Student Chapter Program
Aims, Benefits, and Guidelines
Aims
The GAC® Student Chapter Program involves undergraduate and graduate students who are keenly interested in geoscience and want to be active members of the Canadian geoscience community. The program works through existing geoscience student clubs.
The program facilitates interaction between student clubs and the Geological Association of Canada (GAC®) and the Prospector and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), supports student activities in career development, and fosters exchanges between students and experienced geoscientists.
Benefits
A GAC® student membership includes:
- subscriptions to Geoscience Canada and GEOLOG
- free membership in most of GAC®’s 12 Specialist Divisions and regional Sections
- discounts on GAC® publications
- reduced registration fees for GAC®-MAC meetings, short courses and field trips
- reduced subscription prices on the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science and Environmental Reviews
GAC® Student Chapters are eligible for additional benefits
- Logan Student Chapter Grants
- student events at GAC®-MAC meetings
- Student Chapter links on the GAC® website
- highlights of Student Chapter activities published in GEOLOG
Operation guidelines
1. Requirements
for Formation of a Logan Student Chapter
- at least 10 GAC® or PDAC student members at the university campus ( Student GAC Membership Application )
- a faculty advisor, who is a geoscience professor and a GAC® member
- a community advisor, if available, who is an industry or government geoscientist and a GAC® or PDAC member
Logan Student Chapters
will be established through existing or newly formed geoscience student clubs. There
can be only one Logan Student Chapter per university campus.
If there is more than one geoscience club on campus, the clubs should collectively act as a Logan Student Chapter. The club with the largest number of GAC® or PDAC members will be considered the lead club in the Student Chapter. This club will be asked to coordinate liaison and funding arrangements with GAC®.
The faculty and community
advisors are to be chosen by the Student Chapter. Most Canadian universities
already have a GAC® Campus Representative who can provide assistance and
may be willing to serve as a faculty advisor.
To apply to become
a Logan Student Chapter, send the following to GAC® by e-mail
- a list of GAC® student members with membership numbers
- name and e-mail address of the student who will be the Student Chapter representative. This person will typically be the club President or a designate. Responsibility will be to liaise between the Student Chapter and GAC®, and between the member clubs of the Student Chapter
- name of the faculty advisor and his/her GAC® membership number and e-mail address
- name of the community advisor and his/her GAC® membership number and e-mail address
- official name of the Student Chapter
- URL address of the Student Chapter website, if available, to establish a link with the GAC® website
2. When Your Geoscience Club Becomes a Logan Student Chapter
Following acceptance
of an application, groups are encouraged to present themselves, for example
on letterhead, as "A Logan Student Chapter of the Geological Association of Canada".
Each affiliated club on a campus that has met the requirements and received
approval is encouraged to use this designation. The benefits of being a Logan Student Chapter apply to all
club members and are not to be limited to only those who are GAC® or PDAC student
members.
3. Annual Renewal
For annual renewal,
send current membership information and an annual report of activities
to GAC® by email by December 1st (this deadline does not apply to initiation
of new Student Chapters)
- a list of GAC® or PDAC student members (10 minimum) with membership numbers
- name and e-mail address of the student who will be the Student Chapter representative. This person will typically be the club President or a designate. Responsibility will be to liaise between the Student Chapter and GAC®, and between the member clubs of the Student Chapter.
- name of the faculty advisor and his/her GAC® membership number and e-mail address
- name of the community advisor and his/her GAC® membership number and e-mail address
- URL address to establish a link with the GAC® website (if not provided previously)
- annual report of activities
4. Annual Report
of Activities
Each Logan Student
Chapter must submit an annual report of activities to GAC® by December 1st.
The report should be no more than one page (single-spaced) and may be accompanied
by a group or activity photo. Activities funded by a Logan Student
Chapter Grant should be included in this report.
The report should be submitted electronically to GAC® as e-mail attachments. Images should be at least 300 dpi in formats without internal compression (preferably *.tif). Files greater than 1 MB should be compressed or zipped before sending via e-mail. A hard copy of the report may also be mailed or faxed.
Highlights of student
chapter activities will be considered for publication in GEOLOG.
5. Information for Faculty and Community Advisors
There are no formal guidelines established for the role of the faculty
advisor and community advisor, except for the endorsements required for the
applications for Logan Student Chapter Grants. The advisors' role is
flexible and will depend on the interests and needs of the particular
student chapter.
A faculty advisor, along with the GAC® Campus Representative, (although commonly one person will fill both roles) , is typically the main liaison between a Student Chapter and the university, and may be the person through whom GAC® makes initial contact with the students. A community advisor helps to promote communication and interaction between the students and government and industry geoscientists. For example, community advisors may provide advice on career development, professional activities such as guest speakers and field trips, and professional registration issues.
Advisors who have ideas for the student chapters, such as "meet and greet" night for students and practicing geoscientists, may wish to take a more proactive approach with their student chapters. Open, ongoing communication between advisors and student chapters will help to define the role of advisors for each student chapter and identify possible career-development activities to co-organize.
JOIN GAC® NOW
AND BECOME PART OF THE
CANADIAN GEOSCIENCE NETWORK!
See Student Link at www.pdac.ca for more information on Student activities supported by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.