• Academic term: The Fall, Winter, or Spring/Summer semesters as defined by the Wilfrid Laurier University Undergraduate Academic Calendar

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• Brantford Boardroom: 1st Floor, Student Centre, 103 Darling Street, Brantford.

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• Club(s): References to a “club” or “clubs” indicate guidelines that are inclusive of both Students’ Union clubs and faculty-based clubs.

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• Conflict of interest: Occurs when personal interests or professional affiliations outside of the Students’ Union interfere, or are perceived to interfere, with the independent judgement required by employees to perform their duties and responsibilities.  

  • Conflicts of interest include, but are not limited to:

    • An interest, real or perceived, that unfairly benefits the individual or their relative, friend, roommate, or romantic partner.

    • Organizations, companies, or groups that an employee has an official governing responsibility or that employs the individual or a member of their family.

    • Gifts and favours, including tokens of appreciation, entertainment, travel, hotel accommodations, services for personal use, reduced prices for personal goods and services, and any other forms of hospitality provided in hopes of future business.

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• Consent: An active and continuous voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity. An individual is unable to provide consent if they are drunk, under the influence of a controlled substance, unconscious, being threatened or coerced, or if the initiator is in a position of trust, power, or authority.

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• Criminal Record Check: Informs whether an applicant has a criminal record.

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• Criminal Record: The information returned by a Vulnerable Sector Check, including but not limited to:

  • Criminal convictions from the Canadian Police Information Centre and/or local databases;

  • Summary convictions, for five years, when identified;

  • Findings of Guilt under the Youth Criminal Justice Act within the applicable disclosure period;

  • Outstanding entries, such as charges and warrants, judicial orders, Peace Bonds, Probation and Prohibition Orders;

  • Absolute and conditional discharges for 1 and 3 years respectively;

  • In very exceptional cases, where it meets the Exceptional Disclosure Assessment, non-conviction dispositions including, but not limited to, Withdrawn and Dismissed; Not Criminally Responsible by Reasons of Mental Disorder;

  • All record suspensions as authorized for the Minister of Public Safety.

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• Discrimination: An act, behaviour, or practice of treating another person or group unfairly on the basis of a Protect Ground.

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• Employee: A paid worker of the Students’ Union.

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• Employee Policy: A rule or guideline that is legislatively directed, or falls within the operational human resources jurisdiction of the President and Chief Officer, as delegated by the Board of Directors through the Students’ Union’s governance structure.

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• Executive Leadership Team: This employee group consists of the President and Chief Executive Officer, the Vice President positions, and the Associate Vice-President positions.

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• External User: A member of the Wilfrid Laurier University campus community who is not acting in the capacity of a Students’ Union staff member or volunteer.

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• Faculty Association: A group that collects a dedicated student levy to fund discipline-specific initiatives and operations, including Faculty-based clubs.

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• Faculty-based club: A discipline-specific sub-group of Faculty Associations.

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• Internal User: A Students’ Union staff member or volunteer.

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• Intimate Partner Violence: A non-gendered reference to violence committed within an intimate relationship, recognizing the interchangeable roles of aggressor and survivor.

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• In-Person Work: Work performed by an employee when they are physically present in a Students’ Union office or on a Wilfrid Laurier University campus.

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• Laurier Experience Record: A comprehensive student record of involvement in curricular and co-curricular experiential learning at Laurier.

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• Liability: An organization’s legal responsibilities in a given situation.

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• Multi-campus portfolio: A Students’ Union employee or Executive Leadership Team member that holds multi-campus responsibilities.

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• Multi-campus travel: Travel between a Wilfrid Laurier University campus or other affiliated location.

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• Operations Group: The senior continuing staff leadership team, consisting of the President & CEO, Executive Director, and all director-level portfolios.

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• Operational Policy: A rule or guideline that falls within the operational jurisdiction of the President and Chief Executive Officer, as delegated by the Board of Directors through the Students’ Union’s governance structure.

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• Policies and Procedures Channel: A shared Microsoft Teams/Sharepoint Channel that is designated as the central depository for approved employee and operational policies and procedures.

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• Position of Trust (Authority): Created when an individual’s relationship with someone else involves any of the following characteristics: decision-making power, unsupervised access, closeness inherent in the relationship, or personal nature of the activity itself.

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• Primary Program or Event Organizer(s): The volunteer, Executive Leadership Team member(s), or employee(s) responsible for submitting event requests through “The Nest” and operational oversight for the approved activity.

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• Procedures Manual: A more in-depth separate set of guidelines and instructions that may be utilized in conjunction with the relevant overarching root policy.

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• Program: A planned series of future events, initiatives, or performances.

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• Protected Grounds: Protected categories listed under the Human Rights Code (Ontario), which include age, creed, disability, family and marital status, gender identity and gender expression, race and related groups, receipt of public assistance, record of offences, sex, or sexual orientation.

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• Reimbursement: To make repayment for expense or loss incurred.

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• Remote Work: Work performed by an employee at their place of residence, or from a remote location, where they are not physical present at a Students’ Union office.

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• Respondent(s): a member(s) of the University community subject to an allegation of sexual violence.

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• Risk:  The potential threat that some circumstance could harm the organization or prevent it from achieving its objectives. Risk categorization includes, but is not limited to:

  • Compliance risk: Including fines, regulatory penalties, and violations of privacy laws.

  • External risk: Including irrelevancy, the loss of funding sources, and other economic or demographic threats.

  • Financial risk: Including fraud, financial failure, or decisions based on inaccurate information.

  • Governance risk: Including ineffective oversight and poor decision-making;

  • Operational or program risk: Including poor service delivery, or day-to-day crises.

  • Reputation risk: Including loosing goodwill with members or other critical stakeholders;

  • Strategic risk: Including unrealistic programs or initiatives.

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• Risk assessment: A determination of whether the circumstances of a proposed activity represent a low, medium, high, or unmanageable risk for the organization.

  • Low risk: Includes hazards not significantly greater than those encountered in the course of daily life, and that require minimal planning, preparation, or approvals.         

  • Medium risk: Includes hazards that are incrementally greater than those encountered in the course of daily life, and require planning, preparation, documentation, and necessary approvals ahead of time.

  • High risk: Includes hazards that are significantly greater than those encountered in the course of daily life, and require extensive planning, preparation, and documentation ahead of time. The necessary approvals are contingent upon additional planning or training to mitigate related risks, and associated activities may be deemed unmanageable.

  • Unmanageable risk: Includes hazards that are not avoidable and activities that will not receive the required approvals. Risk managers may supervise the revising of activities deemed unmanageable to a state where appropriate planning, preparation, and approvals can be met.

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• Risk management: Includes the culture, processes, and structures that are directed towards the effective management of potential opportunities and adverse effects.

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• Risk management process: Includes the systematic application of management policies, procedures, and practices to identify, analyze, assess, managing, mitigate, monitor, and communicate risk.

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• Risk manager(s): The Students’ Union employee(s) tasked with oversight and direction of the risk management process.

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• Sexual Assault: Any sexual contact or activity that happens without the active consent of all involved.

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• Sexual Violence: An all-encompassing term used to describe any physical or psychological act that is carried out through sexual means or by targeting sexuality. Sexual violence can include, but is not limited to: sexual abuse; sexual assault; rape; incest; childhood sexual abuse; sexual harassment; voyeurism; stalking; indecent or sexualized exposure; degrading sexual imagery; cyber harassment; trafficking; and sexual exploitation.

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• Students’ Union club: The Students’ Union Campus Clubs fee funds opportunities for groups to form around common interests, including recreation, social justice, mental health, entrepreneurship, and personal faith.

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• Student: An individual registered in a course of study as a student at the University, either full-time or part-time, pursuing undergraduate, graduate, or non-degree certificate programs.

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• Supervisor: The individual to whom an employee directly reports, or their designate.

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• Survivor: In this policy context, “survivor” indicates a person who experience sexual violence.  Many people prefer to use “survivor” because it conveys agency and resilience, in contrast with “victim” which may have negative connotations for some people. “Complainant” may also be applicable in relation to an accountability process or in a legal context.

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• “The Nest”: The official online platform for managing clubs and associations.

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• Undergraduate Calendar: The Wilfrid Laurier University Academic Calendars contains official information regarding program requirements, course offerings, and academic regulations. There are three academic calendars: undergraduate, graduate, and part-time/online learning/continuing education.

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• Undergraduate Student: An individual registered in a course of study as a student at the University, either full-time or part-time, pursuing an undergraduate program.

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• Volunteer: A Wilfrid Laurier University undergraduate student who voluntarily undertakes a service for the Students’ Union.

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• Vulnerable Person: A person who, because of their age, a disability, or other circumstances, whether temporary or permanent, is in a position of dependence on others; or is otherwise at a greater risk than the general population of being harmed by a person in a position of trust or authority towards them.

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• Vulnerable Sector Check (VSC): A vulnerable sector check is a three-part check designed for people who volunteer, or work in a position of trust or authority over children or another vulnerable group.

  • A vulnerable sector check is composed of a criminal record check to determine if the applicant has a criminal record, a local police information check, and a vulnerable sector query which searches for sexual offences subject to a record suspension (formerly a pardon).

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• Waterloo Boardroom: 2nd Floor (Students’ Union Office), Fred Nichols Campus Centre, 75 University Ave, West, Waterloo.

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• Waterloo Services Meeting Room: 2nd Floor (Students’ Union Services Space), Fred Nichols Campus Centre, 75 University Ave, West, Waterloo.

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• Workplace: Any site at which the employee works, including any property or building utilized by the Students’ Union and any other place an employee is located while performing work for the Students’ Union or representing the organization.

  • Workplace includes operating Students’ Union equipment or a personal vehicle while the employee is on duty.

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• Workplace Harassment: As defined by the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) workplace harassment means engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in the workplace that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome, or workplace sexual harassment.

  • Workplace harassment often involves repeated words or actions, or a pattern of behaviours, against a worker or group of workers in the workplace that are unwelcome, including but not limited to:

    • Offensive or intimidating comments or jokes.

    • Bullying or aggressive behaviour.

    • Displaying or circulating offensive pictures or materials.

    • Inappropriate staring

    • Workplace sexual harassment.

    • Isolating or making fun of a work because of gender identity.

  • Harassment does not include interpersonal conflict or disagreement, or reasonable actions taken by a supervisor relating to the management and direction of the workplace.