Elections

AFSA Elections 2014-2015 Discussion & Debate Forums Now Open!

The candidates have been released (Found here: http://www.uwafsa.ca/electionscandidates/) and now it's time for the candidates to start campaigning! If you are a student and you have any questions, concerns or comments about their platform or application or would just like to know them better please post on the discussion elections forum!

REGISTER NOW: http://safstudentvote.freeforums.net (must register your UWaterloo email, or if previously registered for prior elections just login.)

Happy discussion & debating!

#afsaelections1415

AFSA Elections 2014-2015 Candidates

Executive Team Candidates:

President

VP Finance

VP Education

VP Communications

VP Internal Services

VP External

VP Marketing

VP Internal Events

VP Administration & Knowledge Management

Board of Directors

Elected:

Appointed:

AFSA Elections - Constitution Changes

2013-2014 AFSA (and AFEF) Constitutional Reform Briefing: Why is a referendum needed?

  • With the changes we are looking to make as a possible uWaterloo commerce society, it is ideal to start a referendum to ensure the constitution is altered such that everything will flow as planned with such a re-organization within FEDs
  • After having directors and executives of the organization to travel from coast to coast this past year and discovering best practies among other commerce societies and business associations alike from over 30 business schools accross Canada this past year, it has become apparent to the AFSA Board of Directors that AFSA is responsible for a large amount of deliverables. The Board would like to ensure the viability for innovation and intrapreneurship, and also maintaining quality events and services currently offered by AFSA. Thus the board has determined that adding an additional Executive position would be in the best interests of the portfolios of the current and future Executive positions, post referendum. It has begun to be burdensome on Executives to add to the current portfolios for the current number of executives in recent years, and thus incorporating a new position would be in the best interests of seeing the organization continue to blossom and grow
  • AFSA currently lacks a strong conference subsidy and conference engagement and/or participation/representation program like Sprott’s Sprott Competes or John Molson’s JMCC (John Molson Competition Committee)
  • Currently the office of Vice President, External Relations, has to deal with corporate, internal, and external relations (not to mention conferences); it is beginning hard to manage all three as AFSA looks to steadily increase sponsorship over the next few years and improve its connections within and outside the university (such as other clubs/groups on campus and relationships with other business school student associations)

Changes? The referendum will…

  • Amend the constitution for members; adding SAF Members, who are the current member base (SAF students) and Associate members, who would be non-SAF students choosing to become a member
  • Amend the constitution for financial policy; allowing that each year, that SAF members vote for a set of AFSA services/events/offerings for which they will restrict from the SAF members
  • Re-establish endowment fund governance best practices by re-establishing the AFEF Board, which will be differentiable from the AFSA Board, adding seats for the SAF Director, the Alumni Association, and a recent alumnus
  • Rename the office of Vice President, External Relations to Corporate Relations [“for the purpose of focusing on relationships of a corporate nature that involve monetary or in-kind sponsorship for the organizations and/or its affiliates”]
  • Create a new office of Vice President, External Relations [“for the purpose of building and maintaining relationships with organizations off and on campus with primary focus towards other business and commerce student associations across Canada and clubs and other societies internal to the University of Waterloo, and will also deal with managing a conference engagement and participation system which will rival similar programs run across the country; this portfolio will also deal with the conference subsidy program”]
  • Create one new elected AFSA Director, and also creates the explicit right for one Board of Director to be an alumnus who has graduated within the past 3 years; this will also create efficiencies with the young alumnus seat on the AFEF Board
  • Remove Vice President, Finance, as the automatic replacement to the President. BoD will now have the authority to appoint an “Exec Vice President” that would take over the President’s duties where the President cannot perform them

All in all, a vote for a yes on the referendum will be a vote for more of your money being spent towards you, the students, and to allow for AFSA to take the lead in improving the business student experience at uWaterloo.

Click below for more information on splitting the VP External Portfolio.

Splitting the VP External Portfolio

AFSA Elections - Applications Are Now Open!

The annual AFSA Elections applications to become an AFSA executive member  are now open! Elections for both Executive and Board of Director positions begin during the month of May each year. Deadline for all applications are May 25th @ 11:59 PM.

Links to the applications:

Elected positions available include:

  • President (who also sits on the Board of Directors)
  • Vice President of Finance (who also sits on the Board of Directors)
  • Vice President of Administration and Knowledge Management
  • Vice President of Communications
  • Vice President of Education
  • Vice President of External Relations (after successful vote of referendum)
  • Vice President of Corporate Relations (after successful vote of referendum)
  • Vice President of Internal Events
  • Vice President of Internal Services
  • Vice President of Marketing
  • 2 positions on the Board of Directors, 1 additional Board of Director (after successful vote of referendum so a total of 3 after successful vote)

Appointed positions available include 3 appointed positions on the Board of Directors.

 

For more information on the specific roles of the positions listed, please visit Executive and BOD.

For more information on the elections: Elections Info Session - 2013_2014

For F.A.Qs please visit: AFSA Elections FAQ

AFSA Elections - FAQ

Afsa-voting.png

APPLICATIONS

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT POSITIONS I CAN RUN FOR?

There are 11 elected positions and 3 appointed positions. They range from positions on Board as well as positions on the Executive team. For a complete description of roles and responsibilities, refer to http://www.uwafsa.ca/executive-and-bod/

WHAT IS THE ELECTIONS PROCESS? WHAT ARE THE DEADLINES?

The elections process consists of the submission of a suitable application for the appointed and elected positions. They can be found at www.uwafsa.ca. Once applications are approved by the elections committee, the campaign period begins. During the campaign period, candidates can promote their platform (online only) and SAF students can participate through the elections forum. Once the campaign period ends, voting will begin. During this period, all SAF students can vote (or abstain from voting) for all positions as well as any referendums. Subsequently, the votes will be tallied and the successful candidates will be announced on www.uwafsa.ca.

The elections timeline is as follows:

MAY 20, 2014 @ 12:30PM || Elections Information Session & Kick-off·

MAY 21, 2014 @ 9:00AM TO MAY 25, 2014 @ 11:59PM ||Applications period

MAY 27, 2014 @ 9:00PM TO MAY 30, 2014 @ MIDNIGHT || Campaign period

JUNE 2, 2014 TO JUNE 5, 2014 || Voting

JUNE 1, 2014 TO JUNE 2, 2014 || Appointed Board of Director Interviews

JUNE 9, 2014 @ 9:00AM || Results are announced

 

WHERE CAN I FIND THE APPLICATION FORMS?

Applications can be found at www.uwafsa.ca.

Direct Link to Appointed Application Form:

https://docs.google.com/a/uwafsa.ca/forms/d/1uyZHcooTXTm8djS04p-xAKrgGAv29DrxijI_r_wBm8c/viewform?usp=send_form

Direct Link to Elected Application Form:

https://docs.google.com/a/uwafsa.ca/forms/d/1HRe4gfnUakK4wu8q4kyLdQjjGJpAbm6IJx4yxi_zO3E/viewform?usp=send_form

CAN I BE AN EXEC EVEN IF I HAVEN’T BEEN ON AFSA BEFORE?

Yes. AFSA encourages all SAF students who are passionate about making SAF a better place through one of the positions to apply!

CAN I RUN FOR MORE THAN ONE POSITION?

No, to ensure fairness in applications, AFSA asks for all candidates to choose one (1) position they would like to apply for and apply only to that position. This ensures that the candidates are fully committed to their position which increases the quality of candidates’ platforms.

page1image20400 page1image20560 page1image20720 page1image20880 page1image21200page1image21520 page1image21680 page1image21840 page1image22000 page1image22160 page1image22320 page1image22480 page1image22640

WHERE CAN I FIND INFORMATION ABOUT AFSA?

Information on all governing documents such as AFSA’s constitution can be found at

http://new.uwafsa.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/AFSA-Constitution-v3.2.pdf

WILL THERE BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CANDIDATES TO HAVE A DEBATE?

The forums on the safstudentvote.freeforums.net/ website will allow students to ask candidates questions and provide candidates with an opportunity to debate and discuss relevant issues to their position. Unfortunately, due to logistics given co-op and summer term, there will be no live debates administered by the Elections team.

WHAT IS THE TIME COMMITMENT FOR AN EXECUTIVE/BOARD MEMBER?

The time commitment for any executive or board member varies broadly. Generally, for executive members, the commitment is 7-10 hours a week which includes meeting times with committee members as well as other executives. For Board members, the time commitment is generally 3-5 hours. AFSA encourages candidates to take on tasks that interest them while ensuring the time commitment is manageable with school and other commitments.

WHAT HAPPENS IF NO ONE RUNS FOR A POSITION?

If a position is left vacant, then it will be the responsibility of the Board of Directors to fill the position within 1 month after the official results.

 

CAMPAIGNING

ARE THERE ANY SPECIFIC RULES REGARDING ADVERTISING DURING THE ELECTIONS?

Yes, to ensure fairness in campaigning, there is a limit of $250 imposed for spending on campaign materials. As well, advertising can only be performed online to ensure those not on campus do not have a disadvantage.

WHAT CAN THE $250 LIMIT BE SPENT ON?

Anything that can be used on an online campaign (for example website design). However, no tangible items can be purchased for promotion such as posters or merchandise.

CAN YOU PURCHASE TANGIBLE ITEMS FOR USE IN AN ONLINE VIDEO?

Yes, as long as the tangible items are not subsequently distributed or used outside of the online video.

DO WE NEED TO GET VIDEOS AND ANY ELECTRONIC POSTERS WE MIGHT BE USING AS PROFILE PICTURES APPROVED? AND IF SO, HOW MUCH IN ADVANCE? You don’t need to get it approved in advance, but you need to provide us with a link to your videos/webpage/Facebook group at elections@uwafsa.ca within 2 days of posting

IS THERE A LIMIT ON THE ONLINE VIDEOS/POSTERS/OTHER MEDIA THAT CAN BE PRODUCED?

No there is no limit, as long as the entire campaign is online and the links of your media are sent on time to elections@uwafsa.ca.page2image23944page2image24104page2image24264page2image24424

WHAT CONSTITUTES MASS SPAM, FOR THE “NO MASS SPAM” RULE?

Mass spam refers to the use of non-personal mailing lists that were compiled for other use. For example, UW-ACE or uWaterloo student mailing lists cannot be used to solicit votes. Another example of mass spam are messages through Facebook fan pages/groups that are used for student organizations (for example Class of 20XX groups, Orientation groups, the AFSA fan page etc.). Messaging your friends on Facebook or other chat services is allowed. If you have any doubts, contact elections@uwafsa.ca to ensure that you comply with the rules. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.

ARE WE ALLOWED TO STAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BUILDING AND PROMOTE OURSELVES?

No. This would be analogous to making an in-class announcement which would be provide an unfair advantage to those on campus.

ARE WE ALLOWED TO TALK WITH OUR FRIENDS ON CAMPUS TO PROMOTE OURSELVES?

Yes. Promoting yourselves to friends is allowed. However, no in-class announcements and other in- person promotions to a group of individuals is not allowed.

CAN WE PROMOTE OURSELVES TO RANDOM STUDENTS IN THE SAF LOUNGE?

Yes however, candidates should not be making mass announcements. There is a fine line between what is acceptable and what is not. If you are unsure, please contact the elections committee at elections@uwafsa.ca.

CAN CURRENT AFSA EXECUTIVES OR DIRECTORS APPEAR IN MY ONLINE CAMPAIGN?

Yes, on the condition that AFSA Executives or Directors do not introduce their positions and with the exception of the members that comprise of the elections committee. For clarification on the executives and board of directors who sit on the elections committee, please e-mail elections@uwafsa.ca.

CAN I USE THE AFSA LOGO IN MY ONLINE PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS?

Yes, as long as the logo is not used in a derogatory way.

VOTING

HOW WILL VOTING WORK?

Voting will be done entirely online. A link will be given from www.uwafsa.ca/elections, during the voting period (June 2 – 5). Eligible voters will be verified using their quest ID and password. Each voter will have one vote, and will be able to select the candidate they wish to vote for in each position.

WHAT IS A REFERENDUM? HOW DOES IT WORK? WHY IS IT DURING THE ELECTIONS?

A referendum is a direct vote in which all students in SAF are asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This year, the referendum will surround the separation of the $50 amount that is paid by each student into the Endowment Fund into two separate buckets. Out of the $50, $15 will be used to continue to grow the endowment fund, while $35 will be used as a levy which will be used to meet the growing demand of SAF students.

The referendum is being held during the same period as voting for election candidates. This is to ensure maximum voter turnout to address this specific proposal. Additional questions regarding the process can be addressed to elections@uwafsa.ca.

FOR ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT THE AFSA ELECTIONS COMMITTEE AT elections@uwafsa.ca.