Equipment Fund Bylaws

History
Adopted	1993-12
Last Modified	2018-08

	What is a bylaw?
	Important Documents
History
Adopted	1993-12
Last Modified	2018-08

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Bylaws

The Engineering Undergraduate Equipment Fund (EUGE) is a fund composed of fees paid by Engineering undergraduate students and of other contributions, whose purpose is to provide those students with additional laboratory equipment to that normally supplied by the University

Article 1: Definitions and Purpose

1.1 The Engineering Undergraduate Society of McGill University (hereafter “EUS”) is the registered name of the not-for-profit corporation representing the engineering and architecture undergraduate students at McGill University.

1.2 The Board of Governors of the EUS (“Board of Governors”) is the administrative board of the Engineering Undergraduate Society of McGill University which is composed of Administrators as defined by the EUS Constitution.

1.3 The EUS shall recognise all Departmental Societies, Clubs, and Design Teams set forth in the relevant articles of the EUS Constitution as EUS Groups.

1.4 The Engineering Undergraduate Equipment Fund (“Equipment Fund” or “EUGE”) is a fund composed of fees paid by members of the EUS and of other contributions, whose purpose is to provide those students with additional equipment, software, and repair and maintenance to that normally supplied by the University.

1.5 The Equipment Fund Committee (“EFC”) is a committee of the EUS which normally administers the Equipment Fund.

1.6 These bylaws govern both the Engineering Undergraduate Equipment Fund and the Equipment Fund Committee.

Article 2: Function of the Equipment Fund Committee

2.1 The Equipment Fund Committee shall review and approve the expenditure of the Engineering Undergraduate Equipment Fund monies in such a manner that it most benefits the members of the EUS in their academic environment. This equipment shall be of primary benefit to only those undergraduate students.

2.2 The Equipment Fund Committee shall approve a list of proposals for equipment acquisition in accordance with this bylaw.

Article 3: Timeline of the Equipment Fund

3.1 The Equipment Fund’s deadlines shall be as follows:

3.1.1 The deadline for the opening of the application period by the Vice President Academic of the EUS shall be the third Monday in the month of January.

3.1.1.1 Opening the application period shall consist of the Vice President Academic of the EUS releasing the Equipment Fund application form as well as the predicted departmental and Faculty allotments as per 9.4.

3.1.2 The final deadline for submission of proposals by the departments shall be the second Monday in February.

3.1.2.1 Following submission of proposals, the Vice President Academic of the EUS shall review them within one week and shall inform departmental Vice Presidents Academic as to any required documentation that may be missing as per 4.1.6.1.

3.1.3 The latest possible date for the EFC to meet and vote on proposals shall be the second Monday in March.

3.1.4 The deadline for spending the money allotted to a department or to the Faculty is the second Monday in February of the year following that in which the money was awarded.

Article 4: Duties of Departmental Societies

4.1 Departmental Vice Presidents Academic shall:

4.1.1 Meet with the Chairperson of their department, or their appointed representative, to review proposals.

4.1.2 Complete a preliminary budget to be signed by themselves and the Chairperson following their meeting as per 4.1.1.

4.1.3 Submit their department’s applications and preliminary budget to the EUS VP Academic for review.

4.1.4 Provide their council with a list of the department’s expenditures in the prior year as they pertain to the EFC.

4.1.5 Amend the proposed budget as per 4.1.2 to reflect the results of their council’s vote on the proposals.

4.1.6 Send the finalized budget and required documentation to the Vice President Academic of the EUS as per 3.1.2.

4.1.6.1 Required documentation for each proposal shall consist of a completed application form, quotes for all pieces of equipment to be purchased, and any letters detailing the financial contribution of any organization external to the EUS as per 9.7 and 9.8.

4.1.7 Identify and verify the purchases made by their departments through the Equipment Fund from the previous year to ensure that:

4.1.7.1 The purchases have arrived at their intended destination;

4.1.7.2 The purchases are directly benefiting undergraduate students in that department;

4.1.7.3 Any irregularities are reported to the Vice President Academic of the EUS.

4.1.8 Identify purchases made through the equipment fund using stickers as per 10.2.

4.2 Departmental Presidents shall:

4.2.1 Organize a vote by their councils on the proposals.

4.2.2 Sign the finalized proposal budget.

4.2.3 Complete the duties per 4.1 in the absence of the departmental Vice President Academic.

4.3 Departmental councils shall review and vote on the proposals suggested by the departmental Vice President Academic.

4.3.1 A two-thirds (2/3) majority shall be necessary for proposals to proceed to the EFC.

Article 5: Membership of the Committee

5.1 The eight (8) departments recognized by the EFC are:

5.1.1 Bioengineering;

5.1.2 Chemical Engineering;

5.1.3 Civil Engineering;

5.1.4 Electrical and Computer and Software Engineering;

5.1.5 Mechanical Engineering;

5.1.6 Mining Engineering;

5.1.7 Materials Engineering;

5.1.8 School of Architecture.

5.2 The EFC shall be composed of ten (10) voting members as follows:

5.2.1 The Vice President Academic of the EUS, who shall chair the EFC (“Chair”);

5.2.2 The President of the EUS;

5.2.3 The Dean of the Faculty of Engineering (“Dean”);

5.2.4 Five (5) members of the Board of Governors;

5.2.5 Two (2) members-at-large appointed by the EUS council.

5.2.5.1 The two selected members should be from different departments.

Article 6: Duties of the Committee

6.1 The Vice President Academic of the EUS shall:

6.1.1 Propose motions to the EUS Council and Board of Governors seeking committee members.

6.1.2 Chair the EFC meetings.

6.1.3 Set and distribute the agenda for the EFC meetings, and inform all members as to the dates and times for these meetings at least five (5) school days in advance.

6.1.4 Coordinate all actions taken between meetings, and, when pertinent, keep members informed as to these actions.

6.1.5 Advise and instruct all members to ensure they are able to perform their duties, and enable the EFC to be as effective as possible.

6.1.6 Oversee the financial management of the Equipment Fund accounts.

6.1.7 Verify and channel the requisitions made as a result of approved EFC proposals.

6.1.8 Following the EFC meeting, the Vice President Academic of the EUS shall communicate the approved proposals and finalized EFC budget to the Faculty financial services team.

6.1.9 Verify that the previous year’s purchases have been made.

6.1.10 Take action in the event that the equipment purchased in any previous year is not used for its intended purpose.

6.1.11 Present to the first regular EUS Council meeting of each November a description of the previous year’s expenditures in the Equipment Fund accounts.

6.2 The President of the EUS shall:

6.2.1 Take minutes of the EFC meetings.

6.3 The members of the EFC shall:

6.3.1 Review all submitted proposals prior to the EFC meetings.

Article 7: Replacement of Members

7.1 If for any reason a member cannot continue their term, they shall be replaced as follows:

7.1.1 The Dean shall appoint a replacement faculty representative.

7.1.2 The EUS Executive Committee shall appoint one of its members as a replacement for the Vice President Academic of the EUS.

7.1.3 The EUS Executive Committee shall appoint one of its members as replacement for the President of the EUS.

7.1.4 The Board of Governors shall appoint one of its members as a replacement for a Member-at-Large of the Board of Governors.

7.1.5 The Vice President Academic of the EUS shall appoint a replacement for a member-at-large.

Article 8: Voting Procedure

8.1 Each member as defined by 5.2 shall have one vote on the EFC.

8.2 Quorum shall consist of eight (8) members of the EFC, provided the Dean, or their replacement as per 7.1.1, and the Vice President Academic of the EUS, or their replacement as per 7.1.2, are in attendance.

8.3 Proposals from a department may only be voted on if that department’s chairperson and departmental Vice President Academic, or their respective representative(s), are present.

8.4 Proposals lacking any required documentation, as per 4.1.6.1, shall not be considered for approval by the EFC

8.5 A two-thirds (2/3) majority is required for a departmental proposal to pass, otherwise the proposal is rejected for the current year.

8.6 A two-thirds (2/3) majority plus the Dean is required for a Faculty proposal to pass, otherwise the proposal is rejected for the current year.

8.7 Proposals dismissed in 8.4 and 8.5 may be submitted again, with or without modifications, in subsequent years.

8.8 An online approval process may be initiated at the discretion of the Vice President Academic of the EUS. It shall operate as follows:

8.8.1 An email shall be sent to the committee members by the Vice President Academic of the EUS detailing the circumstances of the vote, and shall include any required documentation associated with the proposals being reviewed.

8.8.2 A deadline shall be set and the vote shall be considered complete after this period of time has elapsed.

8.8.2.1 If quorum has not been reached, the deadline shall be extended until eight (8) members of the EFC have submitted their votes.

8.8.3 All proposals under consideration through this online approval process are subject to the voting requirements as per 8.2.

Article 9: Equipment Fund Finances

9.1 The Equipment Fund shall be composed of two (2) distinct accounts: one account shall receive all monies collected from students and shall serve to make purchases (“main account”), and another account shall receive all other contributions to the Equipment Fund (“contribution account”).

9.2 Equipment Fund fees and the collection of those fees shall be as follows:

9.2.1 Every student registered in an Undergraduate Engineering program and taking nine (9) credits or more (“full-time students”) shall contribute fifty dollars ($50) per semester to the Engineering Undergraduate Equipment Fund.

9.2.2 Every student registered in an Undergraduate Engineering program and taking less than nine (9) credits (“part-time students”) shall contribute per semester one half of the amount stipulated in 9.2.1 to the Engineering Undergraduate Equipment Fund.

9.2.3 The fees per 9.2.1 and 9.2.2. shall be collected by McGill University as as a mandatory student fee, and deposited into the main account of the Equipment Fund.

9.2.4 Any contributions other than those per 9.2.1 and 9.2.2 shall be collected by University Advancement and deposited in the contribution account of the Equipment Fund.

9.2.5 Transfers from the contribution account to the main account shall be initiated by the Vice President Academic of the EUS whenever necessary, provided that the transfer is ratified by the Board of Governors.

9.3 For a given year, the gross amount available for allocation (“gross amount”) shall consist of the sum of the collected fees as per 9.2.1 and 9.2.2, of the funds transferred from the contribution account, if any, and of the monies not spent in the previous year(s) that were returned to the main account.

9.4 The gross amount per 9.3 shall be allotted in the following manner:

9.4.1 An appropriate amount shall be set aside for the purchase of identification stickers.

9.4.2 Fifteen percent (15%) shall be allotted to a Faculty Fund (“faculty allotment”).

9.4.3 Twenty percent (20%) shall be evenly divided between the departments defined in 5.1 (“base departmental allotment”).

9.4.4 The amount remaining after subtracting amounts allocated in 9.4.1, 9.4.2, and 9.4.3 from the gross amount (“net amount”) shall be split between departments based on an allocation ratio:

9.4.4.1 The allocation ratio for each department shall correspond to the fraction of the total number of students in that department over the total number of students in the Faculty of Engineering.

9.4.4.2 The total number of students shall be calculated as the sum of part-time students, divided by two, and all full-time students in a given department or the Faculty.

9.4.4.3 The allocation ratio times the net amount shall be the proportional departmental allotment for each department.

9.4.5 The total allotment for a department shall consist of the sum of the base departmental allotment of 9.4.3, the variable allotment of 9.4.4, and any surplus, forwarded, or misevaluated funds from the previous year.

9.5 The Faculty allotment shall be used for purchases which benefit students from all departments.

9.6 The Faculty allotment may not be used to pay for departmental purchases that have gone or will go over their allotted budget.

9.7 If a department agrees to allocate money from its own accounts toward an Equipment Fund proposal, a letter covering the agreement and signed by that department’s Chairperson must be presented to the EFC before a vote on that proposal can be initiated.

9.8 If the Faculty of Engineering agrees to allocate money from its own accounts toward an Equipment Fund proposal, a letter covering the agreement and signed by the Dean must be presented to the EFC before a vote on that proposal can be initiated.

9.9 In the event that a partially funded purchase can no longer be bought due to budget cuts on the side of the Faculty or department, the monies set aside by the Equipment Fund shall be returned to the main account of the Equipment Fund in full.

9.10 Definitions:

9.10.1 Surplus Funds are defined as the amount of money awarded to a department for which no proposals are submitted.

9.10.2Forwarded Funds are defined as the amount of money awarded to a department which the department decides to carry forward to purchase equipment that it cannot afford with a single year’s allotment.

9.10.3Unspent Funds are defined as funds that arise when approved purchases have not been made by the deadline set in 3.1.4.

9.10.4Misevaluated Funds are defined as funds that arise when an item costs less than the amount approved by the EFC.

9.11 Surplus Funds less than or equal to ten percent (10%) shall be added to the following year’s allotment for that department as calculated in 9.4.5. Any of the surplus above ten percent (10%) shall be returned to the following year’s main account as per 9.3.

9.12 Departments wishing to purchase a piece of equipment in the following allotment period may forward an amount to the following year for that purpose, provided that:

9.12.1 The Forwarded Funds as defined by 9.10.2. shall be at least ten percent (10%) but no more than fifty percent (50%) of the current year’s total allotment for that department. This amount shall include a provision for inflation and a potential price increase caused by delaying the purchase.

9.12.2An explanation notice shall be included with the proposal, and shall be presented to the members of the EFC before the proposal can be voted on.

9.12.3If a department fails to meet conditions 9.14.1 and 9.14.2, then the whole of the amount becomes Surplus Funds and is subject to 9.12.

9.12.4In the event that Forwarded Funds are not spent in the allocated two-year period, they shall become Unspent Funds.

9.13 The procedure per 9.12 and its subsections shall also apply to proposals made for the Faculty allotment, by replacing “department” by “Faculty”.

9.14 Unspent Funds as defined by 9.11.3 shall be returned to the main account in the year following the deadline to purchase the items.

9.15 Misevaluated Funds as defined by 9.11.4 shall be awarded to the department from which the funds arise in the year following the misevaluation.

9.16 In the event that the cost of an approved purchase increases by ten percent (10%) or less, the purchase may be made with no additional approval. Should the increase exceed ten percent (10%), an online approval process shall be completed as per 8.8.

Article 10: Identification Stickers

10.1 Identification stickers shall be acquired with the money reserved for that purpose as per 9.4.1. The wording of the text appearing on the stickers plaques shall be to the effect of: “A gift from the Engineering Undergraduate Equipment Fund.”

10.2 The departmental Vice Presidents Academic shall attach these stickers to acquisitions from the previous year(s) in a reasonably prominent way (i.e. in clear view of the user), if it is possible to physically do so without damaging the equipment.

10.3 Whenever necessary, other appropriate means of identification shall be used in lieu of stickers in the case of 10.2 or in the case of intangible equipment (e.g. a message could be displayed for software items).

Article 11: Cyclical Review of the Equipment Fund Fees

11.1 The existence of the Equipment Fund fees shall be put to referendum once every four (4) years.

11.2 Every fourth year, and immediately following the presentation of the annual report per 6.1.10, the Vice President Academic of the EUS shall present a referendum motion to the EUS Council in accordance with 11.1.

Article 12: Termination of the Equipment Fund

12.1 If the cyclical review referendum of 11.1 is defeated, or if any spontaneous general referendum to the effect of terminating the Equipment Fund fees is passed, then the following shall apply:

12.1.1 The EFC shall be rendered obsolete and dismissed.

12.1.2 Any proposals that were approved by the EFC prior to the dismissal of the Equipment Fund fees shall be honoured.

12.1.3 Any outstanding fees that were assessed prior to the dismissal of the Equipment Fund fees shall be deposited into the main account of the Equipment Fund.

12.1.4 Notwithstanding 9.2.1 and 9.2.2, the clause per 9.2.4 shall remain in full effect.

12.1.5 Notwithstanding, 9.10, 9.11, 9.12 and its subsections, any surplus or forwarded monies shall be returned to the main account of the Equipment Fund.

12.1.6 The administration of the Equipment Fund shall be transferred to the trust of the Board of Governors.

12.1.7 The Board of Governors shall administer the Equipment Fund in agreement with 2.1.

12.2 A general referendum must be passed to reinstate the Equipment Fund fees in the case that the Equipment Fund fees had previously been suspended as per 12.1.

12.3 In the case of a passing referendum as per 12.2, then:

12.3.1 The trusteeship defined in 12.1.6 shall be rendered obsolete and terminated.

12.3.2The EFC shall be reinstated.

12.3.3Any proposals that were ratified by the Board of Governors prior to the reinstatement of the Equipment Fund fees shall be honoured.

Article 13: Superseding Clause

13.1 This document completely supersedes any anterior versions of the Equipment Fund Committee Bylaws.

Article 14: Amendments

14.1 Amendments to these Bylaws must be approved by a simple majority vote of the Board of Governors of the EUS.

14.2 Amendments to these Bylaws must additionally be ratified by a general referendum.

Article 15: Interpretation

15.1 In the case of a conflict between these Bylaws and the following documents, the following documents prevail in the order they are listed in:

15.1.1 The Quebec Companies Act;

15.1.2 The EUS Letters Patent;

15.1.3 The EUS Constitution. Appendix I: Equipment Fund Financial Flowchart

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