General Description:

The primary function of the Chairperson is to conduct and facilitate meetings within the association, between the association’s executives/committees and other bodies to pursue the interests of the organization. The Chair monitors and helps with the overall progress of the organization and ensures that the mandate of the association is followed according to its constitution and other governing orders.

Upon Taking Over of the Position 

• Introduce the new team to the membership. Email the biograd listserv, welcome new students and a say welcome back to the existing students. Introduce yourself as chair and refer to the website for the directory of all positions for this year (provide website link and specify page). 
• Declare the new team to the Department. Email (cc) the following individuals from the Department of Biology and introduce yourself and ask them to direct all lines of inquiry and communications to the corresponding Executive Member, Committee Chair, or Representative (provide website link and specify page). 

To: Graduate Program Director Undergraduate Program Director Department Chair Accounts Assistant Operations Manager Grad Seminar Organizers Tenure & Promotions Committee Chair 

• Register AGSBS with the YUGSA as a Departmental Graduate Student Association (DGSA) and declare the elected councillors. This is subject to deadlines that should not be missed. 
• Brief YUGSA Councillors on the importance of attending the critical October meetings at the YUGSA council as our funding depends on this event and regular attendance. 
• Check the OGF deadline with the YUGSA. The Operating Grant Fund (OGF) is currently our main source of income. Please make sure what the deadline and requirements for submissions are and advise the Treasurer to apply. Check in with the Treasurer closer to the deadline to ensure that they have applied. 
• Declare CUPE 3903 Stewards to the union. Check for correct contacts on the unions website (3903.cupe.ca). 
• If an Orientation meeting has not been arranged by the previous chair, host one. invite the Executive Board, Committees, and Representatives to an Orientation meeting and go over duties & expectations, timelines, meetings, and basics.  Ask committees to elect their chairs after providing corresponding guide documents (such as this document) on operations and tasks.
• Check in with all positions to ensure that duties listed under “Upon taking over of the position” of their task lists have been taken care of.

Code of Conduct

As the Chair, you are the enforcer of the constitution and our policies/guidelines. Your main duty is to facilitate the operations of the association, conduct meetings of the Executive Board and General Membership Meetings, ensure that there is activity within all positions, and to generally pursue the well being and enhancement of the association by keeping an eye out for all sorts of opportunities (e.g. funding, collaboration, hosting, academic events, social events, employment opportunities, and much more). 

The chair has little actual authority in decision making within the executive board and for the association when it comes to high-profile matters (e.g. allocating budgets, spending significant amounts of money, coming up with rules and policies). Such matters must be decided by either the Executive Board when appropriate or the membership at the General Meetings with proper notice. In the absence of such procedures or when such procedures are not possible, you are the primary decision maker however you must ensure that these decisions are well advised and not controversial. 

Keep a good working relationship with all other AGSBS positions, the GPD/GPA, faculty contacts, department contacts and other bodies. 

Executive and General Membership Meetings Executive Board Meet a few times every semester for general house keeping and bringing everyone up to date. Although committee Chairs are not part of the executive board, invite them when there are items for discussion concerning their committees. Hold additional meetings as necessary as issues or opportunities arise. 

Send a notice of meeting to the Exec Board and collect items of discussion. Prepare an agenda with the discussion items for the day of the meeting ahead of time and send it to the attendees. Ensure that the meeting minutes are being taken by the Secretary and uploaded as a PDF to the proper folder on the cloud storage. 

General Members Meetings (GMMs) ☐ Meeting Time/Date: Find out what the most optimum time is for holding the meeting. If Grad Seminars are in season, you should capitalize since you will save catering costs and will have access to a large audience. In that case ask the Seminar Director if you could host a 10-15-minute meeting at the beginning. Conduct the meeting with respect to time and refer lengthy discussions to future meetings or after the seminar. Alternatively, the day/time of the meeting should be when there are no (or minimum) labs for TAs, not intersecting with Departments or Grad Seminars or other important meetings concerning grads. Invite the GPD and GPA to attend the beginning of the meeting for announcements and a chance to answer questions. 

• Meeting Frequency and Catering: Host at least 2 AGSBS General Members Meeting in Fall and Winter semesters. Consult allocated budget for catering at the GMs. Berries & Bloom on campus (York Lanes) has decent wraps. Wherever you order from, have some options for people with allergies or other restrictions such as but not limited to vegan/vegetarian, halal, etc. 
• Prepare an agenda with the fixed (recurring) items below, and add additional items as needed. Fill in headings descriptive of the business after collecting discussion items from other positions and the GPD/GP, then send the agenda about a week ahead to the grad list serve as the first notice of the meeting. Send a reminder the day before.
  • Controversial or high-profile decision making items should be on the agenda that goes out with the notice. You should not let important discussions that are tabled without proper notice to the membership to come to decisions and actions.
  • Fixed Items on the agenda (templates available on the online folder)
•  Conducting the meeting: You are the conductor of the meeting and have the authority to cut people off in lengthy discussions and back & forth when you must with respect to time. Generally a 30 minute meeting is optimal to keep people’s interest in coming again. Make sure you engage everyone in decision making and discussions.
• Take an attendance sheet to the meeting and ask people to sign in (required for minutes). The template is available on the online under AGSBS Documents.
• Minutes: ensure that the meeting is minuted capturing the discussion topic, suggestions, complaints, remarks, and final decisions. Review the Secretary’s note for corrections before they are posted.

End of Term Transitioning 

• Check in with the Exec Board regarding everyone’s duties during transition, ensure that the team has a timeline for this. 
• New Student Orientations: contact the GPA and ask for a 10-15 slot during the Department of Biology’s orientation for new Students. CUPE and YUGSA are also present at the orientation. Print handout pamphlets (material available in AGSBS Docs) and attend the orientation. Go over who we are and what we do (presentation material available). This may be covered by the incoming chair – who is organizing the new student orientation should be decided before vacating the position.

General Description:

The Secretary is the records keeper of documents and facilitates with the operations of the Executive Board. They maintain and provide access and transparency for public documents.

Upon taking over the position:

• Confirm administrative access: to the relevant web folders, including confidential folders.
• Take minutes: Minutes should be taken at all General Membership Meetings and Executive Meetings to keep a legible and permanent record of those meetings
  • Meetings should be posted no later than two weeks after meetings
• Keep accurate records for the association: You are the custodial of all records of the association, and committees. Access to records should be provided to members when requested. All communication policies established by the association should be followed.

End of term transitioning

• Write up a final report: The final report should be provided to the incoming secretary and chair to assist the incoming executive committee

General Description:

The Treasurer is the financial book keeper who authorizes payments on behalf of the organization,  issues cheques, deposits incomes, proposes budgets, and generally about everything concerning monies

Upon taking over of the position: 

• Confirm access to the cloud storage for all folders with read and write permissions. Seek the Secretary for assistance in case of any issues. 
• Update signing authorities on the bank account(s) to yourself and the new chair. This may be achieved at the branch with a letter from the previous co-signers declaring the change and the two new individuals present to sign documents. If the previous co-signers are not reachable, apply for the “Transfer of Signing Authorities” endorsement letter from the YUGSA. 
• Ask the bank for online banking to ease monitoring the bank account. 
• Find the AGSBS mailbox as we receive cheques, bank statements, and other material there. It is located in the administrative office (grad office) in Farquharson 247. 
• Start a new financial book for the current fiscal year. Make a copy of the template, don’t accidentally use the template itself. Read the “Instructions / Read Me” sheet of the excel file and revisit these guides before making transactions every time until you feel comfortable operating the finance sheets. Take a look at the previous year’s record to familiarize yourself with documentation, notes, transaction types, budgets, and balances. 
• Inquire about Operating Grant Fund (OGF) application deadlines the with the YUGSA. This deadline must not be missed as the main source of income for the association will be jeopardized. 

Code of Conduct 

As the Treasurer, you are the primary person who authorizes payments from our bank account(s) and authorizes payments to the Department of Biology’s Cost Centre account on behalf of AGSBS. The Cost Centre belong to the departments, however they allow us to make charges to it and settle the debt later to assist internal fund collections and payments within the university. Committees and other positions are not authorized to utilize these accounts and they must make these requests through you. 

• Budgets: At General Members Meetings, provide updates on the account and budget standings. Until our income is determined, we are not in a position to set budgets really. You may authorize payments until that point but those should be within reason. Large expenses should be postponed until we know of our income and have set budgets with membership approval. 
• Records keeping is crucial within your position. Please make sure that you keep the finance book updated as other people use it to plan their events and proposals. All transactions (debit/credit) posted to the Cost Centre and the Bank must be reflected in the excel sheet; therefore, closing balances for these accounts should match with the bank and the cost centre at all times. Review and correct any discrepancy. Unlike the Honours Thesis and Symposium Committee which have a single operation/event, the Events Committee should provide expense sheets on a per event basis. 
• Expensing and reimbursements: You may subject any committee to auditing for any event. The all claims must accompany a digital (scanned) receipt; individuals may use the Microsoft Lens free app on smart phones for fast and cropped imaging of receipts. Reimbursements are processed after an event has taken place by the Treasurer. In the event that a single expense is unaffordable for the committee members or other individuals, the association (Treasurer) may directly make a payment to a vendor if an invoice is provided. Refrain from purchasing personal items and AGSBS material on the same receipt. 
• Interactions and decision making: Keep a friendly, respectful, yet responsible working environment with your peers. Be prepared to handle disagreements and differences in a professional manner. Discuss all plans openly and engage in constructive criticism. Resolve disputed plans by voting; Chairs vote in the event of a tie. In the event of any escalated personal conflict seek assistance with the association’s chair. 
• Privacy and Confidentiality: All executives, committee members, and representatives of the association must practice safe keeping of any confidential material. Local copies of documents that involves personal information of any member of the association or other individuals must be purged after completion of terms (positions).

End of Term Transitioning 

• Follow up debts and pending transactions. Clear any debt to the cost centre by issuing a cheque in consultation with the Department’s Accounts Manager. 
• Prepare a signing authority transfer letter for the next team using the template available. 
• Close the current finance sheets as per instructions in the “Read Me” sheet of the excel file.

General Description:

The Department rep is the AGSBS representative to the Department of Biology who attends meetings with the Graduate Program Director and committees within the Department of Biology where allowed or applicable.

Upon taking over of the position: 

•  Check with the Chair whether your position has been announced to corresponding body. 
• Check-in and inquire with the external body of your appointment regarding any recurring fixed date or upcoming meeting. Be sure to attend any orientation meetings. 

Code of Conduct 

Since we apply for funding for various purposes from multiple sources, other than our own constitution we are bound to operate within a frame of internal and external requirements. 

• Abide by rules & regulations and codes of conduct imposed by the body you are appointed to. 
• Advertising: All materials produced to advertise for an event organized by AGSBS committees must indicate the association (AGSBS) as the host. The association’s logo and artwork are available in different formats on our cloud storage accessible by the Executive Board and Committee Chairs. 
• Interactions and decision making: Keep a friendly, respectful, yet responsible working environment with your peers. Be prepared to handle disagreements and differences in a professional manner. Discuss all plans openly and engage in constructive criticism. Resolve disputed plans by voting; Chairs vote in the event of a tie. In the event of any escalated personal conflict seek assistance with the association’s chair. 
• Privacy and Confidentiality: All executives, committee members, and representatives of the association must practice safe keeping of any confidential material. Local copies of documents that involves personal information of any member of the association or other individuals must be purged after completion of terms (positions). 

Meeting Attendance and Reporting 

• Attendance: There are critical meetings within the body you are appointed to that may cost the association funds, opportunities, or more in case you miss them. Please make sure you are briefed on these occasions and make arrangements ahead of time with notice to the AGSBS chair if you are unable to attend. Some of these bodies require a minimum or regular attendance throughout the year. Please make sure you understand these requirements. 
• Participation and Representation: Your primary function is to convey important information (when not subject to confidentiality measures) from these bodies to the AGSBS membership at General Meetings or the AGSBS Executive Board. These include changes to university policy, changes to program requirements, changes or opportunities in funding, student leadership and volunteer opportunities, or generally any matter that affects the graduate student experience. If you are provided agendas for these meetings ahead of time discuss controversial or important items with AGSBS Executive Board before attending the meeting. Remember, your vote at these meetings should be representative of the voice of AGSBS and its membership. 
• Resource fundraising: At AGSBS, we rely on services and resources that are provided by many bodies on campus or beyond. Review the resources and services available with the body that you are appointed to and report them to AGSBS Executive Board. 

End of Term Transitioning 

• Provide a short report on important topics or controversial matter discussed at your meetings that need following up for the next year’s representatives. Be sure to document any stance that AGSBS has taken on important topics or any opportunities that we may have to continue pursuing. 

General Description:

Create, curate, and manage all published content on our Twitter, Facebook and AGSBS Website. They will work with other executive board members and committee chairs to update our social media platforms and website on any AGSBS activities, events, and relevant biology department news. Will also oversee design elements such as social media graphics, profile pic, thumbnails, ads etc. Familiarity with WordPress and web design is considered an asset.

Upon taking over of the position: 

• Confirm access to the cloud storage for all folders with read and write permissions. Seek the Secretary for assistance in case of any issues.
• Confirm access to all social media accounts and website access passwords should be given by previous communications officer or the chair. The current or former chair will give access to the website. Editing access should be given to the website
• Update the AGSBS website with the new executive and committee members once the election is complete and website access has been given. This can be edited within the already existing page for executive members. Old member names should be added to the “previous committees” section of the website.
• Continuously update the website: As documents are edited (duty guides, constitution, etc) provide updates to the website. If the committees or other members would like content edited or uploaded to the website, update the content within a reasonable time-frame

Code of Conduct 

As the Communications Officer, you are the primary person who makes and shares social media posts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) and updates the AGSBS website. Events and information from other AGSBS committees and AGSBS members may be sent to the Communications Officer for sharing on social media/the website. Permission to post photos/text should be given by the content creator to the Communications Officer prior to posting.

• Social Media Posts should be kept professional, friendly and respectful as you are representing the association online (not your personal account). Posts should be relatively frequent to keep the accounts active. Following/liking other AGSBS members, and related accounts is encouraged. Social media posts should be perceived as informative or entertaining for a mainly biology graduate student audience, but should remain neutral on matters deemed political, and expression of personal views or opinions should be discouraged. Engagement with AGSBS members and the wider York Community is encouraged.
• Website updating should be done periodically and at least once per term. Ideally the website should be updated immediately after elections, before/after each event including the symposium, and prior to the elections. Previous webpages should not be deleted. If you would like to replace a webpage, the information on the current page should be saved and archived before replacing with a new page. Changes to aesthetic of the pages is up to your discretion. Search Engine Optimization has been put into place and should be maintained/improved with each website update.

End of Term transitioning 

• Ensure all passwords and social media accounts have been shared with the new officer.

General Description: 

The incoming CRO (Chief Returning Officer) is responsible for administering the AGSBS elections and is a position filled outside the typical elections cycle. During the period of time that they hold the CRO position, they must give up the duties they held in their previous position and solely perform their CRO duties. The CRO must not run in the upcoming 2024-2025 election year to stay impartial. The CRO will be responsible for all details involved in the upcoming election including advertisement/emailing, setting up and collecting voting, making any and all ruling on positions, and must maintain their neutrality throughout the entire process. 

Outline of duties:

• Get set up: Chair will add you to any necessary Google Drive folders, and get your wordpress profile set up and sign in to the wordpress.
• Make any necessary updates the AGSBS website including but not limited too: accurate dates, names of the positions, number of vacant spots, and a description of each position. Consult the executive committee for any changes, but the main thing is to delete all the old officer’s names. This may be coordinated with the communications officer.
• Send out your first email to biograds as the CRO using the agsbselections@gmail.com email (obtain password from Chair or Secretary)
  • Email biograds to let people know you are the CRO (you can disclose your identity if you wish), and should they have any questions concerning the elections they must email you. Students must nominate themselves for a position. Students must email you (1) their full name (2) contact email (3) program and study year (4) Lab name (5) position they wish to run for (6) and list any other positions they have held with AGSBS in the past. Incomplete nominations will be rejected, and only people with prior experience in the AGSBS can run for executive positions. Make sure you end off your email by reminding  people of the nomination deadline, and the voting period for contested positions will follow after that.
• Collect nominations and organize the information as you see fit, such as in a spreadsheet.
• Send reminder email(s) as needed. When done, update the website to include the first wave of nomination results. 
• Collect information from contested positions.
  • If there are contested positions by the end of the first round of elections, send out an email to those specific individuals and collect biographies and photographs from them. The biography should essentially explain to voters why they should vote for them. Collect and upload biographies and photos to the website under “candidate biographies” so that people can view them during the voting period. If someone doesn’t send you anything then just put their name on the website. Contested positions must be voted upon on the Election Runner website (obtain password from Chair and/or Secretary)

• Fill any vacant spots and, if needed, hold a second nomination period.
• Once all the spots are filled, you can update the website with all the new officers and your job is done!

6 positions 

The Symposium Committee is perhaps in charge of the largest single operation of the AGSBS, the Annual Symposium. Serving on this committee requires dedicated time as the Symposium requires plenty of hours for planning and execution which begins months ahead of the day of the Symposium. As the event is generally held at the end of the winter term in April, most of the work is done during the fall and winter term, with usually no work load during the summer term.

Once all members are elected to the this committee, the committee will elect their own Chair internally.

The Symposium Committee must take direction from the general membership for their planning. The Chair of the Symposium Committee checks in with the Executive Board throughout their term to review logistics, budgets, and to review progress. The Chair of the committee reports at General Members’ meetings throughout the year.

The Symposium Committee may recruit additional members if need be after the general elections.

5 Positions

The Journal Club Committee’s main objective is to provide a space for the general membership to meet and to foster interdisciplinary discussions. It operates under budgets set by the membership with the help of the Treasurer. This committee holds monthly meetings (online or in person when possible) on the last Friday of every month. Here graduate student members of the AGSBS or undergraduate students training under the supervision of any graduate student will have the opportunity to present either their own research or a published paper of their choice. Each meeting is one hour long and there are generally two speakers per meeting. The committee is responsible for cost analyses based on their allocated budget and will proceed with planning in order to provide food and/or prizes for speakers and attendees per session.

Once all members are elected to this committee, the committee will elect their own Chair internally.

The Chair of the Journal Club Committee checks in with the Executive Board throughout their term to review logistics, budgets, and to review progress. The Chair of the committee reports at General Members’ meetings throughout the year.
The Committee may recruit additional members if need be after the general election.

5 Positions

The Events Committee operates under budgets set by the membership with the help of the Treasurer. This committee generally proposes social (and other) events to the membership after cost analyses and proceed with planning and execution of the most popular events as allowed by the budget. The committee’s events vary between those hosted on campus with preparation by the committee members (e.g., Halloween party) to those fully/partially subsidized events around the city and outdoors (e.g., Blue Jay’s game).

Once all members are elected to the this committee, the committee will elect their own Chair internally.

The Chair of the Events Committee checks in with the Executive Board throughout their term to review logistics, budgets, and to review progress. The Chair of the committee reports at General Members’ meetings throughout the year.
The Events Committee may recruit additional members if need be after the general elections.

5 Positions

The Honours Thesis Committee is in charge of receiving top selected honours theses from undergraduates from the BIOL 4000 Course Director, and assigning a rubric for determining the best thesis in a consistent manner. The committee awards the winner with a monetary (or other) prize as determined by the organization. The majority of the workload is during the summer semester, and serving on this committee requires that members are available during that time period.

The Chair of the Honours Thesis Committee checks in with the Executive Board throughout their term to review logistics, budgets, and to review progress. The Chair of the committee reports at General Members’ meetings throughout the year.
The Events Committee may recruit additional members if need be after the general elections.