2016 Annual General Meeting of theWoodsworth College Students’ Association
2016 Annual General Meeting of the
Woodsworth College Students’ Association
March 7th, 2016
Waters Lounge, Woodsworth College Residence
CONTENT
- AGENDA
- 2015 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING MINUTES
- AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2013/2014
- WCSA SCHOLARSHIP PROPOSAL
1. AGENDA
- Call to Order
- Approval of the Agenda
Motion that the Membership of the Woodsworth College Students’ Association approve the Agenda of the 2016 Annual General Meeting as presented.
Moved: HauckSeconded: Cookson
- President’s Address
- Approval of the 2015 Annual General Meeting Minutes
Motion that the Membership of the Woodsworth College Students’ Association approve the 2015 Annual General Meeting minutes as presented.
Moved:HauckSeconded:Cookson
- Financial Address and Approval of the 2013/2014 Audited Financial Statements
Motion that the Membership of the Woodsworth College Students’ Association approve the 2013/2014 audited financial statements as presented.
Moved: NathaniSeconded: Hauck
- Constitutional Amendments
Motion that the Membership of the Woodsworth College Students’ Association approve the amendment of the Constitution to create the position of “Equity Chair of the Board” as Article IV, Section 4(d)(xvi).
Moved:CooksonSeconded:Hauck
Motion that the Membership of the Woodsworth College Students’ Association amends Article VIII, Section 2(b) of the Constitution to change the length of the written declaration of candidacy from “75 words” to “1000 characters”.
Moved:CooksonSeconded:Hauck
Motion that the Membership of the Woodsworth College Students’ Association approve the addition to the Constitution of Article VIII, Section 3(c),(d),(e),(f), and (g) to read as follows:
“(c) Part-Time Students’ Director if they are a part time student for the year in which they will be holding office.
(d) Full Time Students’ Director if they are a full time student for the year in which they will be holding office.
(e) Upper Year Students’ Director if they are an upper year student for the year in which they will be holding office.
(f) First Year Students’ Director if they are a first year student for the year in which they will be holding office.
(g) Woodsworth Residence Director and Chestnut Residence Director if they are a resident of the respective residence.”
Moved:CooksonSeconded:Hauck
- Candidate Speeches
Directors
Professional Development Director
GaHye (Erica) Jeong
Full Time Students’ Directors (2)
Akshika Dave
Ana Martinez
Justin Zelnicker
Martin Briand
Nida-BaigMirza
SaadiaParisha
VarshaSrinvas
Upper Year Students Directors
Ashley Lall
BhavroopRiar
Wenjun Deng
Off Campus Directors (2)
DanikaBaljak
HayaAdil Sheikh
Valerie Dos Dantos
Associate Director Of Athletic Affairs
Russell Canceran
Associte Director Of Financial Affairs
Rohan Shah
Victoria Toncic
Associte Director Of Public Relations
Julia Standish
Associate Director Of Social Affairs
Emma Leckey
Raabez Ahmad
Samantha Davis
Vice President Of Internal Affairs
RadhaLamba
Vice President Of Financial Affairs
Dylan Forgas
Vice President Of Social Affairs
Kristine Sarah Medrero
MichałMalyska
Vice President Of External Affairs
Minki (Ryan) Jeong
SandleenAzam
Vice President Of Athletic Affairs
Miranda Li
Vice President Of Public Relations
Sarah Bear
President
Novera Khan
- Other Business
- Adjournment
2. 2015 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING MINUTES
2015 Annual General Meeting of the
Woodsworth College Students’ Association
March 2nd, 2015; 5:00pm
Waters Lounge, Woodsworth College Residence
321 Bloor Street West
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2016 Annual General Meeting of theWoodsworth College Students’ Association
IN ATTENDANCE:
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2016 Annual General Meeting of theWoodsworth College Students’ Association
Danielle Ouellette
Chantal Issa
EylulDefneArslan
Christina Badiola
Mohammed ShadabYounus
Kenneth Mills
Emily Eisenbraun-Stone
Jessica Li
MinkiJeong
Ruoyu Li
Lucinda Yae-Rim Ro
Tom Gleason
Nida-BaigMirza
Novera Khan
Olivia Hauck
OngioTsui
Sydney Lang
Linda Wu
Honghu Wang
SaadiaEsat
Teeka Cookson
Alexandra Spence
Robbie Raskin
Annette Szeliga
Kristine Medrero
Jingru Zhang
Sarah Bear
Kim Wachockier
Yukari Kosaka
Asad AJ Jamal
Aakanksha John
Cyndi Zhang
Jacqueline Veras
Jing Bian
Peixuan Chen
ShonaliLakhani
Rachel Lanning
Natalie Hoffmann
Nicole Girt
Isabelle VanasseCaosdidia
Mashal Khan
Margaret Elsifegha
Alex Kosne
AryaKhoda
AadilNathani
SandleenAzam
Edwin White Chacon
FahimLallani
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2016 Annual General Meeting of theWoodsworth College Students’ Association
Proxy Votes:
Sabrina Lane-Smith to Chantal Issa
Alexander Marshall to EylulDefneArslan
KierferMicallef to Mohammed ShadabYounus
Dylan Lattimer to MinkiJeong
Kristina Manas-Chmielowski to Lucinda Yae-Rim Ro
Alison Read to Tom Gleason
Madeline Holmes to Olivia Hauck
Jordan Balls to OngioTsui
Joanna Chan to Honghu Wang
Sung Kim to SaadiaEsat
Martin Klovar to Alexandra Spence
JehanVidhani to Sarah Bear
Madison Frost to Jacqueline Veras
SaaniaPunja to Nicole Girt
Russell Concerar to SandleenAzam
1) Agenda
1. Call to Order
Meeting called to order at: 5:28 PM
2. Approval of the Agenda
Motion that the membership of the Woodsworth College Students’ Association approves the Agenda of the 2015 Annual General Meeting as presented.
Moved:Younus Seconded:Issa
Younus: I would like to put forward a motion to amend agenda item that reads constitution amendments to read friendly amendments.
Jamal: What is the difference?
Issa: Constitutional amendment means changing the actual constitution, or to add something that was not there in the constitution. We are calling this a friendly amendment because we are only changing a typo.
Gleason: Friendly amendment has to be attached to amendment. I think what you are looking for is constitutional clarification?
Issa: Sure. The motion being proposed now will read as constitutional clarification.
Amendment carries.
Motion carries.
3. President’s Address
Younus gives his President Address. No questions asked during question period.
4. Approval of the Previous Annual General Meeting Minutes
Motion that the membership of the Woodsworth College Students’ Association approves the Previous Annual General Meeting Minutes as presented.
Moved:Younus Seconded:Issa
Motion carries.
5. Financial Address & Approval of Audited Financial Statements 2012/2013
Arslan presents the audited statements from 2012/2013. She discusses the current state of WCSA finances and addresses recent issues around referendum.
Motion that the membership of the Woodsworth College Students’ Association approves the Audited Financial Statements 2012/2013 as presented.
Moved:Arslan Seconded:Younus
Jamal: There is quite a significant change compared to 2012-2013, can you explain why?
Arslan: I was not actually in WCSA in 2012 but if you have any concerns please email me. The budget last year was definitely an issue so this year we really tried to fit it into a more reasonable measure.
Gleason: Why is there a gap between what you expected to spend compared to what you have spent?
Arslan: The gap is to prepare ahead for future expenditures. We are currently behind on many years of audits, we have not yet submitted our 2013-14 one but as soon as we get a clear from the governing council for submission we will do so immediately.
John: This is a question in reference to the referendum; a few students have came up to me to ask why we are increasing student fees when really we could have reallocated fees. We saved a lot of gala budget and have not spent as much as we projected so why ask for more money when we can work with the money we already have?
Arslan: As for the referendum (details in 2nd part, inflation index), WCSA have not had a fee increase for many years. If we haven’t spent as much as expected it would give us a lot of wiggle room. We had a prudent board this year but I cannot promise this for the next board. Once ratification period has past the next board will be taking over and have new budget spending which may not have this wiggle room.
John: How do we make sure that people or committees from this year who did not receive enough funding this year can get enough or more budgets next year?
Arslan: As a leaving board, we will always leave the coming board a guideline of transition so we will make sure to suggest where these extra fund should be allocated. Incoming board members are always welcome to come in and talk to us, especially Issa and myself, about transitioning. We can also include something in the contracts such as those for OCs and gala coordinators to make sure we can maintain certain financial prudency and to make sure certain portfolios have room to prosper.
Gleason: What events were scaled back?
Arslan: All the extra funds came from VP social. The budget was approximately $25,000 but the social portfolio only used $10,000 due to effective collaborations with other clubs and student associations. Cutting down from gala budget was another significant reduction.
John: Point of clarification, there have been portfolios that has needed more budget as it has been set out. How is WCSA making the possibility to create a pool for those clubs who want to have more events and need more budgets?
Arslan: By wiggle room I only meant that it should be reasonable. When budget was set in summer every directors and execs should come up with a preliminary budget. Once this is set it is hard to go back on as we would have to change line of items to reallocate fund and ask the directors responsible for that certain budget pool. In the beginning of the year it would be difficult because there are many more events to be done later on. But in the March board meeting it should be plausible, we can reallocate fund from different portfolios to create an emergency pool. Directors and portfolios can dip into this pool as long as they have the board’s approval.
Motion carries.
6. Constitutional Clarifications
Motion that the membership of the Woodsworth College Students’ Association corrects the typo in section (VIII.) (2.) (a) (ii.) of the Constitution to change the members sought for nomination if seeking a director position from “20” back to “10”.
Moved:Issa Seconded:Younus
Motion carries.
7. Candidate Speeches
Directors
Miranda Ruo Yu Li – Associate Director of Athletics.
Sarah Bear – Upper Year Director
Kristine Medrero – Upper Year Director
Nida-BaigMirza – Associate Director of Social Affairs
Ryan MinkiJeong – Associate Director of Social Affairs
NoveraHasan Khan – Off Campus Director
FahimLallani – Off Campus Director
Samantha Davis – Off Campus Director – Not Present but has submitted a speech.
SandleenAzam – Professional Development Director (Supposed to come around 6:30).
Executives
Danielle Ouellette – VP Athletics
Asad AJ Jamal – VP External
ShonaliLakhani – VP PR
OngioHo On Tsui – VP Social
Alexandra Spence – VP Financial Affairs
AadilNathani – VP Financial Affairs
Kim Wachockier – VP Financial Affairs
Teeka Cookson – VP Internal
Annette Szeliga – VP Internal
Olivia Hauck – President
Jenny Jingru Zhang – President
8. Other Business
Gleason: Tomorrow we have annual event at Hart House, there will be food and prizes.
John: Come and join the equity committee, it is an open committee and we have not promoted it yet. Please email me if you are interested to join the group.
9. Adjournment
Moved: Younus Seconded:Issa
Motion Carries.
Meeting adjourned at 8:05 PM
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2016 Annual General Meeting of theWoodsworth College Students’ Association
2) Presidential Address
Hi Everyone,
Welcome to the 2015 Annual General Meeting of the Woodsworth College Students’ Association. I’m excited to report to you the activities of all of our board members over the last 11 months and the progress we’ve made so far.
This year has been extremely successful in increasing student engagement which is reflected in the voter turnout for our election cycles going from 2.57% last year to 6.89% in the last election cycle. As per our election promises, we have introduced Coffee with Exec that allows students to come chat with us about concerns that they might have outside of regular office hours and a solid floor plan for the student lounge to ensure its organised at all times. As we are all aware, mental health is a big concern on campus right now and we are working with the Provost and Dean’s office, as well as introducing new initiatives focused on mental health, to come up with strategies that can help students better cope with stress that has deeply permeated our lives as students. We have also made changes to our internal processes and how the board is run to give our portfolios increased flexibility and support in how they function. This was achieved through the use of workshops held throughout the year and by introducing guidelines for the Board of Directors in order to achieve their CCR for WCSA and its affiliate clubs. In addition our VP of EA has also implemented a policy for clubs to ensure that clubs are actively engaging students. We have also increased communication between WCSA and club presidents through monthly external committee meetings.
The athletics portfolio has worked hard at diversifying by reaching out to more students. We have expanded beyond simply going to major league games and running intramurals by introducing a greater scope of athletics that are more accessible to the average Woodsworth student. In terms of major league games, Woodsworth took students to a Leafs game for the first time ever, giving students the opportunity to see one of the toughest NHL teams at a price that most students can afford. The social and athletics portfolios collaborated with ISS and PSF to screen a Cricket World Cup match that was an immense success and brought almost 300 students to our college.
Learning from this year’s orientation week and recognizing a need for change we are working with the Dean’s office to improve our orientation structure. A steer heading committee has been implemented comprising of the President, VP Internal and VP Finance that will oversee the progress made by the Orientation Executive Committee and the Orientation Coordinators to ensure students have an amazing time. There is also a recognition that more work needs to be done to ensure mature students are receiving as much as other students from the association. MatSA, over the years has grown tremendously and we look forward to continue working with them to enhance their university experience.
As president of this Association I have sat on the St George Round Table with a number of colleges and faculty presidents. We are all working hard to ensure that our students are receiving the best representation at all levels of student government. We are also establishing a structure that facilitates transitioning the incoming council and giving them a positive direction to work towards.
3) Financial Address
Hello Woodsworth!
My name is DefneArslan and I’m the current Vice President of Financial Affairs.
As I was running for this position last year, I ran on the basis of promoting transparency, accountability and financial prudence. In terms of finance, I believe that this year has been very successful. Today, I will be going over the audit of the fiscal year end April 2013 as well as a brief rundown of our operations this past year.
I will be taking questions at the end of my address!
As per the audit, I will read out a blurb from our auditors’ qualified opinion. At UofT, our student fees get released once our audit passes at Governing Council. I am working on the April 2014 audit and will be sending in the last of our documents by the end of this month. Therefore, they should get approval before the summer term.
The April 2013 year was under the responsibility of our previous VP Finance, Tariq Haddadin. These are the findings respective of our financial situation. You can look at the appendix of your AGM package for details.
“Basis for Qualified Opinion In common with many not-for-profit organizations, Woodsworth College Student’s Association at the University of Toronto, derives revenue from events the completeness of which is not susceptible of satisfactory audit verification. Accordingly, my verification of these revenues was limited to the amounts recorded in the records of Woodsworth College Student’s Association at the University of Toronto. Therefore, I was not able to determine whether any adjustments might be necessary to revenue, excess of revenue over expenses, and cash flows from operations for the year ended April 30, 2013, current assets and net assets as at April 30, 2013.
Qualified Opinion In my opinion, except for the possible effects of the matter described in the Basis for Qualified Opinion paragraph, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Woodsworth College Student’s Association at the University of Toronto, as at April 30, 2013, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with Canadian accounting standards for not-for-profit organizations. “
This year, we have worked extra hard to ensure WCSA’s finances are transparent and firmly on track. We know major sources of concern came from having such high costs for a few events, such as Gala and Frosh. This year, we have cut Gala down from $37,000 to almost $23,000 including the event revenue. We wanted to make this event with a larger budget accessible to our underage students as well as student who don’t drink, whilst maintaining the quality and tradition of the event. Therefore, we could drop ticket prices. Also, we are working very closely with our new Orientation Coordinators to decrease our large Frosh budget. Last year’s Frosh went a bit over what we wanted to cut it off at… Some events were supposed to be lower than what we realized, but we are focused on not making the same mistake again. Our OCs are working very closely with WCSA this year in order to ensure a prudent Frosh.
Furthermore, as you may know, we are holding the referendum. This referendum has been on the agenda for a few years now, and we didn’t think there was a good reason to postpone it any further. In order to increase our financial stability and enable us to reach out to a broader range of students, we hope to increase our student fees by a mere $2.50/semester. We have the lowest student fees on campus and we believe that by this additional 5$/year we can impact our students’ lives by facilitating their goals through academic grants and various initiatives (including mental health).