LAURIER STUDENTS’ PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP’S
working group POLICY
Created: 2015-‐02-‐19 Last updated:
WORKING GROUP POLICY Section 1 – Purpose: In partial fulfillment of its mandate to build the capacity of Laurier students and help them engage in acts of social change, LSPIRG offers opportunities for members to create Working Groups around a shared cause. These Working Groups, led by, and for the benefit of, LSPIRG members, will be provided with financial and organizational support. This policy will provide a transparent framework for measuring Working Group applications in terms of their eligibility so that: a) The Governance Committee has a consistent framework for guiding decision-‐making regarding Working Group Applications; and b) Those interested in seeking funding from LSPIRG can inform themselves of the criteria that will be used to assess the eligibility of their requests. Section 2 – Definitions: Working Group: A group comprised of at least two individuals, with a minimum of one LSPIRG member, who have organized around a shared cause. This cause must focus specifically on working towards a goal that is consistent with and adhering to the LSPIRG values of Anti-‐Oppression, Education, Social Justice, Community, Empowerment, Environmentalism, Volunteerism, Innovation, and Accountability. Working Group Application: Any request for Working Group status received by LSPIRG from individuals or groups not acting in the capacity of a member of LSPIRG’s staff or Board of Directors. A complete Working Group Application requires completion of LSPIRG’s Working Group Application which is available at www.lspirg.org. Working Group Contract: Approved Working Groups are funded on an academic term basis, subject to a Working Group Contract. Existing Working Groups are required to submit a new Working Group Application in order to have funding renewed at the expiration of its Contract (August 31 each year). Section 3 – Accountability: It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Governance Committee to ensure that Committee members read and apply this policy equitably to all decisions regarding Working Group Applications. LSPIRG will maintain a record of each decision and the reasoning behind it, initialed by current Governance Committee members, for future reference and verification. Governance Committee decisions are also subject to subsequent approval as described in Section 6. Section 4 – General eligibility criteria for Working Group applications: To be considered complete, all Working Group Applications must include the following:
Created: 2015-‐02-‐19 Last updated:
a) A completed Working Group Application Form. b) Demonstrated support of LSPIRG’s mission to provide opportunities for its members to be agents of social change through: ● community collaboration; ● research; and/or ● education. c) Demonstrated potential to foster positive change relating to at least one of the following core values of LSPIRG: ● Anti-‐Oppression: the active practice of addressing and eliminating the use of power and/or privilege by people to silence or subordinate specific groups or individuals on the basis of, for example, social class, sexual orientation, gender orientation, religion, ethnicity, language, ability, age, etc. ● Ecological Sustainability, including waste reduction, local and sustainable purchasing, active transportation, etc. ● Social Progress: change by which social, political, or economic structures better meet the needs of our diverse society through increases in, for example, civic engagement, education, or community building. Section 5 – Specific eligibility criteria: a)
Demonstrated support for the existence of the Working Group from LSPIRG student and/or community members. This can be demonstrated through a list of at least five (5) signatures from members. b) Clearly demonstrate a plan detailing anticipated events, objectives, and goals. c) Submit a completed budget detailing the expected spending of $500 for each academic term falling within the Funding Period indicated on the Working Group Contract. d) Working groups may submit individual funding requests for events over and above the group’s operating budget. Such requests must be submitted via a Funding Request Form (available on the LSPIRG website), and will be evaluated by the Finance and Funding Committee in accordance with the Funding Policy. Section 6 – Review process Upon receipt, the Communications and Community Director will compile Working Group Applications and forward them, with or without a staff recommendation, to the Governance Committee for timely review. This review process may include either one or two phases, as follows: a. Spreadsheet will keep track of which Working Group has applied, how much funding was requested and whether the request was approved or not b. Working Group Requests will be screened out for any of the following reasons: ● The Working Group Application is incomplete, either because required sections have been left blank or because they do not provide the required information.
Created: 2015-‐02-‐19 Last updated:
● The proposed Working Group does not provide meaningful opportunities for LSPIRG members to be agents of social change through community collaboration, research, and/or education. ● The Working Group application does not demonstrate strong potential to create positive social change relating to anti-‐oppression, ecological sustainability, or social progress. ● The proposed action plan does not seem feasible. ● The Working Group Application fails to demonstrate both clear expectations regarding outcomes and a plan for evaluating success. ● The Working Group Application does not provide proof of anticipated membership ● The Working Group application does not provide enough explanation as to why the group is needed and what the group would be working to achieve. In the event that the Governance Committee finds it necessary to prioritize eligible Working Group Applications, each member of the Committee present at the meeting will privately grade each Working Group Application, and only the Working Group Applications with the highest grades will be approved. Each Working Group Application will then be assigned an overall grade based on the sum total of the grades assigned by each Committee member to the response to each criterion in Sections 2 and 3 of each Working Group Application Form, as follows: ● 0 means that the Working Group Application does not demonstrate fulfillment of the criterion; ● 1 represents a weak fulfillment of the criterion; ● 2 signifies a satisfactory fulfillment; and ● 3 indicates a strong fulfillment. Section 7 – Rejection procedure
a)
In the event that the Governance Committee screens out a Working Group Application, the Communications and Community Director will reply to the Request, briefly citing which criteria in the Working Group Application were not satisfactorily addressed. The applicant(s) may or may not be encouraged to reapply.
b)
If the Governance Committee screens in a Working Group Application but, through the prioritization process described in Section 6b), determines that LSPIRG is not in a position to approve the Working Group Application at this time, the Communications and Community Director will communicate this in replying. The Working Group Application may or may not be held on file until such time as further funding is available.