ACE - A Cappella Affiliate
Last active term
Club Name
The name of the club will be ACE - A Cappella Affiliate. 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
provide a welcoming environment in which members of the University of Waterloo community of any level of musical skill and experience may come together to discover, enjoy, practice and perform a cappella music of any genre or era.
Club events, activities, and/or initatives will include
2.5-hour weekly rehearsals, 6-to-10-hour "bootcamp" rehearsals, social activities (e.g. dinners, video games, karaoke), coffeehouses, external gigs, busking, and participation in UWACC's end of term concert.
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.
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.
The Co-President #2 is a signing authority.
The Treasurer 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 Treasurer is a signing authority.
The Musical Directors ensures that:
- Planning and leading ACE rehearsals and Boot Camp(s); Communicating with Section Leaders to address their concerns and indicate how sectional rehearsals should be run (both inside and outside of weekly ACE-wide rehearsals); Determining the repertoire list and song distribution sequence for each academic term, including reviewing and critiquing potential arrangements, subject to the songs’ range as well as learnability relative to the time left in the term; Participating in selecting primary and alternate soloists for each song as part of the audition committee, and selecting said soloists in the event of audition committee deadlock; Organizing and running Audition Workshops to provide real-time feedback to soloist candidates, wherever possible at least a short period of time (e.g. 3 days at minimum) before the open audition for the song in question; Organizing and running Soloist Workshops throughout the term to work with soloists and provide active feedback with which to improve performances; Determining the specific set lists for each ACE performance; Running sound checks and interfacing with tech support at performances; Ensuring the submission of event forms to WUSA for all ACE activities, including but not limited to rehearsals, sectionals, performances and socials; Enacting feedback action items provided by members of the group during each academic term; Enacting auxiliary elections in the event of a mandatory ACE position not being filled; and Creating and maintaining the ACE Music Committee Facebook group or Discord server for the term, which includes all ACE Executives and Section Leaders, for timely communication and discussion.
- Ensures that the next Musical Directors is trained.
The Assistant Musical Director ensures that:
- Planning and leading ACE rehearsals and Boot Camp(s); Assisting in running sound check and interfacing with tech support at performances; Ensuring the submission of event forms to WUSA for all ACE activities, including but not limited to rehearsals, sectionals, performances and socials; Enacting feedback action items provided by members of the group during each academic term; Participate in selecting primary and alternate soloists as part of the audition committee; Organizing and running Audition Workshops to provide real-time feedback to soloist candidates, wherever possible at least a short period of time (e.g. 3 days at minimum) before the open audition for the song in question; Creating and maintaining the ACE Music Committee Facebook group for the term, which includes all ACE Executives and Section Leaders, for timely communication and discussion; and Whenever necessary, substituting for the Co-Musical Director(s) in the event of their absence and fulfilling any and all of their duties and responsibilities as enumerated above in the interim.
- Ensures that the next Assistant Musical Director is trained.
The Choreography Director ensures that:
- Planning and leading choreography during ACE rehearsals and Boot Camp(s) in conjunction with the Co-Musical Directors and Assistant Musical Director; Organizing, administering, and running regular planning sessions with the Choreography Committee (see “Supplementary Leadership Positions”, below); Making performance-specific decisions on the choreography depending on staging circumstances or modifying performances depending on specific venues, including lighting decisions for the UWACC End Of Term concert; Ensuring the submission of event forms to WUSA for all ACE activities, including but not limited to rehearsals, sectionals, performances and socials; and Enacting feedback action items provided by members of the group during each academic term.
- Ensures that the next Choreography Director is trained.
The Social Convener ensures that:
- Planning and leading group-wide and/or cross-group socials during the term; Designing and/or posting social media posts (including but not limited to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc.); Ensuring the submission of event forms to WUSA for all ACE activities, including but not limited to rehearsals, sectionals, performances and socials; and Enacting feedback action items provided by members of the group during each academic term.
- Ensures that the next Social Convener is trained.
The All Purpose Flour Executive Members ensures that:
- Help out any executive members with tasks so as to decrease the work load for each executive member and split the work amongst more people
- Ensures that the next All Purpose Flour Executive Members 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.
Executive Support Structure
The Section Leaders ensures that:
- Attending rehearsals with at most 2 absences including bootcamps and sectionals unless valid reasons are communicated to and discussed with the ACE Executives with notice of at least two (2) days before the rehearsal or bootcamp, with exception given to emergency situations including bereavement or sickness; Teaching and supervising the section’s members during rehearsals and Boot Camp(s), especially during sectional time; Taking attendance at each rehearsal and Boot Camp (once in the morning and once in the afternoon); Organizing and leading all sectional rehearsals as needed outside of regular group rehearsal; Participating in selecting primary and alternate soloists as part of the audition committee (a minimum of one Section Leader from each vocal section in each audition session); and Acting as an in-between for ACE members and ACE Executives, whereby any emails sent in the capacity of a section leader must include a copy or CC to the main ACE email account.
- Ensures that the next Section Leaders is trained.
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 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:
- Discord
Emergency meetings can be called by an executive via:
- Discord
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.
ACE Constitution
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WS-JciXUyZrRT-O-8MMsmFkzFNJg5Jt_zM32QiPrBm0/edit#heading=h.3x9esjdo5w6