Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Canadian Dentistry Student Associations
held June 20, 2015 in Albion Room A & B, Novotel, Ottawa, Ontario
Participants:
- Toufic Boulos, Association des étudiants (es) en médecine dentaire de l’Université de Montréal
- Jennifer Branch, University of Western Ontario Dental Student Society
- Kerri-Lyn Chong, University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculty of Dentistry Dental Undergraduate Society
- Kelsey Eatmon, Dalhousie Dentistry Students' Society
- Reza Entezarion, University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculty of Dentistry Dental Undergraduate Society
- Khashayar Gharavi, Dental Student Society of the University of Toronto
- Danielle Gray, Saskatchewan Dental Student Society
- Nazanin Hojjati, McGill University Dental Students' Society
- Yoonji Kim, University of Alberta Dental Students Association
- Fern Leavens, University of Alberta Dental Students Association
- DongJin Lee, Dental Student Society of the University of Toronto
- Ivy Fangyu Lin, McGill University Dental Students' Society
- Olivier Marceau, Association des étudiants de médecine dentaire de l'Université Laval
- Antoine Paradis-Surprenant, Association des étudiants (es) en médecine dentaire de l’Université de Montréal
- Elisabeth Rajotte, Association des étudiants de médecine dentaire de l'Université Laval
- Goli Sammak, Saskatchewan Dental Student Society
- Nada Tabbara, University of Western Ontario Dental Student Society
- Bryce Tung, Dalhousie Dentistry Students' Society
- Sunny Virdi, Manitoba Dental Students' Association
- Bryan Wong, Manitoba Dental Students' Association
Guests/observers:
- Kristopher Mendoza, President, American Student Dental Association (ASDA)
- Dr. Daniel Haas, President, Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry (ACFD)
- Susan Roberts, Vice-President, Insurance Advisory Services, CDSPI
- Kim Phillips, Manager, Registrations, National Dental Examining Board of Canada
- Dr. Richard Holden, Board of Directors, Canadian Dental Association
- Dr. Benoit Soucy, Director, Clinical and Scientific Affairs, Canadian Dental Association
- Monique Bouchard, Coordinator, Education, Canadian Dental Association
1. Welcome and Opening Remarks
Since due notice of the meeting had been given and a quorum was present, the Chairperson called the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Federation of Canadian Dentistry Student Associations (FCDSA) to order at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 20, 2015 in the Albion Room A & B of the Novotel, Ottawa, Ontario. Mr. Toufic Boulos acted as Chairperson and Ms. Monique Bouchard acted as Recording Secretary.
Mr. Boulos welcomed the Council members and the guests/observers to the meeting. The Council members expressed their thanks to CDSPI for once again sponsoring the AGM. All were welcomed to participate in discussions.
2. Adoption of the Agenda
The agenda was adopted as circulated. It was noted that the program was flexible so that additional time could be allotted for further discussion of any particular item if needed.
It was agreed that the committee and working group appointments be considered after the election of the new Executive.
3. Approval of Minutes – June 21, 2014
IT WAS MOVED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Federation of Canadian Dentistry Student Associations held June 21, 2014 be approved.
Any matters arising from the minutes were discussed during the course of the meeting.
4. The Year in Review – A Report from the Executive
Mr. Toufic delivered The Year in Review – A Report from the Executive, containing updates on activities and actions taken by the Executive and Committees/Working Groups since the last Annual General Meeting.
Here are some highlights from the report:
- Khashayar Gharavi (Toronto ’17) and Nazanin Hojjati (McGill ’15) attended the NDEB Annual Meeting held October 2014 in Ottawa, ON.
- Khashayar Gharavi (Toronto ’17) attended the 2015 ASDA Annual Session, held February 18-21, 2015 in Boston, MA.
- Nazanin Hojjati (McGill ’15) attended the CDA Annual General Meeting in April 2015.
- CDSPI invited Khashayar Gharavi to participate in a new initiative – the CDSPI Advisory Panel – to share thoughts on issues facing dentists at various stages of their careers, including dental school. The first meeting was held November 2014 and future meetings are planned.
- The Internal and External Communications Committee members are very exciting to introduce the FCDSA Facebook page and FCDSA.ca website during this meeting.
- The Finance Committee is working to establish a sustainable financial model and is developing a sponsorship package.
5. The First Three Years – Looking Back and Planning Ahead
Dr. Benoit Soucy, Director, Clinical and Scientific Affairs of the Canadian Dental Association (CDA), lead discussions on the development of the FCDSA over its first three years, including successes, challenges and lessons learned.
5.1. Review of Mission and Vision
Council reviewed the FCDSA Mission and Vision:
The mission of the federation is to connect dentistry students in order to foster the sharing of common interests and challenges, advocate as a unified national student voice for the promotion of accessible, optimal dental education and patient care, and provide an avenue to introduce and involve students in organized dentistry.
The vision of the federation is to be a forum for a nationally integrated community enhancing the student experience in the dental profession.
5.2. Success, challenges and lessons learned
The following successes, challenges and lessons learned were noted:
Representation
- While all 10 schools continue to be represented at the AGM, continuous representation will be a challenge until processes are in place at each member association allowing for junior Council members to return as senior Council members. Some progress is being made here.
Engagement
- Work is needed to engage the committee members and those Council members that are not serving on Committees so that work on established goals moves forward.
Meetings
- The changed quorum for Council meetings should make it easier to hold Council meetings when needed.
- So far, the AGM agendas have been very packed. Council agendas need to be more strategic and less operational.
- Executive meeting agendas are also very long, making short efficient meetings difficult. This is especially important given that Executive meetings are done by conference calls. Efforts will be made to limit conference calls to 60 minutes.
Communication
- The Facebook page and the website are important pieces of infrastructure which help raise awareness of FCDSA and bring students together to share information and ideas. Only the students can decide whether these are enough.
Two central challenges were identified:
Increase involvement, commitment and accountability: During the last year, the Executive realized that very few individuals are involved in the actual committee work, so the Executive needed to step in to help out. We need dedicated volunteers who will commit to working together to meet targets and goals.
Establish sustainable financial model: Programs cannot be established without the needed funding. FCDSA needs to establish a sustainable financial model.
5.3. Moving forward
The Council discussed strategies to increase involvement, commitment and accountability.
It was agreed that the FCDSA Secretariat be included on each FCDSA Council committee and/or working group as staff support. The support provided would be limited in scope.
It was agreed that each committee or working group schedule regular meetings as required by their Terms of Reference and submit meeting minutes to the Secretariat for FCDSA records and sharing with the Executive.
It was agreed that the FCDSA Secretariat create a template spreadsheet for each committee/working group to track its goals and targets.
6. Proposed Amendment to the FCDSA Bylaws
During the past year, the Executive became aware that paragraph 10.09 of the FCDSA General Bylaws, dealing with the possible vacancy in the office of the president or the vice president, posed some challenges if just one of those positions became vacant. As this situation occurred this year, the Executive went to the Council asking permission to appoint one of the regional councillors as Interim Vice President.
In order to correct the, the Council considered a proposed amendment to the general bylaws:
IT WAS MOVED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED that paragraph 10.09 of the General Bylaws of the Federation of Canadian Dentistry Student Associations, dated July 15, 2013 be amended to read as follows:
10.09 If the office of either the President or Vice-President becomes vacant, the regional councillors may, by resolution and in accordance with paragraph 10.04 of these bylaws, fill the vacancy from the members of the Council.
7. Reports from Committees and Working Groups
Each committee and working group made a presentation, which included recommendations for consideration of the Council.
7.1. Finance Committee
Khashayar Gharavi (Toronto ’17), Chair of the Finance Committee (FC), reported on the work of the committee and spoke to a number of the committee’s proposed resolutions:
IT WAS MOVED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED that the Financial Statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014 be accepted as presented.
IT WAS MOVED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED that the proposed activity plan for 2015-2016 be approved as presented.
7.2. Internal Communications Committee
As the Executive has been very involved in the work of the Internal Communications Committee, the Chair, Nada Tabbara (Western ’17), asked the President, Toufic Boulos (Montréal ’16) to present the report on her behalf.
The Council considered four logo options and combined elements of two options for their final selection:
IT WAS MOVED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED that the Federation of Canadian Dentistry Student Associations (FCDSA) adopt the official logo design as specified below:
Option 3 using the font used in option 1.
After modification, the final logo would be as follows:
The Committee and the Executive thanked Deborah Niles of CDSPI for her work on the logo project over the last year.
7.3. External Communications Committee
The Chair of the External Communications Committee, Bryce Tung (Dalhousie ’17), has also asked the President to present the Committee report.
The Council toured the new FCDSA.ca website, including seven main sections:
- Home
- About
- Leadership
- Events
- Issues
- Resources
- Contact Us
This website launch is an important step in the development of the federation and the ECC hopes that each Council member will visit the site and make all member association members aware of the site.
The ECC will work to obtain photos for the website from member association. Council members are encouraged to talk to their presidents and fellow students about what content would be useful to students. Council members were also invited to visit and seek input on the Issues section. The federation can only address issues of importance once it knows what those issues are.
7.4. Dental Student Conference Feasibility Working Group
Nazanin Hojjati (McGill ’15), Chair of the Dental Student Conference Feasibility Working Group, presented the report of the Working Group. The report outlined the program of the 2015 IDSC as well as details related to attendance, budget, logistics, sponsors and timeline.
The Council provided the following feedback to the Working Group:
- To be a truly national event, the program needs to be attractive enough for students to travel from across the country, not just from nearby schools.
- Some schools don’t support the IDSC because of its history. FCDSA needs to distance itself from any negative history and begin with a fresh new model.
- The new model should be more academic in nature.
- The faculty deans are supportive of the students getting together but it depends on the conference program.
- ACFD meets every two years, with its next meeting being held at Laval University of 2017. Perhaps students can be linked in somehow.
- The Working Group needs to consider the question of continuity. If the event is to be largely organized by local student volunteers, FCDSA would need to develop a template for the event with particular requirements and guidance.
The Working Group noted that there was still more work to do before a formal recommendation could be made.
IT WAS MOVED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED that the mandate of the Dental Student Conference Feasibility Working Group be extended until the FCDSA 2016 Annual General Meeting, at which time the Working Group will present its final report.
8. Activities/projects and next steps
Based on the presentations and reports presented so far, the Council planned for the coming year.
The Council considered a list of meetings and events which will require FCDSA representation. The new president will either attend or assign a delegate to attend in his stead. Of course, attendance is always contingent on funding being available.
The following were identified as priority activities/projects:
- Representation at meetings and events: The Council reviewed a list of meetings and events which will require FCDSA representation. The new president will either attend or assign a delegate to attend in his stead. Of course, attendance is always contingent on funding being available.
- Website: The ECC needs to identify gaps in the website content and develop strategies to fill those gaps. Ideas for content included the FCDSA PowerPoint presentation, and listings of student awards.
- Issues Management: Using the Facebook page, the website and other possible methods, FCDSA needs to identify issues of concern and how FCDSA can address them. These might include discussion forums, videos, webinars etc. with panels of specialists.
- Finances: The Finance Committee needs to complete the work on the sponsorship package and develop a plan to approach potential sponsors.
9. Presentations / Updates from Invited Organizations
9.1. Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry (ACFD)
Dr. Paul Allison, President-Elect of the Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry (ACFD) briefed the Council on the goals and activities of the ACFD, including their biennial meetings. ACFD will be meeting in Quebec City in 2017 and would be open to discussing the possibility of having FCDSA hold its AGM in conjunction with that meeting.
9.2. American Student Dental Association (ASDA)
Niveditha Rajagopalan, Vice President of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) outlined ASDA’s approach to engaging student members in Committee work. ASDA represents 90% of US dentistry students so there is a large pool of potential volunteers. The Committee structure is supported by a number of ASDA staff members who help committees track their goals and timelines. ASDA builds involvement from the local to the national level and does support some in-person committee meetings (5-6 times per year). Structured goal-setting and timelines help committees reach goals and report on accomplishments on a regular basis. This helps keep things moving forward.
ASDA also deals with turnover in their leadership and is preparing a white paper on the issue. It is fortunate that a good number of alumni remain involved.
9.3. Canadian Dental Association (CDA)
Dr. Richard Holden, member of the Canadian Dental Association (CDA) Board of Directors outlined a few areas for possible collaboration with the FCDSA:
Issues identification: CDA could provide guidance on how to identify issues of importance using surveys, Facebook and the FCDSA website. Information on student issues could be included in the environmental scan performed by CDA staff and submitted to the CDA Board of Directors for consideration. This would ensure that student concerns are part of the discussion.
Communication/content development: CDA Oasis discussions is an established platform that could help FCDSA develop content specific to students. CDA is also offering to help develop a document modelled on the one developed to help internationally trained dentists adapt to professional life in Canada. Perhaps such a document might help graduating student adapt to the first years in the profession.
In summary, CDA wants to help FCDSA produce tangible services for its members. As with any national organization, the leadership is here for a short time and needs to lay the ground work for those who will follow.
9.4. CDSPI
Ms. Susan Roberts, Vice-President, Insurance Advisory Services, CDSPI, briefed the Council on the various services available to students, including financial planning advice, insurance and investment solutions specifically designed for dentists, no cost undergraduate insurance package, and personal support.
Ms. Roberts outlined the goals of the new CDSPI Advisory Panel, established to identify issues facing dentists at various stages of their careers, including dental school. This way, CDSPI can develop products to help meet the needs of both students and practicing dentists.
CDSPI was happy to once again provide funding for this AGM.
9.5. National Dental Examining Board of Canada (NDEB)
Ms. Kim Phillips, Manager, Registrations for the National Dental Examining Board of Canada (NDEB), gave an overview of their activities. NDEB is developing an e-exam and its new website will be launched in August 2015.
Pass rates are consistent (90% NDEB exam and 96% on the Dental Specialty Core Knowledge Examination – or DSCKE).
10. Round Table
Council members reported on activities at their schools, as well as issues of concerns. Here are some of the common themes (in no particular order):
- Student exchange programs
- Organization of charity and other events (hockey games, galas, Movember, ProsthOlympics, Brushing Mania)
- Attendance at province dental association meetings/events (and sending representatives to ASDA)
- Focus on health and wellness
- Student exchange programs
- Outreach programs / volunteer and student run clinics / community service / mobile dental units
- Summer student programs / internships
- Missions
- Welcome events
- Sharing Smiles program
- Student issue identification and management (ethics, professionalism, health & wellness)
- Creating policy/structure for local society (formalizing FCDSA representation, creating structure and accountability)
11. Election of Executive
11.1. Candidate Speeches
Candidates for the Executive were invited to make short speeches prior to the election.
11.2. Election
IT WAS MOVED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED that Dr. Benoit Soucy and Ms. Monique Bouchard serve as scrutineers for the election.
The following were elected to the Executive:
- Khashayar Gharavi (Toronto ’17), President
- Nada Tabbara (Western ’17), Vice-President
- Ivy Fangyu Lin (McGill ’17), Regional councillor- Eastern Canada
- Jennifer Branch (Western ’18), Regional councillor- Central Canada
- Kerri-Lyn Chong (UBC ’18), Regional councillor- Western Canada
IT WAS MOVED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED that the ballots related to the 2015 Election be destroyed by the scrutineers.
11.3. Naming members of the Executive to Operate the Bank Account
One of the duties of members of the Executive is to operate the bank account. This means that they will be able to sign cheques and other banking documents, along with the other signatories appointed in 2013: Dr. Benoit Soucy and Monique Bouchard. For each cheque or banking document, two signatories are required, including at least one member of the Executive.
IT WAS MOVED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED that the following specific individuals be appointed to operate the account based on their election to the Executive of the Federation of Canadian Dentistry Student Associations (FCDSA):
- Khashayar Gharavi (Toronto ’17), President
- Nada Tabbara (Western ’17), Vice-President
- Ivy Fangyu Lin (McGill ’17), Regional councillor- Eastern Canada
- Jennifer Branch (Western ’18), Regional councillor- Central Canada
- Kerri-Lyn Chong (UBC ’18), Regional councillor- Western Canada
12. Committee and Working Group Appointments
IT WAS MOVED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED that the following be appointed to the Finance Committee for 2015-2016:
Chair: Nada Tabbara (Western ’18) - Vice-president
4 Members: Jennifer Branch (Western ’18)
Khashayar Gharavi (Toronto ’17)
Danielle Gray (Saskatchewan ’17)
Bryan Wong (Manitoba ’16)
Staff support: Monique Bouchard (Secretariat)
IT WAS MOVED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED that the following be appointed to the Internal Communications Committee for 2015-2016:
Chair: Ivy Fangyu Lin (McGill ’17)
3 Members: Kerri-Lyn Chong (UBC ’18)
Sunny Virdi (Manitoba ’16)
Olivier Marceau (Laval ’17)
Staff support: Monique Bouchard (Secretariat)
It is noted that Dean Smith (CDA) and Deborah Niles (CDSPI) continue to serve as consultants to the Internal Communications Committee.
IT WAS MOVED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED that the following be appointed to the External Communications Committee for 2015-2016:
Chair: Kelsey Eatmon (Dalhousie ’18)
2 Members: Goli Sammak (Saskatchewan ’18)
Ivy Fangyu Lin (McGill ’17)
Staff support: Monique Bouchard (Secretariat)
It is noted that Dean Smith (CDA) continues to serve as consultant to the External Communications Committee.
IT WAS MOVED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED that the following be appointed to the Dental Student Conference Working Group for 2015-2016:
Chair: Antoine Paradis-Surprenant (Montréal ’17)
4 Members: Sunny Virdi (Manitoba ’16)
Reza Entezarion (UBC ’16)
Bryan Wong (Manitoba ’16)
Elisabeth Rajotte (Laval ’17)
Staff support: Monique Bouchard (Secretariat)
13. Banking Resolution, Signing Documents, Verification of Identification
In 2013, Council passed a number of resolutions to set up its own bank account. As many Council members change at each AGM, it is necessary to update the bank on these changes and ask the Council to sign the appropriate banking documentation.
IT WAS MOVED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED that the Federation of Canadian Dentistry Student Associations (FCDSA) forward to TD Commercial Banking a Letter of Authority dated June 20, 2015 providing the required names and contact information for the members of Council as well as the confirmation of the specific individuals appointed to operate the account based on their election to the Executive or appointment as other signing authorities.
14. Other Business
The outgoing and incoming presidents said a few words. The Council extended its congratulations to the graduating members.
From McGill University, Dr. Nazanin Hojjati
and
from the University of Montréal, Dr. Toufic Boulos.
15. Next Meeting
The Council considered when the next Annual General Meeting should be scheduled. Council members will be asked to identify dates of graduation ceremonies and social events and the Secretariat will investigate availability of meeting and guest rooms.
IT WAS MOVED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED that the next Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Canadian Dentistry Student Associations (FCDSA) be held in the spring of 2016 at a date to be confirmed by the Executive.
The Secretariat will work to identify an appropriate date that is the most convenient and to secure appropriate meeting space and accommodation.
16. Adjournment
As there was no other business to discuss, the meeting ended at 4:30 p.m.
Toufic Boulos, President
Monique Bouchard, Recording Secretary