CONSITUTION OF
CANADIAN BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION
YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL,
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
Article I: Group Name
1.1 The name of the student group shall be “Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation
Youth Advisory Council, U of A”. Herein after the student group shall be referred to as the YAC, U of A in this document.
Article II: Mission & Purpose
2.1 The mission of the YAC, U of A is to promote breast health awareness, the necessity of early detection and manageable risk reduction to the student body of the University of Alberta campus. Our mission will be achieved by means of hosting a variety of informational events, campaigns and activities on campus.
2.2 Further, the group aims to instil an understanding and knowledge of breast health and healthy living to its members, who then gain the ability to share this knowledge with their peers, friends and family.
2.3 The student group operates at the University of Alberta, subject to University of Alberta policies and procedures. This group will also comply with all local, provincial, and federal laws and procedures.
Article III: Membership
3.1 Membership of the YAC, U of A is open to all students attending the University of Alberta who possess a desire to assist the group in its mission (see section 2.1 and 2.2).
3.2 Members are entitled to the following privileges:
3.2.1 Participation in all YAC, U of A organized events
3.2.2 Candidacy for any available executive position
3.2.3 Holding stake in a YAC, U of A general election (i.e. the right to vote)
3.2.4 Recognition of volunteer contribution with a letter of reference at the discretion of the executive
3.3 Membership designation is that of either:
3.3.1 Executive Officers (please refer to Article 5)
3.3.2 General Members (please refer to article 6)
3.4 YAC, UofA will not charge for membership status.
Article IV: Membership Commitments
4.1 Members of YAC, UofA must abide by to the following commitments:
4.1.1 A minimum of a one year membership term
4.2.2 A minimum of four (4) hours of volunteer involvement per month
4.2 A general member or Executive Officer that neglects their membership commitments may be removed from the group at the discretion of the executive committee.
4.3 All members must attend a prerequisite volunteer orientation concerning general volunteer responsibilities and goals before participating in their respective positions.
4.4 Any member in bad standing will be given written notice of this fact by the executive committee, and will be given three months from the receipt of this notice to either attend a group event or meeting, to plan a group event, or to propose an alternate measure to amend the member’s participation. If a member in bad standing fails to communicate with the executive committee within that time, their membership privileges will be revoked until the next academic year.
Article V: Executive Structure
5.1 Executive structure consists of a President and five Executive Officers.
5.2 Each of four Executive Officers shall be responsible for campus outreach, promotions and publicity, education and awareness, volunteer recruitment and coordination, event planning & fundraising.
5.3 President and Executive Officers responsibilities include but are not limited to:
5.3.1 Vice-Chair Campus Outreach & Publicity:
• Creation and management of promotional materials including posters, social media, and group website, etc.
• Places advertisements in campus media outlets for events, fundraisers and group promotion
• Responsible for the planning and Execution of Breast Health Week, which shall take place annually in October
• Breast health Week shall be organized in conjunction with other health related groups on campus
• Networks and maintains a positive relationship with other health and/or wellness related student groups on campus
• General promotion of events to the campus community
• Works closely with the Coordinator, Youth Strategy Program if the group requires off-campus media/publicity
• Organization of monthly meetings for committee members
5.3.2 Vice-Chair Events & Fundraising
• Direct the planning and organization of all fundraising events (a minimum of one fundraiser per year is acceptable)
• Expected to submit an Event Plan to the Coordinator, Youth Strategy Program before event planning commences
• Is considered the Lead Coordinator on the day of an event or fundraiser
• Assembles all necessary committees to ensure success of events
• Works directly with the Vice-Chair Volunteer & Group Coordinator to ensure all events are properly staffed with volunteers
• Holds signing authority for the YAC, UofA bank account
• Organization of monthly meeting for committee members
5.3.3 Vice-Chair Education & Awareness
• Must seek appropriate training and orientation regarding breast health from Coordinator, Youth Strategy Programs
• Promotion of general awareness and education on the topics of healthy living and breast cancer awareness to the age demographic of the university population
• Responsible for the planning and execution of the Breast Cancer Symposium, which shall take place annually in March
• Works closely with Vice-Chair Events & Fundraising to ensure that all events have a proper, understandable, up to date awareness component
• Works closely with the Coordinator, Youth Strategy Program to communicate what aspects of awareness are relevant to UofA campus
• Organization of monthly meetings for committee members
5.3.4 Vice-Chair Volunteer & Group Coordinator
• Recruitment of volunteers at the beginning of each semester – including registering and securing a booth for YAC, UofA at any clubs fairs, student group recruitment events, etc.
• Coordination of volunteer orientation and training when/where required
• Assessment and collection of volunteer hours on a monthly basis (to be sent to Coordinator, Youth Strategy Program)
• Assists other Executive Officers with the coordination of volunteers for YAC, UofA events when necessary
• Takes minutes at all general assembly meetings and distributes an electronic copy of these minutes to all Executive Officers, general members and to the Coordinator, Youth Strategy Program
• Re-registration of YAC, UofA each school year
5.3.5 Youth Advisory Council Historian
• Provides a comprehensive written summary and evaluation of all YAC, UofA events. Summaries shall be forwarded promptly (no more than two weeks post-event) to the Executive Committee, most importantly Vice Chair Events & Fundraising and Vice Chair Education & Awareness to assist the completion of grant proposals
• Mandatorily attends all events and meetings
• Takes photographs of all YAC, UofA events for distribution to Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Prairies/ NWT, YAC, UofA social media (including Facebook and Twitter), YAC, UofA website and circulation to general members.
• Assists the Vice Chair Outreach & Publicity in the management of social media pages
• Plans internal YAC, UofA social events
• Assists Executive Committee members with tasks as necessary
5.3.6 President
• Maintenance of a supportive, effective and open relationship with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, specifically with Coordinator, Youth Strategy Program
• Internal and external representation for YAC, UofA on and beyond the campus community
• Organization and chairing of at least two (2) monthly general assembly meetings during the academic year
• Delegation of meeting chair duties to other Executive Officers for the remaining six (6) general assembly meetings
• Expected to step in as chair if other Executive Officers are unable to fulfil their duties
• Coordinator of Vice-Chair activities
• Attendance at all Vice-Chair committee meetings
• Holds signing authority for YAC, UofA Bank account
• Assessment of YAC, UofA finances
• Coordinates Executive Officer transitions
Article VI: General Members
6.1 General members are those members of YAC, UofA who are not considered to be an Executive Officer (see Article 5).
6.2 Membership and membership requirements of student ambassadors are those cited in Article 3 and Article 4, respectively.
6.3 The integral roles of general members include but are not limited to:
6.3.1 Manning informational and awareness booths
6.3.2 Assisting in set up, execution and clean up of all events
6.3.3 Helping prepare, display and distribute informational materials
6.3.4 Speaking openly to the campus community about the importance of breast health, early detection and manageable risk reduction
6.3.5 Supporting the Executive Officers in organization, planning, and execution of events, advertising campaigns, fundraisers, etc.
6.3.6 Other duties as assigned by the executive officers
Article VII: Meetings
7.1 General Meetings
7.1.1 All YAC, UofA members are expected to attend general meetings and attendance of Executive Officers is considered mandatory. General meetings will be held approximately once per month at the discretion of the executive.
7.1.2 If a member is unable to attend a general meeting, they are required to inform the Vice-Chair Volunteer & Group Coordinator of the reason for their absence at least 2 hours prior to the time of the meeting
7.1.3 The purpose of general meetings shall be to keep all members informed of the group’s direction, to team build, and to openly discuss future plans and past events.
7.1.4 At each general meeting Vice Chair Volunteer & Group Coordinator will keep minutes and electronically distribute these minutes following the meeting to all general members, Executive Officers and Coordinator, Youth Strategy Program
7.1.5 Five members must be in attendance for a general meeting to be held and to be considered valid.
7.2 Executive Meetings
7.2.1 The president and a majority of the Executive Officers must be in attendance at executive meetings. The meetings will be held at the beginning of each semester, and are to be called at the discretion of the President
7.2.2 The main purpose of executive meetings is for long and short term planning, giving the group an overall direction in its future endeavours.
7.2.3 The Executive Officers shall submit formal calendar of events for the semester directly following each meeting. The calendar should be submitted to Coordinator, Youth Strategy Program for review. It shall then be distributed to all general members.
7.2.4 The agenda of the executive meeting shall be set by the President who will proceed as the meeting chair.
7.3 Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting will be held in April of every year. All members will be notified in writing no less than two weeks prior.
7.4 Quorum
In any situation where a vote must be held amongst the general membership and/or executive a quorum of half will be employed. This quorum shall be mandatory in any vote that occurs within a general or executive meeting. If quorum is not met, the motion cannot be considered valid, and the article must be tabled until a time at which quorum can me met.
Article VIII: Elections
8.1 Interviews for executive positions will be held in early April. Applications for executive positions will be distributed at the March General Assembly meeting and are to be completed and returned to the President no later than the end of March. At this time any available executive positions will be open to candidacy by all members.
8.2 YAC, UofA election process will be monitored and supervised by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Prairies/ NWT’s Youth Strategy Coordinator
8.3 Any member in good standing has the right to run for an executive position (cited in section 3.2.2).
8.4 The executive selection committee shall be composed of one general assembly member (not applying for a position) chosen by the current executive, one executive member (outgoing), and one external member from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Prairies/ NWT. Providing that a representative of the Foundation is unable to attend, one external member of the campus community shall take their place.
8.5 In the event that a position is not filled in April or becomes vacant over the summer, a by-election will be held in September.
8.6 If an executive committee position becomes vacant at any time throughout the year, all executive committee members will be responsible for the duties of said position until a by-election can be arranged.
Article IX: Decision Processes
9.1 Decisions pertaining to group events and the general group event timeline shall be made by the executive officers at the executive committee meeting held at the beginning of each semester.
9.2 Each committee shall be responsible for any decisions that directly pertain to the functioning of that committee; however, all executive officers present at a committee meeting hold an authoritative voice in any decisions that are to be made.
Article X: Fundraising
10.1 Fundraising is encouraged as a part of the YAC, UofA group experience
10.2 All fundraising organized, coordinated and/or hosted by YAC, UofA must be pre-approved by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Prairies/ NWT
10.3 Third Party Events
10.3.1 Any fundraising hosted by YAC, UofA is considered to be a “Third Party Event” in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Prairies/ NWT
10.3.2 Fundraising events are not to be named, advertised, promoted or associated in any way with the awareness and education body “Youth Advisory Council”
10.3.3 Vice-Chair Events & Fundraising is expected to work closely and in open communication with their region’s Development Officer of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Prairies/ NWT to plan, organize and execute all fundraisers
Article XI: Finances
11.1 YAC, UofA’s fiscal year runs from May 1 to April 30
11.1.1 If necessary, signing authorities must be transferred no later than April 30
11.2 The President and Vice Chair Events & Fundraising will be responsible to provide financial statements to Youth Strategy Coordinator on a monthly basis
11.2.1 When an amount greater than $500 has accumulated in the cash box, the money shall be delivered to Youth Strategy Coordinator to be remitted to Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Prairies/ NWT finance department
11.3 Any bank statements provided to YAC, UofA by the financial institution shall be fully disclosed to Youth Strategy Coordinator and Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Prairies/ NWT financial department
11.4 Expenses & Reimbursements
All expenses must be pre-approved by the Youth Strategy Coordinator by providing an event budget. Reimbursements will not be provided unless an event budget has been completed and approved.
11.4.1 Reimbursements can only be provided with the presentation of original, itemized recipes
11.4.2 Reimbursements will be provided by cheque directly from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Prairies/ NWT
11.4.3 Reimbursements shall never be given from YAC, UofA cash box or fundraised money
Article XII: Amendments to the Constitution
12.1 Suggestions to amend the constitution can be made by any member who has the support of three other YAC, UofA members. The desired amendment shall be presented at the next general meeting with the consent from the President, whereupon a vote will be held. For an amendment to be considered successful, it must be supported by the President and three quarters of both the Executive Officers and general members.
Article XIII: Dissolution
13.1 The group may be dissolved by a 2/3 majority vote at a Special General Meeting convened for the purpose of which 90 days notice must have been given in writing to all members. The group is automatically dissolved upon membership dropping below 10 members. Upon dissolution, the Executive Committee is responsible for ensuring that any remaining financial resources are donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Prairies/ NWT and the bank account is closed down. Any resources or group assets will be returned to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Prairies/ NWT and will not be distributed to individual members.
