The University of Victoria Students' Society (UVSS) is a student society that represents undergraduate students at the University of Victoria. The students' society was founded in 1921 and incorporated in 1964. It provides services and operates business for students through the Student Union Building (SUB), and historically has advocated for special interests on campus. Governance Board of Directors The Board of Directors is the decision-making body for the Society and directs all work of the Society. The board is composed of student representatives elected from the student body. The board is made up of: Five salaried executives: Director of Student Affairs, Director of Finance & Operations, Director of Events, Director of Outreach & University Relations, and; Director of Campaigns & Community Relations A Director of International Student Relations, 11 volunteer at-large directors; and, Five advocacy group representatives: The Native Students' Union, UVic Pride Collective, The Students of Colour Collective, The Society for Students with a Disability, and; Gender Empowerment Centre (GEM) Elections Board members are elected annually in March and advocacy representatives are nominated by their groups and approved by the board. Up until 2009, the elections to the UVSS Board of Directors were run internally by a committee of the Society and staff members. Since that time, the UVSS has changed its by-laws and has given much of its authority to run the elections away to externally hired individuals. Policy for the elections is still determined by the Board of Directors. History Founding The Students' Society was first incorporated in 1964, just one year after the creation of the University of Victoria (UVic) itself, as the Alma Mater Society of the University of Victoria (AMS). The AMS took its name from student associations like the University of British Columbia and McGill University, to which Victoria College (UVic's predecessor) was affiliated. The name was changed in 1989 to make clearer what the organization actually is, a student society. Students at the newly founded UVic already had their own building and a ready-made students' society, as students at Victoria College (now the home of Camosun College) were organized well before the UVic campus opened. As early as 1957, students at Victoria College began levying a building fee in anticipation of their new home at UVic. Consequently, the Student Union Building (SUB) was one of the first buildings built on campus. The SUB opened in 1963, built with matching funds made available