Monthly Archives: September 2020

Special General Meeting 2020

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The GSA invites all members to our Special General Meeting (SGM) on October 15th at 9:00AM. At our SGM we will present a revised budget for our GSA operations for this academic year given the pandemic as well as what the GSA has done for you over the past few months since our last AGM in April. We will be hosting our AGM virtually via WebEx! Please use the following information to enter the meeting:

Additionally, please find other important documents attached below which will be discussed at the AGM on October 15th:

Language Cafe

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Language Cafe

Dear International Community,

We would like to welcome you to the new academic year 2020/2021.

For the last couple months, we have been running a series of virtual events and we will continue to offer a broad program for the upcoming term. We will start off with a virtual Board Game “night” in collaboration with the School of Graduate Studies and a virtual Trivia Night later in October. In addition, we are hosting a monthly language cafe together with MODEL, the McMaster Office for the Development of English Language Learners. The first sessions will run on September 24 and you will have the opportunity to learn new languages from fellow Graduate students.

Wishing you all the best for this fall semester

IGSA Welcome Month

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IGSA Welcome Month

Dear International Community,

We would like to welcome you to the new academic year 2020/2021. This term will be like no others and we would like to assure you that IGSA is here to help. Please feel free to reach out to us if you need and we will do everything we can to help.

For the last couple months, we have been running a series of virtual events and we will continue to offer a broad program for the upcoming term. We will start off with a virtual Board Game “night” in collaboration with the School of Graduate Studies and a virtual Trivia Night later in October. In addition, we are hosting a monthly language cafe together with MODEL, the McMaster Office for the Development of English Language Learners. The first sessions will run on September 24 and you will have the opportunity to learn new languages from fellow Graduate students.

You may register for the board game night using the link below. We will share more details closer to the events.

Wishing you all the best for this fall semester

Register here for the Virtual Bordgame Night

Friday, September 18 at 1 pm on Zoom

Click here

Recruitment for GSA CRO position

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Recruitment for GSA CRO position

The GSA is recruiting for CRO position, if you are interested to be part of the GSA please email macgsa@mcmaster.ca by October 1st. The CRO term will end on April, 30th, 2021.

The main role of the position is as follows;

  1. Be responsible for the conduct of election and referendum procedures; and
  2. Present a report to Council on the validity/invalidity of any election/referendum process; and
  3. Chair the AGM 

This role would be well suited for someone with a working knowledge of Roberts rules and an interest in Graduate student life! A small financial honorarium is provided to the CRO for performing their duties. 

Description

From there Council shall elect from within the candidates nominated by the Board, a Chief Returning Officer (CRO) to preside over elections and referenda of the Association.

1. Eligibility Requirements

a. Any Graduate Member is eligible to be the CRO of the Association.

b. A CRO shall not serve as a Faculty Representative, a Member of a Faculty Association executive, or hold another Director, Officer or staff position within the Association at the time of taking up office.

 

2. Rights and Privileges

a. Act as the official representative of the Association in matters pertaining to elections/referenda; and

b. May delegate any of their powers, duties and functions as they see fit; and

c. Strike an election committee; and

d. Limit campaign expenditures; and

e. Receive nomination forms and publicize elections and/or referenda.

 

3. Responsibilities

a. Be responsible for the conduct of election and referendum procedures; and

b. Present a report to Council on the validity/invalidity of any election/referendum process; and

c. Perform such other functions as the Council may determine.

 

4. Decisions

a. Appeals of decisions of the CRO may be made in accordance with Article 4, Section 4.3, in the case of Referenda, and Article 3, Section 3.0 (1) in the case of General Elections.

 

5. Remunerating the Chief Returning Officer

a. The CRO shall receive an honorarium, the amount of which shall be set by the Board.

b. The CRO shall not receive any monetary or in kind benefits other than the honorarium referred to in Article 1, Section 1.5 (5a), without the consent of Council. This shall not affect the use of Association facilities and funds reasonably associated with the carrying out of their duties.

c. If the CRO does not fulfill the complete term of office, the honorarium shall be prorated for the time served, unless determined otherwise by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of Council.

 

6. Nominating the Chief Returning Officer

a. Candidate(s) for the position of CRO shall be nominated by the Board. In the event that the Board nominates a single candidate, this nomination must be ratified by a majority of voting Councilors at the next Council Meeting.

b. Where there is more than one candidate, an election by secret ballot shall be held.

c. In the event that the CRO’s position is not filled, the President shall nominate a new CRO prior to the next Council meeting.

 

7. Term

a. The CRO shall hold office until a successor is duly elected following the regulations in the Bylaw.

b. The term of office of the CRO shall be one (1) year: starting on the first (1st) of  May and ending on the (30th) of April the following year.

WELCOME EVENTS UPCOMING

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WELCOME EVENTS UPCOMING

*NEW DATES & LINKS DIFFERENT FROM LAST WEEK! See daily updates on our twitter account.

Free Exercise Classes from the McMaster Pulse, schedule here

Meeting ID: 741 5842 9470
Password: thepulse 

Tuesday, September 15th at 2pm – Welcome Month Question & Answer Session with the GSA, register ahead with this link
Thursday, September 17th at 10-11am – McMaster GSA Welcome Week Tour with PhD Candidate Jennifer Williams. Link to join is here

UPDATES FROM THE GSA 2020-09-08

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UPDATES FROM THE GSA 2020-09-08

Welcome to a new academic year, the Fall 2020 semester. For many of you this may consist of teaching, learning, or supporting others in their academic journey. We thank you for your efforts in getting to this point and we believe in you every step of the way. The GSA is here to support you! 

A note about HSR Bus Pass: We have confirmed that students assessed the HSR fee for 2019/2020 academic year will be credited $65 for the months that HSR was free due to the pandemic! You should see this reflected on your student accounts over the next two weeks. We are actively working with the city of Hamilton to continue to bring financial relief for our members.

Have you wanted to learn more about what the GSA does? Do you want to be the connection between the GSA and your Faculty? We would like to announce the vacant positions for Faculty Representatives of the Council (FRC), view the nomination form here. Their role consists of attending Council meetings, representing your faculty, organizing faculty specific events and communication, and voting at Council meetings! Please note the due date is September 21st. Current vacancies:

  • 2 FRC of Social Science 
  • 2 FRC of Humanities
  • 1 FRC of International graduate students (current member of IGSA)

Please send your cover letter and nomination form to Mona at macgsa@mcmaster.ca.