Yes Theory UW
Last active term
Club Name
The name of the club will be Yes Theory UW. 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
Promote personal growth through the process of actively seeking discomfort. Everyone has a comfort zone, but the deepest connections and most potential for personal growth exists outside of that zone, and while it is actively challenged. This club will promote inclusion and kindness through reminding members to choose love over fear in their daily lives. It will create a network of support for people with a similar mindset in life. Oftentimes, doing something beyond your comfort zone is more challenging when you are going it alone, so this club will facilitate connections, allowing people to have a support system when wanting to face their fears. The process of seeking discomfort begins with defining your fears, which this club will help people define, followed by facing those fears. This club will also ensure that members are reflecting on their accomplishments to help them in their process of personal growth. This reflection after seeking discomfort is equally important for personal growth as the act of seeking discomfort itself. Through fostering a sense of community, this club aims to inspire and encourage people to embrace seeking discomfort as a catalyst for self-improvement and for making lifelong friendships.
Club events, activities, and/or initatives will include
Club events for a term cannot be known before the start of a term since discomfort is subjective and depending on what discomforts people would like to challenge, events will be made accordingly to those discomforts. However, some general termly/yearly events that many people find uncomfortable may include the following:
1. Learn a new skill in a week and present it in front of people in a talent show style event.
2. Make a sign that says "I'm a human book, ask me anything." and have a conversation with
10 strangers.
3. Create a piece of art you’re not used to making and share it with others (story, visual artwork, piece of music, video, photograph with meaning, etc.).
4. Buy a stack of sticky notes. Write compliments on each one and hand them out to strangers. Finish the pack of sticky notes with your group.
5. Go out of your way to do an act of kindness 14 days in a row for people who you haven’t talked to in a while (could be a compliment, could be a conversation to catch up, help them somehow with a random project they’re working on, etc. See what they tell you when you ask!).
6. Do an Instagram or Facebook live video for 30 minutes.
7. Wear an outfit in public that you wouldn’t normally wear.
8. Stand up comedy (either in front of other club members or externally).
9. Share a passion in public with others you’ve been afraid to share (artwork, photography, poetry, music, etc.).
10. Trying a new food from someone else’s culture by doing a potluck.
11. Head to a local restaurant with and when your order, tell the waiter or waitress to surprise the group with whatever they think is the best on the menu. Put all of the food in the middle of the table and eat family style.
12. Make a sign that says, "Ask me about my biggest insecurity" and have a conversation with 10 strangers.
13. Participate in an open mic night.
14. Travel from one location to another with no money or equipment given (the first person to arrive wins).
15. Go to a small local business and offer to help them for free for an hour as an act of kindness.
16. Buy a dozen roses from a flower shop and hand them out to a dozen strangers.
17. Find a stranger to join you in creating "blessing bags" for the homeless people in your community. These bags can include toothpaste, toothbrushes, socks, granola bars, soap, hairbrush, etc.
18. Spend an entire weekend in complete silence. At the end of the weekend talk about how this experience impacted you and what feelings came up.
19. Break into dance as a group and try to get strangers to join in.
20. Figure out a world record to break in one afternoon.
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 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 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.
The Vice President is a signing authority.
The Finance Manager 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 Finance Manager is a signing authority.
The Social Media Manager ensures that:
- The club’s social media account(s) are kept active with weekly posts to engage followers;
- Event times and locations are announced on the club’s social media, including but not limited to, event reminders in the days leading up to an event, and story posts during an event;
- Any media (photos and videos) from club related events are kept organized and accessible to all club members; and
- The next Social Media Manager is trained
- Ensures that the next Social Media Manager is trained.
The Creative Director ensures that:
- Photos and videos are taken during club events and uploaded in a timely manner to a location where the Social Media Manager can access them;
- Posters/advertisements are created for events;
- A virtual memento is created for each event as a reminder for members to look back on as to how they challenged their comfort zone. This memento should include photos, the date, location, and event description; and
- The next Creative Director is trained
- Ensures that the next Creative Director is trained.
The Events Manager ensures that:
- Forms are submitted to get events approved;
- Spaces are booked when necessary;
- Event attendance is tracked;
- Events are overseen to run as smoothly as possible;
- Food orders are made for events if needed; and
- The next Events Manager is trained
- Ensures that the next Events Manager is trained.
The Outreach Coordinator ensures that:
- The club is advertised to non-members within the University of Waterloo and within the community;
- Communication between other University of Waterloo clubs/organizations and external organizations is maintained when the club engages in events that require collaboration;
- Potential sponsors for events are identified and reached out to; and
- The next Outreach Coordinator is trained
- Ensures that the next Outreach 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.
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
No organization(s) is/are currently affiliated with this club.