up petitions, etc).
- ● Helps with the success of campaigns by working with the general members to ensure everything is on track.
- ● Taking care of all logistics for internal events - booking rooms, getting supplies, permits, setting up meeting dates and times for internal events.
- ● Explaining requirements and expectations to general members.
- ● The next Internal Director is trained.
- Ensures that the next Internal Events Director is trained.
The Marketing Director ensures that:
- ● Responsible for all social media content on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin
- ● researching and keeping up to date with Human rights issues to share as content on Instagram and Facebook with ways on how to take action.
- ● Ensuring amnesty international's brand is showcased on social media.
- ● Responsible for sharing achievements we have as a club and which issues we have helped with.
- ● The next Marketing director is trained.
- Ensures that the next Marketing 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 bi-weekly 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 weekly 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:
- Phone
- Instagram Close friends story. Every member will be added to a close friends story, so on top of posting on twitter, facebook, and phone, we will post on there too as it is more frequently viewed by most people
Emergency meetings can be called by an executive via:
- Phone
- Instagram.
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
External Affiliations
The club is affiliated with Amnesty International .
Amnesty International is the non-profit organization that this club aims to support. We wish to take part and volunteer in any way we can, which were mentioned above. These initiatives we take will directly impact Amnesty International positively. To do so, we have contacted Amnesty International, and we have their resources in order to help us along the way. This includes them providing an introductory human rights course to refersh anyone and act as a starting point to learning about issues, access to member events calender, activism guides and planners, as well as a youth &student group start-up kit. The start up kit includes tools and resources that we need to build our team and how to plan and take action. Some of the tools include how to brand amnesty, how to give presentations about it, creating a working and lasting group, networking, and how to fundraise and take action, etc.
View the letter from the affiliate
The club itself is internally responsible for ensuring adherence to any applicable By-Laws, policies, conditions, etc. outlined by the external affiliation. However, all policies, procedures, By-Laws, etc. of both UW and WUSA supersede any By-Laws, policies, conditions, etc. outlined by the external affiliation. The Clubs Manager, not the external organization, is the final authority on all club business. Other than the authority to end the affiliation, the external organization has no authority over the club whatsoever. Furthermore, the Clubs Manager is not responsible for ensuring the club abides by any additional stipulations between the club and the external organization. The club may choose by general vote to sever the affiliation, with notice given to the Clubs Manager.