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The purpose of official clubs is to provide Society members with the opportunity to pursue interests or acquire skills related to medicine (its practice, history, and/or legal, political, social, and cultural aspects). Each official club must be open and accessible to each of the Society’s Members.
MSS clubs are categorized based on those focused on a common interest, those geared towards a specific medical specialty and those providing services and support to those in need.
In order to obtain official MSS club status, a club application must be completed prior to each semester of activity (Fall and Winter).
To learn more about and join a club, please visit their page here. The clubs’ description, current executive members and contact information are listed on their page. Attending Clubs’ Week (held once or twice per academic year) is another opportunity to meet club leaders and learn about a club. Check the Murmur (can be found here) and MSS Calendar (can be found here).
For more information about clubs, please refer to “Part IX – Clubs” of the MSS Internal Regulations (can be found here).
Club creation
The purpose of an MSS Club is to provide club members with the opportunity to pursue curricular or extra-curricular interests or activities. Your club should be targeted mainly at club members (i.e. MSS members), and the funding received should be mainly to provide activities for them.
The club must be open to all MSS members and can enjoy the rights and responsibilities as described in the MSS Constitution. In short, the rights and responsibilities can be divided into the following aspects:
- Events and participation: You are required to provide activities or events to club members and are under the obligation to keep track of events and participation in those events.
- Application: You are under the right to be recognized as an official club and are under the responsibility to fill out a club status application (and club funding application, if desired) at the beginning of every fall and winter semester with all the required documentation. You are also required to sign a binding contract with the MSS.
- Funding: You have the right to obtain funding from the MSS, as detailed in the Constitution. You will have Interim Status during your first semester as an MSS club where your funding will be given to you on a reimbursement basis. In order to receive funding for the following semesters, you must open a bank account with the assistance of the MSS VP Finance. You are also required to keep track of financial expenses.
- Clubs’ Week and Club Exec Meet and Greet: You are required to participate in Clubs’ Week and at least have one executive member attend the Club Execs Meet and Greet and the MSS General Assemblies.
- Online presence: You are required to make a Murmur submission for each event organized by your club and have the club’s events available through the Calendar.
It is highly recommended that you consult the list of current clubs before submitting an application to avoid redundancy and to keep funding distribution to clubs at a reasonable amount. Your club should have at least 50 MSS members endorsing the creation of your club and enough ideas for events to provide at least one every semester that targets certain interests within the members of the Society.
When choosing the name of your club, make sure that you follow the Club names rules (listed below on this page).
Your application will be reviewed by the VP Internal as well as the Board of Governors, and official club status will be awarded based on the following criteria:
- The submission of all requested documents.
- The concordance of the club’s objectives with those of the Society.
- The pertinence of the club for Society members.
- The sustainability or possibility for continuity of the club.
- The observance of the club’s responsibilities towards the Society (for returning clubs).
Club funding
Criteria for funding
To obtain funding from the MSS for your club, you must meet the following criteria:
- Be recognized as an Official Club status by the MSS
- Provide a budget with the projected incomes and expenses for the semester
- Have a bank account held by the club under MSS authority
- (For returning clubs) Provide a budget for the past semester of incomes, expenses, and a current account balance
- (For returning clubs) Provide all relevant information, such as attendance lists, to calculate club activity
New Clubs Funding
Every semester, a minimum of five percent of the clubs’ allocated budget is reserved for new clubs that are applying for funding. The allocated amount will be distributed equally among new clubs
The exact amount allocated for new clubs is adopted by the VP of Student Affairs at the beginning of every semester and approved by the general council. This amount depends on the following criteria:
- Financial needs of returning clubs
- Submitted budgets for new clubs
- Number of new clubs
- Budgeted amount of the MSS allocated for clubs
Returning Clubs Funding
The funding allocated to each club is based on club activity and measured by units of event-attendance, with one person attending to one event being equal to 1 event-attendance. Every semester the funding is prorated to the amount of event-attendances a club has accumulated during the previous semester.
The number of event-attendances of a club is determined by the total number of attendances to all the club’s events during the semester. For example, if a club had 10 events where there was 10 members attending at each event, this would be equal to 100 event-attendances. Alternatively, if a club had 2 events with 50 members attending at each events, they would also have 100 event-attendances for the semester.
\text{Funding for club A} = \frac{\text{total funding for returning clubs}}{\text{total event-attendances of all clubs}} \times \text{event-attendances of club A}Special Projects
Every semester, at least five percent of the clubs’ allocated budget is reserved for special projects. A special project can be defined as an event or an activity organized by one or several clubs that requires special financial needs and that provides club members with an exceptional opportunity in accordance with the club’s mission statement. The nature of the special project should be exceptional in the sense that the opportunity is unique for the club: it should not happen every year.
The purpose of this fund is to provide additional financial income if they want to organize a special event or activity. The exact amount allocated for this fund will be determined by the VP of Student Affairs every semester, at the same time that funding will be distributed. Clubs who wish to apply for this fund can do so in their funding application. The amount allocated for each club will be determined by the following criteria:
- Financial needs of the club
- Nature of the special project
- Benefits for club members and value of opportunity for all MSS members
- Importance and the unique character of the project
- Concreteness of your project and steps already undertaken for its organization
For initiatives or events that might benefit more than MSS members, club executives are invited to apply for the SPCI fund.
Club names
The Memoradum of Agreement (MoA) is an binding contract between the Medical Students’ Association of McGill University (MSS) and McGill University. As part of this agreement, the University is the sole owner of the word “McGill” and its associated emblems. Consequently, you must make sure that your club’s name is distinct from the University’s trademarks.
New groups must follow the following template when choosing their name:
Category I: For Groups other than those affiliated or affiliating with external organizations
- MSS or McGill (Medical) Students [insert e.g. Investment Club], or
- MSS or McGill [insert e.g. Marketing; Pakistani] Students’ Association, or
- [insert e.g. Pakistani] Students’ Society, or
- MSS [insert], or
- [insert e.g. Korean Martial Arts Club] – MSS
Category II: For Groups affiliated or affiliating with an external organization including political parties
- McGill (Medical) Students for [e.g. Make a Wish], or
- McGill (Medical) Students Supporting [e.g. Make a Wish], or
- McGill Students’ Chapter of [e.g. Make a Wish, or
- MSS – [e.g. Make a Wish, Cystic Fibrosis etc.] or
- [e.g. Make a Wish, Cystic Fibrosis etc.] – MSS
Category III For Sports Clubs or Teams
The Department of Athletics and Recreations shall have exclusive use of the name “McGill” in relation to any sport or team, except where permission is granted in writing by the Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning). Please choose an alternative name that does not contain the word “McGill”
Category IV: For Association Services and Media
- McGill (Medical) Students [insert e.g. Marketing Club], or
- MSS [insert e.g. General Store], or
- [insert e.g. Copi] – MSS