CWRA Student and Young Professionals
CWRA Structure: National, Branches and Chapters
The real action within the organization happens within the provincial branches.
Each branch organizes its own activities to meet the objectives of the CWRA in their
local communities. The National Board of Directors of the CWRA is comprised of the
National Executive (President, President-Elect, Treasurer and Secretary), provincial
branch representatives, society representatives (CSHS, CANCID, and ProjectWet),
and SYP representatives.
The National SYP Committee has a Chair and three National Board of Director Representatives,
as well as a number of functioning sub-committees, which are described below.
SYP National Positions
Brackets indicate predecessor
SYP Chair
Jeremy Schmidt (Jodi Axelson)
National Board of Director Representatives
Alice Cohen
Seanna Davidson (Farah El Ayoubi)
Kim McGrath (Caroline Sanchez-Valero)
SYP National Committee sub-committee’s
Governance and Administration:
The SYP National Committee and the Governance and Administration (G&A) sub-committee
are one in the same. The G&A sub-committee is the umbrella under which the rest
of the SYP operates. The SYP Chair leads this sub-committee which is comprised of
all of the sub-committee leaders and facilitators, Chapter representatives and any
SYP members that are interested in being involved at the National level. The goal
of the SYP National Committee is to engage student and young professionals studying,
working or interested in the field of water resources while keeping with the CWRA
vision. This includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:
- To encourage and support student involvement through SYP Chapter development and
involvement in the SYP National Committee;
- To facilitate learning and information exchange through the CWRA mentorship program;
- To encourage appropriate projects and events at the National and Chapter levels;
- To participate with appropriate agencies and organizations.
In addition, the G&A sub-committee is the communication link with the National
CWRA. The SYP Chair attends National Executive calls as a guest, communicates SYP
news and business to the Executive, and reports back the G&A sub-committee.
Support and Outreach:
The support and outreach (S&O) sub-committee is the front-line SYP sub-committee
that Chapters deal with. In the beginning the purpose of this sub-committee was
to help interested people establish Chapters in their city, connect them with their
provincial branch, and facilitate Chapter activities. While the S&O sub-committee
still serves this function, it has also evolved to work more closely with provincial
branches to be responsible to SYP Chapters. This division of responsibilities was
first tried in Saskatchewan in response to the high student turnover associated
with SYP Chapters. Not only did it work well to have provincial Branches more involved
with Chapters, but also helped solidify the relationship between the Branch and
Chapter, which we feel is really important.
Mentorship:
The purpose of the CWRA SYP mentoring program is to promote the management of Canada’s
water resources by strengthening the professional capacity of students and young
professionals through meaningful mentorship opportunities and/or relationships.
While mutually benefiting students, young professionals, and CWRA professionals,
this program will foster a larger professional water community.
During the 2005 CWRA Annual Conference SYP leaders from across the country had an
opportunity to meet and brainstorm with some of the National Executive and Board
members of the organization. During that session members discussed future directions
for the SYP within the CWRA and identified programs that the SYP Committee would
be interested in starting—a mentorship program was one of them. Since that time
the Mentorship Committee has developed a mentorship program that was approved by
the National Board of Directors, and developed supporting material for Chapters
to start a local mentorship program in their city.
The Mentorship Committee manages monitors and promotes the Mentorship Program at
the National and Chapter level of the CWRA. If you are interested in getting involved
in this rewarding committee we are always interested in welcoming new members. Currently,
members of the committee contribute 1 or 2 hours approximately every month to participate
in conference calls.
For further information please contact:
Special Projects:
The Special Projects sub-committee of the CWRA-SYP aims to encourage interested
participants to develop, review, discuss, and take action on meaningful water related
issues in their communities, or more broadly within Canada and within the CWRA.
When individuals or groups come up with particular projects or topics of interest,
the Special Projects sub-committee evaluates the project to ensure that the project
is consistent with the mandate of the CWRA. The Special Projects sub-committee will
also assess the feasibility of implementing a given project, work towards better
defining the Project objective, inform other individuals of the project in order
to increase involvement, and assist in developing a schedule or series of milestones
to ensure that the Project is kept on track from start to finish.
To date, accomplishments of the Special Projects sub-committee include forming an
interdisciplinary group of Students and Young Professionals to submit a detailed
response to the Canadian Senate Standing Committee’s (Energy, Environment and Natural
Resources) Guidance Document titled ‘Water in the West: Under Pressure’.
The Special Projects sub-committee has also provided support to the CWRA Student-Young
Professional Fundraising initiatives in the years 2005 and 2006 involving the creation
and marketing of wall calendars featuring unique and artistic photographs depicting
water resources management.
Other ongoing initiatives include promoting an evaluation of environmentally sustainable
practices within the Canadian Water Resources Association as a whole and the Student-Young
Professional National Committee. The Special Projects sub-committee also aims to
provide a link between the SYP and the CWRA at the national and provincial branches
level.
For further information please contact:
Peter van Driel (pvandriel@ecoplans.com)
Conference:
The Conference sub-committee of the CWRA-SYP aims to encourage student and young
professional activities, participation and networking, as well as assisting in coordinating
student volunteers at the annual CWRA conference.
This is a unique sub-committee as the leadership, facilitation and membership changes
each year based on where the annual CWRA conference will be held in that year. The
SYP Conference sub-committee works closely with the hosting provincial Branch organizing
committee to ensure that there is SYP activities and visibility at the conference.
Ideally, the conference leader and part of the sub-committee team is based in the
hosting province or city so that close communication can occur between this sub-committee
and the main organizing committee.
To date, accomplishments of the Conference sub-committee include hosting an annual
(since 2004) “Careers in Water” session/breakfast that features water professionals
speaking about their experiences of transition from students to professional. The
Conference sub-committee has also been successful in attaining floor space for a
SYP booth geared towards informing students and young professionals about SYP activities,
Chapters and committee’s. The SYP booth, in the past, has created a great place
to meet fellow SYPs, becomes a central place to meet friends during the conference,
and a chance to visit face-to-face with people that serve on committee’s or teams
together.