Dear QPIRG Concordia members and supporters –
QPIRG Concordia’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place last week, October 15, 2015, attended at the high point by sixty of our members, including more than thirty Concordia student members. Thank you to everyone who came out to participate in this important process for our organization.
Our AGM is an excellent occasion to share some updates about our organization. Much of the key information below is also shared at the Fee Levy Info link on our website HERE.
i) Board of Directors
QPIRG Concordia is directed and managed by a Board of Directors comprised of six student positions, and six community positions. We can announce that QPIRG Concordia’s new Board of Directors for 2015-16, elected at the October 15, 2015 AGM, will be:
Student Members: Shayla Chilliak, Stephanie Dufresne, Kaiza Graham, Amal Kenshil, Laura Macdonald, Sophia Sahrane
Community Members: Otto Buxton, Gregg Prevost, Rana Salah, Sophia Salem, Sanjeevan Tharmaratnam, Malek Yalaoui
Thank you to everyone who ran for our Board of Directors and will be supporting QPIRG Concordia in this way in the coming year.
We would like to again thank everyone who served on our outgoing (2014-15) Board of Directors: Kwaku Adomako, Shaina Agbayani, Otto Buxton, Shayla Chilliak, Alyce Dressner, Farhana Jumki Haque, Idil Isse, Jess Mac, Laura Macdonald, Sarah Mangle, Thien Viet Quan, Sophia Salem, Sanjeevan Tharmaratnam and Daniel Wolfe (welcome back Laura, Otto, Sanjeevan, Shayla and Sophia).
ii) Annual General Meeting (AGM)
The AGM is an opportunity to report back to the QPIRG Concordia membership and also to respond to questions. During the AGM, we heard reports from the following QPIRG staff and volunteers:
– Otto Buxton provided a report on behalf of the outgoing Board of Directors;
– Milena Gioia provided a report on behalf of the Conflict Resolution/Complaints Committee (CRCC);
– Adrienne Pan provided a report about DisOrientation as well as a report as the Administration and Communications Coordinator;
– Noah Eidelman provided a report about the Study In Action Undergraduate & Community Research Conference as well as a financial report as the Finance and Fundraising Coordinator;
– Jaggi Singh provided a report as the Programming and Working Groups Coordinator as well as a report about the Grassroots Resistance Archive on behalf of Swetha Keerthi;
– Cassie Smith provided a report about the Community-University Research Exchange (CURE Concordia), which also involved the contributions of Gwen Muir;
– Elena Stoodley provided a report about the Alternative Library, which also involved the contributions of Cleve Higgins;
– Andrea Figueroa provided a report about the School Schmool Alternative Agenda, which also involved the contributions of Xindi Li;
– Kristin Li provided a report about the Convergence Journal.
The AGM also elected a new Board of Directors and CRCC.
iii) Annual Report
Every year QPIRG Concordia produces a written Annual Report providing more detailed information than the AGM oral reports.
The 2014-15 Annual Report is available online HERE.
Some highlights from the Annual Report include:
– Message from the Board of Directors
– Message from the QPIRG Concordia Staff
– Conflict Resolution & Complaints Committee Report
– QPIRG Board Committee Reports
– Core Projects and Activities Reports: Alternative Library; Community-University Research Exchange (CURE Concordia); Study In Action; Convergence Journal; School Schmool Alternative Agenda; Disorientation
– Other Projects and Initiatives: Grassroots Resistance Archive, Fee Levy Advocacy at Concordia (FLAC), Solidarity Concordia
– Research Stipend
– Programming and Working Groups Event Highlights
– Discretionary Funding and Endorsements
– Working Groups 2014-15
– Financial Reports: Draft Financial Statements 10/1/2014-08/31/2015; Audit Report ending August 31, 2014
iv) Financial Information
Our most recent externally audited financial statements can be downloaded HERE.
We are expecting our audited statements for the fiscal year ending on August 31, 2015 to be ready in the coming months. Our Annual Report includes our Draft Financial Statements from October 2014 to August 2015 (inclusive).
QPIRG Concordia is registered as an Organisation à but non lucratif (OBNL) with the Régistre des enterprises du Québec. Our NEQ # is 1143320613.
v) CRCC
As per our constitution, the AGM also elects a Conflict Resolution and Complaints Committee (CRCC). Our new CRCC for 2015-16 will be comprised of the following QPIRG Concordia members who were elected at the AGM: Milena Gioia, Farhana Jumki Haque, Taylor Lewis, Kayle Towsley
Our outgoing CRCC was comprised of: Ian Bradley-Perrin, Karina Chagnon, Milena Gioia, Taylor Lewis and Cassie Smith (welcome back Milena and Taylor).
As noted at the AGM, and as per previous years, our outgoing CRCC had nothing to report concerning conflicts or complaints.
vi) Constitution
QPIRG Concordia’s AGM and day-to-day functioning is guided by our Constitution. Our up-to-date constitution is available HERE.
vii) Fee-Levy Refunds
For our student members: should you wish to opt out of our fee levy (31 cents per credit for Concordia undergraduate students, and 50 cents per semester for Concordia graduate students) our next opt out period will be the two week period following the last day for academic withdrawal. In order to receive your fee refund you need to visit QPIRG Concordia during the opt out period during office hours. QPIRG Concordia’s next refund period is running from Monday, January 25, 2016 to Friday, February 5, 2016 (two weeks). In order to opt-out, please come to our office, 1500 de Maisonneuve W., suite 204, during our office hours (12pm – 6pm) with your student id and show us your student account record with the up-to-date number of credits you are taking (you can provide this info in different ways: by showing your academic record via your own laptop or mobile phone; by logging onto to your myconcordia portal from a computer at our office; or by providing a printout of your record). Our space will be open on January 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and February 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, from 12pm to 6pm. Refunds will be provided in cash at the fee levy rate of $0.31 per credit/per semester (for undergrads) and $0.50 per student/per semester (for graduate students). Our office space is accessible to wheelchairs. For detailed accessibility information, visit:click HERE.
viii) Stay in touch
If you have any questions about this report-back, or any feedback, please share it with us at info@qpirgconcordia.org. Visit our website for ongoing updates about the activities of QPIRG Concordia. Definitely get in touch if you’d like to get more involved with QPIRG Concordia core projects and activities.
To stay up-to-date about QPIRG Concordia activities:
-> Follow us on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/QPIRGConcordia
-> Join our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/QPIRGConcordiaGRIPConcordia
-> Subscribe to our low-volume, moderated, e-mail announcements list: https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/qpirgsprouts
-> Visit our up-to-date website: http://www.qpirgconcordia.org