President: General Meetings and why they matter

This past summer at Joint Council students voted in favour of the Engineering Society holding General Meetings (GMs).  There will be one meeting each term with the spring meeting being a Joint General Meeting between the Societies. At a GM every member of the Society has a vote. This means that every student who pays a fee to the Society each term (this term $15.22) has a chance to move motions, voice their opinion, and give feedback on the direction of the Society.

This term, the first ever General meeting was held on October 8. There were just over 40 students in attendance which, including the members holding proxies, met the quorum of fifty votes present. On the agenda in addition to Society updates was a motion to pass a diversity policy for the Engineering Society. After a very good discussion and multiple amendments  the policy was passed as seen below.

Policy O-7: Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity

1. The Society is committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusivity among its members, the Faculty of Engineering, and the engineering profession.

2. The Society is committed to ensuring a safe, secure, inclusive and accessible space for all of its activities

3. The Society is committed to creating an environment free of harassment and discrimination in all of its activities

4. Discipline

   1. Any member’s behaviour that is found in violation of the intent of this policy may be disciplined accordingly at the discretion of the on-term Executive team through a formal warning or removal from a Society event or Service, and a report will be filed with the Student Relations Officer.

   2. For Executive, a recommendation shall be made to council to remove the member(s) from a Society leadership position.

This policy will be brought forward to the B-Society council in the Winter term and if passed will be added into the documents officially.

There will be another General Meeting in the Winter term for the B-Society members and  a Joint General Meeting in the summer. I strongly encourage everyone to come out to the meetings and if there is a change you would like to see,  put forward a motion.

In addition, even though only at GMs does every student get a vote, I would like to remind you guys that everyone is invited to every single EngSoc meeting and everyone is allowed to give their opinion and speak at the meetings. The agenda for the meetings will be sent out on the mailing list the Sunday before the meeting and the date of the next EngSoc meeting is always posted on the board across from the orifice.

That’s all for now engineers and I hope to see you all at the next EngSoc meeting!