The second of our two spring General Assemblies was held on April 17 in hybrid format. The primary purpose of this assembly was to hold elections for union committees. Elected officials and committees also presented reports of their progress over the 2022-23 academic year.
As part of his 2022-23 mandate, AGSEM President Mario Roy presented reports about the ongoing unionization drive for graders, note-takers and other academic support workers at McGill, as well as the activities of the external affairs committee. Likewise, Mobilization Officer Kiersten van Vliet presented reports from the Mobilization-Communications Committee and Working Groups as well as the Invigilator Bargaining Committee. The financial reports and Audit Committee were already presented and approved at the March 28 General Assembly (read more here).
Executive Committee reports were also presented by the seven 2022-23 committee members, Mario Roy (President), Matei Petrescu (Secretary-Treasurer), Kiersten van Vliet (Mobilization Officer), Jean-Philip Mathieu (TA Grievance Officer), Teresa Joseph (Invigilator Grievance Officer), Marta Beszterda (External Communications Officer), and Karan Kumar (Macdonald Campus Officer).
Following the Executive Committee reports, elections were held for the Executive Committee, and other permanent union committees: the Equity and Diversity Committee, Audit Committee, Mutual Aid Fund Committee, Mobilization-Communications Committee and Working Groups, and External Affairs Committee.
Your 2023-24 Executive Committee is Mario Roy (President), Matei Petrescu (Secretary-Treasurer), Kiersten van Vliet (Mobilization Officer), Jean-Philip Mathieu (TA Grievance Officer), Teresa Joseph (Invigilator Grievance Officer), and Marta Beszterda (External Communications Officer). The majority of the outgoing committee ran for and won another mandate.
The Macdonald Campus Officer position remained unfilled at the GA, but has since been filled by Aire McCall in an election held at the May AGSEM Delegates' Council under article 4.14 of the AGSEM Constitution. An official election procedure for Macdonald Campus Officer will be held at the next General Assembly in Fall 2023. In the meantime, a big welcome to Aire to the Executive Committee!
Congratulations to all AGSEM members who ran for committee positions! The updated list of AGSEM committee members is available here.
The final motion on the agenda was to create a committee to organize our union’s archive and work on projects related to AGSEM’s 30th anniversary this year, which included hiring two archivists for this project. The ad-hoc AGSEM 30th Anniversary Committee is composed of two archivists/historians, the AGSEM Communications Officer, Mobilization Officer, TA Grievance Officer, and President (ex officio).
After receiving 16 applications and interviewing 8 candidates, the committee selected Erika Kindsfather (PhD Candidate in Art History at McGill), and Miranda Nadine Monosky (MA in Geography and now-graduate of a MISt with focus in Libraries and Archives from McGill), and they were confirmed by the General Assembly. Our archivists have contracts of 60 hours each at the TA wage, with the possibility of the approval of more hours by the Delegates’ Council or General Assembly from the AGSEM honorarium budget. Keep your eyes peeled for more news about our upcoming events and exhibitions!
As always, full reports from the general assembly can be consulted by AGSEM members upon request to mail@agsem-aeedem.ca.