CALL FOR NOMINEES FOR SOGS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2018

All SOGS members are eligible to be nominated for the position of President. The nomination is period is February 5 – 23 2018 (close of business day).

Nomination forms must be obtained from and submitted in writing to the SOGS Office (UCC 260). A complete form requires two nominating signatures from members in good standing.

Further information about campaigns and elections will be posted after the nomination period. An election will only take place if there are multiple candidates. If a candidate is unopposed, they are acclaimed to the post of President.

Questions should be directed to the Chief Returning Officer, Stephanie Dennie (stephanie.dennie@uwo.ca) and the Deputy Chief Returning Officer, Chantal Lemire (clemire2@uwo.ca).

For more information on the elections process, consider consulting the Elections Handbook.

Duties of the President

A complete description of the President’s duties and elections rules can be found in the SOGS Constitutions and Bylaws. A selection appears below.

The President

• shall be responsible for the overall operation of the affairs of the Society.
• shall oversee the bookkeeping and administrative functions of the Society.
• shall be responsible for ensuring the Vice-Presidents execute their duties.
• shall be a non-voting member, ex-officio, of all standing committees of the Society.
• shall be responsible for calling a meeting of the Executive prior to any General or Council meeting.
• shall chair Executive meetings and prepare an agenda.
• shall be responsible for the minutes of Executive meetings.
• shall, with the Vice-President Finance, and only with Council’s approval, enter into loan agreements on behalf of the Society.
• shall, with the Vice-President Finance, be responsible for the administration of the Society’s emergency loan system, travel grants fund, and child care fund.
• shall, with the Vice-President Finance, and with Council’s approval, be responsible for the administration of the Society’s long-term investments.
• shall ensure the names of the winners of Society’s non-confidential sponsored programs are published.
• shall co-ordinate the contract renewal process for the Society’s office staff.
• shall maintain organizational charts that reflect the mandate, operations, and needs of the Society, and shall update them annually.
• shall, as appropriate, call a meeting of all Executive Officers, Commissioners and Committee Chairs to discuss issues with the Society, which shall be reported to Council.

Thank you,

Stephanie Dennie, M.A, B.A

Doctoral Student

The University of Western Ontario

Department of Classics

Students without a WesternONE tap card can pick up a paper pass for the winter term staring

Monday, Dec 11, noon

In addition, SOGS will have extended hours the first week to accommodate students with hours beyond our regular office hours of 9 am to 4 pm:

• Monday, January 8, 2018:  9 am – 6 pm
• Tuesday, January 9, 2018:  9 am – 5 pm
• Wednesday, January 10, 2018:  8 am -6 pm
• Thursday, January 11, 2018:  9 am – 5 pm
• Friday, January 12, 2018: 9 am – 5 pm
• Monday, January 15, 2018: 9 am – 5 pm
• Tuesday, January 16, 2018: 9 am – 5 pm

Subsidy applications must be provided by the last business day of each term.

*REMEMBER: The SOGS office only accepts hard copy subsidy applications. Because SOGS is a non-profit organization, we require original receipts. We cannot accept per-diems.

SOGS Bursary deadline dates are September 30, January 31, and May 31.

Applications are completed online through the SGPS Graduate Student Portal. More information can be found at sogs.ca/member-services/financial-support/#bursaries

The SOGS Office will be closed December 22 at 4 p.m. and will return in the new year on January 8 at 9 a.m.

We wish you the very happiest holiday season and see you in the new year!

Petition for Full and Equal Access for International Students at the University of Western Ontario

NOTE: Since this petition was first started, Western has since declared (March 14, 2018) that International PhD students will be charged *domestic* tuition as of September 1, 2018. 

• Whereas international students already pay tuition fees that are 3 to 4 times higher (2.5 higher at Western University) than fees charged to domestic students for the same education; and
• Whereas international student’s tuition fees are deregulated in Ontario, and in some cases these fees are raised by 20 per cent in a year (5% at Western University); and
• Whereas institutions continue to use differential tuition fees for international students as a revenue generating strategy due to lack of adequate government funding; and
• Whereas in 1994, the Ontario government disqualified international students from the Ontario Health Insurance Program (OHIP) and;
• Whereas international students studying at universities must enroll in a private health insurance program – the University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP) – which costs between $600.00 and $2000.00 per year. This for-profit health insurance plan provides limited health coverage that is not accepted universally by physicians, hospitals and clinics in Ontario; and
• Whereas provinces like British Columbia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia currently include international students on their provincial health insurance programs; and
• Whereas international students contribute over $4.4 billion annually to the province’s economy through paying tuition fees, basic living expenses and consumer spending; and
• Whereas international students are not eligible for federal funding from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHR) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) except for Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

We the undersigned petition the administration at the University of Western Ontario to support the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario’s call and Petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to:

i. Petition the University of Western Ontario’s administration to stop unfair practice of deregulated tuition fee hikes for international students and support the call by the Canadian Federation of Students Ontario to call on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to increase funding; and

ii. Petition the University of Western Ontario to petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to restore OHIP coverage for international students.

iii. Petition the University of Western Ontario to petition Minister Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, to extended eligibility for Canada’s three funding agencies (NSERC, SSHRC, and CIHR) to international students.