ARTSCI Assembly
Present:
President
VP Internal
VP External
VP Communications
VP Finance
VP FYA
VP Academic
September 16th, 2014
SASSS VP External
SACS VP External
NiRC Co-Chair
Arts & Science SSMU Representative
Arts & Science Senator
Absent
Ampersand the Journal
***Next assembly October 21st
President
 -selected new ERO --> Jordan Pollock (U2 CogSci student)
o -had 7 applicants
o -4 were invited to interviews based on application and experience
o -execs listened to all interviews and voted on top 2 candidates
o -from there it was brought to a single vote
o -will start looking into sponsorship
o -MUS created similar position last year
o -SUS also has an ERO
o -at the end of year we will see how this position went
 -finalized committees on Monday, had to cut some candidates
o -can get going
Art&Sci Rep to SSMU
 -GA is in two weeks - Oct 22
o -quorum --> nothing different this year
o -as soon as event is made, councilors make it their cover photo & invite friends
o -not much that can be done in terms of quorum
o -councilors are encouraged to promote the GA
o -listserv announcement send it to VP Comms
 -last council
o -unionization campaign --> representing grad student TAs and invigilators
 -would like to extend to other student positions
 -trying to garner support for it
o -SSMU building fee passed
 -motion to create fund
 -can be used towards lease payments
 -will be used towards any increase in price over time
o -possible referendum question about bikes on campus
ARTSCI Assembly
September 16th, 2014
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o
o
o
-"Should cycling be allowed on lower campus?"
-will be added to second Fall Referendum
 -approach called "Shared Space" where bikes have a certain amount of
space
 -a working group submitted a report about this
 -will be discussing the question and council will vote on it and then go to
second
fall referendum --> week long polling period
-TVM McGill wants to restructure their fee - also in Fall referendum
-bylaw review
 -plan is to have 7 bylaws and move some things into internal regulation
 -a lot of it being done with SSMU's legal council
 -there are standing rules (by which council manages itself)
 -if changing bylaws through council, need 2/3 majority
 -any change to constitution requires referendum
-Climate justice at McGill/pipeline
 -portions of that motion were external facing
 -should be up to students to decide
 -very specific mandates for SSMU execs
 -ie. VP External organizing Divest McGill, etc
Academic
 -did not send out BASC 201 survey
o -some people found it hard at first but doing better
o -if you have any questions, send them to me
 -PAC (Program Administration Committee)
o -got a new chair
o -if you want other things mentioned at meeting, send them
o -will send out all info about it before meeting
o -bringing up trends in ArtSci, etc
o -could have a survey for statistics and data to back up complaints
o -they could see that something is a significant problem if students vote on it
o will go out in next listserv
Senator
 -met with PGSS
o -working on mental health
o -will have teacher collaboration
o -separate into two diff working groups -- 1 in mental health, 1 is know your
Academic
Rights
o -know your Rights campaign
 -trying to get other students on board
 -there is academic assessment policy that everyone should know about
 -those rights are frequently violated
 -if you are interested in campaign, contact me
ARTSCI Assembly


-had grievance training
o -if you have issue that cannot be resolved through diff resources, can bring it
here
-sat on SSAP (some Academic committee)
o -replacing different senator
o -plan that if you withdraw from semester or courses bc of mental health issues,
you can
have it wiped off transcript
 -cannot wipe out some courses but all of them
o -talked about transfer credits from exchanges or study abroad
 -trying to make it a university-wide policy
o -changing withdraw without refund deadline
 -most Canadian universities have it later than us (Late October,
November)
 -will give students more opportunity & less hoops to jump through
o -talked about mental health
 -a lot of academic policy intersects with mental health
 -some students not being accommodated in academics
 -want to look at this issue, will have forum during mental health week
 -one ex. friend had deferred exam and could not write it because
of
surgery, said sorry we cannot
accommodate you
 -there are special exceptions in academic policy
SASSS (Rebecca)
 -had wine & cheese last week
o -probably 30 people there
 -had meeting with MUSS last week
 -will do samosa sale in future
MESS
 -had a barbecue
 -have a ziplining event on Oct 18th
o -not many people want to come
o -going to try to attract more people
 -MESS meetings are at 6pm before assembly
o -President will come to next meeting to chat
 -can e-mail communications@mcgillbasic.com
FYA
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
September 16th, 2014
-BASiC buddies got finalized last week
-Gerts night, attendance low but had good time
o -there were several first years
-next day had Academic info session/Mental health
ARTSCI Assembly

September 16th, 2014
o -low attendance as well
o -were late on advertising, could not rally all first years to come out
o -now with committees will be able to increase attendance
-Oct 25 pumpkin carving event
Internal
 -Semi on nov 7
o -will send out promo material soon
o -will start at 8pm and end at 1:30-2:00am
 -science games last week of January
o -if you are interested in captaining, contact me
o -put it in your listservs
o -need to be server trained by Nov 12th
 -coffee house Nov 22
SACS
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-Research day coming along fine
-setting up Samosa sales
-want to book rooms for yoga sessions
-problem with cogsci conference room booking
o -guy booked FDA without telling us
o -did it through events booking McGill
o -his application is still pending
o -would like to get original room
o -will have meeting with BASiC and SACS to explain BASiCs role
o -he is doing most of the logistics, wants SACS to do fund applications
-everything about cogsci conference has to go through SACS
o -submitting all plans for bodies that would be involved with this
-clothing orders coming out soon
External
 -booked room for SACS for Research day - Oct 27 9-5pm room 108 in SSMU
 -Premiere Moisson survey went out
o -will be compiling results into report
 -there are no motions for SUS council this week
 -AUS council
o -consent campaign
 -you can volunteer through Facebook page
o -frosh de-brief from equity commissioners - went well
o -VP Internal resigned two weeks ago
o -last council decided to hold a by-election for new VP Internal
o -discussion about private residences (Evo, La Cite)
ARTSCI Assembly
September 16th, 2014
o

-motion about AUS executive salaries
 -last year motion passed that allows AUS execs to get paid 10hrs/wk if
eligible for
work study
 -Work Study said they could potentially increase their hours to 20hrs/wk
 -Work Study program gives them $10 per hour and AUS using student
fees to
pay for 35cents ($10.35/hr)
 -no measure in place for keeping track of working time
 -anything involving student money should be put through referendum
 -said retroactive pay not possible and waiting for referendum too
long
 -that is why they do not want a referendum
 -at end of week, each Exec on work study gives VP Finance a list of
hours
worked
 -if it passes, will not go through referendum
 **All present at assembly agree should go through referendum
 -if anyone has ideas for accountability measures, share them
-AUS committees --> Constitutional Bylaw Review Committee & Library Partnership
committee
Finance
 -will go over the budget (May 2014 - April 2015) - BUDGET PASSED by Assembly**
 -revenue and expenses have both gone up
o -accounting for increased amount of funds received last year & spending
o -revenues at $11k, last year projected to be $7
 -AUS allocation $1.6 k
 -SUS $400
o -AUS based on head count, SUS based on by-need basis
 -SACS has external bank account
o -need SACS to send own projected budget for this year and would write a
cheque
 -everyone else needs to send in budget as well (SASSS, etc)
 -meeting with AUS tomorrow to talk about Finance
 -deadline for budgets by Oct 21st/14*
 -clothing orders coming out within the week
o -in final steps of finalizing prices
NiRC
 -have most of people on committee picked out
o -missing publicity & communications
 -received all NiRC applications directly
ARTSCI Assembly
September 16th, 2014
Communications
 set up blog on website
o can post updates and I will approve them
 added office hours to event calendar & on "about" page on website
 BASiC page
o people can like it
o no junk
o post things strictly related to ArtSci
o check out SUS/AUS pages
Discussions/Questions
President Question: Second part of building fee question, there were 55% that voted yes, if you
took it over total only 45% of people voted yes..
Senator: If people abstained, their vote does not count, it is based on majority.
Discussion about AUS Blacklist
SSMU Rep :partnerships with faculty organizations would be strange but advertising okay, not
directly related to academics(?), since Evo is probably talking to all faculties so all should be
informed with broadest consultation
Senator: Ask yourself if it's different from other sponsors, to certain extent you don't want
student space on campus to turn into giant advertisement
Internal: there are many different benefits like using their space for conferences, and hosting
delegates
Does AUS have the right to mandate departmental organizations? Is this ethical?
-considering putting these type of businesses on blacklist
-brought up by one of the senators
SSMU Rep: There is an ethical dimension to it but AUS putting them on blacklist would be too
far
Internal: Ethical purchasing policy is about fair trade, danger, etc.
Discussion about AUS Exec salary
External: passed referendum last year for 10 hours/week pay
Senator: What happens if they didn't work 20 hours one week?
-a lot of accountability problems with this
President: The problem is that they are elected by students.
ARTSCI Assembly
September 16th, 2014
External: Do you think they should be paid to begin with?
Senator: There is a reason for those who are financially disadvantaged to get paid.
External: They are trying to increase accessibility to be a part of AUS council.
President: How do you know if they are not doing it for the money?
Senator: People who are getting pay increased should not vote on this issue.
SSMU Rep: Which 10 hours are they getting paid for?
-not clear which ones, said not for AUS council
President: SSMU execs are mandated to be part-time students. AUS Execs should also be
mandated to be part-time students if working 20 hours a week.
Senator: Idea of increasing accessibility to it is valid.
External: The problem is with the amount of hours worked
SACS: Students should be consulted if students' money being used.
External: Councilors are being asked to find ways to measure accountability.
President: Their salaries will now be in the budget. Should they vote on things related to
budget?
Senator: If not related to their salary, should be able to vote.
Internal: External should submit a motion to not allow execs receiving salary to vote on
increasing hours & pay.
**All in agreement that it should be passed through referendum.