2015-2016: Difference between revisions

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==Major Milestones for EngSoc in 2015-2016==
==Major Milestones for EngSoc in 2015-2016==
===UTSU Associate Membership Agreement===
===UTSU Associate Membership Agreement===
[[File:10.jpg|thumbnail|right|Signing of UTSU Agreement, Eng Soc representatived on the left, UTSU representatives on the right]]
For several years, the Engineering Society had been advocating that the undergraduate engineering fees paid to the University of Toronto Students Union should be diverted to the Engineering Society, on the basis of duplication of services as well as concerns with the democratic legitimacy of the UTSU. During the 2015-2016 year, the UTSU executive committed to addressing the issues regarding its democratic legitimacy and transparency, and agreed to enter into an agreement with EngSoc to transfer 50% of the engineering fees to EngSoc, in an effort to better serve these students. The agreement is publicly available [http://skule.ca/governing-documents/ here].
For several years, the Engineering Society had been advocating that the undergraduate engineering fees paid to the University of Toronto Students Union should be diverted to the Engineering Society, on the basis of duplication of services as well as concerns with the democratic legitimacy of the UTSU. During the 2015-2016 year, the UTSU executive committed to addressing the issues regarding its democratic legitimacy and transparency, and agreed to enter into an agreement with EngSoc to transfer 50% of the engineering fees to EngSoc, in an effort to better serve these students. The agreement is publicly available [http://skule.ca/governing-documents/ here].



Revision as of 13:23, 10 March 2017

Major Milestones for EngSoc in 2015-2016

UTSU Associate Membership Agreement

Signing of UTSU Agreement, Eng Soc representatived on the left, UTSU representatives on the right

For several years, the Engineering Society had been advocating that the undergraduate engineering fees paid to the University of Toronto Students Union should be diverted to the Engineering Society, on the basis of duplication of services as well as concerns with the democratic legitimacy of the UTSU. During the 2015-2016 year, the UTSU executive committed to addressing the issues regarding its democratic legitimacy and transparency, and agreed to enter into an agreement with EngSoc to transfer 50% of the engineering fees to EngSoc, in an effort to better serve these students. The agreement is publicly available here.

Skule Endowment Fund Committee

Established in the 2010-2011 year, the Skule Endoment Fund had the goal of providing a self-sustaining source of capital for large scale projects in the benefit of engineering students, with the vision of eventually replacing the Temporary Levy Fund. Since its inception, the only use of the fund had been a $1 Million CAD commitment to the University for the new Center for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship. During 2015-2016, the Endowment Fund Committee, in charge of managing the fund, was established and the first round of funding was conducted in the winter semester. More information about the Endowment fund, including the constitution where the details of the committee are outlined, can be located here.

Mid Course Feedback

Following initiatives from previous years to conduct a Faculty wide mid-course evaluation, EngSoc worked with the discipline clubs to organize a formal mid course feedback initiative. The initiative was facilitated by the Academic Advocacy Committee with the aim of providing course instructors with feedback on feasible improvements that can be made during the semester across all disciplines within the Faculty. The project served as a means for students to provide ongoing feedback in addition to the faculty-run end of course evaluations.

Policy and Structures Committee Re-structuring

The Policy and Structures Committee, which existed in EngSoc’s bylaws for several years but had not been formally structured in recent years, saw a revival during the 2015-2016 year. The committee drafted its terms of reference, and held regular meetings to review and update EngSoc’s Bylaws and Policies. The first major reform it led was a Bylaw 3: The Elections Bylaw revision, which included clear language about the type of Single Transferable Voting system that EngSoc uses, as well as new clauses about student-led referenda.

Godiva Hymn Competition

In partnership with the Faculty, EngSoc organized a competition for students and alumni to write new verses of Godiva’s Hymn that reflected the values and culture of engineering in the 21st century. The competition was generally well received and the winners were announced at Cannonball. The winning verses can be found here.

Club Affiliation Process revision

EngSoc undertook a major revision of its club affiliation process, which led to the creation of the Affiliations Committee. The new policy now includes provisions to require new clubs to first undergo a “trial status” where they will be expected to focus on defining clearly what the club’s goals are, what value they will add to the student body, and what strategies they will implement to ensure sustainability and longevity. This policy was implemented with the goal of ensuring that EngSoc only affiliates high quality clubs that are making a positive and valuable impact on the students experience, and also encourage students to think long term when creating a club.

Positions created

Design association project manager

The Design Team Association was created in 2014-2015 to represent EngSoc’s design team clubs. This group was put together to encourage the sharing of resources and the creation of a shared direction wherever possible. The chair of this group was previously the Vice-President of Student Life however in the 2015-2016 year EngSoc created a directorship to ensure that the DTA had a voice to represent them that originated from someone with experience on design teams.

Part time students chair

This ex-officio director was created to assist EngSoc in developing targeted initiatives to improve the services we provide to part time students, who have distinct necessities and concerns than full time students.

Mature students chair

This ex-officio director was created to assist EngSoc in developing targeted initiatives to improve the services we provide to mature students, who have distinct necessities and concerns than students who entered engineering right after high school.

Mental Wellness Director

This director was created to assist EngSoc in providing services to students related to mental wellness. The purpose of the role is to plan events (such as Exam Jam), obtain feedback from students about services provided by EngSoc and the faculty, and confer with the faculty. This position was created to service an underlying need observed within the faculty where students were not aware of the resources available to them concerning their own personal mental wellness.

ESSCO Membership

EngSoc decided to re-join the Engineering Student Societies' Council of Ontario (ESSCO) as an OEC-Only member, with the intention of being able to send delegates to the Ontario Engineering Competitions, as well as renewing our ties with other engineering schools in the province. Due to this and other developments, at the end of the 2015-2016 year, conversations began with the incoming executives about creating an External Director, to address the gap left when the VP External position was removed in 2012-2013.

Officer Videos

During the 2015-2016 year, the officer team put together monthly videos to promote several aspects of EngSoc’s operations to the students, in an effort to increase the society’s engagement and transparency. The videos are available on the SkuleTube, EngSoc’s youtube channel, or can be found here.

Engineering Society Positions

Officers

Project Directors


Board of Directors

Speaker Billy Graydon
Chemical Engineering Representative Jason Tang
Civil Engineering Representative Peter Luo
Computer Engineering Representative Milan Maljković
Electrical Engineering Representative Andrew Boetto
Engineering Science Representative Apurv Bharadwaj
Industrial Engineering Representative Benjamin Leung
Materials Science Engineering Representative Amy Zhao
Mechanical Engineering Representative Robert Goldberg
Mineral Engineering Representative Ogi Kelec
At-Large Representative Kevin Rupasinghe
At-Large Representative Ryan Gomes
At-Large Representative Aidan Solala
At-Large Representative John Sweeney
First Year Representative Twesh Uphadhyaya
First Year Representative Victoria Cheng
First Year Representative Christopher Choquette
UTSU Representative vacant

*Resigned ** Recalled from the Board of Directors

Discipline Club Chairs

Class Representatives

Chemical Engineering 1T8 Jeff Dryden
1T7 vacant
1T6 Andrew Kostruba
1T5 Peter Murphy
Civil Engineering 1T8
1T7 Kayla Steadman
1T6
1T5 Billy Ge
Computer Engineering 1T8
1T7 Melissa Campoli
1T6
1T5 vacant
Electrical Engineering 1T8
1T7 Mitchell Au
1T6
1T5 vacant
Engineering Science 1T8
1T7
1T6
1T5 Sharon Ravindran
Industrial Engineering 1T8
1T7 Krysten Szatan
1T6
1T5 vacant
Materials Science & Engineering 1T8
1T7 Stephen Manion
1T6
1T5 vacant
Mechanical Engineering 1T8
1T7
1T6 Ashley McIlvena
1T5
Mineral Engineering 1T8
1T7 vacant
1T6
1T5
TrackOne 1T8 Alex Caton
First Year Chair 1T8 Sofia Tijanic
Fourth Year Chair 1T5

Skule™ Spirit

Godiva Week Competition Winners

External Representatives

External Representatives

  • UTSU Director - Joshua Calafato
  • UTSU Director - Emily Xu
  • UTSU Director - Saarthak Saxena/Raffi Dergalstanian*
  • After Saarthak Saxena resigned, Raffi Dergalstanian was elected in a by-election held in October 2015.

Conferences Hosted

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