BRIDGE ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION
BRIDGE October 23, 2014
BRIDGE
CONSTITUTION 23rd of October, 2014 NAME 1.1 The name of the association shall be BRIDGE Waterloo Architecture
AFFILIATION 2.1 BRIDGE is in partnership with University of Waterloo School of Architecture, Society of Waterloo Architecture Graduates and Waterloo Architecture Student Association.
OBJECTIVES BRIDGE Waterloo Architecture serves as a platform for students of UW School of Architecture to engage with the public in a global and local scale in the discourse of architecture and design. BRIDGE is a place where students can write, build, and share their ideas outside of the school curriculum. It represents a free platform for students to hone their understanding of design and encourage their entrepreneurial spirit. 3.1 NETWORKING: BRIDGE shall actively seek networking opportunities inside and outside of school for both student and public engagement of its members. To ensure ample opportunities for its members to access resources, the executives shall continuously be involved in promoting and encouraging its members’ initiatives. 3.2 WEBSITE: BRIDGE shall operate its website as a free online platform for its members to engage the global public audience. The website will act as the digital hub for students and collaborators of the UW School of Architecture, generating original content in the discourse of architecture and design. The website shall encourage personal
perspective on education and understanding in the discourse of architecture and design. 3.3 STOREFRONT: BRIDGE shall administer and operate the storefront as the physical platform for its members. The storefront shall be a place of intellectual, social, and resource exchange of all things architecture and design. BRIDGE will actively work toward engaging with the local community through the storefront platform, to expose the initiatives of its members, and their collaborators. 3.4 SUPPORT: BRIDGE shall endeavor to advocate on behalf of its membership both as individual members and as a whole, with specific initiatives involving the physical and/or digital BRIDGE platform.
MEMBERSHIP
4.1 Membership and fees shall be detailed in the appendix. 4.2 All full members of BRIDGE shall be entitled to run for BRIDGE Executive positions, to vote for the BRIDGE Executive, and to attend and vote at any General Meeting.
EXECUTIVE 5.1 The Executive shall consist of the following positions: Executive Director (External): Minimum 4 Month term* Executive Director (Internal): Minimum 4 Month term* Executive Director (Financial): Minimum 4 Month term* *one of the Executive Directors must hold office for a minimum 8 Month term. When a Executive Director steps down, they must nominate a replacement, and the nominated individual(s) are voted in by the board of directors.
Editorial Director(s): *No. of editorial directors are voted by the Executive directors. - *Minimum: One, 8 month term - Additional directors: 4 month term, as determined by the Executive Directors. The executive directors, upon executive voting, have the power to appoint the required directors specific to current goals of BRIDGE and its activities. 5.2 The Responsibilities of the Executives are as follows: Executive Director (External): The official representative of BRIDGE. The Executive Director (External) shall actively seek networking opportunities for BRIDGE and its members. The candidate shall represent the external vision and initiative of BRIDGE. Key responsibility is promoting / addressing / representing the organization's position and vision to the public. The representative shall keep a record of all external communications, activities, and partnerships. Executive Director (Internal): The official representative of BRIDGE. The Executive Director (Internal) shall actively organize and promote BRIDGE initiatives with its members and the UW School of Architecture. The candidate shall lead internal BRIDGE meetings, preparing documents and resources required to have efficient and productive meetings. The representative shall keep record of meetings, and assume leadership in guiding members within the organization. Executive Director (Financial): The official representative of BRIDGE. The executive Director (Financial) shall take leadership in communication and finance within BRIDGE. The representative shall keep good relations with contributors and partners of BRIDGE, and keep track of the organization's finances. The representative shall prepare financial statements at the last month of each term, and be an active participant in fundraising and securing funds for BRIDGE.
Editorial Director(s): Editorial directors shall actively seek new content for BRIDGE website and publications. The representatives shall take leadership in encouraging contribution of original content to be added to the website and/or publications of BRIDGE, as well as the continuity of material. The representative shall edit and revise generated content for BRIDGE, to meet proper standards and formatting for website and publications.
5.3 All documents produced in a term of office, including but not restricted to financial statements, minutes of meetings and reports, shall remain with BRIDGE in a permanent folder in the BRIDGE office. This shall be the official record of the BRIDGE and shall be accessible to any student representatives as an archive of past BRIDGE activities. There should be an additional digital copy stored in a place accessible to all current BRIDGE exec, and will be easily transitional upon turnover of positions. 5.4 The executive team shall be responsible for developing at least one initiative during the term to fulfill their mandate to foster social and intellectual contact among the membership.
MEETINGS 6.1 The presence of four members shall suffice for quorum of a Beginning of Term or General Meeting. If quorum is not met, the Meeting is declared null and void and shall be rescheduled. 6.2 A Beginning of Term Meeting shall take place within the first two (2) weeks of each academic term. The meeting shall be chaired by a member of the preceding Executive. The purpose of this meeting is to define future goals, recruit new members, and to elect and/or appoint executives (if required) for the upcoming semester.
6.3 The Executive Director (Internal) will call a General Meeting at least once a week (determined/voted by availability of members). The Executive Director (Internal) shall be responsible for giving members notice of at least three (3) days and setting the agenda for the general meeting. These meetings are open to all members and the public. 6.4 A petition with the signatures of four (4) BRIDGE members may request the Executive Director (Internal) to call a general meeting. The purpose of the meeting must be clearly noted on the petition. 6.5 Directors’ Meetings solely involve Directors of BRIDGE and can be called at any time by any Executive members. All executive decisions made that require voting will be conducted during the general meeting. All three Executive Directors must be present in order to meet quorum.
FINANCES 7.1 The Executive shall administer all money collected by BRIDGE. This money shall be kept in a bank account registered to BRIDGE, with signing authority requiring the signatures of two members of the Executive. All money remaining in the BRIDGE account at the end of term shall carry over to the next term to be administered by the next Executives. 7.2 An operating budget will be drafted by the Executive Director (Financial) at the beginning of the term. During the first general meeting at the beginning of the term, the operating budget will be voted by the members to be approved for the term. The accounts will be reconciled at the end of each term.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION 8.1 Amendments to this constitution may be made by a simple majority of those present at a General Meeting or if voting by electronic means a simple majority of votes cast.
8.2 Before any amendment voting is made, all members of BRIDGE shall be notified at least (3) days before the call for vote.
APPENDIX 1.1
All members of SWAG and WASA shall be members of BRIDGE*.
*given that SWAG and WASA, provides the allocated agreed term funds for BRIDGE. Â