OFFICERS

a) The officers of the WCDGS shall be:
President
Vice-President
Secretary-Treasurer
Past-President (officer emeritus)

b) Terms and Elections:
The President and Vice-President shall normally serve one-year terms (renewable once), and the Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a two-year term. Officers’ terms take effect immediately following the WCDGS meeting at which they were elected.  The President, in consultation with the officers of WCDGS, is entitled to fill unexpected vacancies as these may arise from time to time. Officers appointed in this way would be referred to as acting and would hold the position for the term remaining for the elected officer being replaced. Any officer appointed in this way would be presented for approval to the following meeting of the WCDGS.

c) Responsibilities of Officers:
The President will be responsible for coordinating and chairing the meetings of the organization, establishing agendas and showing overall leadership with respect to activities.

The Vice-President shall assist the President as necessary , and shall have specific responsibility for oversight of the WCDGS web presence, communications, and the western regional 3MT competition.

The Secretary-Treasurer shall be responsible for collecting membership fees, keeping the financial records of the organization, recording the minutes of its meetings, preparing an annual budget and reminding the members of the organization as to the tasks and commitments which they have agreed to take on at the meetings.

The Past-President is a non-voting officer emeritus.  The Past-President shall advise the WCDGS officers as requested, and will facilitate the nomination process for any non-acting vacancies among the WCDGS officers.    

MEMBERSHIP

The membership shall be open to all Deans (or the equivalent) of Graduate Faculties (or equivalent) who are responsible for the admission and/or administration of graduate students in graduate programs.

Membership is restricted to Deans or their equivalent from institutions that are located west of the Ontario/Manitoba border and that are institutional members of CAGS.

A Dean or equivalent whose institution is not qualified for membership may be an associate member of WCDGS for an indefinite period as long as that institution is a corresponding member of CAGS. Associate members shall pay half of the regular dues, may attend meetings, but shall have no vote and may not serve as an officer. The term "Dean(s) or equivalent" would include, but not necessarily be limited to, those designated as Dean, Associate Dean and Assistant Dean.

Prospective members shall apply to the Officers for membership. The officers shall assess all applications and recommend to the membership: whether the application shall be accepted; whether the application should be rejected; whether the applying Dean or equivalent should be accorded associate membership.

Membership is open only to Deans or their equivalent of institutions which offer at least one bona fide Master's or Doctorate graduate degree program.

MEETINGS

The organization will normally meet at least twice each year. One meeting will coincide with the annual meeting of CAGS. At the meetings, each institution shall have one vote, exercised by the Dean or equivalent, or his/her designated representative. Anyone present at meetings may move and second motions and participate in discussion; however, there shall only be one vote per institution.

DUES AND FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS

Each member shall pay annual dues, currently established at $500 per institution, with payment normally due by September 30^th of each year. The Secretary-Treasurer shall keep a record of all dues and report the state of the funds to the membership each year. All expenditures of the organization require approval by two of the three Officers.

OTHER AGREEMENTS

At the time of the adoption of this Constitution, the Deans or their equivalent of the member I institutions named below record themselves as having endorsed the following:

• the Western Deans' Agreement;
• the Western Deans' Agreement on Distance Education;
• CAGS/ACDEA Position Paper Regarding Agency "Placement" of International Students in Canadian Graduate Schools.

RATIFICATION

Having been duly ratified at the meeting of the WCDGS of November 3, 1994 held in Ottawa, the Constitution is implemented effective January 1, 1995.

Changes to the Constitution were approved at the meeting of the WCDGS, held in Victoria, on February 1, 2013.  Further changes to the constitution were approved at the meeting of the WCDGS, held in Victoria, on January 20, 2017 and on January 19, 2023.