Constitution


The student executives and board members have been hard at work revising and updating the HSF Constitution. These changes will be approved at the Bi-Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, March 28.

An overview of the changes is listed below. Alternatively you can read and compare the existing Constitution with the proposed Constitution. Physical copies are also available in the main HSF offices for review.

For questions or more information, please contact:

  • Bryan Tran, President – president@hsfweb.com
  • Ercole Perrone, Executive Director – eperrone@hsfweb.com

 

Article / Page Description of Change
Preamble / P.4 Addition of term “regulation” as it relates to the functioning of the organization as well as the inclusion “University of Guelph-Humber.” 

 

Mission, Vision, and Values Statement / P. 4 Replaced previous Mission Statement with recently approved Mission, Vision, and Values Statements. 

 

Interpretation / P. 6
  1. Addition of “Academic Ambassador” in reference to the appointed individuals that will represent the concerns of students to their respective “School
  2. Removal of “Advisor,” “Club and Association Manual,” “Deputy Returning Officer,” “Division or School,” “Fall By-Election,” “Official HSF Business,” “Program,” “Representatives or Student Representatives,” and “Two Thirds Majority Vote.”
  3. Addition of “University of Guelph-Humber” under the definition of “Campus” and updated the number of “Campuses” for three to four.
  4. Addition of “Representation by Population” in reference to how Board of Director seats will be allocated
  5. Addition of “School” in reference to all academic Schools to which a “Academic Ambassador” will be appointed to represent
  6. Deletion of “The amount of the Student Activity Fee is decided yearly by the Board of Directors and approved by the Fee Protocol Committee and the Board of Governors” under “Student Activity Fee
  7. Addition of “University of Guelph-Humber” and its corresponding Campus address
Goals / P. 9 Rewritten to be consistent with the new Mission, Vision, and Values Statements: “The goals of HSF are to advocate for the protection and betterment of quality education and student life through effective governance.  This includes, but is not limited to, promoting student participation and engagement, and improving and increasing student services.  We will provide an environment where students can pursue academic excellence as well as personal and social growth, free from all forms of discrimination and harassment.” 


Privileges / P. 10 Clarified the privileges and rights of Full Time students as per: 

  1. Voting for Executives and Board of Directors
  2. Eligibility to seek various HSF governance positions
  3. Other small grammatical changes and references (also true for Part Time students)
Meeting of the Members / P. 11
  1. Deletion of Bi-Annual General meeting provision and subsequent purposes thereof
  2. Clarification of Annual General meeting timeline and subsequent purposes thereof
  3. Addition of “as deemed by the Office of the Registrar” in reference to petition for Special Meetings
  4. Removal of itemized list of “purposes” of such a petition for a Special Meeting
  5. Removal of “Chief Returning Officer” as Special Meeting contact person and replaced with HSF’s Board of Directors “Chairperson
Article Description of Change 


Clubs and Associations Removed entire reference. Has now become a HSF Policy. 

 

Academic Ambassadors /     P. 13 The entire Article relating to “Student Representatives” has been rewritten to describe the roles, terms, and eligibility requirements for the newly created “Academic Ambassadors” 

 

Board of Directors / P. 15 The entire Article (as well as complementary ones) relating to “Board of Directors has been rewritten to restate roles, terms, eligibility requirements, vacancies, and its composition. Of particular importance to note regarding composition is:
The Board of Directors shall be comprised of a maximum of fifteen (15) members including: (1) The President; (2) The Vice President Student Affairs (North Campus); (3) The Vice President Student Affairs (Lakeshore Campus); (4) The Vice President Student Life (North Campus); (5) The Vice President Student Life (Lakeshore Campus); (6) Maximum of ten (10) Directors elected at large by means of Representation by Population; and  (7) The Chairperson shall be appointed from applications submitted by the Full-Time Members or Alumni of the Institution, in accordance with the hiring guidelines outlined in the Policy and Procedures.  Directors are not eligible for the position of Chairperson during his/her term of office, although this does not prevent a Director from assuming the position of Chairperson on a temporary basis or for a specific meeting where the Chairperson is unavailable.” 

 

In terms of the “Eligibility – Directors,” the 65% minimum grade point average has been increased to 70% for all Executive and Director positions. As well, added “Shall not be or become a Part-Time paid staff member of the HSF”

In terms of “Eligibility – Executives,” the following was added “Be enrolled at the Campus he/she represents, with the exception that Guelph-Humber and North Campus Members are equally eligible for both Vice President Student Affairs and Vice President Student Life positions.” Similar language used for vacancy of Vice President position (Article 24).

 

Effects of Removal / P. 20 Added “Executive” into the following: “Any Director or Executive, who has been removed from office, may not run for a position on the Board of Directors for a period of one (1) calendar year after the date of removal.” 


Meetings of Executive Committee / P. 23
  1. Updated: “The Executive Committee shall meet bi-monthly” from “Monthly
  2. Added “expenditure of funds not budgeted” into the following: “Quorum. Three (3) members of the Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum at all meetings of the Executive Committee, with the exception of meetings held to succession vote, budget approval and expenditure of funds not budgeted where four (4) will be the required quorum.”
Referenda Removal of entire Article relating to “Referenda” as it is dealt with in an HSF Policy already 

 

Appointed Positions Removal of entire Article 

 

Article Description of Change 


Standing Committees / P. 26
  1. Addition of “Community Outreach Committee” and its corresponding “Purpose,” “Composition,” and “Expectations.”
  2. Addition of “This review shall be presented on an ongoing basis at board meetings, and the Governance Review Committee shall report its findings in writing, along with recommendations, to the HSF Board of Directors no later than January 31st of each year” under “Expectations for the Governance Review Committee.”
  3. Restatement of “Purpose,” “Composition,” and “Expectations” for allStanding Committees”
Establishment of Ad Hoc Committees Removal of entire Article 

 

Amendments by Referendum / P. 30 Added “as validated by the Executive Director” into the following: “Be signed by ten per cent (10%) of the Full-Time Members of HSF as validated by the Executive Director” 

 

Signing Authorities / P. 32 Changes below in italics and underlined: 

 

Signing Authority.  All cheques, drafts, orders for the payment of money, notes, acceptances, and bill of exchange, contracts, documents, or instruments in writing to be drawn against the monies held in the name of HSF will be signed by:

 

  1. First signature must be one of either: President or Executive Member Designate,
  2. Second signature must be one of either: Executive Director or Financial Director

 

Approval by the Board. For the protection of the Directors, all contracts, acts and transactions, with the exception of routine cheques clearly allocated in the approved budget of HSF, the Board of Directors must approve a) consulting services in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars $25,000, b) capital development in excess of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), and c) withdrawal or commitment against the Student Development Fund and d) miscellaneous items in excess of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).