2021 ELECTIONS ORGANIZER

aka Chief Returning Officer (CRO)

Timeline: Election related work takes place from beginning of March until end of March. 

Contract: $325 for up to a maximum of twenty (20) hours of work

Deadline for Application: @ 11:59 pm on March 4th, 2021

Applicants must be members of OPIRG Guelph (more details about this bellow)

Description of Responsibilities

• Meet with the Organizational Coordinator to review Elections Planning Binder and related documents.
• Work with the Organizational Coordinator to organize promotion/notification of the elections to our membership (both within the University of Guelph community and the broader Guelph community membership list. This is to include at minimum: an advertisement in the Ontarion (organized with the Organizational Coordinator), email notice to the OPIRG Guelph volunteer list, & posting on relevant websites including Cannon.ca.
• Work with the Organizational Coordinator to update the Candidate Profile Questions as needed (these need to be approved by the Board of Directors). 
• Acquire from the Office Coordinator a list of people who have opted out of membership (students’ who have refunded their fees and are not eligible to vote)  —see bylaws for details.
• Acquire from the Office Coordinator a list of members (this is a list of people who have purchased/been granted a membership who are not the levy paying students). This should be done 1 week before the elections, when sale of memberships is suspended.
• Receive nomination forms electronically.
• Contact candidates by email to let them know their nomination form was received.
• Contact the candidates/nominees to confirm their attendance/availability for the Candidate Orientation meeting.
• Organize and facilitate the Candidate Orientation meeting or meetings to explain the election guidelines and the election process to all candidates. It is mandatory for all candidates/nominees to attend an Orientation meeting.
• Collect the mandatory Candidate Profiles from each candidate. Work with OPIRG Guelph staff to disseminate the profiles on our volunteer list and post on to the organizational web site.
• Ensure that the election guidelines and Candidate Information Package is updated and prepared for each candidate in advance of the Orientation meeting.
• Meet again with OPIRG Guelph staff and/or Board members to check in on  the process and to address any issues of concern.
• Be available at OPIRG’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on March 29th to answer questions about the Election.
• Provide written and signed results that can be presented to the media, to the board of directors for ratification and kept on file.
• Create a final report on the nomination and election process, including recommendations for future elections.
• Attend any preceding or following Board of Directors meetings to discuss reports made regarding the elections.
• If necessary address any appeals filed in relation to the election process.

Qualifications and skills:

• Must be a member of OPIRG Guelph
  • Who qualifies as a member of OPIRG Guelph?
    • If you are a student at UoG and you did NOT opt out of the OPIRG Guelph fee when paying tuition for this semester, you are a member of OPIRG Guelph
    • If you are a community member who has paid our $5-$25 sliding scale fee to OPIRG for this year, you are a member
    • If you want to become a member in order to apply, please contact Mandy at organizational@opirgguelph.org, it’s a pretty easy process!
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• General knowledge of OPIRG Guelph’s mandate and programs
• Time management and work organization skills
• Ability to take initiative in completing tasks
• Great attention to detail
• Aptitude for understanding and interpreting complex documents
• Experience promoting events 
• Willingness to ask for assistance when needed
• Participation in an OPIRG Guelph or similar anti-oppression training, an asset
• Must be available for interviews on March 5th, 2021
• Must be available to start on March 8th, 2021
• Must be available for OPIRG’s AGM on March 29th, 2021

OPIRG Guelph welcomes the contributions that individuals from marginalized communities bring to our organization, and invites Indigenous people, people of colour, poor and working class people and those on social assistance, women, LGBTQI2S+ people; single parents, members of ethnic minorities, immigrants, people from non-academic backgrounds and people with disabilities to apply.

We encourage applicants to describe the contributions and experiences they would bring to the OPIRG Guelph in their cover letter. All applicants are asked for a brief statement on their views of power and oppression. 

How to apply:

Send a copy of your resume, cover letter and brief statement on power and oppression to: organizational@opirgguelph.org

Only PDF or Word documents will be accepted
Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.