LSA Council #6 - Meeting Minutes [ ]

Transcription

1 LSA Council #6 - Meeting Minutes [ ] LOCATION: Room 316, NCDH DATE: February 10, 2015 at 19h00 PRESENT: President (Hersi Hujaleh), VP Administration (Anne-Sophie Villeneuve), VP Public Relations (David McLeod), VP Clubs (Sean McGinnis), VP Internal Special Events (Justine Blair), VP Internal Ongoing Events (Maria Rodriguez), VP External (Vincent-Pierre Fullerton), VP Academic (Léa Pelletier-Marcotte), Alexandra Belley McKinnon (4L President), Alexandra Bornac (4L President), Julie Beauchamp (3L President), Alyssa Edwards (2L President), Talia Bensoussan (2L President), Farnell Morriset (1L President), Brouk Negousse (1L President), Michel Bélanger-Roy (Faculty Council), Marc Roy (Faculty Council), Guillaume Blais (Faculty Council), Justin Fisch (Faculty Council), Dan Snyder (Law Senator), Benjamin Dionne (Speaker). ABSENT: Philippe Bernier-Cormier (3L President), Thomas Touchie (Faculty Council), VP Finance (Alexander Robinson). (1) CALL FOR ORDER 7:06 (2) MOTION TO OPEN THE AGENDA Moved by Léa Seconded by Michel Motion carries; the agenda is approved. (3) RAPPORTS DE L EXÉCUTIF I. PRESIDENT II. VP-ACADEMIC Questions & réponses Farnell: When will the curriculum reform apply? o Léa: None of the students currently at the Faculty will be affected by the curriculum reform. The document that was circulated recently contains only proposals; at this point nothing final has been voted, so there is no guarantee that the content of the document will represent the actual reform. In any case, the reform should not come into force before Fall III. VP-ADMINISTRATION Questions et réponses Marc: The mobile version of the LSA website doesn t seem to be working. o Anne-Sophie: The mobile version for ios does seem to be down. The website designer has been contacted about this and the issue should be fixed shortly.

2 Justin: on the old website, it was not easy to access office hours, you had to look under each Executive s profile. Is there a page on the new website where this information can be easily accessed? o Anne-Sophie: There is no specific page to that effect. However, the Executive page now features all Exec bios on the same page, so there is no need to click on each profile to see the office hours, so it should make accessing them easier. Also, office hours will be posted outside the office once they are determined. IV. VP-CLUBS V. VP-EXTERNAL VI. VP-FINANCE Absent. VII. VP-INTERNAL (Ongoing Events) Maria Rodriguez Questions et réponses Michel: What is happening with Orientation Reform? Is something happening on that front? o Maria : Hersi and I will sit down this month to look at the Constitution and review some key provisions, including Orientation. VIII. VP-INTERNAL (Special Events) Justine Blair IX. VP-PUBLIC RELATIONS Absent. (4) MOTIONS I. RESOLUTION TO LSA COUNCIL REGARDING THE CREATION OF A RADLAW BANK ACCOUNT Sponsored by Farnell Seconded by Michel Discussion Michel: Pourrait-on m expliquer pourquoi l approbation du Conseil est nécessaire alors que l an dernier, j ai simplement demandé l ouverture d un compte de banque for un club?

3 o Gajan (former VP Finance): Avocats sans frontières (club that Michel was alluding to) is in a different position that most other clubs because it belongs to a larger external network, it is not an internal Faculty club, so the procedure is different. For clubs that only exist within the Faculty and that don t belong to a larger network, the creation of a bank account has to be approved by LSA Council. o Farnell: According to article 55 of the Constitution, the creation of a bank account independent from the LSA needs to be approved by at least two-thirds of LSA Council members. Dan: Is this a rubber-stamping thing or are there concerns with creating a bank account? o Gajan: Once the money is locked away in a bank account, the LSA Exec has less supervision over the club s money, there is less transparency. There are also transition issues: if a person in charge of the account forgets to transfer signing authority, we lose contact and oversight of the account. From audit to audit, we don t know what happens with the account. The club can basically do what it wants with the money. Basically, we have to look at it on a case-by-case basis to see whether it is justified. o Sean: It also becomes complicated when doing funding. When the club has a bank account and asks for money during funding period, the LSA Exec has no way of knowing how much money the club has in its account, therefore it is hard to evaluate how much money to allocate to it. There is a concern that money will go to clubs who are sitting on o cash reserves whereas other clubs can only obtain money from funding requests. Guillaume: There is some concern that every club starts asking for a bank account. In the case of OCFC, which obtained the right to open a separate bank account last year, there was a specific reason for allowing it, which is that the clubs incurs significant expenses in the summer, before the school year begins, and it is not necessarily feasible to ask members to the club to pay the money on their credit cards and then wait weeks for a reimbursement from the LSA. Justin: Proposal to table the discussion to another meeting to figure out some rules/guidelines on which clubs should be able to create a separate bank account. MOTION to table the discussion to next meeting Moved by Justin Seconded by Julie Discussion Farnell: Someone from Radlaw should be present to explain why this is necessary. Alex should also be there as he is VP Finance. Justin: Alex should look at the concerns we raised in the meantime, so he can give us his informed opinion at the next meeting. VOTE Those IN FAVOUR of tabling the motion: 14 Those OPPOSED to tabling the motion: 6 Motion passes; main motion is tabled.

4 II. RESOLUTION TO APPROVE MJDR REFERENDUM QUESTION Moved by Julie Seconded by Léa Discussion Gajan (creator of motion, MJDR Management Editor): MJDR focuses on alternative resolution methods. We have pretty good support and a good base here at McGill, many professors specialize or work on this field at the Faculty. The first issue was published in October, and the second one will be published in March. The MJDR is now pretty well established. So far, the MJDR has survived mainly on LSA contributions. They don t have a computer (have to share with the Quid) and cannot organize big events (they wanted to organize a big arbitration symposium, but had to scale it down to a panel of local experts). The MJDR is doing what it can to save money (for example by publishing the issues online, so they don t have printing costs), but if it wants to continue its operations successfully, it will need a more stable source of funding. Maria: Do students in that journal get credits? o Gajan: Not yet; we are on two-year probation, so credits will not be available before next year. We are working on getting credits though. Farnell: Why non-opt-outable? o Gajan: This is standard; none of the other journals fees are non-opt-outable. VOTE Majority in favour Motion passes; the question will go to referendum during the next election cycle. (5) FOLLOW-UP TO REFERENDUM ON RA WAGES: DRAFT OF OPEN LETTER TO FACULTY Erin Moores (drafter of letter): This letter would be a follow-up to the referendum where a majority of students voted in favour of pressuring the Faculty to increase RA rates. Most of the professors are on our side, so the tone of this letter could reflect this. Farnell: Is the point that this letter would be published in the Quid, and signed by LSA Concil? o Erin: Yes, this would be the desired goal. Marc: In order to get the professors attention even more than in the Quid, one of the student members of Faculty Council could bring the letter and the issue as an agenda item to Faculty Council. Talia: Perhaps we can establish some sort of committee that would be tasked with drafting a final version of the letter? Justin: Perhaps Hersi could work closely with Erin to draft a more final version of the letter and we can vote on a final version at the next meeting, the night before the next Faculty Council meeting. Vincent-Pierre: The referendum is already evidence of an overwhelming support by students. I don t think it is necessary to take more steps. It might not be necessary to approve it again at Council, since it is obvious by now that everyone is behind this. Maria: It should be Hersi and Erin, no need for a committee. It would be preferable to have it in the Quid as soon as possible.

5 MOTION: BE IT RESOLVED that Hersi is given the authority to approve a final draft of the letter and sign on behaf of the LSA Council and send it in to the Quid Moved by Hersi Seconded by Vincent-Pierre VOTE All in favour. Motion passes. (6) SELECTION OF FACULTY COUNCIL STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE TO SIT ON MENTAL HEALTH COMMITTEE Hersi: Resolution that Council passed in November specified that there has be at least one representative from Faculty Council on the Mental Health Committee. Faculty Council reps agreed among themselves that it would be Thomas Touchie. MOTION: BE IT RESOLVED that Thomas Touchie is selected to sit on Mental Health Committee All in favour; motion passes. (7) UPDATE ON CURRICULUM REFORM Marc: Is on the sub-committee responsible for evaluating the document outlining proposed changes to the curriculum. It has become clear that the messaging and communication has not been the best, and the sub-committee is working on that. Weekly consultations will occur and they are designed for students to express their views. A lot of good-faith consultation is being attempted and is ongoing. Léa: Glad to have Marc on board, as he has been involved in curriculum reform for years. Go Marc! Michel: Est-ce que la méthode de notation (grading) sera abordé dans cette réforme? o Léa: La question de la notation est une question séparée, c est un autre comité qui s en occupe (et où la question suscite beaucoup de débat). Une proposition sera peut-être soumise au Faculty Council plus tard cette année. (8) VARIA I. COURS D ÉTÉ Léa: La liste des cours offerts cet été sera rendue disponible bientôt (fin de la semaine) et l horaire sortira au début mars. II. CADED CONFERENCE Vincent-Pierre: We still have tickets left for CADED. It would be nice to be more involved and participate in activities organized by the other civil law faculties. Justin: Do we have any say on the date of the event? o Vincent-Pierre: Yes, and I was opposed to having it at the end of Reading Week, but there were other logistical concerns regarding hotel booking, room booking at the University of Sherbrooke, etc.

6 III. MOTION POUR RECONNAÎTRE L EXCELLENCE DE LA FACULTÉ AU CONCOURS DE PLAIDOIRIE MIGNAULT Tous en faveur; motion passe. Félicitations à tous les participants du concours! IV. GRAD BALL Alexandra Bornac: We (4L Presidents) are having trouble finding a place to hold Grad Ball. We don t want to charge students too much, which is making it more complicated to find a place. We also don t have many funds available; we have even not done events for 4Ls this year to save that money for Grad Ball. Talia: Have you looked into art galleries to hold the Ball? Often they have good deals for organizing events, and their rooms are beautiful. They will often take care of hiring the caterers also. Alexandra McKinnon: Grad photos 3Ls who are going on exchange in their last semester and not coming back to Montreal need to get their photos taken before they leave if they want to be included on the Class of 2016 mosaic. Julie: Quel est le ratio 3L/4L au Grad Ball? o Alexandra B: We know that some 4Ls won t be there. It is usually a mix of both. Hersi: What is the process for selecting a valedictorian? o Alexandra M: Students nominate each other and then there is a vote during the election period. (9) APPROBATION DE LA DATE DE LA PROCHAINE RÉUNION MARDI 24 FÉVRIER, 19H00 DANS LA SALLE 316 NCDH Motion to approve the date of next meeting: Moved by Léa Seconded by Michel Motion carries; date of meeting approved. (10) MOTION TO ADJOURN Moved by Michel Seconded by Vincent-Pierre Motion to adjourn adopted unanimously.