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[WIP] Add constitution to pages #112
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Author: Fatema Boxwala | ||
Title: Constitution | ||
hidden: true | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Sorry, I did mess that up. It should be |
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# Structure of Organization # | ||
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The “Women in Computer Science Undergraduate Committee” is a | ||
subcommittee of Women in Computer Science, a standing committee of the | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. the Women in Computer Science Committee, There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Didn't this change to be just women in computer science when Jo became director? From big wics minutes June 29th, I got "Director of Women in Computer Science" as Jo's official title, so I was going off of that. There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. So Jo is currently the Director of Women in Computer Science (directorship title). As this director, she is the Chair of the Women in Computer Science Committee, a standing committee of SCS. I'd get clarification on that from her tbh. |
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Cheriton School of Computer Science. For the remainder of this document, | ||
this standing committee will be referred to as the "WiCS Committee". All | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Might be good to use There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Done |
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references to: “the undergraduate committee”, “the committee”, and | ||
“committee members” refer to the Undergraduate Committee unless | ||
otherwise specified. | ||
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## Purpose and Vision ## | ||
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The undergraduate committee aims to foster a safe environment for cis | ||
and trans women and non-binary individuals in computer science, | ||
and to advocate for the inclusion of these underrepresented groups in the | ||
computer science community at large. | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Taking a broader overview on this section, is our primary goal really just to make a safe environment for women? I'd like to think we're a bit loftier thinking than that... From the about page, "The Women in Computer Science Undergraduate Committee is a student-run initiative that supports the success of women in computer science at [the University of] Waterloo." I kind of prefer that. The CoC says "A primary goal of the WiCS Undergraduate Committee is to be inclusive towards and supportive of women interested in computer science." Personally, I hate the phrasing "inclusive towards", but I couldn't think of anything better at the time. There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. How do people feel about changing the first sentence in Purpose and Vision to: "The Undergraduate Committee aims to support the success of cis and trans women and non binary individuals in computer science, by fostering a safe environment for and advocating for the inclusion of these underrepresented groups in the computer science community at large." |
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## Representation ## | ||
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The Women in Computer Science Undergraduate Committee aims to | ||
represent and support undergraduate cis and trans women, and non-binary | ||
individuals enrolled in computer science and related undergraduate programs | ||
at the University of Waterloo. Additionally, we seek to include and support | ||
members of all underrepresented groups in the fields of technology and | ||
computing, with the most varied and diverse backgrounds possible. | ||
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## Values ## | ||
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1. *Inclusiveness*: The undergraduate commitee is committed to fostering | ||
an inclusive environment in which women of all backgrounds will | ||
feel welcome, and to which they can contribute. | ||
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2. *Humility*: The committee will acknowledge and | ||
respect the perspectives of those with experiences different to | ||
ours, and will strive to understand and incorporate these | ||
perspectives. | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. There's a typo: it's -> its I hate using "all" because it's really strong wording. I suggest axing the first four words. There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Done |
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3. *Respect*: All members of the community will be treated with respect, regardless of | ||
difference in opinions and values. | ||
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4. *Transparency*: As leaders, our actions and decision-making must be visible to | ||
promote accountability, and all decision-making will be open and | ||
well-documented within the committee and with the public when possible. | ||
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5. *Honesty*: The committee will foster an environment to promote honest | ||
disclosure. All community members should feel free to voice their opinions and feelings. | ||
We acknowledge that everyone makes mistakes: honest disclosure and taking responsibility | ||
will always be supported. | ||
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6. *Technical Excellence*: The committee acknowledges that its | ||
fundamental goal is to support diversity in technical work, and | ||
members will strive to achieve excellence in this work themselves. | ||
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# Committee Composition # | ||
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1. Only undergraduate cis and trans women and non-binary individuals | ||
enrolled in computer science or a related undergraduate program may | ||
serve on the committee. The committtee will be comprised of the following roles: | ||
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- Chair, | ||
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- Secretary, | ||
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- Finance Director, | ||
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- Office Manager, | ||
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- Systems Administrator, | ||
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- Big CSters Director, | ||
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- Director of Publicity, | ||
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- Up to three additional positions as necessary, with titles | ||
chosen by the committee. | ||
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2. The duties of the Chair are: | ||
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- To chair all meetings; | ||
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- To publicly represent the committee as the primary contact for | ||
external groups; | ||
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- To represent the undergraduate committee at meetings of the WiCS | ||
Committee; | ||
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- To represent the undergraduate committee at meetings of any | ||
other external organization to which the committee is | ||
accountable, when appropriate, such as the Mathematics Society; | ||
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- To secure funding for the committee's endeavours in | ||
collaboration with the Finance Director. | ||
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3. The duties of the Secretary are: | ||
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- To take minutes at all meetings; | ||
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- To call meetings; | ||
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- To represent the undergraduate committee at meetings of the WiCS | ||
Committee; | ||
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- To track the completion of all duties assigned to members of the committee; | ||
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- To maintain the non-financial records of the committee. | ||
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4. The duties of the Finance Director are: | ||
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- To process financial paperwork; | ||
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- To maintain accurate budgets and financial records; | ||
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- To secure funding for the endeavours of the committee, in | ||
collaboration with the Chair; | ||
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- To represent the organization in a financial capacity, in all | ||
relevant meetings. | ||
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5. The duties of the Office Manager are: | ||
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- To maintain and uphold the Office Policy; | ||
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- To train and manage office staff; | ||
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- To ensure the office is a clean, orderly, and respectful space; | ||
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- To create and manage the schedule of office hours; | ||
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- To ensure the office is equipped with adequate supplies. | ||
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6. The duties of the System Administrator are: | ||
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- To chair the Systems Committee (“wics-sys”); | ||
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- To be the authority on matters regarding usage of systems; | ||
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- To maintain access control lists for the committee's computing resources, | ||
including office terminals and servers; | ||
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- To maintain and enforce the Machine Usage Agreement, dictating acceptable use | ||
of the committee's computing resources. | ||
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7. The duties of the Big CSters Director are: | ||
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- To maintain the Big CSters community through supportive and | ||
inclusive programming, such as workshops and discussion circles; | ||
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- To lead the Big CSters mentoring program, running no fewer than | ||
two events per term; | ||
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- To administer the CSters mailing list. | ||
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8. The duties of the Diretor of Publicity are: | ||
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- To publicize events and other committee activities through physical and | ||
electronic means; | ||
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- To design all media circulated by the committee including: | ||
posters, social media profiles and the official website. | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Add Edit: I guess this is covered in the keys section below. There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Add There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. done |
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All committee memebers are free to delegate their responsibilities to others as | ||
as they see fit, but are ultimately responsible for the completion of their | ||
assigned duties. | ||
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# Procedures # | ||
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## Policy ## | ||
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Any changes to policy must be proposed with at least one week's | ||
notice, and ratified at an official meeting of the undergraduate | ||
committee. | ||
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### Code of Conduct ### | ||
The Code of Conduct outlines expected behaviour for all members of | ||
the community at any community venues, online and in-person, and in | ||
any communications pertaining to committee business. Any member of | ||
the committee may prpose an amendment to the CoC. The committee must | ||
ratify any proposed amendments to the Code of Conduct. | ||
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### Machine Usage Agreement ### | ||
The Machine Usage Agreement outlines expected conduct when using any | ||
machines maintained by the undergraduate committee. Any | ||
proposed changes must be first ratified by the Systems Committee, | ||
followed by the entire committee. | ||
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### Office Policy ### | ||
Office Policy outlines expected behaviour in the WiCS Undergraduate | ||
Committee office, M3 1003. Any proposed changes must be ratified by the | ||
committee. | ||
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## Succession Procedures ## | ||
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1. No later than the last day of classes of current term, a call for | ||
committee members for the upcoming term shall be announced on the | ||
website and sent out to all affiliated mailing lists. | ||
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2. New volunteers can apply to be on the committee for the following | ||
term, and the current committee will select applicants for | ||
interviews. A new volunteer shall be anyone who has never served on | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Rewording: For 4 or more terms is confusing because it could also refer to someone who has served for four terms total? |
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the committee before, or has not served on the committee for 4 or | ||
more terms. Interviewers should be chosen by the current committee. | ||
If an interviewer has a conflict of interest with the interviewee, | ||
an alternate interviewer will be chosen. In any case, if no | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Change this to: There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Strike "In any case," |
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interviewer is explicitly chosen, the current Chair shall conduct | ||
interviews. The interviews are intended to welcome the new member to | ||
the committee, give them background on the committee's activities, | ||
and help them find a role for the next term. The current committee | ||
will ultimately select the comoposition of the committee for next | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. comoposition -> composition But they don't really select the composition, they select the members, so I think "members" should be used instead |
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term. | ||
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3. Existing committee members can nominate themselves for positions on | ||
the next term's committee given the following conditions: | ||
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- No member may serve more than three consecutive terms; | ||
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- No member may serve as Chair for more than one term | ||
consecutively; | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Is this a fairness thing? I'm not really sure "hogging" the Chair position is an actual problem. And I can totally see someone in regular stream serving for consecutive Fall and Winter terms and that being a good thing for continuity. Opinions, @wics-uw/contributors ? |
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- No member intending to serve as Chair or Secretary may be on | ||
co-op; | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Or Office Manager! I think the office manager should be around during business hours. There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. can we add a note that if the coop job is on campus (e.g. ISA) then it is okay if they are on coop? MX being an ISA is actually perfect for her role There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. In general, I don't think co-op students should serve on the committee. When special cases arise, I think they should be treated as special cases and not general policy. Indeed, I think it might even make sense to make this stronger, i.e. No member intending to serve as Chair or Secretary may be on co-op, and students enrolled in full-time studies will be given preference over co-op students; (but that should also apply to new students, so maybe it doesn't make sense to put it in this section) The issue with co-op students holding committee positions is that a) even if they are on campus, they are expected to be at work 9-5 and we have a number of required responsibilities during business hours and b) they are working 40 hours per week and it's hard to hold an additional 10h/wk on campus commitment on top of that when the vast majority of our activities take place during weekdays. That's asking for 8+2 = ~10 hour work days for the entire school term, and I don't think that's something we should encourage in policy. There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. ++ |
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- Members wishing to nominate themselves for chair should be a | ||
previous WiCS committee member. If no such volunteer exists, the | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Seeing as this didn't work out this term and I don't think we should put undue pressure on previous members to do something they don't want to do, I think we should change this. Actually, I think we should have a new chair selection section which I will outline after this one, so strike this. |
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position opens up to new members; | ||
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- Excluding that of Chair, no positions may be chosen until the | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Rewrite to: |
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first official meeting of the new term's committee; | ||
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- Existing committee members may compose no more than 75% of the | ||
new committee, if more existing members are nominated than 75% | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. There should be a period, and I suggest a rewrite: |
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can accomodate, each returning member will submit a new | ||
application to be reviewed by the serving Director of the WiCS | ||
Committee. | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. The Chair for the upcoming term's committee shall be selected using the following procedures:
Note that I said "may" because it's possible the current committee could have an objection to a particular returning member serving as chair and so they should not be forced into selecting them simply on the basis of seniority. There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. I am okay with this wording so if no one has issues with this I will change this whole section. @wics-uw/contributors |
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4. If there are any objections to an applicant, this procedure should | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. This whole section is new and I'd like to review it and possibly rewrite it as a group once we talk a bit more about this scenario. Is that okay? There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Would you be amenable to posting it as is until a time we can all sit down and talk about it more? Or do you want to discuss in the near future? |
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be followed: | ||
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1. The objection will be presented to the committee, with | ||
sufficient evidence; | ||
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2. The person being objected to may present a defense; | ||
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3. The current committee will then take a vote, if a majority of | ||
members agree with the objection, the objected person will be | ||
denied a position on the committee. | ||
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If the objection is a sensitive concern, it can be brought up to the | ||
Chair or Secretary, where they will decide whether to bring the case | ||
to the committee and how to proceed. Otherwise, the objected person | ||
will be automatically accepted for the next term. | ||
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5. Once the committee has been chosen, the Director of the WiCS | ||
Committee must ratify the new committeee. | ||
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## Standing Committees ## | ||
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- The Systems Committee (wics-sys) shall: | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. This should probably be numbered. |
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1. Be chaired by the systems administrator; | ||
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2. Consist solely of members appointed by the systems administrator; | ||
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3. Operate all computing equipment in the possession of the committee; | ||
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4. Maintain and upgrade all systems in possession of the committee, including | ||
office terminals and servers; | ||
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5. To maintain the committee's source code repositories and software; | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Add: Consist solely of members appointed by the Systems Administrator; There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. done |
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6. To maintain the committee's official website, wics.uwaterloo.ca. | ||
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- Other Committees\ | ||
The undergraduate committee can create and task standing committees | ||
as necessary. Such standing committees can be dissolved by the | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Probably should note that they autodissolve when they fulfill their objective (typical for standing committees) and explicitly note that they can persist between terms, ala "standing". |
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undergraduate committee. | ||
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## Keys ## | ||
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- Keys will be allocated to the undergraduate committeee as per policy | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Keys for the committee office will be Edit: actually maybe scratch that since keys also includes keys to MathSoc |
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set out in the Memorandum of Understanding with the Mathematics | ||
Society; | ||
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- Office Manager and Systems Administrator will both receive keys. | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. I'd change this to: The Chair, Office Manager, and Systems Administrator are each entitled to receive a key to the committee office. |
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Remaining keys will be allocated as the undergraduate committee sees | ||
fit. | ||
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## Holding Committee Meetings ## | ||
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1. The Secretary is tasked with calling meetings; | ||
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2. Meetings are suggested to be weekly and must occur biweekly; | ||
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3. Meetings must be announced with at least 48 hours of notice; | ||
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4. If the Secretary does not schedule a meeting within a two-week | ||
period, any committee member may call a meeting | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Need a punctuation -> ; |
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5. There will exist two types of meetings, open and closed. | ||
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- Open Session Meeting - This type of meeting is open to all | ||
committee members and guests, by invitation only. In order to | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. guests, such as the Director of the WiCS Committee or President of the Computer Science Club, |
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invite guests a member must give the committee notice before the | ||
meeting officially starts. | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. I'd say 24 hours notice, but also allow it to be waived unanimously. This allows for last-minute invites of uncontentious guests, and time to deliberate if they're a more controversial choice for whatever reason. |
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- Closed Session Meeting - These meetings are open only to | ||
committee members and individuals unanimously invited by the | ||
committee. Any committee member may call a closed session | ||
meeting. Internal discipline, Code of Conduct violations, and | ||
funding proposals must be discussed in a closed session meeting. | ||
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# Procedure for Amending This Document # | ||
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1. Any committee member may propose a change; | ||
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2. Changes must be proposed with at least two weeks of notice. | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Any changes to this document must be ratified by the undergraduate committee and the WiCS Committee, in that order. There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Last note I swear: the CSC has a dissolution section (who gets their stuff) and a section on appropriate use of club resources. I think we should consider having one or both of those. We should also have a revision statement at the bottom, like with our CoC. There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. similar to my response to the last comment about a big change, would you be amenable to passing the constitution without a dissolution section until we can word it correctly, and then add it as an amendment? |
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Need to have a title metadatum or else this won't build:
Also please add a
hidden: true
keypair. You can actually ditch the summary as it won't display anywhere for pages!There was a problem hiding this comment.
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Done