Executive Roles and Responsibilities​

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President

The duties of the President are:

• Lead BGSA meetings;

• Provide ideas and guidance for new initiatives to enhance the graduate student experience;

• Aid all members in planning and running events;

• Ensure all events/interactions are according to the Constitution and Bylaws of the DGA and Graduate Student Association;

• Oversee the operation of the officers of the DGA;

• Represent graduate community of the Biological Sciences; the president must sit on 2 committees as necessary - there is a mandatory HAC (Head Advisory Committee) and Department Meeting that you must attend every month. During HAC meetings, you will report to the Department Head and Associate Heads. This meeting also provides an opportunity for you to voice issues in the graduate student community in our department and raise concerns. Moreover, these meetings also give you an opportunity to advertise events/ask for support. You must attend in total 2 meetings per month. You will be responsible for ensuring that a BGSA executive is present at other department and GSA meetings. The other meetings that you may attend will depend on your team (there are other department meetings and GSA meetings that require graduate student representation).

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The time commitment of this role varies depending on the upcoming events and grant applications (Quality Money). Planning months require on average ~ 7 hours of meetings, whereas event months may need up to 25 hours (symposium). As the student body representative, the President should be an excellent communicator, presenting ideas and concerns to the department and the executive members. As the President, you should also keep an eye on certain deadlines such as the Quality Money applications (key source of funding for the BGSA) and you should be the main driver of the events. Moreover, as President, you should embody certain characteristics such as kindness, initiative, camaraderie, and making the BGSA fun.

 

VP Internal

The duties of the VP Internal are:

• Ensure items and tasks voted on are executed;

• Lead executive meetings in the President’s absence;

• Take over the duties of the President in the event that the President is unable to perform them;

• Provide support to the rest of the team, as needed;

• Sit on committees as necessary.

 

The time commitment of this role varies depending on the upcoming events and grant applications (Quality Money). Planning months require on average ~ 7 hours of meetings, whereas event months may need up to 25 hours (symposium). The VP Internal should be an excellent communicator, presenting ideas and concerns to the department and the executive members. The VP Internal is also a supportive role, helping the rest of the team as needed. Often, the VP Internal also helps the President with reports and forms needed by the Graduate Student Association.

 

VP Communications

The duties of the VP Communications are:

• Take minutes during meetings of the Executive and make such minutes available to all members of the Executive;

• Relay all correspondence within the BGSA executive team and from the executive team to members;

• Publish the department newsletter every month;

• Sit on committees as necessary.

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The time commitment of this role varies from month to month. Planning months usually required 5 hours of meetings, whereas event months required up to 25 hours (symposium). As the principal point of communication between the BGSA and the department, there was a variable amount of emailing every month advertising BGSA events or opportunities for students. The VP communications is the person who sends out all the emails and is in charge of putting together the monthly newsletter. The VP communications must be persistent in contacting people to get replies to important emails.

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VP Finance

The duties of the VP Finance are:

• Oversee the financial operations of the BGSA and;

• Create and maintain all financial records of the BGSA;

• Prepare and monitor purchases and expenditures of the approved budget from the prior meetings;

• Compile and submit one (1) financial statement with the annual report to the Graduate Student Association and BGSA membership;

• Manage and report on all finances related to any Quality Money funded projects;

• Sit on committees as necessary.

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The time commitment for this position varies contingent on the events that are taking place. On average 5 hrs per month should be budgeted for group meetings and other required meetings that you choose to be a committee on. For big events such as the BGSA symposium or Winter formal (if any), more commitment is required especially for planning the event, purchasing necessary materials, and paying invoices. Being organized is an asset, as the VP Finance is responsible for all the finances of the group.

 

VP Student Life

The duties of the VP Student Life are:

• Promote events and their details to members - this task is shared with VP Communications and VP Events;

• Aid the VP Events in planning and running events;

• Manage and update the BGSA social media channels – this task is shared with VP Events;

• Manage and update the BGSA website;

• Sit on committees as necessary.

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The time commitment of this role varies greatly on initiatives that the team decides. Busy months with events required more planning. On average, 5-10 hours per month is required but can be up to 30 hours at the time of the symposium. Creativity and graphic design are assets for creating advertisements for social media and on posters around the department.

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VP Events

The duties of the VP Events are:

• Promote events and their details to members - this task is shared with VP Communications and VP Student Life;

• Oversee the planning of events hosted by the BGSA with the executive;

• Manage and update the BGSA social media channels – this task is shared with VP Student Life;

• Sit on committees as necessary.

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The time commitment of this role varies greatly on initiatives that the team decides. Months with events required more time and planning. On average, 5-10 hours per month is required but can be up to 30 hours at the time of the symposium. Organization and creativity are assets to ensure events proceed smoothly according to all university regulations and to host engaging events.

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Committees

Members of the BGSA executive team must sit on committees to represent the graduate students in Biological Sciences and the Graduate Student Association. The executive team may decide which committees to sit on. Each executive must sit on two committees. A list of the committees and the role of the executive are below.

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• HAC (Head Advisory Committee) – The BGSA President acts as the graduate student representative on HAC, voicing any graduate student issues to the department head and the committee. This committee meets once per month for two hours.

• Department Meetings – Three executives sit on department meetings to represent the graduate students of Biological Sciences and to voice graduate student positions on any issues that arise. One BGSA executive, usually the President, will give a short report on any updates pertaining to graduate students in the department. Department meetings occur once per month for two hours.

• GRC (Graduate Representative Council) – GRC is the GSA’s policy-making body, and three executives sit in the council to represent the graduate students of Biological Sciences. These meetings happen once per month, starting in October, for 1.5 hour in the evenings. Once the executives have been decided, failure of executives to attend these meetings will result in the withdrawal of GSA funding.

• EDI (Equity, diversity and inclusion) Committee – Two executives sit on the EDI committee to represent graduate student issues and concerns with regard to EDI, and to spearhead EDI-related initiatives within the department. This committee meets once per month.

• SIT (Safety Improvement Team) – One executive sits on the safety committee to discuss safety issues and represent graduate student issues.

• Other committees that meet less frequently (One executive each):

  • International Engagement

  • Outreach

  • Greenhouse Committee