The Women's Network (TWN)
Last active term
Club Name
The name of the club will be The Women's Network (TWN). 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
empower and connect high-achieving women to each other and to leaders across many industries, as well as celebrating ambition.
Club events, activities, and/or initatives will include
TWN Waterloo holds a variety of events: speaker meetings with high-profile leaders, LinkedIn, resume, and internship workshops, alumni receptions, community-based discussion panels, and virtual networking opportunities with other members on campus and around the nation. It’s a great way to expand one’s network, gain exposure to different industries, build confidence, find career opportunities, and meet ambitious people.
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 three consecutive academic terms, 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.
- Oversees all chapter-level meetings and events
- Updates the chapter’s progress report weekly
- Works closely with the college/university to ensure that TWN is a registered student organization
- Organizes and co-leads weekly board meetings that align with everyone’s schedules alongside the VP
- Sends meeting/event reminder emails, as well as weekly chapter emails
- Plans the chapter’s semester calendar alongside the VP and the VP of Events (which must be approved by TWN National)
- Coordinates speakers alongside the VP of Events
- Moderates speaker events and other events (or can be the VP of Events and/or other board members)
- Attends all biweekly (AKA twice a month) national president meetings
- Problem-solves when challenges arise and is the face of the chapter
- Creates and shares the new leadership application
- Interviews applicants
- Trains and onboards new leaders
- Ensures that new leaders sign a board contract
The President is a signing authority.
The Vice 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.
- Oversees all the internal matters of the chapter
- Checks in with each board member weekly to ensure responsibilities are being adhered to, deadlines are being met, and the chapter is properly functioning (record and track all progress via a document)
- Works closely with the chapter’s President and is in constant communication
- Plans the calendar alongside the chapter’s President and the VP of Events
- Creates a Google Calendar (which can be included in chapter emails) to be shared with all members (and will boost attendance)
- Plans bonding events so board members, Campus Ambassadors, and members get to know each other
- Oversees the chapter’s mentorship program
- Sends reminders about upcoming meetings and events to the leadership team and the chapter
- Creates attendance forms/QR codes for all meetings and events, and shares them with TWN National via the progress report
- Works closely with the entire board to contact inactive members
- Takes minutes/notes at board meetings
The CO-VP of Finance 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.
- Oversees all financial matters, including fundraising efforts, event budgets, promotional items sales, and reimbursements
- Manages and delegates tasks amongst finance committee members.
- Executes at least 2 fundraisers per semester
- Obtains funds for the networking trip through fundraisers, university funding, sponsorships, etc.
The CO-VP of Finance is a signing authority.
The VP of Marketing ensures that:
- Creates at least 3 Instagram posts and 1 Instagram story per week
- Creates Instagram story highlights that feature Executive Board leaders, Campus Ambassadors, committee team members, members of the week, meetings and events, etc.
- Creates promotional materials, such as flyers, to promote all meetings and events (for Executive Board leaders, Campus Ambassadors, committee team members, etc. to post)
- Creates a Facebook event at least 2 weeks prior to the event date
- Designs chapter merchandise (must be approved by TWN National) (optional)
- Attends VP of Marketing national meetings
- Ensures there are no grammatical mistakes, spelling mistakes, spacing issues, etc. on published content
- The next VP of Marketing is trained
- Maintains the chapter’s Facebook page, and ensures that the chapter’s Instagram is connected to the chapter’s Facebook page
- Ensures that the next VP of Marketing is trained.
The VP of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) ensures that:
- Develops relationships with other organizations on campus, including multicultural communities and other women’s organizations
- Reaches out to other organizations for partnerships (e.g., co-hosting events, promoting our organization on their social media accounts and vice versa, etc.)
- Develops efforts to recruit new members from various backgrounds
- Ensures all feel welcome in our community
- The next VP of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is trained
- Ensures that the next VP of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is trained.
The Lead Ambassador ensures that:
- Oversees the chapter’s recruitment and retention efforts, executed by the chapter’s team of Campus Ambassadors
- Organizes and leads biweekly Campus Ambassador team meetings to track their progress
- Holds Campus Ambassadors accountable to their responsibilities
- Strategizes ways of increasing membership
- Acts as a liaison between the Executive Board and the Campus Ambassador team
- Boosts team morale
- The next Lead Ambassador is trained
- Ensures that the next Lead Ambassador is trained.
The CO-VP of Events ensures that:
- Plans and executes major events including, but not limited to, recruitment events, networking/“Mocktails” events, socials, etc.
- Coordinates the logistics of all events with a schedule to be shared with the chapter’s President and VP
- Manages and delegates tasks amongst events committee members.
- The next VP of Events is trained
- Ensures that the next CO-VP of Events is trained.
The CO-VP of Finance 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;
- Oversees all financial matters, including fundraising efforts, event budgets, promotional items sales, and reimbursements
- Manages and delegates tasks amongst finance committee members
- Executes at least 2 fundraisers per semester
- Obtains funds for the networking trip through fundraisers, university funding, sponsorships, etc.
- Their successor is trained.
- Ensures that the next CO-VP of Finance is trained.
The CO-VP of Finance is a signing authority.
The CO-VP of Events ensures that:
- Plans and executes major events including, but not limited to, recruitment events, networking/“Mocktails” events, socials, etc.
- Coordinates the logistics of all events with a schedule to be shared with the chapter’s President and VP.
- Manages and delegates tasks amongst events committee members.
- The next CO-VP of Events is trained.
- Ensures that the next CO-VP of Events 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 Campus Ambassador ensures that:
- Recruit an estimated 8 new members monthly, and specify these new members on a spreadsheet
- Recruit an additional 10-15 “difficult-to-track” recruits (which refers to people who saw your content/spoke with you/etc., but did not specify your name on the membership form when signing up)
- Attend 4 events per semester, such as meetings, speaker events, networking events, webinars/live streams, etc.
- Attend mandatory, bi-weekly meetings with your Campus Ambassador team
- Contact 2 other organizations per month to attract new members and develop relationships
- Promote every meeting and event on Instagram (and remember to tag our national account)
- Ensures that the next Campus Ambassador is trained.
Meetings
General Meetings
The club will hold monthly 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
External Affiliations
The club is affiliated with The Women's Network (TWN).
The Women’s Network LLC
national@thewomens.network
September 28, 2022
Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association,
University of Waterloo
To the Office of Student Involvement of the University of Waterloo,
Per your request, we are writing to confirm that The Women’s Network (TWN) holds a chapter at the University of Waterloo. Our TWN-UW chapter is advised by TWN-National and is fully led and operated by UW students, one of them being the chapter President, Michelle Lo. As such, we authorize and encourage the student leaders of our TWN-UW chapter to register as a formal University of Waterloo student organization.
If any questions or concerns arise, please do not hesitate to email us at
national@thewomens.network. We cannot wait to see everything our TWN-UW chapter accomplishes on your campus. Thank you so much.
Sincerely,
The Women’s Network National
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.