University of Alberta Undergraduate Psychology Association Constitution Mission Statement: The Undergraduate Psychology Association, or UPA, is designed to promote the study of psychology, assist students with their academic endeavors, encourage social interaction between people interested in psychology, connect members to vocational and volunteering opportunities, as well as provide other services to meet students needs such as merchandise and mentorship. Article I: Name i. The organization shall be known as the Undergraduate Psychology Association, the Undergrad Psych Association, or the UPA. No other names shall be considered official. Article II: Membership i. Membership shall be open to all students of the University of Alberta who are registered as part-time or full time students during the academic year. Students must be paid Student s Union members and have an interest in psychology. At least 2/3 of the executive must be part-time or full-time students during the current academic year. ii. Memberships are valid from September 1 to August 31, but members can join at any point in the year. iii. All members of the club will be looked upon as general members of UPA. iv. Members in good standing shall be eligible to hold office for a maximum of 2 years in one position. v. Members in good standing may hold office as president for only 1 term. vi. A member shall be found in good standing if he/she a. Attends at least half of group meetings and contributes b. Agrees with the purpose and principles of the UPA c. Treats all other members with courtesy and respect d. Abides by the University of Alberta s Student Code of Conduct vi. A member shall be found in bad standing if he/she violates any of the above, or at the discretion of the Executive. vii. Honorary members can be named at any time, at the discretion of the Executive with a vote of 2/3 majority. viii. Members shall be admitted into the group upon expressing an interest in psychology along with a desire to join. ix. Members shall be expelled from the group if they are found in bad standing, requiring a vote of a 2/3 majority of the Executive. Article III: Membership Dues i. There are no membership dues for the UPA. ii. Members may join at any time during the regular academic year (September to April). iii. Upon registering, the name and email address of the member will be recorded. This information will be kept private by executive and used only for administrative purposes.
Article IV: Executive Committee i. The Executive shall be elected annually through secret ballot each April. A member shall be elected an executive with 50%+1 of the vote. Voting will occur either at stations set up during elections week, during the general meeting held at the end of the elections week, or using an online voting system. ii. Nominations must be open for at least one week, and will close prior to the elections. iii. Term of office shall be from May 1 to March 31. iv. 2/3 of the Executive must be full Students Union members. v. Any Executive member may be impeached by the following procedure: a. A statement asking for impeachment of an executive member shall be signed by at least 3 members who are in good standing. b. An impeachment meeting shall be held to evaluate the request. c. A motion for impeachment must be passed by a majority vote of at least 2/3 of the remaining Executive. vi. All members shall be free to bring forth motions to impeach any members of the Executive without any fear of reprimand or consequences relating to their standing within the association. vii. In addition to the Executive, there shall be other positions of power within the UPA such as coordinators. Coordinators can be fired at the request of any member of the Executive, passed by a majority vote of at least 2/3 of the Executive. viii. The President is not exempt from impeachment. ix. If any Executive member is unable to fulfill his/her duty and is either impeached or decides to resign, the remaining Executive members shall appoint a replacement. x. Interns: The following executive positions cannot be held by a Psychology Internship Student who is currently completing their work practicum: President, Co-President, VP Academic, VP Internal, VP Finance, and VP Social. VP Communications and VP External are the only positions that may be held by a Psychology Internship Student. xi. Designated Executive positions and duties are the following: (1). President - Overall organization and coordination of the group and its activities - Laying out a general plan for the year - Scheduling and chairing meetings (both executive and general) - Drafting a budget for the year (in conjunction with the VP Finance) - Drafting or amending the Constitution, and any other rules, bylaws, etc. (in Conjunction with VP Internal) - Assisting any VP that needs guidance or help in any area - Attending at least one meeting of each committee per semester - Holding at least one individual meeting with other VPs each semester - Representing the UPA to the department, university, and community in general - Being the representative at any departmental, faculty, or SGS meetings and relaying relevant information to the exec - Helping promote the UPA and recruiting new members - Writing reference letters for all Executive and volunteers
- Applying for group awards - Drafting agendas for Executive meetings Requirements: - 1st choice candidates for the presidency will have at least one year of UPA VP executive experience. 2nd choice candidates will have at least one year of volunteer experience with the UPA, 3rd choice candidates will have at least one year of experience with another executive student group. Co-Chair - Compliments the roles of the president either in conjunction with or in the absence of the president - This role does not have to be filled each year and if one is not elected it is up to the discretion of the Executive to appoint a Co-Chair with a 2/3 majority vote if they so choose - The co-chair will be voted in by the Exec (2). VP Academic - Chairing the academic committee - Organizing academic events such as study groups and forums - The forums include but are not limited to: Graduate Studies Forum Honors Program Forum Internship Program Forum Individual Study/Lab Volunteering Forum (3). VP Social - Organization and planning of social events for UPA members and undergraduate psychology students - Chairing the social committee - Must take SIPS/AA training before or during the Fall semester and be one of the designated SIPS/AA representatives at UPA hosted events - To make certain that the UPA has the proper number of SIPS/AA representatives at UPA hosted events that include alcohol (4). VP External - Providing resources concerning employment - Providing resources concerning volunteer opportunities - Organizing community service initiatives - University and community relations - Organizing the Career and Volunteer Fairs
(5). VP Finance - Finances and banking Counting cash box once a month Going through receipts Updating finance database Making deposits Responsible for bank account Writing cheques - Drafting a budget (in conjunction with the president) - Acquiring sponsorship deals and discounts for UPA events and members - Acquiring grant funding if needed - Attending meetings that include relevant information to granting alongside the president - Being the creative director for fundraising events - Working closely with executive to ensure logistics of each event are confirmed - Ensuring locations, dates, and times are secured for each event - Sending out sign up spreadsheet, coordinator volunteers for fundraising day - Collaborating with VP Social to organize fundraising social events, if required (6). VP Internal - Intra-group communication - Keeping the office open and organized with other members - Keeping meeting minutes and other records of volunteer hours - Drafting UPA rules and bylaws (in conjunction with the President) - Providing grad school and other program related information - Maintaining member and executive contact lists - Coordinating UPA volunteers and assigning them to committees - Maintaining the UPA email account - Finalizing the agenda and providing it for UPA meetings - Organizing office hours (7). VP Campus Communications - Promoting UPA to campus - Maintaining UPA facebook page, twitter, and instagram - Advertising and promotion of all UPA events and activities in collaboration with the Executive - Offering support for advertising - Recording volunteer hours, volunteer recognition - Setting up the election process for next year - Maintaining UPA website, or responsible for locating a volunteer with web design skills - Student satisfaction survey in collaboration with the president (8). Smitty & Peer Mentorship Coordinator
- Recruiting and coordinating Smitty Library volunteer schedule - Maintaining a quiet study space - Communicating with volunteers, maintaining record of volunteer hours - Promoting the Peer Mentorship program - Reviewing mentor applications and coordinating mentors with mentees to facilitate oneon-one interaction between 1 st /2 nd year students and 3 rd /4 th year students - Offering guidance and getting feedback for mentors/mentees - Writing reference letters for mentors if required (9). Editor of Departmental Newsletter - Creating, editing and distributing UPA newsletter to mailing list on a regular basis, as determined by UPA Executive - Promoting UPA events, and other campus wide programs related to psychology in the newsletter - Encouraging members to submit articles pictures and conduct interviews - Setting deadlines for submissions - Maintaining privacy of all email recipients personal information Article V: Other Executive Members i. Any honorary or other Executive Members shall be named at any time at the discretion of the Executive defined in Article IV. Article VI: Committees i. In addition to the Executive Committee, there shall also be smaller committees for the purpose of running various branches of the UPA. ii. Forming or dissolving of committees is left to the discretion of the Executive iii. At present, the standing committees are: a. Academic (VP Academic) b. Social (VP Social) c. Fundraising (VP Fundraising) d. Advertising (VP Campus Communication) e. Editor of Departmental Newsletter f. Career/Volunteer Fair (VP External) iv. In order to join a committee, any member in good standing simply needs to ask the VP in charge of that committee. v. Each committee shall have the opportunity for people to take charge of one small area as coordinator. vi. Coordinators shall be appointed by the VP of that committee. vii. Coordinator terms shall be for one school year from September 1 to April 1. viii. Committee meetings shall be scheduled and run according to the discretion of the VP in charge, but must occur at least once per semester. ix. The President shall attend and observe at least one committee meeting per semester. Article VII: Meetings
i. At minimum, a general meeting must be held every year, coinciding with the elections in April. ii. The general meeting shall be called no less than one week in advance, and all members shall be notified of this meeting in writing. iii. Executive meetings shall be held every week at a regularly scheduled day, time, and location. iv. Executive meetings shall be called by the following procedure: a. The President shall notify all Executive members by email of the upcoming meeting. b. 3 days before the meeting all Executive members are required to submit a brief outline of any issues they wish to discuss at the meeting. c. 1 day before the meeting the President will prepare and distribute an agenda of what will be covered during the meeting. d. If there is any extra time after all agenda items have been addressed, the meeting will be open to new business. v. VP Internal will keep minutes at all Executive meetings. vi. If any executive member cannot attend a meeting, they must inform the President beforehand. vii. If the President is unable to attend a meeting, the Co-Chair, if elected, shall step in and chair the meeting. If no Co-Chair is elected for the year, it is at the President s discretion to appoint an executive to chair the meeting. viii. In order for any major decisions to be made during Executive meetings, Quorum must be obtained. Quorum is hereby defined as 50%+1 of the 7 person executive, or 4 members. ix. Executive meetings shall be closed to general members except by special invitation of the executive members for a specific time or purpose, at their discretion. x. Votes at meetings shall be by a show of hands, except in the case of elections, impeachments, or other sensitive issues requiring a secret ballot. Article VIII: Amendments to the Constitution i. The Constitution must be reviewed at the end of each academic year by the Executive Committee. ii. Any amendments to the constitution proposed by an UPA Executive member must be passed by 50%+1 of the UPA Executive vote. iii. In any situation where a vote must be held amongst the general membership and/or Executive a quorum of 1/2 will be employed. This quorum shall be mandatory in executive elections, constitutional amendments, and any vote that occurs within a general/executive meeting. If quorum is not met, the motion cannot be considered valid, and the topic/election must be tabled until a time at which quorum can me met. iv. Any amendment to the Constitution proposed by a non-executive member must be signed by at least 3 members, and be submitted to the UPA Executive in writing for review. v. Should any amendments to the Constitution be proposed by a non-executive member, all members must be notified in writing, and invited to attend the meeting where the proposal will be discussed.
vi. Any member who attends this special amendment meeting shall be granted voting privileges for that one meeting. vii. Amendments shall be finalized by the outgoing Executive at the end of their term. As such, the incoming Executive may only amend the constitution at the end of their full term.