Campus Wellness Student Advisory Committee

2022-23 Cohort

Mandate

The goal of the Campus Wellness (CW) Student Advisory Committee (SAC) is to serve as an essential mechanism for ensuring CW implements, delivers, and evaluates programs and services that meet client needs by incorporating client voice/perspectives into everything they do.

The SAC will enhance client engagement and improve the quality of programs and services at CW by: 

• Providing input on/recommendations for improving or enhancing CW services, initiatives, procedures, processes, practices etc.
• Representing client perspectives about theirs and others experiences at CW, including undergraduate and graduate students.
• Supporting CW to enhance its client engagement and client-centred care practices.
• Strengthening communication and collaboration between CW clients, and students not engaging services.

 “Client” refers to any student who receives support or services provided by CW whether on-going or as needed or who engages with any program that is provided by CW.

Role and process

• The committee is an advisory body to Campus Wellness units.
• The committee is not a decision-making body.
• CW units can request to bring items to the SAC for information, consultation, deliberation, or collaboration. They can make their request by submitting a completed Presentation Request Form (in Appendix A) to the staff coordinator. All requests will be discussed with the chair and staff liaison to ensure agenda items are scheduled in a timely manner.
• The committee can bring forward recommendations through the chair to the CW Senior Management Team. When forming these recommendations:
  • The committee will make every effort to operate on a consensus model (acceptance by all members).
  • When consensus is not attainable, the chair will call a vote, and the item can be moved forward if it has the support of at least 7 student members.
  • It is understood that recommendations of the committee remain subject to normal University of Waterloo policies and approval processes, and the discretion of the CW Senior Management Team.

Committee Structure:

• Chair, Director of Campus Wellness
• (Co-chair, SAC member: role rotates once a year)*
• 12 student representatives
  • Registered UWaterloo students for the duration of their term
  • Includes graduate and undergraduate representatives
  • Ideally 50% are current service users or have used services in the past 2 years
  • Represent the diversity of UWaterloo’s student population with respect to race, ethnic origin, international status, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or disability
• Staff liaison
• Staff coordinator

The committee may invite non-committee members to attend as guests as necessary.

Duties of the chair

• Ensures the SAC functions properly, that there is full participation during meetings, that all relevant matters are discussed, and that recommendations are brought back to the CW Senior Leadership Team
• Conducts meetings according to the terms in this document, and ensures that matters are dealt with in an orderly, efficient manner

Duties of the staff liaison

• Co-facilitates and debriefs meetings with the chair
• Designs agendas and facilitation plans to ensure each meeting is planned effectively
• The staff liaison and staff coordinator will preferably represent different units within CW

Duties of the staff coordinator

• Acts as main communication liaison with members
• Provides administrative and meeting support (notifying members of meetings, distributing agendas, managing meeting logistics, taking and distributing minutes)
• Coordinates project work between meetings

Duties of the members

Members are expected to:

• Come prepared to actively participate in scheduled committee meetings
• Represent, to the best of their abilities, the views and interests of the communities they are part of at committee meetings
• Work collaboratively with other committee members to achieve consensus on all decisions
• Respect lived experience and bring broader perspectives
• Approach one another with understanding, empathy, curiosity, and patience
• Respect the confidentiality of all sensitive information disclosed or discussed at committee meetings
• Aim to participate in minimum two CW events (e.g., Thrive, training workshops)

Members who accept a seat on the committee will serve a one-year term on the committee. If extenuating circumstances arise where a student is no longer able to fulfil the entirety of their term, they should alert the chair as soon as possible. Members may reapply to extend their term by another year up to two years total served on the committee. The SAC may retain up to 50% of eligible incumbent members to support continuity and allow space for new perspectives. Final membership decisions will be made at the discretion of the chair to ensure membership is fair, balanced, and meets the requirements outlined under Committee Structure.

Members will endeavor to attend at least 10 meetings over the course of their term. They are welcome to join even if they can only stay for part of a meeting. If they are unable to attend a meeting, they will notify the staff coordinator in advance, and will connect with another member or the staff coordinator to ensure they are prepared to participate in the next scheduled meeting. Members who miss more than two regularly scheduled meetings without notice will be contacted by the staff coordinator to discuss whether reasonable accommodations can be made and/or if a decision to be replaced during the next recruiting cycle is more appropriate.

Meeting frequency

The SAC will meet for 2 hours on a monthly basis using MS Teams, and when possible, in-person up to two times a year. Members will receive $25/hr. for their active participation in scheduled meetings.

• Additional meetings and sub-group meetings will be booked on an as-needed basis on the recommendation of a majority of the SAC members and the chair. Sub-group meetings will be facilitated by the chair or staff liaison.
• If asked to participate in an additional committee meeting or sub-group, students will be compensated up to 4 hours/month at $25/hr.

Recruitment and onboarding

Recruitment for a new cohort will take place once a year for a May start-date. Recruitment to replace inactive or withdrawn members will take place on an as-needed basis. In the event that membership is unbalanced in terms of diversity, applicants may be declined or deferred accordingly.

Call for applications will open in March. Applications with redacted identifying information will be reviewed by a sub-group of committee members and the chair. Final recruitment decisions will be made at the discretion of the chair to ensure recruitment is fair, balanced, and meets the requirements outlined under Committee Structure.

Students interested in joining the SAC will submit a written application identifying what perspectives, experiences, and skills they bring to CW SAC. Regular screening processes will apply (See Appendix B for detailed application procedure).

Incoming SAC members will be oriented and trained in alignment with the training required by Campus Wellness and university procedures and guidelines. Members can receive compensation for this training time at $25/hr. up to a maximum of four hours. The onboarding process will also include:

• Receiving access to the MS Teams channel to review previous agendas, minutes, and other materials
• Hearing presentations about each CW unit by every members of the CW Senior Management Team within the first two committee meetings

Linkages:

The SAC will have communication pathways through the chair to:

• Director – Campus Wellness
• Senior Management Team
• Leadership Team
• Internal committees
• Units within Campus Wellness

Campus partners may include:

• Campus Response Team
• Health or counselling-based services, such as MATES
• WUSA clubs that represent equity-deserving voices such as GLOW or RAISE
• Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (Sexual Violence Prevention & Response Office)
• AccessAbility Services (AAS)

*This role was not in place for the 2021-22 cohort.

Appendix A – Presentation Request Form

Appendix B – Application Process

Applicants to the CW Student Advisory Committee will be selected on the following criteria:

• Current registered student of University of Waterloo.
  • SAC will strive to represent the diversity of UW’s communities.
• Be a client of CW services or have received services from CW in the past 2 years.
  • Ideally at least 50% of the 12 SAC members will be current CW clients.
• Represent the diversity of University of Waterloo students (with respect to race, ethnic origin, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or disability). In the event that membership is unbalanced in terms of diversity, applicants may be declined or deferred accordingly.
• Skills in one or more of the following areas:
  • event planning
  • public speaking
  • community organizing and advocacy work (bringing people together to work on a specific change goal)
  • quality improvement, evaluation

Applicants will also be asked:

• What interests you about being a part of the Student Advisory Committee?
  • Example: being a client of a CW service (and the benefits and challenges of receiving support), struggling with accessing services, etc.
• What is one change you hope that the Student Advisory Committee will bring to CW?
• Declare any identities or lived experiences that will enhance the diversity of the committee.
  • In wanting the SAC to represent the diversity of the University of Waterloo student community, students who are members of equity-deserving groups with respect to race, ethnic origin, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or disability are encouraged to declare so in their application.
  • All SAC members must be comfortable with identifying as someone who has used CW services and has lived or living experiences with health or mental health issues.
• SAC members must have access to internet and a smart phone or computer with camera and microphone capabilities.