About Us

What is BMESS-McGill?

BMESS-McGill is the BioMedical Engineering Students' Society at McGill University, the exclusive representative of the Graduate Students and Postdoctoral scholars registered in McGill University's Department of Biomedical Engineering (which is in the Faculty of Medicine).

To learn about how BMESS-McGill is structured, and how it operates, please consult the page Structure and Functions.

Our Mission

The mission of BMESS-McGill is multi-fold:

1. To represent our Membership as a cohesive and coherent body to McGill University and external entities.
2. To provide our membership with enriching social and academic activities.
3. To ensure that this Association enacts the tenets of democracy, financial and fiscal responsibility, and transparency of operations.

History

BMESS was founded in 2005 by the initiative of Rahul Chander and Kelvin Mok.

The first draft of BMESS-McGill's Constitution was written by Adrian Kaats and Brian Carrillo.  The goal of this constitution is to enshrine:

• the means for democratic control of this organization by its Membership
• transparency for its financing and operations
• the accountability of the organization's representatives to its Members.

In a General Assembly on November 20th 2007 the Constitution was unanimously ratified.  This ratification made BMESS-McGill the exclusive representative of its Membership as a body to all entities both internal and external to the University.  Little is recorded regarding the activities of BMESS from its founding until the ratification of its Constitution.  However, as of that historic date for BMESS-McGill, the Constitution now requires accurate record keeping and documentation of its activities.  Further, all documentation must be made public in keeping with the primary tenets of the Constitution.

By a motion drafted by Adrian Kaats and moved by Brian Carrillo at the Post-Graduate Students' Society (PGSS) Council Meeting of December 5th 2007, BMESS became a PGSS recognized Graduate Student Association (GSA).  PGSS recognition has, from the University's perspective, made BMESS-McGill the official representative of its Membership to the University at all the University's levels.

On December 10th 2007, this very web site was published to the Internet.  BMESS-McGill thus took its first steps towards its Constitutional requirement for transparency and accountability by providing a stable and consistent mechanism to disseminate all information and documentation regarding its activities.  Let us hope that this precedent becomes the new standard of BMESS-McGill.

The University's Responsibilities to BMESS-McGill

BMESS-McGill is the only body that is allowed to appoint representatives of its Membership to University bodies:

• As per Article 5  of the Charter of Students' Rights, "The University has an obligation to ensure that administrative decisions are made, or actions taken, with fair regard for the known and legitimate interests of students."
• As per Article 27, "All University bodies constituted to make decisions of policy in matters pertaining directly to students must provide for student membership."
• As per Article 28, "Recommendations for student membership shall be sought by the University from the appropriate student association where it exists. Refusal to accept a recommendation must not be based on arbitrary or unreasonable grounds."

BMESS-McGill is the only 'appropriate association' when it comes to representation of its Membership.