Bylaws

• Bylaw 100 Schedule B: Oversight, Ad Hoc, and Operational Committees
• Bylaw 3000: Students' Union Finances
• Bylaw 3000 Schedule
• Bylaw 4000: Students' Union Strategic Plan

Bylaw 100 Schedule B: Oversight, Ad Hoc, and Operational Committees

Schedule governing Oversight, Ad hoc, and Operational Committees

1. Definitions

1. In this schedule:
   1. “Oversight Committees” shall:
      1. Be committees whose mandate is general with applicability to a breadth of the Students’ Union; or
      2. Be committees that provide recommendation on internal and external Students’ Union policies and provide guidance, advice, oversight, or other information to the organization on a general topic; and
      3. Have open voting membership; and
      4. Be recurring; and
      5. Have their mandate, function, governance, and regulations within this Schedule; and
      6. Be created, approved, or formalized by one (1) simple majority vote of Students’ Council; and
      7. Be eliminated by two simple majority votes of Students’ Council occurring not less than seven days apart.
   2. “Ad hoc committees” shall:
      1. Be committees whose mandate is narrow surrounding a particular topic, initiative, project, or investigation; or
      2. Be committees who are expected to be short term; and
      3. May be referred to as “task forces”; and
      4. Have open voting membership; and
      5. Expire at a designated time not to exceed one year; and
      6. Have their mandate, function, governance and regulation within this Schedule; and
      7. Be created, approved, formalized, eliminated or renewed by a simple majority vote of Students’ Council or the Executive committee.
   3. “Operational committees” shall:
      1. Be committees whose mandate is to serve a specific operational function of the Students’ Union.
      2. Have open voting membership; and
      3. Shall be recurring; and
      4. Have their mandate, function, governance and regulation within this Schedule; and
      5. Be created, approved, formalized or eliminated by a simple majority vote of Students’ Council or the Executive committee.
   4. “Closed membership” means the voting membership of that committee shall include only elected members of Students’ Council or their designates.
   5. “Open membership” means the voting membership of that committee may include elected member of Students’ Council, unelected Students’ Union members, or both.
   6. “Elected members of Students’ Council” means:
      1. The President of the Students’ Union,
      2. A Vice President of the Students’ Union,
      3. The Undergraduate Board of Governors Representative,
      4. Students’ Councillors.
   7. “Students’ Union Member” means any undergraduate student who is registered in a has paid their Students’ Union fees.
   8. “Students’ Council” means the Council of the Students’ Union, University of Alberta, as constituted by statute of the province of Alberta;
   9. “Students’ Union” means the Students’ Union, University of Alberta, as incorporated by statute of the province of Alberta; and
   10. “Executive committee” means the committee outlined in Bylaw 1100.

2. Governance

1. The Bylaw 100 Schedule B shall:
   1. Outline the structure, function, and mandate of oversight, ad hoc, and operational committees;
   2. Be amended by a simple majority vote of Students’ Council.
   3. Be amended by a simple majority vote of the Executive committee where explicitly indicated.
   4. Be subject to the regulations of Bylaw 100.
   5. Where there is disagreement between this schedule and any Students’ Union bylaws the bylaws shall take precedence.

3. Committee Structure

1. Oversight Committees shall:
   1. Be committees whose mandate is general with applicability to a breadth of the Students’ Union; or
   2. Be committees that provide recommendation on internal and external Students’ Union policies and provide guidance, advice, oversight, or other information to the organization on a general topic; and
   3. Have open voting membership; and
   4. Be recurring; and
   5. Have their mandate, function, governance, and regulations within this Schedule; and
   6. Be created, approved, or formalized by one (1) simple majority vote of Students’ Council; and
   7. Be eliminated by two simple majority votes of Students’ Council occurring not less than seven days apart.
2. Ad hoc committees shall:
   1. Be committees whose mandate is narrow surrounding a particular topic, initiative, project or investigation; or
   2. Be committees who are expected to be short term; and
   3. May be referred to as “task forces”; and
   4. Have open voting membership; and
   5. Expire at a designated time not to exceed one year; and
   6. Have their mandate, function, governance, and regulation within this Schedule; and
   7. Be created, approved, formalized, eliminated or renewed by a simple majority vote of Students’ Council or the Executive committee.
3. Operational committees shall:
   1. Be committees whose mandate is to serve a specific operational function of the Students’ Union.
   2. Have open voting membership; and
   3. Shall be recurring; and
   4. Gave their mandate, function, governance, and regulation within this Schedule; and
   5. Be created, approved, formalized, or eliminated by a simple majority vote of Students’ Council or the Executive committee.
4. Voting membership of oversight, ad hoc, and operational committees shall have open membership.
5. Notwithstanding any provision in this schedule or Bylaw 100, oversight, ad hoc, and operational committees may appoint non-voting members to themselves by passing regulations to this effect as part of their standing orders.
6. Non-voting members of oversight, ad hoc, and operational committees
   1. Are not entitled to move, second, or vote on motions of oversight, ad hoc, and operational committees,
   2. Are not entitled to chair oversight, ad hoc, and operational committees, and
   3. Do not count towards quorum of oversight, ad hoc, and operational committees.

4. Oversight Committee Membership

1. The Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Committee:
   1. The Permanent membership of this Committee is eleven (11):
      1. Three (3) members of Students’ Council;
      2. Two (2) members of the Executive Committee;
      3. Two (2) members of the Indigenous Students' Union, as appointed by the Indigenous Students' Union and ratified at Students’ Council;.
      4. Three (3) Aboriginal Students-at-Large; ratified by Students’ Council; and
      5. One (1) elder, as chosen by the Committee, as a non-voting member.
      6. All Students’ Council voting Members shall be voting members of the Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Committee.
         1. those Councillors must provide the Chair of the Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Committee a minimum of forty-eight (48) hours notice of their intention to attend as part of the voting membership.
      7. Up to the sum of voting membership of Students’ Council plus one self-identifying Aboriginal undergraduate students currently enrolled at the University of Alberta, shall be voting members of the Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Committee, provided that:
         1. those students must provide the Chair of the Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Committee a minimum of forty-eight (48) hours notice of their intention to attend as part of the voting membership; and
         2. those students provide proof that they have self-identified as Aboriginal at the University of Alberta; and
         3. those students would not include self-identifying Aboriginal members of Student’s Council.
   2. In the event that more than the sum of the membership of Students’ Council plus one self identifying Aboriginal undergraduate students give notice of their intention to attend, then the selection shall be decided on a first come, first serve basis.
   3. For the purposes of this Committee, ‘self-identifying Aboriginal students’ are those who have either registered as such with the University of Alberta or are those who identify as Indian, Inuit, or Métis under Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

5. Ad Hoc Committee Membership

6 .Operational Committee Membership

7. Chairs of Oversight, Ad Hoc, and Operational Committees

1. Each oversight, ad hoc, and operational committee shall be chaired by a member of that committee elected by the voting membership of that committee using the following procedure:
   1. Balloting shall be conducted by preferential balloting, in which each voter shall rank their choices for each position using natural numbers with one (1) representing the first choice, and increasing numbers representing less desirable choices.
   2. A candidate shall require a majority of voters to indicate them as the first choice in order to be elected.
   3. Voters shall be entitled to mark as few as zero (0) candidates for any given position or as many as all of them.
   4. A section of a voter’s ballot shall be considered spoiled where:
      1. That voter has indicated the same number for more than one (1) candidate; or
      2. That voter has not included the number one (1) next to any candidate; or
      3. That voter has indicated more than one (1) number next to the same candidate; or
      4. That voter has used non-consecutive numbers.
   5. In the event that no candidate receives a majority of first place votes in a given race, the candidate with the fewest first place votes shall be eliminated.
   6. Any voter who has indicated an eliminated candidate with a number shall have the candidate marked with the next highest number following the number by which the eliminated candidate has been indicated take the place of the eliminated candidate, and so on, in such a way that all candidates indicated by that voter as less desirable than the eliminated candidate are registered as being one (1) step more desirable that than originally indicated.
   7. Where all remaining candidates have an equal number of first place votes, or where the remaining candidate with the fewest first place votes is tied with another remaining candidate, the candidate that had the fewest first place votes on the first count in which a differential existed shall be eliminated.
   8. Where all remaining candidates have an equal number of first places votes, or where the remaining candidate with the fewest first place votes is tied with another remaining candidate, and where this tie has existed on every count, the candidate to be eliminated shall be selected from those candidates with the fewest first place votes by a random or quasi-random method selected by the Speaker of Students’ Council.
   9. The process set out in this section shall continue for each position until such a time as a candidate receives a majority of first place votes for that position at which point that candidate shall be declared the victorious.
   10. Where “None of the Above” is declared victorious, no candidates shall be declared victorious.

8. Quorum of Oversight, Ad Hoc, and Operational Committees

1. All committees defined under this schedule shall have a quorum of 50% of the permanent voting membership plus one.

9. Functioning of Oversight, Ad Hoc, and Operational Committees

1. Oversight, ad hoc and operational committees shall establish meeting schedules on a trimesterly basis, in advance, with the trimesters being
   1. May to August; and
   2. September to December; and
   3. January to April.
2. No meeting of an oversight, ad hoc, or operational committee shall occur unless:
   1. Every quorum-counting member of the oversight, ad hoc, and operational committee has received at least seventy-two hours notice of the meeting; or
   2. Every quorum-counting member of the oversight, ad hoc, and operational committee consents to the meeting taking place.
3. Oversight, ad hoc, and operational committees may adopt such standing orders as do not conflict with legislation.
4. The Speaker, and through them Chairs of oversight, ad hoc, and operational committees, shall have access to sufficient administrative support to ensure the proper functioning of oversight, ad hoc, and operational committees, including but not limited to:
   1. The creation and publication of agendas for committee meetings;
   2. The creation and publication of minutes for committee meetings;
   3. The booking of meeting rooms;
   4. The duplication of required documents; and
   5. Access to Students’ Union archives.
5. Any permanent member of a oversight, ad hoc, and operational committee that is an elected member of Students’ Council may designate any member of Students’ Council or their Councillor-Designate as their proxy for any portion of the councillor's term, provided that their proxy fulfills the eligibility requirements to serve on the oversight, ad hoc, and operational committee in question.
6. Voting members may be permitted to teleconference/video conference into an oversight, ad hoc, and operational committee meetings at the discretion of the chair except under conditions in which the committee is in camera. For in camera portions of a oversight, ad hoc and operational committee meeting, the meeting must take place in person.

10. Written Reports

1. Chairs of oversight, ad hoc, and operational committees shall draft and submit written reports to Students’ Council outlining the activity of their committee as requested by Students’ Council or the Executive committee.
2. Chairs of oversight, ad hoc, and operational committees may draft and submit written reports to Students’ Council at any time.

11. Mandates of Oversight Committees

1. The Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Committee:
   1. Shall work collaboratively with the Students’ Council on the implementation of the Truth and ## Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, within the Students’ Union context;
   2. Shall ensure adequate discussion, as defined by this committee is completed by the Students’ Union in identifying Aboriginal student priorities;
   3. Shall write a yearly report to Students’ Council detailing Aboriginal student priorities;
   4. Shall develop strategies for the respectful implementation of Aboriginal knowledges and teachings;
   5. Shall foster collaboration between the Students’ Union and Aboriginal students;
   6. Shall create space for discussions between the Students’ Union and Aboriginal students;Shall request reports from the Students’ Union Executive Committee on its advocacy for and with Aboriginal students;
   7. Shall publish and widely disseminate a report on the representation of and collaboration with Aboriginal students, as well as all relevant advocacy work, done by the Students’ Union;
   8. Shall recommend to students council representatives to sit on committees both internal and external whose core focus is Aboriginal students.
   9. Shall work with Discover Governance to provide cultural sensitivity training to Students’ Council
   10. Shall propose alterations to Students’ Council regarding the Acknowledgement of Traditional Territory;
   11. May recommend changes to Students’ Union political policies.

12. Mandates of Ad Hoc Committees

13. Mandates of Operational Committees

14. Relationship with Students’ Council and Legislative Committees

1. Oversight, ad hoc, and operational committees have the authority to make recommendations to Students’ Council on matters related to their mandate but not explicitly set out in the this schedule.
2. Should the matter fall into the designated, legislative function of a legislative committee, the oversight, ad hoc, or operational committees in question shall instead make its recommendation to that legislative committee.
3. Students’ Council has the authority to require recommendations from oversight, ad hoc, and operational committees on matters related to their mandates but not explicitly set out in this schedule.

15. Oversight, Ad Hoc and Operational Committee Attendance Regulation

1. Oversight, ad hoc, and operational committees have the authority to implement the attendance regulations as outlined in Bylaw 100(22), at the committees’ discretion, as part of their standing orders.
2. The implemented attendance regulations shall not be more strict than those outlined in Bylaw 100(22).

Bylaw 3000: Students' Union Finances

 Bylaw Respecting Students’ Union Finances

1. Fiscal Year

2. Audit

3. Reserves

4. Form of Operating Budget

5. Allocation Spending Authority

6. Budget Process

7. Fees (superseded by Bylaw 160)

8. Loans

9. Contracts

10. Signing Authority

Bylaw 3000 Schedule

Class A Fees

Fund	Fee Level	Increase	Augustana	Limit
Access Fund	F: $14.56 P: $14.56 S: $7.28	Rolling Average	Yes	No more than a 10% increase per year
SUB Renovation Fund	F: $11.68 P: $11.68 S: $5.84	Indexed to CPI	No	N/A

Class B Fees

Fund	Fee Level	Increase	Augustana	Limit
World Refugee Student Fund (WUSC)	F: $1.63 P: $1.63 S: $0.00	Indexed to CPI Y	Yes	World University Service of Canada Refugee Student Sponsorship Committee
CJSR-FM Fund	F: $2.50 P: $0.90 S: $0.00	Indexed to CPI	No	First Alberta Campus Radio Association of Directors
Golden Bear and Panda Legacy Fund	F: $4.99 P: $4.99 S: $0.00	Indexed to CPI Y	No	University Athletics Board of the University of Alberta
Campus Recreation Enhancement Fund	F: $4.86 P: $4.86 S: $4.86	Indexed to CPI Y	No	Recreation Action Committee of the University of Alberta
Student Legal Services of Edmonton Fund	F: $3.28 P: $3.28 S: $0.00	Indexed to CPI Y	No	Student Legal Services of Edmonton Board of Directors
Alberta Public Interest Research Group Fund (APIRG)	F: $3.62 P: $1.81 S: $0.00	Indexed to CPI Y	No	Alberta Public Interest Research Group Board of Directors
Gateway Fund	F: $2.64 P: $2.64 S: $1.32	Indexed to CPI Y	No	Gateway Student Journalism Society Board of Directors
The Landing Fund	F: $3.75 P: $3.75 S: $0.00	Indexed to CPI Y	No	The Landing Board of Directors

Fund: This is the fund to which the fee is allocated, in accordance with Bylaws 3000 and 6000.

Fee Level: This indicates the level of the fee.

• “F” indicates the fee payable by each full-time student per Fall of Winter Term;
• “P” indicates the fee payable by each part-time student per Fall or Winter Term; and,
• “S” indicates the fee payable by each student per Spring or Summer Term.

Increase: This is the indexing provision of the fee.

• “CPI” denotes that the fee is indexed to inflation each year.
• “Rolling Average” denotes that the fee “F” and “P” shall be equivalent to the average of the total monies disbursed and net transfers to the fund over the previous two fiscal years and the projected disbursement for the current fiscal year, pro-rated on a per-student basis. “S” shall be equivalent to 50% of “F”.

Augustana: This indicates whether or not the fees are assessed to students at Augustana Faculty in accordance with Section 5 (3) of Bylaw 6100.

• “Yes” denotes that students at Augustana Faculty are assessed the fee at the same rate as all other undergraduate students.
• “No” denotes that this fee is not assessed to students at Augustana Faculty.

Limit: This indicates the maximum increase to the fee in a given fiscal year.

Joint Consent: This identifies the body which must consent to the amendment of the fee, as set out in Section 4 (4) of Bylaw 6100.

Last Updated: April 30, 2024

Bylaw 4000: Students' Union Strategic Plan

A Bylaw Respecting the Students’ Union Strategic Plan

1. Purpose

2. Definitions

3. Obligations

4. Components of the Strategic Plan

5. Life of the Strategic Plan

6. Components of the Executive Plans

7. Components of the Operating Plans

8. Review of Executive and Operating Plans

9. Ratification and Alterations

10. Strategic Plan Steering Committee

11. Renewal of the Strategic Plan