OPIRG WORKING GROUPS

Each fall and winter term OPIRG McMaster takes applications for "working groups" on environmental and social justice issues.

What is a working group? Working groups are semi-autonomous groups of students and community members who organize around specific issues relating to the environment and social change. OPIRG desires to engage students in critiquing, researching and acting on pressing social/environmental issues.

Working Groups receive funding from the OPIRG office, as well as ongoing support and training.

Working Groups use the CONSENSUS DECISION MAKING model to ensure equal access to power within groups, and are expected to take an ANTI-RACISM workshop.

Previous and ongoing working groups include Colombia, Non-Violence Now, Transportation for Liveable Communities, Waste Reduction, Recycle Cycles, Food Not Bombs, Guatemala, Community Volunteer Action, Fair Trade, and many others.

How do I start a working group? OPIRG accepts APPLICATIONS for Working Groups in the fall and again at the start of the winter term. APPLICATIONS are reviewed by our Board of Directors who meet with applicants to ask questions about the proposal before deciding which groups will be accepted. One page APPLICATION forms are available at the OPIRG office or here.

DATES

To find out more, please contact the OPIRG office in the Student Centre room 229, or call 905-525-9140 ext. 27289 or ext. 26026.

OPIRG-MCMASTER WORKING GROUP POLICY



April 10, 2002

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to establish clarity and consistency to Board-Staff-Working Group relations and practice. It is meant to provide guidelines to Working Groups so that they may reflect and observe OPIRG principles. Board departures from this policy are permissible, however, this policy is meant to direct and inform any Board actions, and as such, should be addressed in any departures.



1. Creating a Working Group



0.1 MSU/OPIRG Sponsorship



Since the MSU lays out in its Operating Policy 1/D "Club Recognition" its requirements for all clubs as follows:

Clubs have to have an executive made up exclusively of MSU members (6.a.v-vii);

an MSU club must indicate its status as such on all advertising and correspondence;

all MSU clubs must have a constitution;

a club with direct connections to a group outside the university must state so explicitly in its application for MSU funding;

and, any club/society/organization that collects a fee through the university is ineligible for funding from the MSU (7.c).



And since OPIRG operates on a basis of consensus decision making, the MSU stipulation that an executive, a constitution, and elections be part of a club's activities cannot coincide with OPIRG membership. Therefore, it is the recommendation of this policy that any group having MSU sponsorship not be adopted as an OPIRG working group, and that OPIRG working groups do not seek MSU sponsorship in addition to this status.



0.2 Principles of a Working Group



All working groups must understand and promote the OPIRG principles of consensus decision making, anti-racism policies, and take an educative as well as active role in the university community and beyond.



1.3 Proposing a Working Group



i. All would-be applicants are to be given an outline of OPIRG's aforementioned principles and expectations of working groups (as laid out in this policy) before submitting their proposals. This outline will describe OPIRG, its activities, expectations, and goals, both on broad and narrow scales.

ii. There is no need for working groups to create a constitution for themselves, rather, the application for a working group should act as a founding document for the working group and will include some ideas of specific events/campaigns as well as an indication that the outline given out has been read and understood. In addition, a list of current working group members and their contact information is required upon submission for the sake of working group accountability and knowledge of who the working group represents.



iii. Once a working group proposal is made, the written proposal is to be circulated to the Board of Directors (hereinafter BOD or Board) by a reasonable amount of time before the next board meeting. This allows for board members to formulate their questions or suggestions well enough in advance of the meeting at which they must decide whether or not to pass the proposal. At the next BOD meeting following the circulation of a working group proposal, the applicant(s) will come in to establish contact with the BOD and address any concerns that it might have, as well as to ask questions. Questions may also be asked directly on the application form.





1.4 Returning Working Groups



Returning working groups should follow the procedure required of new working groups upon reapplication every year. This way, any changes in a working group's makeup, goals, or direction are known to the Board, and there is an opportunity to establish/maintain contact between the Board and the working group.



0.5 Approving a Working Group



Working group approvals are decided at Board meetings, and working group contacts will be informed of the Board's decision by office staff the day after that decision has been taken, or else as soon as possible.





2. Working Group Responsibilities



1.1 Workshop Attendance



i. A majority, if not all, working group members shall attend at least one of OPIRG's consensus decision-making and anti-racism workshops (including members of returning working groups). The BOD is responsible for promoting these workshops in the working groups in which they participate, and should attend meetings to announce them.

ii. Members attending the workshop(s) should sign in their names and the working groups they represent in order to record that working group's compliance with requirements.



2.2 Working Group Activities/PublicEvents



i. As aforementioned, it is hoped that working groups will take an educative as well as an active role in the university community and beyond. The ways in which working groups fulfill these hopes is generally left entirely up to the working group members, provided they uphold the principles of consensus decision-making and anti-racism. To this end, working group members are encouraged to meet regularly to discuss the issues of interest to them, set goals and directives to guide the working group, be creative and support each other in carrying out initiatives that work towards education and action.



ii. Working groups are encouraged to recruit members and advertise their activities through any means available to them through OPIRG (i.e. OPIRG mailing list, OPIRG sponsored posters, etc.). Working groups are also entitled to a photocopy account and a limited amount of OPIRG funds. The OPIRG staff members are readily available to help with recruitment and advertising; it is to working groups' advantage to keep the staff updated on their activities.



iii. To keep everyone aware of working group activities and experiences, to maintain the status of an active working group and for the purposes of OPIRG's archives, working groups are responsible for submitting a minimum of two group activity OR public event reports per term. These reports will be available in the OPIRG office and should be completed and submitted by the end of the term during which the event/activity has taken place or is still ongoing. This is an opportunity for working groups to outline what their members have been involved in and what events they may have held. Working group members are encouraged to submit any media coverage, newspaper articles, resource contacts, etc. for a given activity or event with their reports.



1.3 Working Group Finances

Working groups shall be allotted a certain amount of funding each year to pay for activity or publicity costs. In spending these funds, however, a record of consensus must be kept to ensure that money is handled in the interests of the entire group. As such, when spending more than $15.00, working groups shall submit to the OPIRG office the minutes of the meeting at which this expenditure was discussed and approved by the group, and the minutes shall contain the names, signatures, and contact information of AT LEAST THREE active working group members to indicate their approval to the funding decision. This written proposal for funding should be submitted BEFORE funds are spent, and will serve as a demonstration of group consent to the amount of money requested and the purpose for which it is needed. Any group expenditure under $15.00 need not be proposed in writing.



3. Responsibilities of the Staff



3.1 Workshop Organization



The OPIRG staff shall be responsible for arranging the aforementioned consensus-decision making and anti-racism workshops. In order to facilitate the participation of working group members, every effort should be made to offer these workshops twice each per term and early in the term. Staff members are also responsible for ensuring that all working group contacts have been notified of the venue for these workshops with reasonably advanced notice. The staff should also keep track of working group attendance at these workshops.

2.2 Working Group Support



The staff will offer as much support, guidance and resources to OPIRG working groups as is requested by working groups and as is within the means of OPIRG-McMaster and its staff. To this end, staff will be available to help with planning, organizing and advertising for working group events, as well as to advise on financial and other decisions of a working group. The staff will also be available for any working group member to report their concerns or grievances about the particular functioning of their working groups and will take the appropriate actions to address these in consultation with the BOD.



The staff are encouraged to communicate with working groups regularly and help support working groups in any way they see fit, e.g. holding inter-working group meetings, providing resource and media contacts, sharing information about organizational and promotional skills, etc. The staff should also keep track of working group activities or public events, distribute activity/event report forms to working group contacts and keep track of the submission of each working group's activity/event reports as per the terms outlined above.



2.3 Communication with working groups and with the BOD



Staff members are the main liaison between working groups and the BOD. In general, it is hoped that the staff will share news and information with the BOD about the events and activities of the various working groups. Should any problems arise with the working groups, or should working groups fail to fulfill their responsibilities as laid out in Section 2, it is the responsibility of the staff to deal with the situation in their best judgment and to bring such situations to the attention of the BOD.





4. Responsibilities of the BOD



4.1 Working Group Involvement



It is hoped that the members of the BOD will do their best to support the activities and events of OPIRG working groups. To this end, the BOD can help promote working group events and/or participate in a working group. It is hoped that the members of the BOD will also be members of the various OPIRG working groups. In these groups, the BOD member is responsible for promoting working group workshops and should attend working group meetings to announce their happening. The BOD member within the working group should also make the staff and the rest of the BOD aware of any significant events or activities of the working group, as well as any problems that arise within their working group.



4.2 Working Group Maintenance

In order to stay abreast of working group developments, the BOD shall review working group activities to see that requirements have been met. The staff-collected activity/event reports and records of workshop attendance shall serve as the sources of information for this purpose. Reviews shall be conducted each term.



In the event that the working group responsibilities as outlined in section 2 are not fulfilled by any particular working group, the BOD may do any of the following in an effort to help working groups address difficulties and to uphold the responsibilities of a working group as set out in Section 2 of this policy:



· Ask member(s) of the working group to attend a BOD meeting to discuss issues

· Issue a reminder to the working group in question

· Withhold working group funds and/or advertising through OPIRG

· Revoke working group status

· Or another action deemed appropriate by the BOD



In every case where this occurs, due cause, explanation and communication for the action of the BOD must be given to the working group in question.



4.3 Protecting the Interests of OPIRG-McMaster



In exceptional circumstances where the actions of a working group has threatened the legitimacy, working relations and/or reputation of OPIRG-McMaster, the BOD may choose to invoke the powers outlined in section 4.2 in order to safeguard the best interests of the organization.









APPENDIX: RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Boards are encouraged to recognize excellence in working groups by rewarding working groups for their dedication, commitment, and enthusiasm. Recognition need not exclude anyone nor represent favouritism, but can serve as a means to be a positive force in BOD-Working Group relations. Ideas include certificates for attendance at workshops, etc.

2. Previously, groups seeking both MSU and OPIRG sponsorship have received working group status, despite the current policy recommendations. This policy indicates perhaps a better choice in action. In terms of precedence, however, future Boards should know that this policy is not necessarily representative of this year's actions.

3. This policy has been written in response to several of the problems encountered by the 2001-2002 BOD. It is meant to direct future Boards in the event of similar problems arising.