Bylaws, Operations and Procedures Manual & Constitution

Bylaws of the University of Calgary Retirees Association (UCRA)

These Bylaws constitute the operating procedures for the UCRA, hereafter called the Association. The Executive Committee of the Association shall review said Bylaws on an annual basis and amend them as needed. 

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

An Annual General Meeting shall be held in the month of October at which time the status of the Association shall be reviewed and the Officers and Directors of the Executive Committee elected. In addition to the slate presented by Nominations Committee of the Executive (see Committees), nominations will be invited from the floor for any position when evidence is provided that the nominated individual is prepared to stand for election.  All members in good standing will have the right to vote.  Voting will be in person, by Zoom, or by written proxy, if a member is unable to attend the meeting. A quorum for the Annual General Meeting shall be fifteen (15) members.

GENERAL INFORMATION

  1. The Executive Committee determines the amount of annual dues
  2. Dues are to be submitted by September 01 of each year. Members will be notified of the amount and any change prior to September 01. 

MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING

Members are deemed to be in good standing if they:

  1. Have paid their annual dues with no balance owing or
  2. Have been exempted from paying annual dues by the Executive (currently after 20 years of paying annual dues) 

Members in good standing may:

  1. Vote on Association matters
  2. Are eligible to stand for elected office
  3. Sit as volunteer members on committees

COMMITTEES OF THE ASSOCIATION

Terms of Office

          One (1) year, renewable*

          *The exception to the one-year term, is that of the three-year commitment made by an incoming Vice-President, who will become President and then Past President, with each position lasting for a one-year term. 

  1. The Executive Committee
    1. The Executive Committee, comprised of five officers and up to seven directors, shall be responsible for membership, program, finances, and other matters that shall from time to time be deemed desirable in meeting the objectives of the Association.
    2. The Executive Committee shall select one officer to be a cosignatory with the Treasurer for financial matters such as cheque signing and bank accounts.
    3. When the membership of the Executive Committee changes, the outgoing officer or director in each portfolio shall be responsible for contacting the incoming officer or director to provide an overview of responsibilities of the position. A formal orientation shall be part of the agenda for the November Executive Committee meeting. Ideally, outgoing officers/directors shall attend that meeting.
    4. The Executive Committee has the right to appoint an individual to fill any vacancy occurring during the year.
  2. Program Committee
    1. Chair: Program Director
    2. Members in good standing who volunteer to work with the Director to plan programs
    3. Meeting frequency is at the discretion of the committee
  3. Finance Committee
    1. Chair: Treasurer/Membership Officer
    2. Additional members from Executive and/or volunteer Association members, in good standing, to assist the Treasurer with activities such as: remitting membership receipts and monitoring obituaries.
  4. Nominations Committee
    1. Chair: Past President
    2. Additional members of the Executive Committee
    3. Responsible to present to the Annual General Meeting a slate of candidates for election to the Executive Committee for the following year.
    4. All candidates and appointees must be members in good standing
  5. Communications Committee
    1. Comprised of Directors responsible for LAR, UCRA E-letter, UCRA web page
    2. Meetings at the discretion of the committee, which may elect a chair as needed
    3. Co-ordinates communications of the Association
  6. Social Committee
    1. Chair: Director at Large who accepts this role
    2. Additional members of the Executive and/or Association members in good standing who volunteer to assist the Director
    3. Organizes and facilitates social events such as lunches and optional activities (e.g. hiking, literary groups etc.)

Duties and Responsibilities of the Officers of the Association

  1. President
    1. Provides leadership of the Association
    2. Formulates agendas for the Executive Committee and general meetings
    3. Communicates with Officers and Directors on relevant matters
    4. Represents the Association to the University and general community, the media, and other retiree organizations
  2. Vice-President
    1. Is the President-elect
    2. Acts on behalf of the President when requested
    3. Takes on specific responsibilities as assigned by the President and/or Executive
  3. Secretary
    1. Records minutes of meetings
    2. Corresponds, as directed by the President and/or Executive, and maintains records of same
    3. Prepares and distributes agendas and meeting minutes
    4. Prepares ballots for and maintains records of elections
  4. Treasurer/Membership
    1. Maintains data base of all retirees who are members or eligible to be members of the Association
    2. Maintains membership list for the Association
    3. Maintains accounts and pays the bills
    4. Collects dues
    5. Prepares and presents financial statements for the Executive and Annual General Meeting
    6. Controls the retirees@ucalgary.ca email
  5. Past President
    1. Chairs the Nominations Committee
    2. Provides advice and continuity respecting the Association
    3. Presides at meetings in the absence of the President and Vice-President
    4. Is Graduate College Representative

Duties and Responsibilities of the Directors of the Association (up to seven Directors)

  1. Program Director
    1. Chairs the Program Committee
    2. Prepares programs for the annual schedule of meetings
    3. Arranges for introduction and thanks to participants
    4. Arranges facilities and refreshments for programs
  2. Communications Directors
    1. Take responsibility for the creation, content and publication of: LAR (Life After Retirement), UCRA E-Letter, and the Web Page
  3. Directors-at-Large
    1. Duties as assigned by the Executive Committee

 

[October, 2018, 2022 and 2024] 

 

University of Calgary Retirees Association Operations and Procedures Manual

This manual is written as a secondary document to the Constitution and By-laws of the University of Calgary Retirees’ Association (UCRA).  It is to be maintained and kept current by the association’s Executive Committee, as defined below. It is also recognized that roles and responsibilities of Executive Committee members will evolve over time, and that additional responsibilities may be assumed.

 

Executive Committee

The UCRA Executive Committee consists of the President, Vice-President and President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary, Membership Chair/Treasurer, Program Committee Chair, E-Letter Editor, LAR Editor, Social Chair, Webmaster and up to two Members-at-Large to a maximum of twelve (12) members. 

 

Roles and responsibilities:

President

  • Provides leadership for the Association
  • Determines the agendas for the Executive Committee and general meetings
  • Communicates with Officers and Directors on relevant matters
  • Represents the Association to the University and general community, the media, and other retiree organizations
  • Chairs the monthly Executive Committee meetings of the UCRA
  • Chairs the UCRA Annual General Meeting
  • Liaises with the University of Calgary President, and the Vice-President Development and Alumni, and their designates
  • Liaises with the Director, Alumni Programs and Partnerships re the annual grant and other matters

 

Vice-President and President-Elect

  • Serves as the President- elect of the UCRA
  • Acts on behalf of the President when required or requested to do so
  • Takes on specific responsibilities as assigned by the President and/or Executive.
  • Assists in the operation of the UCRA whenever required to make the operation of the UCRA as smooth and efficient as possible.

 

Past-President

  • Chairs the UCRA Nominations Committee and presents candidates for election at the Annual General Meeting
  • Provides advice and continuity respecting the Association
  • Presides at meetings in the absence of the President and Vice- President
  • Serves as representative to the University of Calgary Graduate College.

 

Secretary

  • Formats and distributes agendas and minutes of Executive Committee and Annual General meetings
  • Carries out correspondence as requested by the President and/or Executive Committee
  • Maintains custody of UCRA documents approved by the Executive Committee and/ or at a General Meeting
  • Ensures appropriate records are maintained and transferred to University of Calgary Archives.
  • Prepares ballots and maintains records of elections
  • Maintains contact with the University of Calgary Office of Advancement regarding the UCRA Indigenous Scholarship
  • Monitors and responds to general inquiries on the info@ucramail.ca account


Membership Chair/Treasurer

  • Maintains a database of members and all retirees who are eligible to be members of the Association
  • Maintains the membership list for the Association
  • Maintains a list of obituaries and notices for the Association
  • Maintains accounts and pays the bills
  • Collects dues
  • Prepares and presents financial statements for the Executive and Annual General Meeting 
  • Controls the retirees@ucramail.ca email account


Specific duties of the Membership Chair/Treasurer role include:

  • Maintains a Master List: an up-to-date record (in the form of an Excel spreadsheet) of all retirees of the University of Calgary. Among other items, the records include names, titles, addresses, and UCRA membership history.
  • Receives from the HR office, each spring, names of all new retirees and adds them to the Master List.  All new retirees are given a hard copy of the latest LAR from HR. The Membership Chair will send each new retiree a congratulatory letter and an invitation to join the UCRA.
  • Provides the UCRA Executive with lists of names and addresses for the purpose of mailing hard copies of LAR once a year at the beginning of the Membership Year (Sept 1).
  • Monitors (together with the Secretary) the info@ucramail.ca email address, and responds to membership and financial inquiries and issues. Responds to email traffic including mail from CURAC, etransfer payments from members (see Treasurer below), and occasional other mail from members and non-members seeking information.
  • Maintains and monitors, together with another member from the Finance Committee, two email lists on the University mail server, retireesassocmembers-L@mailman.ucalgary.ca  and allretirees-L@mailman.ucalgary.ca. In order to minimize spam, the sending of email to these lists is restricted to UCRA Executive members and subject to the approval of either of the two list monitors. The retireesassocmembers-L list consists of all paid up members of UCRA from the current and past two membership years. Typically, only monthly E-letters and obituary notices are sent via this list. The allretirees-L list contains the names of all Retirees who have had dealings with the UCRA in the last 5 years. It is used solely for the electronic distribution of LAR. 
  • Sends out death notices to the retireesassocmembers-L list 

Treasurer:

  • Maintains a business chequing account, belonging to the UCRA, to receive all payments to the UCRA and which is used to pay all expenses of the UCRA. Receives and deposits e-transfers, cash, and cheques in payment for UCRA membership and tickets for social functions such as the December and President’s Luncheon. 
  • Maintains an Excel spread sheet record of all financial transactions. These include dated and itemized records of all transactions and lists of membership and luncheon payments, in the form of cheques, e-transfers, or cash.
  • Issues receipts for all membership payments received by cheque (not necessary for e-transfers or payments for tickets)

 

Program Committee Chair

  • Schedules and organizes meetings of the Program Committee.
  • Schedules and organizes program activities on the second Wednesday afternoon of each of September, October, November, January, February, March, April and May.  If the University is closed on the regular date, then the meeting is held on the third Wednesday.
  • Develops a program in spring for Fall/Winter in conjunction with the Program Committee and the UCRA Executive, drawing upon retirees across Faculties.
  • Contacts and confirms speakers and topics for each upcoming program. Maintains contact with speakers throughout the fall/winter period, as needed.
  • Liaises with the Office of the Director of Alumni Programs and Partnerships to ensure meeting space, zoom capability, and catering arrangements for each program. Maintains contact with the Alumni Office designate to ensure arrangements are in place and the name of the person handling technical assistance has been identified for each program.  
  • Arranges gift certificates for speakers. 
  • Works with the E-letter editor to prepare announcements for each meeting or event.
  • Works with the University of Calgary designate to post events on University Events and UCRA websites once topics/speakers are confirmed.
  • Arranges for someone to introduce and thank each speaker at the event. Ensures the person handling the thank you (normally the President) has the thank you card and gift certificate available at the program. 
  • Asks the President to announce, at the beginning of each event, news about upcoming event(s).
  • Arranges for summary articles and speaker photos (as appropriate) for inclusion in LAR issues.


 

E-Letter Editor

E-Letters are the main communication means, distributed electronically to members during the first week of each month from September through June each year. All members with an email address are sent the E-Letter embedded in an email message.

All issues are prepared using a standard format and layout that is controlled by the E-Letter Editor. The most recent versions are prepared as Microsoft Word documents (Microsoft 365 Word or more recent).

The main content for E-Letter items includes:

  • Notices for upcoming meetings (primarily the next one)
  • Important announcements (from the Executive, the University or other relevant organizations)
  • Items of general interest to the membership
  • Information about membership and contacting Association Executive.

Generally, the Association is not in the practice of advertising commercial items and any requests for including such items (in E-Letters) are referred to the Executive, discussed, and decided on a case-by-case basis.

Process:

The E-Letter Editor will receive items for inclusion in each issue by canvassing the Executive and also directly from those submitted directly by members or others who may wish to include an item.

The Editor then decides which items will be included and assembles them into the forthcoming issue – usually using the Word document file for the previous issue as the basis/template for the next issue.

Once a suitable draft is available, the Editor distributes that, as a draft, to the Executive for their review and comment, receives any changes, edits the issue as appropriate,

spell and grammar checks the final copy and then distributes it – in an email to all members on the current members mailing list (retireesassocmembers-l@mailman.ucalgary.ca). This is best accomplished by copying the E-Letter contents from the Word document into an email message to be sent to all members.

Timeline:

Two weeks prior to each Executive meeting (normally held on the first Wednesday of each month), the E-Letter Editor sends the next month’s draft to the Executive asking for review and feedback on it. The e-letter is distributed during the last week of the month.

As necessary or as opportunities arise – E-Letter Editor recommends editorial policies and approaches for the E-Letter format, layout and content. Recommendations are reviewed and approved by the Executive.

Other Duties of the E-Letter Editor:

  • Each September, recommend to the UCRA Executive the general production schedule and arrangements for the coming year.
  • Advise the UCRA Executive on any particular editorial policies or decisions affecting content, publication or distribution of E-Letters, and implement decisions made by the UCRA Executive concerning E-Letters.
  • Coordinate with the Program Chair regarding UCRA program content (text, graphics, photos, upcoming event dates/times) for upcoming E-Letters.
  • Collect and approve other items for inclusion in the upcoming issue.
  • Ensure that the appropriate liaison person in the Vice-President’s Office is on the E-Letter email list.
  • Edit all items and arrange for proof-reading of draft issues as deemed appropriate.
  • Approve the final version of each E-Letter.
  • Save electronic copies of each issue to be stored for archival purposes.
  • Email electronic version of each issue to the members.
  • Each year, in September, prepare the E-Letter editor’s Annual Report for the members to receive at the AGM in October.

 

LAR Editor

Life After Retirement (LAR) is the official publication of the University of Calgary Retirees Association (UCRA). It is currently published in two issues: the Summer, during July or August, in hard copy, which is sent by regular mail to all those who were members of the UCRA over the past five years; and the Winter, during January or February, as an e-copy, which is sent to all active members of the Association (allretirees-L@mailman.ucalgary.ca). 

The main content for LAR includes: 

  • Summaries of performances or presentations made at the regular UCRA monthly meetings (through the UCRA Program Chair). 
  • Photographic records of activities (i.e., December and Spring luncheons). 
  • UCRA President’s Report. 
  • Announcements from the representative of the College and University Retiree Associations of Canada (CURAC).
  • Notable achievements by UCRA members (e.g. award, book publication, exhibition, lecture tour, community service project). 
  • Pertinent notices on retirement, pension, and benefits (from the UCRA Board of Directors, the University, or other organizations). 
  • The composition of the UCRA Board of Directors. 
  • The Summer issue also contains the UCRA membership renewal information. 

 

Duties of the LAR Editor are the following: 

  • Provides the UCRA Executive Committee with recommendations on the LAR production schedule for the upcoming year.
  • Receives items for inclusion in each publication by canvassing the Board of Directors, as well as directly from UCRA members or other UCalgary units interested in contributing content.
  • Advises the UCRA Board of Directors on any editorial policies or decisions affecting content, publication, or distribution of the LAR editions, and implements decisions made by the UCRA Board of Directors concerning LAR. 
  • Edits articles and coordinates the proofreading of draft editions.
  • Obtains technical assistance in the preparation of the LAR layout, production, printing, and mailing, provided by Mountain View Printing and Graphics Limited (MVPG). 
  • Approves the final copy and arranges with MVPG for a high-resolution PDF version of each issue for distribution and posting on the UCRA website.
  • Consult with the UCRA Membership Chair/Treasurer, who will arrange for the mailing lists and distribution of the LAR as required.
  • Organizes the printing of paper copies for LAR issues. Typically, over 600 copies are produced for the Summer edition. MVPG handles inserting the newsletter into envelopes, applies the correct postage, and mails them out on behalf of the UCRA.
  • Coordinate for five (5) print copies of each issue to be filed in the UCRA office and stored for archival purposes.
  • Present the final invoice to the UCRA Membership Chair/Treasurer for payment to MVPG.
  • As a member of the Communications Committee, meets with the E-Letter editor and Webmaster as needed.

 

Social Committee Director

  • Coordinates and facilitates UCRA luncheons and other optional activities. This includes arrangements for collecting money from the UCRA luncheon attendees, liaison with the facility, arranging for appropriate service and catering, and account settlement.


Webmaster

  • Maintains and keeps current the UCRA Website.
  • Liaises with the university’s IT department to ensure compliance with university policies.
  • As a member of the Communications Committee, meets with the LAR editor and E-Letter Editor as needed.


Member-at-Large

  • Members-at-Large are full voting members of the Executive Committee, without a defined portfolio. They participate in meetings of the Executive Committee, can join other committees, provide input on key decisions, and contribute their expertise on matters relevant to the objectives of the UCRA. 
  • Specific duties may be assigned by the President or vote of the Executive Committee. 


 

 

Approved: April 1, 2026

The Constitution of

The University of Calgary Retirees Association (UCRA) 

 

NAME

The official name of the organization shall be: The University of Calgary Retirees Association; hereafter called the Association. The official name of the University is the University of Calgary: hereafter called the University.

OBJECTIVES

The Association will bring together retired faculty and staff of the University and will foster ways for its members to continue to contribute to the life of the University and community at large. Without restricting the general intent of the organization, the Association shall:

  1. Provide to members and community partners a platform for discussion and networking through programs on topics of interest that are aligned with work being carried out at the University of Calgary.
  2. Support members wishing to establish interest groups for their personal enjoyment.
  3. Contribute intellectual materials to Libraries and Cultural Resources.
  4. Make the wealth of experience and abilities represented by the membership available to the University.

MEMBERSHIP

To be a member of the Association, one must have been granted retiree status by the University of Calgary

 

Membership, upon written request, may also be granted by the Executive Committee. 

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 

The Executive Committee shall consist of five (5) officers (President, Vice-President/President-elect, Secretary, Treasurer/Membership, immediate Past President) and up to seven elected directors (Maximum = 12)

FISCAL YEAR

The fiscal year is from September 01 to the following August 31. 

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 

The Association will hold an Annual General Meeting in the month of October at which time the status of the Association shall be reviewed and the Officers and Directors of the Executive Committee elected.

OPERATING PROCEDURES

The operating procedures of the Association are addressed in the Bylaws of the Association and are published on the UCRA website.

AMENDMENTS

The constitution may be amended by a majority vote at the Annual General Meeting, or at other meetings when due notice has been given. Notice of proposed amendments with detailed text and statement of intent must be circulated to the membership with the meeting agenda at least two (2) weeks before the meeting at which the amendments are to be considered.

Bylaws may be amended, as needed, by the Executive Committee.

 

 

Approved: October 13, 2004; Changes Approved: October 12, 2005

No Changes: October, 2006 – 2010; Changes made Oct, 2011; No Changes 2012-2017

Changes made in Oct. 2018, October, 2022 and October 2024.