ECA Accreditation

It’s Kind of a Big Deal

LettersMelanie Hotchkiss — Published January 28, 2013

Concordia’s Engineering and Computer Science Association is seeking accreditation this semester, a legal certification granted by the Ministry of Education to student associations across the province.

Currently, the ECA is the association that represents undergraduate students in the Engineering and Computer Science faculty at Concordia. The association organizes social and academic events, as well as finances constituent groups called societies.

Overall, the ECA contributes immensely to the university experience of students in the ENCS faculty.

Accreditation is also kind of a big deal.

Being legally accredited grants rights and protections to student associations. The ECA is pursuing this certification because they want to have the legal recognition and legitimacy that most other associations in Quebec already have.

I find it extremely unfortunate that there has been very little coverage of accreditation by the student media, especially over the past few weeks. The process itself constitutes the largest undergrad student consultation in the ENCS faculty in years!

Three thousand six hundred students are being asked to vote, inside and outside of classrooms, over the course of three weeks! This referendum requires that at least 25 per cent of ENCS students vote for the results to be legally binding. Otherwise, the results just won’t count.

This minimum requirement has compelled the ECA to reach out to its constituents in a massive “Vote Yes!” campaign, where hundreds of students have been contacted inside and outside of their classrooms.

In the past two weeks, more than 20 volunteers have made over 100 classroom announcements. This represents just about half of the total lectures conducted in one week in the faculty. An information booth has been made available for students, where they can pick up flyers or buttons and speak to volunteers.

The campaign has been branded by the “Legalize It,” “Recognize It” and “Legitimize It” posters that have been posted on bulletin boards in the Hall Building, but the message doesn’t stop there. The ECA is encouraging students to get involved or provide feedback so that they can better serve their constituents.

The kind of outreach that accreditation has engendered is unprecedented in the ENCS faculty. If that isn’t a big deal, I don’t know what is.

If you know any undergrads in the ENCS faculty, I urge you to tell them to get informed and go vote!

The polling period extends from Jan. 28 to Feb. 14.

—Melanie Hotchkiss,
ECA Campaign Manager