DISCLAIMER: This draft was started by Qian and discussed with/edited by Tassia before being shared with the rest of the Club.

Feel free to add comments directly to the text below, with your name, as the start of a discussion

Vanier FLOSS Club Structure ​

Rationale ​

The lack of structure worked well so far, but some members believe that a minimal set of roles and responsibilities might be benefitial to the group, and contribute to its sustainability.

With clear roles, it is easier to have accountability; as well as to give credits to people for the effort they put towards the club.

Also, having a clear structure might facilitate outreaching for new members, as the whole club work is more clearly understandable by interested and not-yet-members.

The challenge is to design a structure that helps aggregating, not dividing. The lack of an assigned position should not prevent anyone from contributing to the Club nor to FLOSS projects. By doing work people should naturaly find their way into club positions.

Proposed positions and responsibilities ​

• College liaison: responsible for handling communication and coordination between the club and Vanier College (faculty, staff, other club, etc.) for school-level matters (STAR hours form, printing posters, room booking, etc.).

• President (or coordinator)*: responsible for overseeing the entire club. Organizing necessary meetings, track projects progress, and collaborate with the college liaison with school-level matters. Ideally, this person should have an active contribution to FLOSS, serving as a model to other club members, and also to make sure our actions reinforce the club's mission.

• Co-President (or co-coordinator)*: responsible for assisting the president with coordination tasks, and help overseeing ongoing projects when necessary and doable. Can be seen as a trainee, someone who is willing to take the lead in the future.

• Team Leads: responsible for overseeing a certain type of projects and work with other team members to deliver the project. Tech, art (design), and event organizing could be the initial teams.

• Projects Leads: responsible for overseeing and work on a specific on-going project. This position can be held by any active member, usually whoever proposed the project and contributed the most to it. The FLOSS Day, website, outreach, foundational documents (?) could be examples of projects.

• At least one coordination member (and the event team lead/coordination member) must be a current Vanier student (on-site).
• Coordinators could also be responsible for team leading, but ideally should not.

Member Tag ​

• Active Member: Vanier student, staff, faculty, and alumni who have significant contributions and are still actively contributing to FLOSS Club projects. Required for a member to hold a position and be a part of the GitHub organization for the Club.
• Alumni Member: previously active member who have significant contributions to FLOSS Club projects but are no longer active. These members will still hold more weight when providing suggestions, and they can be listed in the GitHub organization even if they are inactive.

The members who just joined Discord and never contributed to any club projects won't have any tag.

Open questions ​

1. Should we use which terminology: president, coordinator, leader?
2. Do we need really team leads, or we can start just by focusing on projects?
3. Could we start by self-nomination, and if there are more than 1 nomination to the same position, we can have a quick nomination defense and vote?
4. Will the assignment of positions happen on a yearly basis? Maybe (re-)confirmed at every FLOSS Day?
5. How do we keep our doors open even to non-Vanier members? Should we add a "Friend" member?
6. How do we keep our doors open to active FLOSS contributors who are not yet club members? Should we add a "FLOSS contributor" tag?

My Thoughts (Qian Qian) ​

1. Team & projects leads are called "leads" as their primary role would be leading the respective project(s). For (co-)president, I think these roles includes enough variation in actual responsibilities that "leads" or "coordinator" is too narrow to describe everything. But also, at the end of the day, doesn't really matter that much.
2. We DO NOT. But, the idea is, with fewer people, the same person will startup potentially multiple projects within the same scope (e.g. design) and will lead all those projects, and this is, for all parties, effectively them playing the role of a team lead instead of just being multiple project leads at the same time, so the name do make sense from day one. And having this "team lead" will create a flexibility when new members join and decide to start projects.
3. Yes, but also not 100% necessary considering the number of active members, but this certainly is a valid thing to do to make sure the leadership is trustworthy and recognized by all members.
4. We can, depending on the number of active members and the opinion of the community each year. That is something to decide and start organizing when the time comes.
5. Certainly! People or organization who contributed (for example, gave a talk during FLOSS Day) can certainly be considered as a "friend" member and be recognized. Also, despite us calling ourself "Vanier" FLOSS Club, I think since we are not directly related to VCSA, we don't even have to limit our formal membership to Vanier members. But this certainly would brings more management stuff to think about, so I think we should reconsider this later when we are more structally established. In the mean time, a "friend" member sound fun!
6. Same as the last one, we definitly could, and anyway with the achievement system to be implemented to make members more active (I talked about this with Tassia during an in person meeting, DM/ping me on Discord if interested in more details), this can be directly applied to this case also, where FLOSS contributors who just joined can already get some recognition.

My Thoughts (Zeel G.) ​

1. I think “team leads” and “coordinator” are both solid choices. They clearly explain what the roles do without sounding too formal or hierarchical.

(Qian) It is meant to be formal in some sense when the name (co-)president is proposed, especially it is used with a lot of different FLOSS organization.

2. I really like the idea that whoever starts and builds the project gets the “project lead” or even “team lead” title automatically. It’s great to recognize people’s work and ownership—makes the role meaningful.
3. Totally agree with Qian. Self-nomination + voting (if needed) is a great system as the club grows. Simple, fair, and keeps things clear.
5. Yessss! I fully agree with Qian. “Friend” member sounds fun and welcoming. Perfect way to include contributors from outside Vanier while keeping ideas flexible and open.
6. Building on Qian’s idea: I think it would be cool if we not only gave tags like “FLOSS contributor” but also highlighted their work somewhere public—like a section on the website, in our GitHub README, or even a mini “Hall of Fame” page. That way, contributors (even non-members) get visible recognition, and it encourages more involvement too.

My Thoughts (Ahmet Y.) ​

1. Building on Zeel's idea, I fervently believe that we should definitely have an established hierachy. His choice for position names are solid. But I want to point at that I do not wish to address a team leader as "team leader". I want to address them by name as the other option just feels more cold and distant.

(Qian) “Team lead” is not how we address people, it is the description of their role, responsibility, and recognition to their contributions (that are more outstanding than other members).

2. I belive that we do not necessarily need team leaders. But it will make easier for the newcomers to ask questions, as they will know which project is being lead by who.
3. I believe self-nomination might create structural problems if the club becomes big, but initially, I agree on self-nomination and voting if needed. However, we might need to come back to this if we have to many members, as everyone can nominated themselves, and I do not wish to start a new voting process at the start of each new project.

(Qian) Self nomination is kinda a FLOSS way of doing leadership structuring, and structural problems are usually not a concern (if we look at bigger FLOSS organizations) if it is properly organized. And of course, self-nomination and voting process is mainly just for the (co-)president (or whatever we end up calling them) and maybe team leads instead of every project lead. Those roles needs this kind of process because they do possess some kind of formality (for example, we say, letting these people putting their role on CV). The project lead is obviously just THE person who started (and/or contributed the most) to that project, no one needs to name themself to lead a project, they just work on it, and everyone can see who worked the most (and hence who deserves to lead that project).

4. I belive that there should be regular position switch, as this will allow newer perspectives into the leadership of the club. I believe 1 year time frame is enough before we start a new voting process.
5. I believe we should keep the doors closed to people outside Vanier and Vanier alumni. As the name of the club suggests: "Vanier Floos club".

(Qian) Closing the door to communities outside of Vanier seems to be against the fundamental idea of FLOSS.

6. Building on Zeel's idea: I agree we should mentions these people. However, we should also make a dedicated page on our website where each contributor has their name and there contributions to the club (e.g. worked on this and this project).

My Thoughts (Yu Duo Z.) ​

2. We do not need formal "team leads". Back to Qian's idea, I fully agree with him. Also, the idea that one be responsible for a certain scope / domain, in some way, could facilitate new members who has interests starting to help on existing projects. It might also be a great way to make project management easier?
4. Yearly change is acctually the most suitable, considering that CEGEP life is, for most of the students, a 2-3 year experience only. Also, most events, like FLOSS day for example, need at least one organizer to be on site, which means for sure we can't have everyone on remote. 1 year is clearly enough, in my opinion.
5. Considering that we do not have restrictions anyway, and that FLOSS is Free / Libre, keeping the doors open to "friends" is never a bad idea, but Vanier / Vanier alumni should / would always occupy the majority.
6. Fully agree on Ahmet's idea: a dedicated page about all contributors would be amazing. It's also a way to gain new member's motivation to contribute (?)

Tiago's suggestion: ​

https://fourweekmba.com/circular-organizational-structure/ (a bit overkill) (or, anything is better than 'president', even 'executive director') 😃

• Look around: FLOSS Projects/Clubs, look for examples.
• How do we call the positions?

  Coordinator sounds more approaching. President is more formal for public records.

• Fundational documentation. (Commitment, impact, responsibility.)
• Call for another meeting for final decision (appointment and naming).

  Official proposal for the structure. Tassia, 4 active members, 2 alumni members for a decision to be called official.

• Revalidation of the structure.

  Every end of Winter semester (May/June).

Preview & Note for Vanier FLOSS Club meeting 2025-06-14@6:00pm ​

Just to make sure everyone is on the same page, this meeting is for deciding the future club structure of the Vanier FLOSS Club. For this meeting, we will have to decide:

1. The actual structure to be made.
2. Assign the positions.
3. Determine a test period before the structure is officially put in place or changed.

For more information, you can check the notepads containing the structure proposal [check the proposal listed above].

Structure ​

We need to decide a structure for the Vanier FLOSS Club.

The currently proposed structure for the club is a somewhat horizontal structure —— with a two-layer structure, a more compact layer overseeing the entire club and a larger one with each member in charge of a specific domain. The proposed sturcture looks like the follows:

• College Liaison: responsible for handling communication and coordination between the club and Vanier College (faculty, staff, other club, etc.) for school-level matters (STAR hours form, printing posters, room booking, etc.).

• Coordination Member: responsible for overseeing the entire club. Organizing necessary meetings, track projects progress, and collaborate with the college liaison with school-level matters. Ideally, this person should have an active contribution to FLOSS, serving as a model to other club members, and also to make sure our actions reinforce the club's mission.

• Co-Coordination Member: responsible for assisting with coordination tasks, and help overseeing ongoing projects when necessary and doable. Can be seen as a trainee, someone who is willing to take the lead in the future.

• Team Leads: responsible for overseeing a certain type of projects and work with other team members to deliver the project. Tech, art (design), and event organizing could be the initial teams.

• At least one coordination member (and the event team lead/coordination member) must be a current Vanier student (on-site).
• Coordinators could also be responsible for team leading, but ideally should not.

Also, the following roles are not considered part of the coordination board, but are still important to be considered for the better organization of the club and recognition of contribution:

• Projects Leads (who are not directly considered as a part of the leading board): responsible for overseeing and work on a specific on-going project. This position can be held by any active member, usually whoever proposed the project and contributed the most to it. The FLOSS Day, website, outreach, foundational documents (?) could be examples of projects.
• Active Member: Vanier student, staff, faculty, and alumni who have significant contributions and are still actively contributing to FLOSS Club projects. Required for a member to hold a position and be a part of the GitHub organization for the Club.
• Alumni Member: previously active member who have significant contributions to FLOSS Club projects but are no longer active. These members will still hold more weight when providing suggestions, and they can be listed in the GitHub organization even if they are inactive.
• Friend Member: outside persons/organizations who have contributed to Vanier FLOSS Club projects and/or events.

Naming ​

The official title of the two "Coordination Member" went undecided from the last meeting, and we need to decide it during this meeting. "President" was firstly proposed as it was mostly used in FLOSS organizations (e.g. Rocky Linux Organization). Yet, the title "president" did have some downsides. Here's a list of now proposed options available for us to choose (and their advantages and disadvantages):

• (Co-)President:
  • (Adv.):
    • It sounds more formal and looks better on public records.
  • (Disadv.):
    • It often implies that such a person taking that role is elected and has a superior power, hence may be against the spirit of the FLOSS Club.
• (Co-)Coordinator:
  • (Adv.):
    • This role sounds more approchable to new/unexperienced members, hence encouraging more community development.
  • (Disadv.):
    • It is less official as a role than "president".
• (Co-)Director:
  • Not discussed in the last meeting, but might still be an option.
• (Co-)Lead:
  • Not discussed in the last meeting, but might still be an option.

• Of course, the option of leaving the choice to every people taking such a role is always possible, and we just need to limit the choice and make sure that, in our community guidelines, these titles means the same thing.

Appointment ​

We need to appoint people to each of these role according to their current, unofficial, role in the club and/or their interest to contribute.

Test Time and Re-"Organization" Time ​

We need to decide for how long an initial test lasts for determine if this structure works. One option is till FLOSS Day 2025, but it might be too short and not as effective as not many members are active and the process of trying to let new members join is just starting up. So the other option might be directly next Re-"Organization" Time.

We also need to decide when to evaluate periodically the sturcture for improving it (and maybe appointing new people for bring new ideas and plans to the organization of the club).

=========== Example CSU (Concordia University). Naming sample: "Candidates for the Executive run individually for the positions of Academic and Advocacy Coordinator, External Affairs and Mobilization Coordinator, Finance Coordinator, General Coordinator, Internal Affairs Coordinator, Student Life Coordinator, Sustainability Coordinator and Loyola Coordinator, but may campaign together."

https://www.csu.qc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CSU-Bylaws-June-2022.pdf

Vanier FLOSS Club - Club Structuring Decision Meeting - Note ​

Introduction ​

This meeting was held June 16th, 2025 at 6:00pm online to determine a more formal structure for the Vanier FLOSS Club. During this meeting, the general structure of the club, the first position appointment, and some other related decisions were made.

For more information, you can also check:

1. The club structuring proposal: *[check the proposal listed above]*.
2. The meeting note for the first related meeting: *[check the first meeting note above]*.
3. The previews note for this meeting: *[check the preview note above]*.

Structure & 2025-2026 Appointment ​

During the meeting, the general structure of club were decided and members were appointed to some positions depending on interest and current de facto role.

The structure ended up being a two-layer structure. With the College Liaison, Coordinator, and Co-Coordinator forming an "Coordination Group" overseeing the entire club, and the team leads who are more concentrated on certain field and/or type of tasks.

• For the "Coordination Member" role that had an undecided name, the decision was made during the meeting that the official title is "Coordinator".

• Official Name from Omnivox.

• College Liaison: Camoes-Araujo, Tassia

responsible for handling communication and coordination between the club and Vanier College (faculty, staff, other club, etc.) for school-level matters (STAR hours form, printing posters, room booking, etc.).

• Coordinator: Qian, Qian

responsible for overseeing the entire club. Organizing necessary meetings, track projects progress, and collaborate with the college liaison with school-level matters. Ideally, this person should have an active contribution to FLOSS, serving as a model to other club members, and also to make sure our actions reinforce the club's mission.

• Co-Coordinator: Zhang, Yu Duo

Responsible for assisting with coordination tasks, and help overseeing ongoing projects when necessary and doable.

• Team Leads:
  • Tech: Qian, Qian

  The tech team is responsible for technical projects (website development, OSS project contribution, workshops, etc.)

  • Communication and Social Media: Gajjar, Zeel Digantkumar

  The Communication and Social Media team is responsible for managing the club social medias (Instagram, LinkedIn, website, etc.), posting contents on these platforms, and promoting club-organized events.

  • Design and Media Production: TBD

  The Design and Media Production team is responsible for designing (e.g. posters) or producing (e.g. photo and video recording, editing, etc.) contents to be posted by the Communication and Social Media team.

  • Event Organization: TBD

  The Event Organization team is responsible for organizing club-organized events (e.g. FLOSS Day).

  • Finance: TBD

  The Finance team is responsible for managing budget and producing financial reports for the club, especially when there is an event. The team is also responsible for reaching out to sponsors if necessary.

  • FLOSS Outreach and Onbording: TBD

  The FLOSS Outreach and Onbording team is responsible for promoting FLOSS projects in our community and help people finding projects that might suit them best to begin with.

  • More can be added depending on member's interest and commitment. Contact Qian, or talk on the discord channel.

The following "titles" were also set up to recognize the role, responsibilty, and contribution of members or collaborators:

• Project Leads: responsible for overseeing and work on a specific on-going project. This position can be held by any active member, typically the member who started and/or contributed the most to the project.
• Active Member: Vanier student, staff, faculty, and alumni who have significant contributions and are still actively contributing to FLOSS Club projects. Required for a member to hold a position and be a part of the GitHub organization for the Club.
• Alumni Member: previously active member who have significant contributions to FLOSS Club projects but are no longer active. These members will still hold more weight when providing suggestions, and they can be listed in the GitHub organization even if they are inactive.
• Friend Member: outside persons/organizations who have contributed to Vanier FLOSS Club projects and/or events.

Announcement & Structure Refresh Time ​

The 2025-2026 structure is to be announced during the FLOSS Day 25 event. Then an one year period start, before the strcuture being rediscussed (and new appointments may be happening) prior (and changes announced) during FLOSS Day 26. This refresh should happen once a year, around the FLOSS Day.