Hello again engineers! I’d like to take this opportunity to talk about the Engineering Society Council. For those of you who don’t know, the Council exists to coordinate the official business of the Society, approve the allocation of our funds, and exercise control over the actions of the on-term Executive. The Council is made up of the on-term Executive, the off-term President, and two representatives from each on-term class. However, any engineering undergraduate student may attend.
Last week, EngSoc had our third council meeting of the term. It was a very busy meeting, and I’m happy to say that there was a lot of discussion about the various motions brought forward by class reps.
The first item I’d like to talk about was about the Society taking a stance around Mental Health Services in the Faculty of Engineering. The motivation behind Software 2016 bringing this motion forward was the long wait times and the opinion that actual services offered could be improved. Points were brought up about whether this should be a mandate for the Executive to run more services or for them to work with the faculty on improving their services. Class reps brought their class’ concerns forward, and at the end of the discussion, the final result was to mandate:
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the Society to take the stance that the Faculty should strive for wait times less than two weeks and that counselling be available outside typical class hours
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the Executive to work with the Faculty to improve the mental health services offered
After the above alterations were made, the motion was called to question and passed with no opposition. Stances taken by the Society can be altered by Council, so if you believe more should be included, please email me or talk to your class reps.
Next, a motion was brought forward, also by Software 2016, regarding the opt-out termly WPIRG fee. The motion was for the Society to take the stance that the WPIRG fee be regularly reevaluated by a school-wide referendum and to mandate the President to bring a motion forward at the next FedS council meeting, calling this referendum. A lot of questions were asked about the operation and purpose of WPIRG, but ultimately, most students were not in support of the motion as written. Many agreed with the spirit behind the motion, but didn’t think the Society should be behind the action and that we should not be singling out WPIRG; many groups on campus have a similar opt-out fee, and students believed that all voluntary fees should be subject to the same review. After a lot of discussion, the result was to table the motion indefinitely; this means that instead of coming to a decision during the meeting, council agreed to postpone the vote to another meeting, thus allowing reps more time to discuss the motion with their constituents, research WPIRG for themselves, and bring any concerns forward in the next discussion. If you would like to raise any concerns about this motion, please contact myself or your class reps.
The last motion I’d like to talk about was one brought forward by ECE 2017 regarding the Society taking a stance on the international student tuition increase of 9%, following an increase of 9.2% last year. We heard from Allyson Francis who gave us some background information on the history of fee increases and proposed motions to the Board. At the end of this update and after some discussion regarding the wording of the motion and the implications of only applying the increase to incoming students, Council decided to table the decision.
If you would like to read the full text of these motions, would like to know more about the discussion, or want to know what else happened at the meeting, take a look at the agenda and meeting minutes on the website (in the next couple days). If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me (president.a@engsoc.uwaterloo.ca) or your class reps. You can also come see me in the Orifice (CPH 1327). Our next meeting is on March 23rd in POETS, and is a potluck!! (If you’re in first year, bring appetizers/snacks,second and third years bring main courses, and fourth years bring desserts) Hope to see you there!
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