Welcome to Waterloo Engineering, class of 2019!
We are Kevin McNamara and Melissa Ferguson, and we are the Vice Presidents of Finance (VPF) of Engineering Society ‘A’ and ‘B’ respectively. You will all meet Kevin in the Fall term, and those of you in 8-Stream programs will meet Melissa in the Winter! As VPF, it is our responsibility to oversee the finances of the society, including our termly operating budget, capital purchases, sponsorship of student groups, and services like our Coffee and Donut Shop (CnD), Novelties, and RidgidWare.
One of the main jobs in the VPF portfolio is creating the termly operating budget for the society. Each term you are in school, you pay an Engineering Society Fee (currently $15.22!), which is allocated in the budget. This budget is used to support all of the awesome events and services that the Society runs each term, along with many other initiatives.
Another job the VPF is in charge of is Engineering Society Sponsorship. A percentage of our operating budget each term goes towards sponsoring students groups on campus in support of their initiatives. This can come in the form of purchasing parts for a car or robot, or helping pay for competition fees or tools. Any student group or club on campus is eligible to apply. Each term we elect a sponsorship committee, which is made up of 6 at large engineering student members, and the two VP Finances. This is a great opportunity to get involved, especially in first year. If you are interested in serving on the committee, make sure to join the EngSoc mailing list and check when the elections will be happening.
We also chair the Engineering Capital Improvements Fund Committee (ECIF) each term. ECIF is a fund that is contributed to each term from the operating budget, and is used to make long lasting purchases for the Society, such as upgrading the equipment in the Coffee and Donut Shop, making purchases to improve our student lounge, POETS, or any other capital expenditure that will benefit student life on campus. The committee is made up of the two VPFs, two at-large members from each Society, and Mary Bland, our Business Manager. Anyone can make submissions to the fund, so if you ever have a cool idea for a purchase that could improve student life in engineering, be sure to let us know!
One of our brand new services this term is RidgidWare, which is an electronics component shop that will be run out of CPH Foyer. At the shop you will be able to purchase components for your own electrical projects, at very low prices. If you’re interested in electronics and don’t have the time to go shopping off campus or looking around online and waiting for deliveries to come, this is going to be the place for you. Make sure to keep a look out for the grand opening of the store which will be in September.
There are a ton of awesome events and services that the Engineering Society runs each term, and without the $15.22 EngSoc Fee that every undergraduate engineer pays, a lot of them would not be possible. We encourage you to check out some of the awesome services that we offer. Head over to POETS on your first day of class, grab a coffee at the CnD, come to the Beginning of Term (BOT) Party, or stop by the Engineering Society Office to see everything that is going on.
Don’t forget to check out our website to see everything that we offer. If you ever have any questions related to the Engineering Society and finance, or anything at all, don’t hesitate to ask us. You can email Kevin at vpfinance.a@engsoc.uwaterloo.ca, and Melissa at vpfinance.b@engsoc.uwaterloo.ca. Have an amazing Orientation Week, and we hope to see you at EngSoc Meeting #1!
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