Ratification and Elections

Ratification for Existing Clubs

What is Ratification?

Club ratification means having an official agreement between BUSU and your club to become a recognized entity of BUSU and Brock University. Active clubs must re-ratify every year.

What Do I Need to Do Before I Ratify My Club?

Review the Clubs Handbook and Clubs 500 Policy yearly to stay up to date on policies, rules and guidelines.

Documents Needed for Ratification

• Membership list (first + last name and Brock email of each club member)
• Club email and social media pages
• Executive names and Brock emails
• Club guide
• For re-ratifying clubs, most recent monthly Scotiabank statement

 

Elections

Club elections take place every February to select the next club executive team. See below for election resources.

• Club Executive Transition Template
   

Importance of Club Elections

Club elections are held to ensure that members are democratically elected to positions that are required to operate the club. Correctly running an election allows the members to vote for the students they believe are best suited to the role, which can result in the club operating more professionally and remaining active and engaging on campus.

Elections are also important for longevity of the club. Having an annual election will ensure that your club will be able to grow and prosper after you finish your time at Brock.

What Are The Rules Around Elections?

The all rules are outlined in the Clubs 500 Policy

How Do I Run Club Elections?

Elections are run on the BUSU website. Each club member and executive is required to join thier club via the BUSU website in order to vote in club elections. 

Each club is required to have an election coordinator who is meant to answer any basic questions that club members may have about the election process.The person who is the election coordinator can not also be running in the election themselves. 

Once the election coordinator is picked, they are required to attend the virtual election coordinator training to prepare for the upcoming elections.

Once training is complete, club executives and members are able to nominate themselves on the BUSU webiste for various club positions like President, Treasurer or Social Media Coordinator. 

Once nominations are complete, club executives and members are able to vote over a two day period as to who should be thier club's incoming executives for next academic year. 

Election Do’s and Don’ts

Do:

• Post/tell club members about open positions and their requirements
• Be clear about the responsibilities of the positions
• Set clear deadlines for applications, campaigning, and election periods
• Send out instructions to club members (how to apply, where to apply, etc.)
• Be present for your members: monitor direct messages and emails for any questions they may have
• Once your election concludes, you can start training your newly elected executives

Don’t:

• Do not delay the election to ensure it is complete done on time
• If possible, don’t run an election in person
• Don’t make voting public; all election votes should be anonymous
• Don’t recruit new members at the last minute for the sake of voting. This is against club rules and is not allowed.

 

Frequently Asked Questions