MSVUSU Committees
Committees are an important part of governance at the MSVUSU.
To apply to join a committee email your resume and cover letter to supres@msvu.ca.
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Glossary
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Chair: The person responsible for organizing and conducting the meeting.
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SRC Member: A person in an elected role who sits on the Students' Representative Council (SRC)
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Non-executive councilor: A member of the Students Representative Council (SRC) who is not an executive (president and vice presidents).
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Student at large/Member at large: A member of the student body at MSVU who is not a member of the Students' Representative Council (SRC), or a service manager.
Standing Committees
Budget committee
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This committee meets to develop the yearly budget for the MSVUSU. This process involves student consultation, an evaluation of union's financial position, the general economic environment at the university. The budgeting process is important in order to balance student needs with financial constraints, to maximize the level of service we can provide our membership.
This committee meets at least bi-weekly during the winter semester. The committee will likely begin meeting in the fall semester to begin planning the budget consultation process we will follow in the winter. The committee can also meet at the request of the committee membership.
The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) reports to the Students Representative Council (SRC) following each Budget Committee meeting, and will present the budget to the SRC at least one meeting before council will vote to approve the budget.
Pay & Honoraria committee
This committee meets to make decisions about honoraria payments. Council members, as well as the speaker and elections coordinator, are given an honorarium for their work. The honorarium amount depends on the amounts listed in governing documents and on the committee's opinion of the reports provided to it. It is up to the pay and honoraria committee to review council members' reports and decide what honoraria get paid each semester.
The committee typically meets before the last SRC meeting of each semester or as needed.
Human Resources Committee
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The human resources committee is responsible for hiring staff; making disciplinary decisions; creating and maintaining human resources policy manuals and handbooks. The committee is currently working on a new employee handbook and working to improve our workplace satisfaction.
The committee is chaired by the President, and the chair can add or remove people from the committee as needed to avoid conflicts of interest in disciplinary decisions.
The committee meets as needed, which is typically at least once a month. Meetings are more frequent during complex HR matters, or when reviewing HR handbooks etc.
Constitution & Policy Planning Committee
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This committee reviews and recommends changes to the MSVUSU governing documents. These include the Constitution By-laws and Policies. The MSVUSU is currently re-writing all governing documents with the help of our HR consultant, and changing the governing document structure slightly. The committee plays a significant role in completing this project, and taking the recommended changes to the student's representative council.
Society Affairs
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This committee reviews all society funding applications, and society discipline according to the Societies policy.
Health Insurance Plan
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This committee reviews all health and dental plan appeals. Often, this involved deciding if the MSVUSU will accept a late opt-out, and the amount of fees that will be refunded if the appeal is granted. This committee also hears other appeals as necessary.
The Health Insurance Plan Committee is chaired by the Health & Dental plan manager, and meets as needed.
Crisis Communications Committee
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This committee is a strategic communications task force aimed at addressing crises that affect the MSVUSU, Mount Saint Vincent University, or the students at Mount Saint Vincent University.  This committee will discuss the crisis unfolding, and create a strategic communications plan, including drafting and approving statements put out by the MSVUSU. Occasionally, the Crisis Communication Committee will be briefed on ongoing confidential matters, to plan the communications strategy if the situation becomes public.
This committee is chaired by the President, and will meet as needed. Not all members of the committee will be called upon for all crises situations, and where necessary deliberations may occur over email. Committee members will be asked to provide the chair with a phone number they can be reached at after hours. Occasionally, a situation may arise outside business hours that must be addressed quickly.
Elections Committee
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The Elections committee discusses student and MSVUSU concerns regarding elections. In practice, this committee meets before and during elections to plan for, and hear complaints about the elections process. This committee also adjudicates violates of the elections by-law included here.
This committee is chaired by the elections coordinator. The committee is required to meet by-weekly during the academic year, but this does not occur in practice and may change with the updated governing documents.
Student Executive
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The student executive committee meets as needed to work through day to day operational issues of the MSVUSU, including those that involve developing directives for the staff members on the executive committee.
Executive Committee
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The executive committee meets at least bi-weekly (usually weekly) to handle day to day operations of the MSVUSU.
Compensation Review Committee​
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The Compensation Review Committee is responsible for completing an annual review of the general compensation and honoraria scheme for all MSVU Students’ Union employees. This committee meets as needed, but must meet at least once per year prior to the creation of the annual budget.
Special Committees
Food Security Committee
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The Food security committee coordinates the food bank and soup kitchen operations. The committee also makes recommendations to the students representative council on changes to either operation, new operations that address food security, reallocation of space to either project, major equipment purchases to further either operation, and changes to the committee mandates as required.
This committee is chaired by the Vice President of Advocacy and meets biweekly.
Understanding different committees
MSVUSU Committees
The MSVU Students' Union administers many programs and services for the benefit of the MSVU student body. The work is directed by the Student Representative Council, and executed and committees. The MSVUSU standing committees deal with routine work required for day-to-day business, including budgeting, communications, goverance and more. Standing commitees are written into the bi-laws. The MSVUSU Special Commitees are formed as needed, for a time limited, strategic purpose. The membership of many committees committees includes “Members at Large”, which includes all students at MSVU who are not on the Students Representative Council, and who are not employed by the MSVUSU.
MSVU Senate Committees
The Senate is one of the two bicameral governing bodies of the MSVU. Senate deals with academic matters, including academic policy, academic appeals, curriculum, library resources, research, writing and more. Students have six seats (votes) on Senate, and representation on many Senate committees. These committees is where the majority of Senate’s work is done. Student Representatives are chosen according to the MSVUSU Student Representation Policy.
MSVU Board of Governors Committees
The Board of Governors (BOG) is one of the two bicameral governing bodies of MSVU. BOG deals with the administrative and financial matters of the university, including the university budget, hiring the university President and other senior administrators, facilities maintenance and planning, advancement (fundraising), and more. Many of these administrative functions are carried out by university staff, with BOG providing oversite and approval of major projects, like new buildings, major renovations, new student support programs and more.