Notice of Caucus Elections, Constitutional Amendments

Hello everyone,

At our next caucus meeting (Friday, May 1st), we will be holding elections and voting on constitutional amendments -- details below.

A. Elections will be held for the following positions (nominees in brackets):

    1. Events Committee Officers (3)

  - These are three new positions (see #2 under Constitutional Amendments below) that we still need to find candidates for.

  - The three Events Committee members will work with one another, under the guidance and assistance of the Chair and Associate Chair, to organize and coordinate caucus events.

  - One of the Events Committee Officers will have as their primary duty organizing refreshments and associated licenses for caucus social events (the role previously held by the 'Social Coordinator').

  - We have a potential candidate, Brendan Connors, who can help with this next Spring, but still need people to help out in the fall!!

    2. Chair (Isabelle Raymond)

    3. Associate Chair (Janey Lam)

    4. Secretary (Juliana Yeung)

    5. Treasurer (Simon Zappia)

    6. Member at Large (Erica Jeffery)

    7. Webmaster (Alex Chubaty)

    8. GSS Rep (Thomas Unsoeld)

    9. TSSU Steward (Mike Wogin)

    10. Faculty Mole (Simon Goring)

    11. DSC Rep (Rian Dickson)

    12. International Students Rep (Muhammad Arashad)

B. Amending the Constitution (attached).

    Summary of proposed changes:

1. Out-of-date statements regarding the Caucus' relationship with the SFSS have been replaced with appropriate references to the GSS.
2. Three new Events Committee positions will be created. The Events Committee is defined as "consisting of three officers who will share duties in a fair and equitable manner. The powers and duties of the Events Committee are limited to the following:
   

1.     To assist one another in organizing and co-coordinating caucus events under the guidance and assistance of the Chair and the Associate Chair;

2.     To recruit and direct caucus volunteers who will assist with running these events."

3. The Chair and Associate Chair's duties will now include "To oversee and co-coordinate the events organized by the Events Committee."
4. The Webmaster will be recognized as an official officer of the caucus, and elections will be held for this position accordingly. The duties of the Webmaster will be to "update and maintain the Caucus website."
5. Elections of caucus officers and representatives will now follow the elections procedures outlined by the GSS for caucus representatives. Notably:
1. "The term for the elected officer or representative shall be one year starting on May 1^st and ending on April 30^th of the following year."
2. "If only one person is nominated for the position of Council Representative, that position must still be ratified by a majority at a quorated caucus meeting."

Thank you,

Erica Jeffery

BISC Caucus Chair

Caucus meeting postponed until next Friday

Hello everyone,

The Grad Caucus meeting will be postponed until next Friday, April 3, 3:30-4:30pm (agenda attached - let me know if anything should be added).

We will be holding elections for the following positions at the end of April -- feel free to nominate yourself or someone else! (Incumbents are welcome to run again.)

- Chair

- Associate Chair

- Treasurer

- Secretary

- Social Coordinator

- Member at Large

- Webmaster

- Grad Student Society Representative

- Teaching Staff Support Union Representative

- Faculty Mole

- Departmental Scholarship Committee (one position)

- International Students' Representative

Cheers,

Erica Jeffery

BISC Grad Caucus Chair

Petition to Parliament re: SSHRC grants restricted to business-related degrees

Many of you may be interested in signing this petition about SSHRC funding.

Cheers,
Clea Moray
GSS President

_______________________________________________________________

From: Paul Couillard <paulcouillard@gmail.com>

Date: February 24, 2009 6:35:40 AM PST

Dear Canadian friends, colleagues and associates:

I am forwarding a petition in support of SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) currently being circulated by Niki Ashton (NDP MP).

I hope you can all find a minute to sign this petition as this federal conservative directive has the potential to reduce significantly the support for university students and faculty engaged in scholarship in the social sciences and humanities, education, environmental studies, fine arts and other areas not directly pertinent to business. The text of the petition is included below: to add your name, just follow the link at the bottom.

Please circulate widely.
___________________________________________________________________________________


To the House of Commons in Parliament Assembled

We, the undersigned residents of Canada, wish to bring to your attention the following:

For more than thirty years, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) has been promoting and supporting university-based research and training in the humanities and social sciences. SSHRC funding has been used to complete ground breaking research in countless areas in Canada and around the world.

The Federal Budget presented on January 27th contains a sentence that has the potential to halt this kind of research: "Scholarships granted by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council will be focused on business-related degrees".

These measures are backward and insulting to the thousands of Canadians that are students and researchers in the social sciences and humanities.

THEREFORE, we petitioners are calling upon the government to remove this sentence from the 2009 Budget and ensure that SSHRC funding not be allocated to one specific discipline but to the range of studies in the social sciences and humanities.


,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

to sign:

http://nikiashton.ndp.ca/sshrc  

--
Clea Moray
President, The Graduate Student Society at Simon Fraser University (tel: 778-782-3899; www.sfugradsociety.ca)
M.Sc. Candidate, Biology Department
Simon Fraser University

web: http://www.sfu.ca/~cmoray/

Caucus meeting next Wed (Feb 25) 3:30-4:30pm

Hello everyone,

We will be having our February caucus meeting next Wednesday (Feb. 25th) from 3:30-4:30pm in the 7000 level grad lounge in order to accommodate the GSS AGM next Friday.

On the agenda (attached): updates regarding our spring events (Grad Symposium and ANZA B.S. social), and discussion regarding a "How to Write a Thesis" course.

Cheers,

Erica

Notice of Referendum

Please take notice that the Graduate Student Society at Simon Fraser
University has put the following question to referendum:

"Do you agree that the Society should increase the amount of the special
levy collected from all graduate students for the purpose of providing an
extended health and dental benefit plan for graduate students from at most
$340 per year to at most $399 per year in order to maintain the level of
health and dental benefits provided under the plan?

If this question fails, the current levy rate of at most $340 per year for
graduate students will remain in effect, and both of the following
reductions in benefits are projected:
 - a cap of $20 on the maximum reimbursement per paramedical (e.g., massage
therapy, chiropractor, physiotherapy) visit, and
 - reduction in dental coverage from 80% to 70%."

Campaigning on the question will be permitted from Tuesday, March 10 to
Monday, March 23.

Polling shall occur on March 24, 25, and 26 (concurrent with the GSS Officer
elections) and shall be done online using the SFU WebSurvey system. More
information on how to vote and the hours of voting will be sent out by email
to all graduate students via their SFU email accounts.

For more information on the referendum, please visit the Society's website:
www.sfugradsociety.ca/election or contact the GSS Electoral Committee:
gss-electoral-committee@sfu.ca.


Regards,

Lindsay Zibrik
Chair, Electoral Committee
The Graduate Student Society at SFU

Graduate Student Society -- Notice of Annual General Meeting

Hi everyone.

The Graduate Student Society at Simon Fraser University is pleased to
announce that its Annual General Meeting will take place as follows:

Friday, February 27, 2009
The Highland Pub, SFU, Burnaby Mountain Campus
4:00 PM (doors open for registration at 3:30 PM)

All current SFU graduate students are eligible to attend and vote -- no
voting by proxy is allowed.

Ample refreshments will be provided, and there will be a full grad social
after the event. The first 150 grads who arrive at the meeting by 4:00 PM
will receive free food and drink tickets for the social!

The full notice of the meeting, including the agenda, is in the attached
PDF, but the most important thing to note is that there will be two major
by-law changes considered. One is to increase the maximum monthly stipend
paid to GSS officers. The other is to allow the GSS to make further
amendments to its by-laws by referendum vote.

If you have any questions about the AGM, please contact us at
agm@sfugradsociety.ca, or call us at (778) 782-3899, or come by and see us
in MBC 2205.

We look forward to seeing you in the pub on February 27!

  - Mike Letourneau

--
Michael Letourneau, Executive Director
The Graduate Student Society at Simon Fraser University

MBC 2211, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6
(778) 782-8710  --  exec_director@sfugradsociety.ca
http://www.sfugradsociety.ca

BISC Grad Caucus meeting this Friday

Reminder that this Friday from 3:30-4:30pm in the Grad Lounge (B7000 level couches) we will be having our first biology grad caucus meeting of the year -- agenda attached.

On the agenda: what will this year's Grad Symposium look like? Lab posters... or something else?

Also, news regarding an end-of-the-semester UBC-SFU biology talent night/party ...

Come learn more about what's going on this semester, and try to bring someone new with you!

Cheers,

Erica Jeffery

Jerry Ericsson

Caucus meeting this Friday (3:30pm-4:30pm)

Hello everyone,

Reminder that there is a caucus meeting this Friday (3:30-4:30pm) in the Grad Lounge (7000 level Biology).

The agenda is attached; highlights are the Travel Awards draw (yay!), as well as planning regarding next spring's Grad Symposium.

Also, positions have recently opened up for caucus Treasurer and Secretary. So far we have one nomination for Treasurer... let us know if you are interested in either. Both are a great way of getting involved in the department, and getting to know your fellow grad students. Also looks great on a CV! Details regarding the respective duties of each follow.

Cheers,

Erica Jeffery

Jerry Ericsson

Duties:

3. Treasurer

a. To maintain all financial records of the Caucus, including an accounting of all funds received and spent.

b. To prepare a budget.

c. To make regular financial reports to the membership.

d. To provide liaison between the Caucus and all sources of funding, including the Biology Student Society and the Simon Fraser Student Society.

4. Secretary

a. To keep minutes of meetings and distribute the minutes by email, or post a copy on the Graduate Student notice board near the common area.

--
Erica Jeffery
Graduate Student
Dept. of Biological Sciences
Office B7231
Lab B6226
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive,
Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6
CANADA