Architecture Students' Association
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| ASA Head Office |
815 Sherbrooke Street West MacDonald Harrington Building Montréal, Québec H3A 2K6 |
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| Phone | 514.398.6700 |
The McGill Architecture Students' Association (ASA) is the official representation of all undergraduate architecture students at McGill. Since 2011, the ASA has been part of the McGill Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS). The ASA is also part of the Canadian Architecture Students' Association (CASA). If you are enrolled in the B.Sc.(Arch) program at McGill, you are a member of the ASA. The ASA Council is the governing body of the ASA and comprises 16 members, all undergraduate students.
Besides organizing events and fun activities, the ASA acts as a liaison between the professors, staff and administration of the School of Architecture and its undergraduate students. At the faculty level, the ASA has 4 seats on the council of the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS). The ASA also works to connect architecture students together with the larger creative and architecture community in Montreal.
For more information, please visit our Website, Facebook page and Instagram account. If you are interested in the history of the McGill School of Architecture, you can check our Wikipedia page.
Contents
Mission Statement
The ASA is mandated to ensure the quality of student life for all its members by promoting and protected the needs and interests of students, providing social, cultural and academic activities and acting as a representation of its members within and outside the University.
Bylaws
The ASA Bylaws dictate administrative information, roles of the executive committee and class reps, and other governing bodies under the council.
Lounge "The Cellar"
As the habitants of the Macdonald Harrington Building located in the Downtown Campus, Architecture Students' Association's official Lounge is Room G2 in the Mac-Har Building. A Departmental Lounge is a room granted by the faculty to each of the Departmental Societies for the purpose of a having a space to do their activities in (host events, take payments, meetings etc.). The lounges also serve as a general space for departments to hang out or relax between classes. As the property of the ASA, the Cellar is open for all undergraduate architecture students in the School of Architecture.
Ongoing Initiatives
ASA Newsletter
Every two weeks, the VP Communications creates a newsletter highlighting upcoming ASA & EUS events, as well any other opportunities that may be of interest to architecture students, including design competitions, lecture events and more. At the end of the newsletter is that newsletter's recommended readings and projects! If you're not already receiving the newsletters, you can contact the VP Communications (asa.vpcommunications@mcgilleus.ca) to subscribe!
Mentorship Program
The goal of the Mentorship Program is to connect upper year architecture students to provide advice and act as a mentor. This is a great way for new students to feel comfortable at McGill and ask any questions and receive guidance from an older student! In the recent years, ASA has also included the Master's students to act as mentors for U3 students for their job and grad school applications.
Events
The School of Architecture organizes its Main Lecture Series which brings leading architects from all over the world to McGill as well as exhibitions and workshops on contemporary issues. The ASA hosts events that aim to bring together students from its undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate programs including the monthly Bagel Mornings, End of Year Banquet, Brown Bag Lectures while also organizing career development focused events such as Firm Crawls and Portfolio Review Sessions.
Social Events
ASA Frosh
ASA Frosh is a bar crawl organized at the beginning of the academic year to catch up with peers and introduce the incoming students the fun part of architecture. VP Internal and VP Events are in charge of organizing the event throughout the summer, finding bars and food locations, create a scavenger hunt and order merchandise for the event. It usually takes place on a Thursday night after studio and ends at a final venue where all students have fun with their peers.
Potluck
At the start of every academic year, ASA organizes a potluck as a way for returning students to catch up with peers and for incoming students to meet new friends. Usually taking place at an apartment or a park, Potluck is an opportunity to have a wide variety of food and socialize with various years.
ASA Blues
Blues Pub, the Engineering student pub is hosted by a different society every week to fundraise. Twice a year, ASA hosts the event, finds a theme and gets volunteers to serve during the event.
ASA Merchandise Sale
Once in the fall and once in the winter, ASA organizes a clothing sale for Architecture students to represent their department. The catalogues are usually made available early in the semester and clothing usually arrives about a month later. As clothing is sold at cost, this is an affordable way to show school spirit. VP Administration(s) are in charge of the sale and posts further information closer to the sales.
Year Bonding Events
Each U-Rep will host various bonding events each semester specifically for students in their given year. This is a great opportunity for students to get to know each other in their year and to de-stress from schoolwork. Such events include Board Game Nights, Among Us Nights, Wine & Paint Night and more!
Mental Wellness Events
The Equity & Mental Health Representative often will host various events to help architecture students relax during exam periods. These events aim to promote positive mental health and give a chance for students to take a break and de-stress. Such events include Yoga day before Studio, Strava Competitions and more!
Multi Departmental Apartment Crawls
Usually in conjunction with other small engineering departments such as ChESS and MEUS, ASA hosts apartment crawls, where teams of around 10 people go around the Milton-Parc community, stopping at various apartments for food and drink.
Professional & Academic Events
ASA Firm Tours
Firm tours are usually organized once a semester and is a great opportunity for students to understand the post-academic roles of architects and designers. It also allows students to explore different firms in the industry with different mandates and projects.
Academic Forum
Held once a semester, the Academic Forum allows students to communicate any academic questions and concerns directly to the department. This is a great time to express any challenges you may be having with a course. ASA Council members, President and the VP Academic, will all be in attendance for this event.
Vernissages
Throughout the academic year, McGill Architecture hosts various vernissages, exhibiting student and academic staff's work. They are almost always organized in the MacDonald Harrington Building, Room 114, also known as "the Exhibition Room". Along with the vernissage, there is wine & cheese to enjoy along with socializing with your peers and your professors!
Student Council
The student council consists of an executive committee of departmental and class representatives. Membership of the ASA Executive shall comprise of:
- The President
- The Vice President Academic
- The Vice President Finance
- The Vice President Events
- The Vice President Internal
- The Vice President Communications
- The Vice President External
- The Vice President Administration(s)
- Brown Bag Coordinator(s)
- Equity and Mental Health Representative(s)
- U0 Representative
- U1 Representative
- U2 Representative
- U3 Representative
ASA Executive Team
The ASA Council is the governing body of the ASA and is comprised of members, all of whom are undergraduate students at the School of Architecture.
History
| Position: | Name: |
|---|---|
| President | Ishaan Anand |
| VP Academic | Selena Li |
| VP Finance | Rita Ayman |
| VP Internal | Evan Rajkovic |
| VP Events | Gabe Audra |
| VP Communications | Gaby Nikolakakis |
| VP External | Alison Frendo & Marcus Chong |
| VP Administrations | Alice Worden & Leighton Corp |
| Brown Bag Coordinators | David Deck & Lauren Kim |
| Mental Health and Equity Coordinator | Fidan Hajizada |
| Sustainability Rep | Leah McAlpine |
| U0 Representative | Sydney Armitage |
| U1 Representative | Siobhan Corner |
| U2 Representative | Michael Lencz |
| U3 Representative | Saumya Gogte |
| Position: | Name: |
|---|---|
| President | David Sorokine |
| VP Academic | |
| VP Finance | |
| VP Internal | |
| VP Events | |
| VP Communications | |
| VP External | |
| VP Administrations | |
| Brown Bag Coordinators | |
| Mental Health and Equity Coordinator | |
| U0 Representative | |
| U1 Representative | |
| U2 Representative | |
| U3 Representative |
| Position: | Name: |
|---|---|
| President | Elif Kurkcu |
| VP Academic | Dylan Wang |
| VP Finance | David Sorokine |
| VP Internal | Caroline Smith |
| VP Events | Meghan Lum |
| VP Communications | Lauren Kim |
| VP External | Jia Yun Zhao |
| VP Administrations | Mariam Ag Bazet & Alynna Gao |
| Brown Bag Coordinators | Diba Khamesan & Hassan Saab |
| Mental Health and Equity Coordinator | Kenza Hajji |
| U0 Representative | Evan Rajkovic |
| U1 Representative | Ishaan Anand |
| U2 Representative | Elyssa Baaklini |
| U3 Representative | Jasmine Yu |
All ASA Council positions are elected in the Winter Semester of the previous academic year, excluding the U0, U1, U2 and U3 Representatives, which are elected in the second week of the next academic year (September).
Graduate Students
The Graduate Architecture Students' Association (GASA) has recently been established. Until 2010, the ASA also represented graduate architecture students at McGill. When architecture students decided to join the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) in November 2010, the ASA was forced to change its constitution to reflect the undergraduate nature of its new parent organisation.
Quality of Education Committee
The Quality of Education Committee(QEC, not to be confused with the Quebec Engineering Competition), or Committee pour la qualite de l'education(C.q.é), meets on a monthly basis to academically advocate for the undergraduate population. The QEC is chaired by the ASA VP Academic, who is charged with the general logistics of the group. Any undergraduate student in Architecture is permitted to attend the meetings as a non-voting guest.