On Wednesday October the 8th the Engineering Society had the first ever General Meeting. A general meeting is a chance for every member of an organization to have a vote and to drive the direction of the organization. The Engineering Society will be running two General meetings and one Joint General Meeting every year. Any on-term member (or off-term for the joint meeting) can submit motions, speak, and vote at the meetings.
On the agenda for the meeting on the 8th was a motion to introduce a Diversity Policy. This policy would put in the governing documents the Society’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity as well as to outline the steps to take if an incident occurs. After a very good discussion with excellent concerns being rasied from the attendees the policy below was passed on A-Society. This policy must be presented and approved by the B-Society council in the Winter before being added to the Society documents.
O-7: Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity
A. The Society is committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusivity among its members, the Faculty of Engineering, and the engineering profession.
B. The Society is committed to ensuring a safe, secure, inclusive and accessible space for all of its activities
C. The Society is committed to creating an environment free of harassment and discrimination in all of its activities
D. Discipline
1. Any member’s behaviour that is found in violation of the intent of this policy may be disciplined accordingly at the discretion of the on-term Executive team through a formal warning or removal from a Society event or Service, and a report will be filed with the Student Relations Officer.
2. For Executive, a recommendation shall be made to council to remove the member(s) from a Society leadership position.
Leila Meema-Coleman
Engineering Society President A
president.a@engsoc.uwaterloo.ca