Governance Documents
These documents guide our association and hold us accountable to serving graduate students.
Governance Policies
These policies, are intended to help foster the highest governance standards, integrity, and accountability. They are structured to provide detail on the roles and responsibilities of the Board, how the Board remains accountable for its own practices, and to establish limitations and monitoring practices for the President.
Constitution & Bylaws
This constitution governs the transaction of business and affairs of the GSA in representing, promoting, and defending the common interests of graduate students at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Strategic Plan
Every three years, the Board of Directors, GSA President, and GSA staff creates a strategic plan to guide the association and its growth over the next three years. The document is to be broad enough to account of flexibility needed at Laurier, while being detailed enough to ensure accountability to students. The plan includes the GSA’s vision, mission, and values, details the organization of the internal structure, their strategic goals, and town hall feedback from each faculty.
View the Strategic Plan document.
Annual Plan
Every year the incoming GSA president compiles a list of each initiative and advocacy effort the incoming operations team agrees is important to pursue in the upcoming year. Many of these items are first recognized, documented, and discussed during the GSA's annual retreat and it is updating on an ongoing basis internally to document the completion of each task. This document is also used to reflect the goals outlined in the strategic plan. View our annual plan for 2023-2024.
Governance Committee Terms of Reference
The purpose of this committee is to ensure that the Board fulfills its legal, ethical, and function responsibilities through governance policy development, recruitment strategies, training programs, monitoring of board activities and evaluation of board members performance. The committee is responsible for creating governance policy and procedures, recruiting and orienting new board members, and conducting annual assessments of the Board’s strengths and weaknesses. View the governance committee terms of reference.
Management Resources Committee Terms of Reference
The purpose of this committee is to ensure that the Board fulfills its responsibilities with regards to managing the President. The committee is responsible for the maintenance of a Presidential job description, facilitating the election of a President, and ensuring an annual review process takes place. View the committee’s terms of reference.
Organizational Chart
The GSA is a not-for-profit organization. Our team consists of the board of directors who are elected volunteers, who then hire our President, who then hires the rest of the operations team. View our full organizational structure.
Operations Policy Manual
Our operations policies are intended to help foster a set of standards for the operations team when providing customer service, event planning, and for GSA office operations.
Emergency Succession Plan
The emergency succession plan ensures the continuous coverage of executive duties critical to the ongoing operations of the GSA and its services to members, in the event of the unplanned and extended absence of either the President or Executive Director.
Health & Safety Committee Terms of Reference
The purpose of this committee is to ensure the health and safety of Veritas Café employees, while meeting both Laurier SHERM and government legislation policies. View the committee’s terms of reference.
Human Resources Policy Manual
The GSA prides itself on being an equitable, fair, and living wage employer. The following policy manual was creating to ensure that the standards the GSA holds itself to are being met.
Board of Directors Code of Conduct
The Board commits itself and its members to ethical, businesslike and lawful conduct, including proper use of authority and appropriate decorum when acting as a Board member. View the code of conduct.
Operations Team Code of Conduct
The Operations Team commits itself and its members to ethical, businesslike and lawful conduct, including proper use of authority and appropriate decorum when acting as a team member. View the operations team code of conduct.
Election Operating Procedures
Complaint Policy
This policy provides guidance to our staff and individual(s) who wish to make a complaint on the key principles and concepts of our complaint management system. Thus, this policy is intended to ensure that
we handle complaints fairly, efficiently and effectively.
Ethical Procurement Policy
The WLUGSA is committed in doing its part to make ethical, equitable and sustainable choices. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the WLUGSA and all of its service areas and groups are upholding green, local, and sustainable purchasing practices and partnerships while it practice our vision, mandate and values of the organization.