Overview

This book contains the up-to-date governing documents of Queen's VEX U Robotics Team. It includes the following documents:

• The Team Constitution is the foundational document of the team which sets out its overall structure, including the Board of Advisors. Subordinate documents are included as appendices or schedules to the constitution as appropriate:
  • Appendix A sets the procedures for meetings of the Board of Advisors.
  • Appendix B contains the team's policy manual.
  • Schedule I is the list of members and officers of the Board of Advisors.
  • Schedule II is the list of team executive officers and mandate letters.
  • Schedule III is the list of working groups.
• Team Contract contains the contract signed by all team members governing their rights and responsibilities on the team.
• Board Agendas and Meeting Minutes contain summaries of reports presented and decisions made at each meeting of the Board of Advisors.

Summary

The team is overseen by a Board of Advisors, who have the ultimate authority to make decisions for the team, and who appoint the President and Vice Presidents. The Board meets regularly and all team members are welcome at meetings.

Copyright

Copyright © 2024-2025 Queen's VEX U Robotics Team, an affiliated group of the Engineering Society of Queen's University.

Team Constitution

Whereas Queen's VEX U Robotics Team ("the Team") is a ratified Design Team affiliated with the Engineering Society of Queen's University ("EngSoc") for the purpose of competing in the VEX U Robotics Competition, this document provides for the structure of the team and is the source of authority for all decision-making on the team.

Article I: Objectives

1. The objectives of the Team are:
   1. To compete in the VEX U Robotics Competition on behalf of Queen's University.
   2. To provide Queen's University students with an extracurricular opportunity to learn and develop their skills in areas relevant to robotics through participation in the competition.
2. The activities of the Team shall be carried on with no intention of personal financial gain; all profits, grants, fees, and accretions shall be used uniquely for carrying out the team's objectives.
3. Notwithstanding s. 2, the ownership of intellectual property developed through team activities shall belong to those who developed it, except as otherwise determined in accordance with this document.

Article II: Affiliation with the Engineering Society

4. As a ratified Design Team affiliated with EngSoc, the Team shall comply with the Constitution and By-Laws EngSoc and this document shall be subordinate to the same.

Article III: Board of Advisors

5. There shall exist a Board of Advisors which is ultimately responsible for the team and has complete authority to make decisions on behalf of the team, subject to the provisions of this document and, in accordance with s. 4, the governing documents of EngSoc.
6. The Board of Advisors shall consist of an arbitrary number of ordinary (voting) members and the following ex officio non-voting members:
   1. The Vice President (Student Affairs) of EngSoc;
   2. The Director of Design of EngSoc;
   3. The Faculty Advisor of the Team, appointed pursuant to s. 16; and
   4. Alumni Advisors of the Team, appointed pursuant to s. 17.
7. The Board of Advisors may from time to time appoint new ordinary members to itself from among the general members of the Team.
   1. The Board of Advisors shall make an explicit effort to regularly find general members who have demonstrated trustworthiness and commitment to the Team's objectives and consider these members for appointment to the Board.
   2. Ordinary members of the Board of Advisors shall automatically be removed upon their graduation or withdrawal from Queen's University.
   3. No member may be assigned independent responsibility, managerial or otherwise, without being appointed to the Board of Advisors.
   4. The intent of these provisions is to ensure that membership of the Board is reflective of the current active membership of the team, under the principle that if a member can be trusted with authority to competently complete a project independently, then the team would benefit from including that member on the Board.
8. The Board of Advisors may remove an ordinary member from itself, with the support of at least two-thirds of all ordinary members of the Board.
9. Quorum for meetings of the board shall be one third of the ordinary members, rounded up, and all decisions shall be made by simple majority unless otherwise specified.
10. Any member of the Team may attend meetings of the Board of Advisors and contribute to discussions.
    1. The Board of Advisors may enter a closed session in order to discuss sensitive matters, at its own discretion.
11. Appendix A to this document shall provide the procedures for meetings of the Board of Advisors.
    1. In case of any conflict, this document shall take precedence over Appendix A.
12. Schedule I to this document shall enumerate the members of the Board of Advisors.

Article IV: Executive Officers

13. The Board of Advisors shall annually elect the President of the Team and oversee the appointment of a number of Vice Presidents of the Team, to collectively serve as the Team's Executive Officers.
14. The Board shall provide a brief mandate letter for each Executive Officer which describes:
    1. The purpose and responsibilities of that Executive Officer; and
    2. The authority delegated to that Executive Officer.
15. Schedule II to this document shall enumerate the Executive Officers of the Team, including titles and mandate letters.

Article V: Advisors

16. The Team shall have a Faculty Advisor, who shall be a member of the Stephen J. R. Smith Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, and shall be chosen or replaced by the Board of Advisors, with the consent of the Vice President (Student Affairs) of EngSoc.
17. The Team may have any number of Alumni Advisors, who shall be former members of the Team and may be appointed or removed by the Board of Advisors.

Article VI: Membership

18. Any member of the Alma Mater Society of Queen's University ("the AMS"), the Society of Graduate and Professional Students of Queen's University ("the SGPS"), or any faculty society thereof, may sign up as a member of the Team by following a process set by the Board of Advisors.
    1. All sign-ups shall be accepted, subject to s. 19.
    2. There shall be no fee for joining the team.
    3. Notwithstanding s. 16.b, there may be a fee associated with travel on the team, subject to the direction of the Board of Advisors.
19. The Board of Advisors may permanently remove any member of the Team for inappropriate behaviour, with the support of at least two-thirds of all ordinary members of the Board.

Article VII: Policies and Agreements

20. Appendix B to this document shall contain the Team Policy Manual.
    1. The Policy Manual may create additional positions within the team and specify delegations of authority to them; anyone who holds such positions shall be a member of the Board of Advisors.
    2. The Policy Manual shall set out procedures and requirements for financial management of the Team.
    3. In case of any conflict, this document shall take precedence over Appendix B.
21. The Team may create agreements and require members to sign in order to participate in Team projects, in order to safeguard the intellectual property of the Team, other members, and third parties.
    1. While these agreements may be updated from time to time, the Team recognizes that it cannot unilaterally change the legal obligations agreed to by members who have already signed an agreement.
    2. The procedures and requirements for the agreements shall be set out in the Policy Manual.

Article VIII: Working Groups

22. The Board of Advisors may from time to time appoint Working Groups to fulfill particular responsibilities.
23. Schedule III to this document shall enumerate the active Working Groups, including for each one:
    1. A description;
    2. The members and chair(s) of the working group; and
    3. The terms of reference of the working group, including its scope, timelines, and any delegated authority.

Article IX: Amendments

27. This document may be amended by the Board of Advisors, with the consent of the Vice President (Student Affairs) of EngSoc and the support of at least two-thirds of all ordinary members of the board.
    1. Notice of a motion to amend this document must be given at the prior meeting of the Board of Advisors.
28. The appendices to this document may be amended at any time by the Board of Advisors.
29. The schedules to this document may be altered as a consequence of decisions taken by the Board of Advisors or delegated authorities, and shall be kept up to date by the President.

Appendix A: Procedures for Board Meetings

Part I: Scheduling of Meetings

1. A meeting of the Board of Advisors may be called at any time by the Chair (as defined below) or any Executive Officer.
   1. Notice of the time and location of the meeting must be provided to the members of the Board at least 24 hours in advance.
   2. A meeting may take place in person or online; however, Team members not able to meet in person shall be permitted to participate in meetings remotely, regardless of the meeting format.
2. The Board shall meet at least once every 15 business days, as defined by Queen's University, except during the months of May through August.

Part II: Order of Business

3. The Board of Advisors shall have a Chair annd Vice-Chair, as follows.
   1. These shall be elected by the Board of Advisors by the process set out in Part III and shall be ordinary members of the Board.
   2. Should the Chair become vacant, the Vice-Chair automatically becomes the new Chair, and a new Vice-Chair must be elected.
   3. Neither the Chair nor the Vice-Chair shall be an Executive Officer.
   4. All meetings of the Board of Advisors shall be chaired by the Chair or Vice-Chair.
   5. If both positions are vacant, a meeting to elect a new Chair may be chaired by any Executive Officer or, with the support of at least two-thirds of the present ordinary members of the Board, any other person.
4. The order of business for meetings of the Board of Advisors shall be:
   1. Adoption of the agenda
   2. Approval of the minutes of the previous meeting
   3. Presentations
   4. Discussions and decisions
   5. Reports from the Executive Officers
   6. Reports from the Working Groups
   7. Statements and questions by members
5. Making and distribution of the agenda and minutes:
   1. The agenda shall follow the format of the order of business in s. 4.
   2. Any presentation, motion or discussion topic submitted to the Chair at least 8 hours before the meeting start time with the support of a member of the Board shall be included in the agenda.
   3. The agenda shall be distributed to members of the Board no later than 1 hour before the meeting start time.
   4. The Chair or a designate shall take minutes of the meeting, which shall include at a minimum a summary of the points of presentations and reports and the results of all decisions taken.
   5. Minutes shall be distributed to Board members no later than 1 week after the conclusion of the meeting.
6. If the person responsible for a report is not able to be present for a meeting, they shall ensure that a different Team member is able to give the update on their behalf.

Part III: Elections

7. Elections of the Executive Officers and of any other position that the Board wishes to elect shall be conducted in accordance with these procedures.
8. All candidates in an election and every person who is not a member of the Board shall leave the room during debate and voting.
9. Unless two or more ordinary members of the Board request that the election be conducted by secret ballot, all elections shall be conducted by runoff voting by show of hands as follows:
   1. The Chair shall read the names of the candidates in alphabetical order by last name.
   2. After each name, voting Board members who agree with the election of that candidate shall raise their hand, and the Chair shall record the number of votes; each member may only vote for one candidate in each round, but may abstain.
   3. At the end of the round, if one candidate received the majority of the votes, then that candidate is the winner; otherwise, the candidate with the fewest votes, and all candidates who received fewer than 20% of the votes, are removed from the list, and the process is repeated until a winner is determined.
10. If two or more ordinary members of the Board request than the election be conducted by secret ballot, then it shall proceed by instant runoff voting as follows:
    1. All voting Board members shall rank their preferred candidates on paper and submit the paper to the Chair.
    2. The Chair shall determine the winner (and if necessary, the runner-up) in the same process as in s. 14, using the highest-ranked candidate not yet eliminated from each ballot.
11. If there is only one candidate in the election, it shall be conducted by a confidence vote instead, either by show of hands or secret ballot.
12. The results of the election shall be immediately reported to the board and shall not require further approval or ratification.

Part IV: Rules of Procedure

13. For all substantive decisions other than elections, the Board of Advisors shall make a decision by way of a substantive motion, which shall precisely state the order to be made by the Board under its authority.
    2. Any substantive motion may be amended by the consent of the mover or the Board.
    3. Decisions made by substantive motions shall take effect immediately, unless the motion states otherwise.
14. Any motion, including procedural motions relating to the current meeting, shall be supported by at least one member of the Board of Advisors in order to be considered.
15. Decisions on motions may be taken by unanimous consent or a show of hands
    1. Any member of the Board of Advisors may request that their opposition or abstention on a motion be recorded in the minutes.
16. The Chair shall ensure that any member of the Board of Advisors participating remotely may vote by an appropriate electronic analogue to the methods described in Part III or Part IV.
17. Where the Chair deems necessary, a substantive motion may be made without a meeting, as follows.
    1. The Chair shall share the text of the motion electronically with all members of the Board of Advisors and request their vote, specifying a time limit.
    2. For the purposes of counting votes, all ordinary members of the Board of Advisors shall be assumed to oppose the motion unless they vote otherwise.
    3. The Chair may stop counting once enough votes have been received to make only one outcome possible.

Appendix B: Policy Manual

Part I: Team Finances and Purchases

1. The budget shall be drafted annually by the Vice President (Finance & Logistics) using the EngSoc budget template and submitted to the Board of Advisors for approval.
   1. Changes to the budget allocation beyond the included contingency must be approved by the Board of Advisors.
   2. The team shall aim to break even each season and shall make an effort to maintain an account balance of at least $2500 to support necessary purchases.
2. The Vice President (Finance & Logistics) shall present an update at each meeting of the Board of Advisors which includes:
   1. New actual expenditures since the last report
   2. New actual revenues since the last report
   3. Changes to projected finances for the remainder of the season
   4. Remaining budget in each expense line
3. Only Executive Officers and Directors may authorize expenses, and only within budget lines under their portfolio.
   1. Expenses over $200 must additionally be authorized by the Vice President (Finance & Logistics) to ensure they are reasonable.
   2. The Vice President (Finance & Logistics) shall maintain a shared spreadsheet of transactions and actuals for each budget line.
4. Packages ordered for the Team shall be tracked in a shared spreadsheet maintained by the Vice President (Finance & Logistics).
   1. Packages shall be shipped to one of:
      1. The Engineering Student Lounge (Beamish-Munro Hall room 106)
      2. A pickup location (e.g., post office, UPS store, etc.)
   2. Exceptions to the above requirement may be granted by the Vice President (Finance & Logistics) where it is not feasible.
   3. Where permitted by the supplier, packages shall include a Purchase Order number, which is also in the spreadsheet, using the format LLLLAANN.
      1. LLLL is the budget line number.
      2. AA is the first and last initial of the person who authorized the purchase.
      3. NN is a 2-digit number which makes this PO unique within the current season.

Part II: Logistics

5. Travel plans for competitions shall be subject to approval for the Board of Advisors, including:
   1. Projected transportation schedule
   2. Projected cost
   3. Fee structure for participating Team members
   4. List of participating Team members and allocation of responsibilities
6. The Vice President (Finance & Logistics) shall ensure that team members sign the Team Contract as a prerequisite to participating in team activities each season.

Part III: Technical Team Structure

7. The technical team shall be led by the following Directors, who report to the Vice President (Technical):
   1. Two Directors of Mechanical
   2. One Director of Software
   3. One Director of Electrical
8. Additional Project Leads may be hired to report to these directors.
9. Only Project Leads, Directors, and the Vice President (Technical) may be made responsible for technical work, including projects and training.
   1. General members may work with one or more Project Leads or Directors on their respective projects, but shall not be accountable to the team for its completion.
   2. A Director or the Vice President (Technical) may, with their consent, designate a general member as an Acting Project Lead to cover for the unavailability of a Project Lead or Director.

Part IV: Media Team Structure

10. The media team shall be led by the Vice President (Media).
11. Additional Media Project Leads may be hired to report to the Vice President (Media).
12. Only Media Project Leads and the Vice President (Media) may be made responsible for media work, including projects and training; general members may work with on media projects, but shall not be accountable to the team for their completion.

Part V: Tryouts and Competitions

13. The Board of Advisors shall appoint a Competitions Working Group (CWG) of at least 3 memmbers, with the following responsibilities.
    1. Run tryouts for drivers and drive coaches during the fall semester.
    2. For each competition which the team is planning to attend, with budgetary input from the Vice President (Finance & Logistics), review applications for team-subsidized competition travel (if applicable) from team members.
14. Tryouts shall be conducted in two rounds as follows.
    1. All team members shall be permitted, in the first round, to try out as a driver or as a coach, or both, regardless of prior experience.
    2. Team members may choose to try out as a driver/coach pair or individually as a driver or coach (or both); in the latter case, they shall be paired up with other members trying out, at the discretion of the CWG.
    3. The CWG shall, using the official field and one or more robots provided by the team, simulate a competition environment to determine each candidate's ability to drive or coach under stress.
    4. From the first round, the CWG shall select a roster of drivers and coaches who have promising abilities; the composition of this roster is at the discretion of the CWG but should ideally be around 4 each.
    5. The CWG shall, if they deem necessary, run a second round of tryouts, limited to those selected onto the roster in the first round, to determine optimal rankings and pariings.
15. Competition responsibilities and subsidies shall be determined as follows.
    1. All team members shall be permitted to apply to travel to the competition under subsidy from the team.
    2. For a competition which requires travel, the Vice President (Finance & Logistics) shall provide the CWG with budgetary estimates necessary to determine the amount of travel subsity which can be provided.
    3. The CWG shall review all applications and produce a recommended roster for competition attendance, with at least a primary and backup member assigned to each of the following key positions:
       1. Robot A driver (member of drive team)
       2. Robot A coach (member of drive team)
       3. Robot B driver (member of drive team)
       4. Robot B coach (member of drive team)
       5. Head strategist (member of drive team)
       6. Head scout (responsible for personnel management of the scouting team)
       7. Head of pit crew (responsible for personnel management of the pit crew)
    4. The CWG may deviate from the above recommendations at their discretion depending on the size of the competition and budget available.
    5. The Vice President (Finance & Logistics) and the CWG shall submit their final recommendations for competition budget, logistics and responsibilities to the Board of Advisors, who shall have the final decision.

Part VI: Business

16. The Vice President (Business & EDII) shall develop a Sponsorship Package outlining the team's mission and benefits available to sponsors, which must be approved by the Board of Advisors.
    1. The Vice President (Business & EDII), with the agreement of the President, may enter the team into a sponsorship agreement in accordance with the approved Sponsorship Package, subject to the following restriction.
    2. An agreement for a Title Sponsor must be approved by the Board of Advisors.

Part VII: Queen's Robotics Cup

17. Queen's Robotics Cup (QRC) shall function as a subsidiary organization under the supervision of the Board of Advisors, with a mandate to run at least one official VEX U tournament each year, in coordination with the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation.
18. QRC shall be led a Co-Chair (Competition) and Co-Chair (Administration), who report directly to the Board of Advisors independently from the Executive Officers of QVEX, and the following Directors who report to them:
    1. Two Directors of Logistics, responsible for venues, equipment rentals, and hospitality.
    2. One Director of Finance, responsible for the budget/financial account and processing all revenues and expenses.
    3. One Director of Information Technology, responsible for all technical equipment necessary to run the competition.
    4. One Director of Communications, responsible for QRC social media and marketing to potential attending teams.
19. QRC shall have a separate budget/financial account from QVEX, with the following policies.
    1. The QRC budget shall be presented and approved annually by the Board of Advisors.
    2. QVEX may, at the discretion of the Board of Advisors, provide funding to QRC in support of its operations; this must be reflected in the budget and actuals of each account.
    3. QRC shall ensure the Board of Advisors is kept updated with the status of competition planning and any issues relevant to the events being run.
20. QRC may hire additional positions reporting to the above Directors as they see fit.
21. The Board of Advisors shall make reasonable efforts to ensure the QRC executive for the new year, or at a minimum new Co-Chairs, are appointed prior to the main event in the previous year.

Schedule I: Members of the Board of Advisors

Ordinary Members

• Avery McFadden
• Becca Reed
• Ben Battye
• Cal Parker
• Callum Warner
• Charlotte Lynn
• Cole Jowett
• Evan Kreutzwiser
• James Gullberg
• Kashan Rauf
• Kieran Green
• Koen Dyck
• Laura Cochrane
• Levi Guo
• Liam Doris
• Maxim Pletnev
• Michael Cassidy
• Mike Stefan
• Nick Mertin
• Nikola Nikolov
• Oliver Lynn
• Patrick Shu
• Peter Tennant
• Phie Truong
• Ryan Jacobson
• Shashank Ojha
• Taylor Hambleton
• Theo Lemay
• Will Steedman
• Xan Giuliani (Chair)

Ex Officio Members (Non-Voting)

Schedule II: Executive Officers

Schedule III: Working Groups

Team Contract

A blank copy of the team contract is available here.

Board Agendas and Meeting Minutes

Agendas and minutes for meetings of the Board of Advisors are posted here.