What is a General Meeting?

A General Meeting is a meeting of the general membership of an organization required by law, often held annually, to conduct important business on behalf of the organization.

It’s a highly influential opportunity to shape the direction of the organization, hold the Board of Directors directly accountable, and to act as a forum for discussing what’s important to you.

As all UWaterloo undergrads are members of WUSA, you are invited to attend to help make important decisions that will guide our efforts moving forward.

Why should you attend?

Want to hear what’s going on with WUSA? Or bring forward a change to improve your student experience? Here’s your chance to participate and have your say! 

The day-to-day operations of WUSA are looked after by your elected student representatives and supported by staff, so that you can focus on your academics, social life, well-being, and everything else students’ juggle.

Once a year, WUSA holds a General Meeting where all 30,000+ members (including you) can attend to provide direction for what you want us to do and how you want us to operate for the year ahead.  

Forms

Students who are unable to attend the WUSA Special General Meeting are entitled to proxy their vote to another individual to vote on their behalf. 

Those who want to proxy their vote may indicate a specific person they want to hold their proxy; otherwise, WUSA will randomly assign proxy according to constituency.

Proxy holders are compelled to vote according to the indicated preference of the person for whom they are proxying.

Proxy your vote

FAQ

The General Meeting Agenda is approved by the Board of Directors. The Board will determine items for the General Meeting and may refer items through different channels (exec committee, regular council discussion item, town hall discussion, etc), if necessary. The agenda is then released 2 weeks prior to the meeting. 

Have questions about the WUSA General Meeting process? Email pres@wusa.ca or chair@wusa.ca.

The Board sets the agenda for the General Meeting. WUSA’s constitution prohibits new items that were not released with the agenda from being voted on; so, any amendments proposed at the meeting must be within the scope of the original motion. The Board will include any member submitted proposals to the Agenda, provided they do not contradict the law, bylaws, or policies.

The General Meeting does not have the power to make decisions that are conferred as a responsibility of another body (i.e. the Board of Directors) under WUSA’s constitution. So, a General Meeting can neither act on nor revoke/limit the exercise of any power of the Board of Directors, without first amending the bylaws. In this way, the Constitution (and amendments made to it by the General Meeting) effectively limits the power of the General Meeting, ensuring that elections and referenda remain the key democratic decision-making tool in WUSA.

When adopting the Agenda, the Board traditionally includes a provision that the General Meeting accepts the course of business, and that any items that are not addressed, unless otherwise dispensed with or referred elsewhere, including due to loss of quorum, are to be referred to the Students’ Council for rendering of a decision. 

All WUSA meetings are governed by Robert’s Rules to ensure meetings are held in an orderly fashion.  

Robert’s Rules is essentially a guide of the rules, ethics, and customs that are followed during the meeting.

We understand the rules aren’t always easy to follow along with so we’ve created a guide to help! 

Meeting Agenda & Minutes

There are many ways to keep up-to-date with the latest meeting minutes and agenda. Download and view past meeting agendas and minutes from our General Meeting Agenda and Minutes Sharepoint.

If you are interested in any agendas and minutes from previous meetings that are not listed, please contact the Governance Manager (secretary@wusa.ca).