Special General Assembly (SGA)
A Special General Assembly (SGA) for the membership is being called by the 2024-2025 GSA President, Sai Abhinav Tadepalli.
An email was sent to the graduate student community on Tuesday, November 19, inviting students to attend the SGA, which will be held on Tuesday, December 3rd, at 11 a.m.
The meeting will be hybrid: venue and link to meeting to be announced soon!
At the Special General Assembly, only items in the notice of meeting can be considered at the meeting (as per our By-Laws).
General Assemblies and Special General Assemblies are a space for all GSA members to come together and make collective decisions about the association that are binding. GA is a time for our members to debate and discuss the operations of the GSA while bringing new viewpoints to the floor.
Campaigning for referendum questions can only be done by GSA members during campaigning period.
On voting days, GSA members are invited to vote via the Concordia portal for the referendum questions and proposed changes to the by-laws.
The CRO is responsible for announcing the voting results by end of day Dec. 6th.
Fee-Levy Referendum Questions
Voting period for the SGA Referendum Questions will start December 4th, at 12 a.m. and it ends December 5th, 11:59 P.M.
- Legal Information Clinic (LIC – CSU)
Do you agree to apply a fee levy of $2.75 per term in order to allow graduate students with full access to the services offered by the CSU Legal Information Clinic?
- Legal Essentials Program (StudentCare)
Do you agree that the GSA joins the Student Care Legal Essentials Program, that will provide GSA members with legal consultations with lawyers licensed to practice in Quebec and access to legal representation (subject to policy limitations) ? All participants (any GSA member can unilaterally opt out of the fee on an annual basis and get a full refund) would pay an annual fee of up to $36 per year effective with the Winter 2025 term (2244) and collected in accordance with Concordia University tuition, billing and refund policies.
- The LINK Publication Society
Do you agree to implement a fee levy of $1.00 per student per semester to support the Link Publication Society, a student newspaper at the university ? The fee would be collected from all GSA members who would become members of the Link Publication Society by paying the fee levy. The fee levy will be effective with the Winter semester of 2025 (2244) and billed in accordance with the university tuition billing and refund policy.
- Student Success Center
Do you agree to increase the Student Services fee that supports the Student Services Sector comprised of the Student Success Centre, Campus Wellness and Support Services, the Dean of Students Office, and the Financial Aid and Awards Office — to match the fee levy that undergraduate students are already paying, from $10.26 per credit to $11.11 per credit (an increase of $0.85 per credit), annually adjusted to the Consumer Price Index of Canada, to be collected from all Graduate students, and to be implemented for the Winter 2025 (2244) term in accordance with the University’s tuition refund and withdrawal policy?
By-Law Referendum Questions
1. “Do you ratify the proposed amendments to the GSA By-Laws related to governance and membership, including updates to membership categories, the structure and representation of the Council of Directors, and the responsibilities of council members to better serve GSA members?
2. “Do you ratify the proposed amendments to the GSA By-Laws outlining the roles and responsibilities of the Executives and updating the mandates, structure, and operating procedures of standing committees to enhance governance and organizational efficiency?”
3. “Do you ratify the proposed amendments to the GSA By-Laws related to financial management and administrative processes, including updates to expenditure limits, financial oversight mechanisms, election procedures, and provisions for interim governance during election delays?”
4. “Do you ratify the introduction of new articles to the GSA By-Laws addressing knowledge transfer for incoming officers and providing guidelines for interpreting the by-laws to ensure continuity and clarity?”
The roles in the SGA
The President acts as the chair of the GA. The chair facilitates the meeting & is responsible for enforcing the procedural rules.
The VP Internal acts as the Minute-Taker. They keep a record of all decisions taken, format the record into minutes & ensure it is available on our website.
The VP External is the mood-watcher. They keep track of the moods & reactions of participants to encourage equitable participation.
The directors are noise-watchers. They are positioned to remind people to be respectful and to maintain a sense of decorum.
GSA members come to the GA to collaborate & suggest solutions or changes to the proposed policy changes.