GES Service Positions

Some of these positions are specifically related to the GES, while others are positions that are open to the GES community. If you know of a position that should be listed here, please contact the GES Co-Chairs, Stephanie Oliver and Mandy Penney. If you are interested in becoming involved with the University Senate, please visit the Senate elections website. For more volunteer opportuntiets, on- and off-campus, visit Career Services@Western.

ACCUTE Representative

Currently held by David Drysdale
Duties: Directing graduate student inquires to the appropriate ACCUTE executives and forwarding ACCUTE emails--usually CFPs for conferences and publications--to graduate students.
Approximate Time Commitment: Less than one hour per week
Manner of Election: Self-nominations are generally requested once per year by the outgoing ACCUTE student representative.
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Appointments Committee Representative

Currently held by Tina Northrup
Duties: This position involves participation in the whole process of hiring (a) new faculty member(s): helping to draft the ad; shortlisting; attending interviews, job talks and less formal meetings with the candidates; and finally, voting for a candidate.
Approximate Time Commitment: The time commitment is low during the summer, but is very high during the first term (evaluation of applications), and high during the second term (interview process, job talks). Also, if more than one position needs to be filled, the time commitment is even higher. Conversely, if the department is not hiring in a particular academic year, the load may be lighter.
Manner of Election: Before the spring Departmental meeting in April of each year, the GES co-chairs, having attended the Departmental meetings, will notify the GES that the Appointments Committee needs a grad student rep for the next year. Anyone interested will forward his or her name to them. The volunteer(s) will attend the Departmental meeting in the spring, when most of the committees for the next year are decided, including the Appointments Committee. If there is more than one volunteer, each will say a few words at the meeting describing why s/he would like to be on the A.C., and the department will do a ballot vote (results announced immediately) to elect the holder of the position.
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GES Co-Chair (2 positions)

Currently held by Tara Murphy and Erica Leighton
Duties: The two main functions of the GES Chairs are to organize social events for the GES and to represent the members of the Society on a political level. The social events include parties, monthly Tea With Profs events, coffee houses, etc. On the political side, the Chairs serve on the Committee on Graduate Studies, serve as voting members at the Departmental Meetings, organize any necessary meetings of the GES, and represent generally the concerns and interests of the GES to the administration. The Chairs also organize the Grad Buddy program each summer, and occasionally run fund-raisers, such as the GES Book Sale.
Approximate Time Commitment: The time commitment for this position is high, especially in September. There are numerous small tasks that inevitably arise on top of the standard duties of the Chairs.
Manner of Election: Near the end of the winter term, the outgoing Chairs will call for nominations for replacements. Once all the nominations are in, one of the Chairs will organize an election via email, each GES member votes for his/her two favoured nominees. The Chair administering the election is not allowed to vote.
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GES E-Mail List Manager

Currently held by Jeff King and Gord Barensten
Duties: The duties of this position involve adding and removing people from the mailing list and dealing with any technical problems that may arise.
Approximate Time Commitment: Minimal. An hour or two of work is required each September to update the list and to describe the purpose of the list to the incoming students, plus an hour here and there throughout the year as necessary.
Manner of Election: Self-nomination. Contact the GES Co-chairs for details.
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GES Secretary / Treasurer

Currently held by Mandy Penney
Duties: The Secretary is responsible for taking minutes at all GES meetings. After making the minutes available to the Co-Chairs to check for errors, the minutes are circulated to the membership through the GES email list. Minutes and proceedings of GES meetings are kept confidential within the GES community. The Secretary is also responsible for collecting and storing hard copies of the minutes and any supporting documentation for the GES files during his/her tenure. These documents are sent to the GES Co-Chairs upon completion of tenure. The Treasurer is responsible for managing the GES funds. Duties include depositing funds raised by the GES, issuing funds for GES events, and reporting earnings and expenditures to the membership on a regular basis. The Treasurer is also responsible for keeping financial records such as year-end reports, receipts, and bank correspondence for the GES files. Relevant documents are sent to the GES Co-Chairs upon completion of tenure.
Approximate Time Commitment:3 to 5 hours monthly
Manner of Election: Self-nomination. Contact the GES Co-chairs for details.
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GES Webmaster/mistress

Currently held by Jeff King and Gord Barensten
Duties: Work with GES Co-Chairs to modify and update sections of GES website as required.
Approximate Time Commitment: Variable
Manner of Election: Self-nomination, when requested by the outgoing webmaster/mistress. Contact the GES Co-chairs for details.
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GES M.A. Representative

Currently held by Rebekah Lamb
Duties: The MA representative attends certain meetings of the Committee on Graduate Studies (CGS). He or she has voting rights at CGS meetings. He or she also attends Department meetings but does not have voting rights, since at least for the time being the interests of the graduate student community are represented in this respect by the GES co-chairs. At CGS and Department meetings, the MA rep is responsible primarily for representing issues concerning the MA cohort but can take into account the larger concerns of the graduate student community as well. Additionally, the MA rep is a member of the GES Executive and should be available for monthly GES-E meetings to help plan events and initiatives.
Approximate Time Commitment: 3-5 hours monthly
Manner of Election: Self-nomination, with a vote by the GES membership. Contact the GES Co-chairs for details.
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SOGS Council Member

Currently held by Dean Ziegler, Mandy Penney, and Stephanie Rade
Duties:The SOGS councilors are responsible for attending monthly SOGS council meetings, which take place on the last Thursday each month at 6pm and run for approximately two hours. SOGS councilors are asked to vote on decisions affecting grad students, from new scholarly and social initiatives to improving the Grad Club. Councilors may also take issues and concerns to the larger Council if recommended by the GES. Each time SOGS councilors attend the monthly meeting, SOGS makes a small financial donation to their department.
Approximate Time Commitment: 2 - 3 hours per month minimum; more if you choose to volunteer on various SOGS sub-committees.
Manner of Election: Self-nomination; form available through the SOGS website. The English department has been allotted three positions; however, as students may attend by proxy, more than three students may share the three positions. Nominations can occur at any time during the year, as meetings occur year-round. For more information, consult the SOGS website on joining the Council.
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TA Union Steward

Currently held by Brooke Pratt
Duties: The Departmental Steward's duties include representing the English department at GTA Union meetings, acting as a go-between for English TAs and the Chief Steward for the Arts (i.e., passing along comments and complaints), and explaining Union rules and benefits to English TAs (particularly about the Union's Health Care and Bursaries programs). The Steward is provided with a small amount of monetary compensation.
Approximate Time Commitment: The Steward must attend a few meetings per semester and spend a variable amount of time spent corresponding with students.
Manner of Election: Self-nominated when the outgoing steward requests a new steward.
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