1.1 The Engineering Undergraduate Society of McGill University
(hereafter “EUS”) is the registered name of the not-for-profit
corporation representing the engineering and architecture undergraduate
students at McGill University.
1.2 The Board of Governors of the EUS (“Board of Governors”) is the
administrative board of the Engineering Undergraduate Society of McGill
University which is composed of Administrators as defined by the EUS
Constitution.
1.3 The EUS shall recognise all Departmental Societies, Clubs, and
Design Teams set forth in the relevant articles of the EUS Constitution
as EUS Groups.
1.4 The Engineering Undergraduate Support Fund (“Support Fund” or
“EUSF”) is an emergency fund composed of fees paid by engineering
undergraduate students, whose purpose is to provide those students with
additional human resources to those normally supplied by the University,
including: teaching assistant hours, lab technician hours, and funding
for staff from the McGill Engineering Student Centre (“MESC”) and
departmental offices.
1.5 The Support Fund Committee (“SFC”) is an EUS committee which
normally administers the Support Fund.
1.6 These bylaws govern both the Engineering Undergraduate Support Fund
and the Support Fund Committee.
Article 2:
Function of the Support Fund Committee
2.1 The Support Fund Committee shall coordinate the expenditure of the
Engineering Undergraduate Support Fund monies in such a manner that it
most benefits the Engineering Undergraduate Society’s members in their
academic environment and professional development.
2.2 The Support Fund Committee shall determine a list of proposals for
support acquisition in the manner outlined in article 8.
Article 3: Timeline of
the Support Fund
3.1 The Support Fund’s deadlines shall be as follows:
3.1.1 The opening of the application period by the Vice President
Academic of the EUS shall occur twice, once in the Fall semester and
once in the Winter semester.
3.1.1.1 Opening the application period shall consist of the Vice
President Academic of the EUS releasing the Support Fund application
form as well as the predicted departmental and Faculty allotments as per
10.4.
3.1.2 The deadlines for the opening of the application period shall be
the third Monday in the month of October for the Fall allocation, and
the first Monday in the month of March for the Winter allocation.
3.1.3 The deadlines for the submission of applications shall be the
second Monday in the month of November for the Fall allocation, and the
fourth Monday in the month of March for the Winter allocation.
3.1.4 The latest possible date for the SFC to meet and vote on proposals
submitted in the Fall shall be the first Monday in the month of
December, and the third Monday in the month of April for proposals
submitted in the Winter.
3.1.5 Monies allotted in the Fall semester must be spent in the
following Winter semester.
3.1.6 Monies allotted in the Winter semester must be spent in the
following Summer or Fall semester(s).
Article 4: Duties of
Departmental Societies
4.1 Departmental Vice Presidents Academic shall:
4.1.1 Meet with the Chairperson of their department, or their appointed
representative, to review proposals.
4.1.2 Complete a preliminary budget to be signed by themselves and the
Chairperson following their meeting as per 4.1.1.
4.1.3 Submit their department’s applications and preliminary budget to
the Vice President Academic of the EUS for review.
4.1.4 Provide their council with a list of the department’s expenditures
in the prior year as they pertain to the EUSF.
4.1.5 Amend the proposed budget as per 4.1.2 to reflect the results of
their council’s vote on the proposals.
4.1.6 Send the finalized budget to the Vice President Academic of the
EUS directly following the application submission deadline(s) as per
3.1.2.
4.2 Departmental Presidents shall:
4.2.1 Organize a vote by their councils on the proposals.
4.2.2 Sign the finalized proposal budget.
4.2.3 Complete the duties outlined in 4.1 in the absence of the
departmental Vice President Academic.
4.3 Departmental councils shall review and vote on the proposals
suggested by the departmental Vice President Academic.
4.3.1 A two-thirds (2/3) majority shall be necessary for proposals to
proceed to the EFC.
Article 5: Membership of
the Committee
5.1 The eight (8) departments recognized by the EFC are:
5.1.1 Bioengineering;
5.1.2 Chemical Engineering;
5.1.3 Civil Engineering;
5.1.4 Electrical and Computer and Software Engineering;
5.1.5 Mechanical Engineering;
5.1.6 Mining Engineering;
5.1.7 Materials Engineering;
5.1.8 School of Architecture.
5.2 The SFC shall be composed of ten (10) voting members as follows:
5.2.1 The Vice President Academic of the EUS, who shall chair the EFC
(“Chair”);
5.2.2 The President of the EUS;
5.2.3 The Dean of the Faculty of Engineering (“Dean”);
5.2.4 Five (5) members of the EUS Board of Governors;
5.2.5 Two (2) members-at-large appointed by the EUS Council.
5.2.5.1 The two selected members should be from different departments.
Article 6: Duties of the
Committee
6.1 The Vice President Academic of the EUS shall:
6.1.1 Propose motions to the EUS Council and Board of Governors seeking
committee members.
6.1.2 Chair the SFC meetings.
6.1.3 Set and distribute the agenda for the SFC meetings, and inform all
members as to the dates and times for these meetings at least five (5)
school days in advance.
6.1.4 Coordinate all actions taken between meetings, and, when relevant,
keep all members informed as to these actions.
6.1.5 Advise and instruct all members to ensure that they are able to
perform their duties, and enable the SFC to be as effective as possible.
6.1.6 Oversee the financial management of the Support Fund Accounts.
6.1.7 Verify the requisitions made as a result of approved EFC
proposals.
6.1.8 Following the SFC meeting, the Vice President Academic of the EUS
shall communicate the approved proposals and finalized EFC budget to the
Faculty financial services team.
6.1.9 Verify that the previous term’s approved proposals have been
fulfilled .
6.1.10 Take action in the event that the funds allocated in any previous
year are not used for its intended purpose.
6.1.11 Present to the first regular EUS Council meeting of each November
a description of the previous year’s expenditures in the Support Fund
accounts.
6.2 The President of the EUS shall:
6.2.1 Take minutes of the SFC meetings.
6.3 The members of the SFC shall:
6.3.1 Review all submitted proposals prior to the SFC meeting.
Article 7: Replacement of
Members
7.1 If for any reason a member cannot continue their term, they shall be
replaced as follows:
7.1.1 The Dean shall appoint a replacement faculty representative.
7.1.2 The EUS Executive Committee shall appoint one of its members as a
replacement for the Vice President Academic of the EUS.
7.1.3 The EUS Executive Committee shall appoint one of its members as
replacement for the President of the EUS.
7.1.4 The Board of Governors shall appoint one of its members as a
replacement for a Member-at-Large of the Board of Governors.
7.1.5 The Vice President Academic of the EUS shall appoint a replacement
for a member-at-large.
Article 8: Voting Procedure
8.1 Each member as defined by 5.2 shall have one vote on the SFC.
8.2 Quorum shall consist of eight (8) members of the SFC, provided the
Dean, or their replacement as per 7.1.1, and the Vice President Academic
of the EUS, or their replacement as per 7.1.2, are in attendance.
8.3 Proposals from a department may only be voted on if that
department’s chairperson and departmental Vice President Academic, or
their respective representative(s), are present.
8.4 Proposals from MESC may only be voted on if a representative from
MESC (“MESC Representative”) is present.
8.5 A two-thirds (2/3) majority is required for a departmental proposal
to pass, otherwise the proposal is rejected for the current year.
8.6 A two-thirds (2/3) majority plus the Dean is required for a MESC
proposal to pass, otherwise the proposal is rejected for the current
year.
8.7 Proposals dismissed in 8.4 and 8.5 may be submitted again, with or
without modifications, in subsequent years.
8.8 An online approval process may be initiated at the discretion of the
Vice President Academic of the EUS. It shall operate as follows:
8.8.1 An email shall be sent to the committee members by the Vice
President Academic of the EUS detailing the circumstances of the vote,
and shall include the proposals being reviewed.
8.8.2 A deadline shall be set and the vote shall be considered complete
after this period of time has elapsed.
8.8.3 If quorum has not been reached, the deadline shall be extended
until eight (8) members of the EFC have submitted their votes.
8.8.4 All proposals under consideration through this online approval
process are subject to the voting requirements per 8.2.
Article 9: Reporting
Procedure
9.1 The department’s Vice President Academic shall present a report to
the SFC at the end of the semester, detailing how every departmental
proposal was spent.
9.1.1 Professors whose courses have benefitted from EUSF Funding should
obtain feedback from their students, through a course evaluation or some
other anonymous polling method, which shall be shared with the
departmental and EUS Vice Presidents Academic.
9.2 The MESC Representative shall present a report to the SFC at the end
of each semester detailing how every MESC proposal was spent, and a
quality report with testimonials from students who benefited from
services received as a result of the Support Fund.
Article 10: Support Fund
Finances
10.1 The Support Fund shall be composed of two (2) distinct accounts:
one account shall receive all monies collected from students and shall
serve to make purchases (“main account”), and another account shall
receive all other contributions to the Support Fund (“contribution
account”).
10.2 Support Fund fees and the collection of those fees shall be as
follows:
10.2.1 Every student registered in an Undergraduate Engineering program
and taking nine (9) credits or more (“full-time students”) shall
contribute thirty-five dollars ($35) per semester to the Engineering
Undergraduate Support Fund.
10.2.2 Every student registered in an Undergraduate Engineering program
and taking less than nine (9) credits (“part-time students”) shall
contribute per semester one half of the amount stipulated in 10.2.1 to
the Engineering Undergraduate Support Fund.
10.2.3 The fees per 10.2.1 and 10.2.2. shall be collected by McGill
University as as a mandatory student fee, and deposited into the main
account of the Support Fund.
10.2.4 Any contributions other than those per 10.2.1 and 10.2.2 shall be
collected by University Advancement and deposited in the contribution
account of the Support Fund.
10.2.5 Transfers from the contribution account to the main account shall
be initiated by the Vice President Academic of the EUS whenever
necessary, provided that the transfer is ratified by the Board of
Governors.
10.3 For a given year, the gross amount available for allocation (“gross
amount”) shall consist of the sum of the collected fees as per 10.2.1
and 10.2.2, of the funds transferred from the contribution account, if
any, and of the monies not spent in the previous year(s) that were
returned to the main account.
10.3.1 Monies in the main account that exceed the gross amount shall be
considered excess funds.
10.3.2 In the event that the total value of excess funds shall reach or
exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), they shall be allocated for
Support Fund proposals from the EUS, its groups, and other members of
the Faculty of Engineering.
10.3.3 Proposals to the excess funds shall be managed by the Vice
President Academic of the EUS and ratified by the Board of Governors.
10.4 The gross amount per 10.3 shall be allotted in the following
manner:
10.4.1 Fifty percent (50%) shall be allotted only for MESC proposals
(“MESC allotment”).
10.4.2 Twenty percent (20%) shall be evenly divided between the
departments defined in 5.1 (“base departmental allotment”).
10.4.3 The amount remaining after subtracting amounts allocated in
10.4.1 and
10.4.2 from the gross amount (“net amount”) shall be split between
departments based on an allocation ratio:
10.4.3.1 The allocation ratio for each department shall correspond to
the fraction of the total number of students in that department over the
total number of students in the Faculty of Engineering.
10.4.3.2 The total number of students shall be calculated as the sum of
part-time students, divided by two, and all full-time students in a
given department or the Faculty.
10.4.3.3 The allocation ratio times the net amount shall be the
proportional departmental allotment for each department.
10.4.4 The total allotment for a department shall consist of the sum of
the base departmental allotment of 10.4.2, the variable allotment of
10.4.3, and any surplus or misevaluated funds from the previous year.
10.5 The MESC allotment shall be used for purchases which benefit
students from all departments.
10.6 The MESC allotment may not be used to pay for departmental
purchases that have gone or will go over their allotted budget.
10.7 If a department agrees to allocate money from its own accounts
toward a Support Fund proposal, then a letter covering the agreement and
signed by that department’s Chairperson must be presented to the SFC
before a vote on that proposal can be initiated.
10.8 If the Faculty of Engineering agrees to allocate money from its own
accounts toward a MESC proposal, then a letter covering the agreement
and signed by the Dean must be presented to the SFC, before a vote on
that proposal can be initiated.
10.9 In the event that a partially funded purchase can no longer be
bought due to budget cuts on the side of MESC or a department, the
monies set aside by the Support Fund shall be returned to the main
account in full.
10.10 Definitions:
10.10.1 Surplus Funds are defined as the amount of money awarded to a
department for which no proposals are submitted.
10.10.2 Unspent Funds are defined as funds that arise when approved
proposals have not been completed by the deadline set in 3.1.4.
10.10.3 Misevaluated Funds are defined as funds that arise when an item
costs less than the amount approved by the SFC.
10.11 Surplus Funds less than or equal to ten percent (10%) shall be
added to the following term’s allotment for that department as
calculated in 10.4.4. Any of the surplus above ten percent (10%) shall
be returned to the following term’s main account as per 10.3.
10.12 Unspent funds as defined by 10.11.3 shall be returned to the main
account in the term following the deadline to spend the allotted funds.
10.13 Misevaluated funds as defined by 10.11.4 shall be awarded to the
department from which the funds arise in the term following the
misevaluation.
10.14 In the event that the cost of an approved proposal increases by
ten percent (10%) or less, the purchase may be made with no additional
approval. Should the increase exceed ten percent (10%), an online
approval process shall be completed as per 8.8.
Article 11:
Identification of the Support Fund
11.1 In any course that has hired personnel as a result of the Support
Fund, an acknowledgement to the Support Fund should be presented on the
course syllabus.
11.2 Any EUS Group or member of the Faculty of Engineering having
received financial support from EUSF that cannot be reflected on a
syllabus should make an announcement or otherwise acknowledge this
source of funding.
Article 12:
Termination of the Support Fund
12.1 The Support Fund shall terminate after two (2) years.
12.2 A general referendum must be passed to extend the Support Fund fees
past the two (2) years of its planned existence.
12.3 Following the termination of the Support Fund, whether by
spontaneous referendum or by termination as per 12.1, then the following
shall apply:
12.3.1 The SFC shall be rendered obsolete and dismissed.
12.3.2 Any allocations that were approved by the SFC prior to the
dismissal of the Support Fund fees shall be honoured.
12.3.3 Any allocations from the excess funds that were approved by the
Board of Governors prior to the dismissal of the Support Fund fees shall
be honoured.
12.3.4 Any outstanding fees that were assessed prior to the dismissal of
the Support Fund fees shall be deposited into the main account of the
Support Fund.
12.3.5 Notwithstanding 10.2.1 and 10.2.2, the clause outlined in 10.2.4
shall remain in full effect.
12.3.6 Notwithstanding 10.6, 10.7, and 10.8 and its subsections, any
surplus shall be returned to the main account of the Support Fund.
12.3.7 The administration of the Support Fund shall be transferred to
the trust of the Board of Governors.
12.3.8 The Board of Governors shall administer the Support Fund in
agreement with 2.1.
12.4 A general referendum must be passed to reinstate the Support Fund
fees in the case that the Support Fund fees had previously been
suspended, as per 12.2.
12.5 In the case of a passing referendum as per 12.2, then:
12.5.1 The trusteeship defined in 12.3.7 shall be rendered obsolete and
terminated.
12.5.2 The SFC shall be reinstated.
12.5.3 Any proposals that were ratified by the Board of Governors prior
to the reinstatement of the Support Fund fees shall be honoured.
Article 13: Superseding
Clause
13.1 This document completely supersedes any anterior versions of the
Support Fund Bylaws.
Article 14: Amendments
14.1 Amendments to these Bylaws must be approved by a simple majority
vote of the Board of Governors of the EUS.
14.2 Amendments to these Bylaws must additionally be ratified by a
general referendum.
Article 15: Interpretation
15.1 In the case of a conflict between these Bylaws and the following
documents, the following documents prevail in the order they are listed
in:
15.1.1 The Quebec Companies Act;
15.1.2 The EUS Letters Patent;
15.1.3 The EUS Constitution.
Appendix
I: Engineering Undergraduate Support Fund Financial Flowchart
