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UWSA organizational structure
Board of directors
The Board of Directors guides the UWSA's strategic direction; it's responsible for long-term planning, overseeing the big picture, and ensuring the sustainability of the association. It delegates responsibility for UWSA operations to the president.
Learn more about being a director.
Operations team
The president leads the Operations Team in doing the day-to-day work of the Association: delivering programming and services to members and advocating on behalf of staff. This team includes three full-time UWSA employees—the staff advocacy officer, communications officer, and membership and volunteer coordinator—as well as the president-elect and past president.
The president's role
The president has overall strategic and operational responsibility for the UWSA’s employees, its programs and services, and the execution of its mission and strategic plan.
The complete term is a three-year commitment with three distinct positions:
- Year 1: The president-elect continues in their regular campus role while also working closely with the president, who helps prepare them to step into the role of president. This may include training to bridge any gaps in knowledge or skills.
- Year 2: The president position is a full-time one-year secondment to the UWSA during which the president receives their regular UW salary plus a stipend equivalent to 10% of USG 13.
- Year 3: The past president supports the president and provides continuity, while returning to their regular campus role.
Please note that presidential candidates need to be able to commit to the full three-year term, and that the secondment in the second year will require permission from your current manager.
The UWSA president fills three important roles: They are a leader, an advocate for members, and a spokesperson for the association.
Leadership
During the second year, the president supervises three full-time UWSA staff, providing oversight to ensure that UWSA employees have the resources and direction needed to effectively fulfill their job accountabilities and make progress toward their goals.
The president also serves as the connection between the Board of Directors and the Operations Team, leading the implementation of the strategic plan, delegating work, keeping the board updated on key issues and activities, and ensuring that board adheres to its governance model and meets its responsibilities.
Member advocacy
In all three years, the president sits on the Members’ Advisory Committee, providing support and advocacy for individual staff members.
The president co-chairs Staff Relations Committee, and sits on the Provost's Advisory Committee on Staff Compensation, working to ensure that agreements between the UWSA and the University (such as salary recommendations) and policy development centre the perspectives and best interests of members. The president must stay current on issues impacting members and member perspectives, and work with UWSA employees and representatives to develop a strategic approach to resolve concerns.
Representing the UWSA
The president is the official spokesperson for the UWSA, ensures that UWSA has a presence at relevant community events and that stakeholder communications are effective, timely, and in alignment with the Association's mission.
The president must listen to and understand member perspectives through consultation, and then identify opportunities to succinctly and persuasively express those perspectives to decision makers.
Above: The main activities current president Yessenia Guerrero spends her time on.
The president-elect phase
Throughout the first year, the president-elect is expected to:
- prepare for meetings and establish a perspective on the topic,
- actively participate in all meetings and bring your best ideas to the table,
- participate in training and development activities to prepare for the president role, and
- represent the UWSA on behalf of the president when needed.
Benefits of the role
As UWSA president, you can expect to:
- Develop your leadership and people skills by supervising three staff and chairing committees.
- Have a voice to propose improvements on behalf of staff.
- Help staff members directly by supporting them with member advocacy cases.
- Access professional development training in governance principles, leadership, and meeting facilitation.
- Gain a deeper understanding of the University structure and campus community.
- Learn about and practice strategic planning, policy development, stakeholder communication and engagement, and financial management.
- Developing working relationships with colleagues from across campus, including senior members of University leadership.
- Receive a stipend in year two, when the president role begins, equivalent to 10% of a USG 13 position.
Time commitment, meetings, and release time
As outlined in the University Service Guideline, the University grants release time to UWSA Members serving the UWSA as a director or president. Presidents can expect to spend the full release time over the course of their term.
- President-elect: three days a month to attend to UWSA business
- President: 100% release time (full-time secondment to UWSA)
- Past president: three days a month to attend to UWSA business
The supervisor of each UWSA member elected to a director or president-elect role receives a letter informing them of the appointment and the release time granted by the University.
Meetings
The UWSA operates in a collaborative manner with various University partners, which means a lot of meetings. Here's a rough idea of what you can expect in terms of meeting time. People in all three stages of the role attend most of these meetings. These estimates do not include preparation time that is required for full active participation in meetings.
| Meeting |
Frequency and length |
|---|
| Provost’s Advisory Committee on Staff Compensation (PACSC) |
Monthly for two hours |
| UWSA PACSC Subcommittee (UWSA representatives on PACSC) |
Monthly
|
| Staff Relations Committee (SRC) |
Once or twice a month for up to three hours in total |
| UWSA SRC Subcommittee |
Monthly |
| Operations Team meeting* |
Weekly for one hour |
| Members Advisory Committee |
Monthly |
| Staff Enhancement Grant Committee |
Twice a year for one hour |
| Staff Excellence Fund Committee |
Typically twice a term for one hour (president only unless delegated) |
| UWSA Board meetings |
Monthly for two hours |
| UWSA Board agenda-setting meeting* |
Monthly for 30 minutes |
| UWSA Area Representatives Council meetings** |
Monthly for one hour |
| UWSA Annual Meeting and special meetings |
One hour every year; special meetings are rarely called |
*The president-elect is expected to attend these meetings only in the last few months of their term, and the past president only in the first few months of their term, but both are welcome at all meetings.
**Only the president is required at this meeting and provides an update on the work of the UWSA.
In any of the three years, the presidents might serve on additional committees as a representative of the UWSA. Many of these roles can be assigned or delegated among the Operations Team or membership as needed.
Skills for success
These are skills that will set someone up for success in the role. It is not an exhaustive list, and possession of all these attributes is not a requirement; candidates with a subset of these skills are encouraged to put their name forward.
- Familiarity with UW policies and procedures
- A willingness to learn
- Ability to see multiple perspectives, consult broadly, and make reasoned recommendations for the association
- Ability to set the tone and be a role model for approachability, listening, and responsiveness
- Ability to effectively manage people and projects
- Ability to learn and adapt to changing priorities
- Ability to collaborate effectively with people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives
- Ability to produce results in a largely self-directed environment
- A strong sense of integrity and trustworthiness, with the ability to represent UWSA with tact and diplomacy
- Strong interest in social justice, ethics, governance, and equity
- Lived experience as a member of an equity-seeking group, particularly candidates who are racialized, Indigenous, persons with a disability, and members of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
- As president, willingness to mentor and support the development of the incoming president-elect
- As past president, willingness to mentor and support the work of the president
Experience, aptitude, and/or interest in the following is particularly beneficial:
- Leading a team
- Managing projects
- Chairing meetings and driving committee work
- Advocating and/or negotiating
- Public speaking and/or teaching
- Working with/in not-for-profit organizations
What it's like
Agata Jagielska, current past-president:
"Serving as president-elect, president, and past president of the UWSA has been an inspiring journey, filled with moments of growth, collaboration, and purpose. The experience has been a rewarding opportunity to lead, support my peers, and work towards a brighter future for UW staff."
President Yessenia Guerrero:
"Being involved in the UWSA, within any capacity, is an eye-opening experience in which you begin to understand the structures, systems, and people of our campus. It is an opportunity to discover your role within the UW community and to empower yourself with knowledge about your rights as a staff member.
I want to urge you to own your voice, be confident in your position, and take charge in creating a promising future for yourself and other staff here at UW. If you don’t do it, then who will? If not now, then when?"
