Club Constitution | Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association Clubs

University of Waterloo Zoology Club

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Constitution

Club Name

The name of the club will be University of Waterloo Zoology Club. 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

create an enthusiastic, welcoming community where we can discuss and enjoy animal-related topics with our peers and share our excitement with anyone interested. Through engagement with our club, we aim to engage people in the field of zoology and spread knowledge about interesting animals. We also hope to educate students on serious topics related to animals and the numerous ways they can make a difference in the lives of animals across the globe. Largely, we are a group of students who have found a passion for the field of zoology, and we hope to incite the same enthusiasm about zoology in our peers that we have discovered in ourselves.

Club events, activities, and/or initatives will include

- In person bake sales with different animal themes
- Movie nights
- Cool animal fun-fact booths
- Animal-themed scavenger hunt around campus
- Pollution clean-up
- Social media campaigns to educate about different animals and animal-related issues

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

Club Membership is Free

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.
Records of what the group has done are maintained, distributed, and are accessible 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);
Works with Co-President to plan club events and distribute relevant roles to other club members;
All club content is edited and structured.

The President is a signing authority.

The Co-President 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 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;
Works with President to plan club events and distribute relevant roles to other club members;
All club content is edited and structured.

The Co-President 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.
Pursues sponsorships for the club if applicable;
Works with President and Co-President to create and follow a budget.

The Treasurer is a signing authority.

The Research Coordinator ensures that:

Sharing zoology-relevant research discoveries and fun facts with students.
Cooperates with the Media Coordinator for relevant and correct information to be posted on our social medias.
Responsible for being a subject matter expert in scientific and grammatical integrity.
Ensures that information found online is relevant, properly edited, and simplified with easy vocabulary for students that aren’t familiar with zoology.
Delegates tasks to the Researcher as needed
Ensures that the next Research Coordinator is trained.

The Social Media Coordinator ensures that:

Works with Media Creator to ensure all media for the club is managed and theme is maintained (proficient with designing softwares like Canva);
Ensures that the publicity to UW members of all club information, events, and activities are relevant to the club purpose;
Marketing material (e.g., online graphics) is produced for the club’s online presence;
Online presence is maintained by interacting with followers (by creating stories, engaging through activities, answering messages, etc.);
The next Media Coordinator is trained.
Cooperates with the Research Coordinator for relevant and correct information to be posted on our social medias.
Responsible for running and keeping up with social media challenges/campaigns
Ensures that the next Social Media Coordinator is trained.

The Events Coordinator ensures that:

Submits events forms for events
Works with Treasurer to ensure events remain on budget
Keeps track of supplies and materials needed for events and ensures that they will be acquired in time
Shows up to events and ensures everything runs smoothly
Ensures that the next Event Coordinator is trained
Ensures that the next Events Coordinator 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 Media Creator (x2) ensures that:

Works on creative projects as needed, such as designing brochures, stickers, and other relevant projects (proficient with designing softwares like Canva).
Ensures that all the posts and media designed respects the clubs’ purpose
Works with Media and Research Coordinators to ensure content posted is relevant and follows the club’s theme.
Ensures that the next Media Creator is trained
Ensures that the next Media Creator (x2) is trained.

The The Researcher ensures that:

Works with Research Coordinator to do research for social media posts, events, etc. as needed
Responsible for being a subject matter expert in scientific and grammatical integrity
Ensures that information found online is relevant, properly edited, and simplified with easy vocabulary for students that aren’t familiar with zoology.
Ensures that the next Researcher is trained
Ensures that the next The Researcher 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:

Emergency meetings can be called by an executive via:

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.