Policy Manual and Constitution Review

After many meetings, the review committee has further defined an outline for how the Constitution and Policy Manual will be structured. The structure will resemble something similar to what Queen’s uses now for their overarching Society documents. The constitution is to be composed of five Articles and six By-Laws. Below is the breakdown of these sections.

Articles

• Name
• Objectives (High level “we do these things”)
• Structure (High level “we have these positions”)
• By-Laws
• Amending the Constitution

By-Laws

• The Engineering Society Council (council meetings, Robert’s rules, class reps, Joint Council, etc)
• Elected Executive Officers (positions, qualifications, overarching duties, etc.)
• Appointed Officers and Directors (roles, qualifications, terms, CRO, Speaker, etc.)
• Elections and Referenda (who can vote, how elections are run, etc.)
• Finances (the value of the fee, the budget, etc.)
• Policy Manual

Articles will contain the high-level definitions of the society while By-laws are to contain more detailed information which supplements the articles. Amending articles will follow the same process as before, where each society must have 2 readings and 1 vote with 2/3 of the vote in favour. A proposed addition is that if 1/3 of the vote obstain, then the motion is tabled for further review. By-Laws will be amending with 1 reading and 1 vote on each society OR a vote a joint council. The ratio of votes will follow the same process as the constitution.

The structure of the policy manual will remain roughly the same with the addition of the Interim Policies and the Forms sections. This document will define the daily operations of the society. The policy manual is considered a living document and therefore will be structured to allow for frequent change. It will use the same amending process as stated in the current document. The breakdown is proposed as follows:

Policy Manual

• Terms of Reference
• Finances (budget, ECIF, donations, etc.)
• Communications (Advertising, mailing list, social media, etc.)
• Services (POETS, C&D, Novelties, etc.)
• Relationships (IW, WEEF, EWB, etc.)
• Operations (conference policy, directorship policy, etc.)
• Interim Policies
• Forms (budget request, expense, P**5 prize claim, etc.)

Now that the structures of the Constitution and Policy Manual have been defined, the committee has begun to move, re-write and add to the sections in the current documents. All changes will be made available for viewing by the 2nd meeting in the Winter Term. Should you have any questions or feedback please feel free to contact me and I will relay your ideas or concerns to the committee.