Notes from Council: By-election advertising strategy presented, executive updates
The UASU by-election fills vacant seats on Students’ Council and General Faculties Council (GFC).
Helen Zhang“Notes from Council” is The Gateway’s ongoing series of recaps of noteworthy items from Students’ Council meetings.
At the University of Alberta Students’ Union (UASU) Students’ Council meeting on August 12, Chief Returning Officer (CRO) Megan Garbutt presented the advertising strategy for the fall 2025 UASU by-election.
Additionally, the motion to appoint Michael Chang, Lily Polenchuk, and Christene Saji to the U of A Senate as student senators carried.
CRO presents by-election advertising strategy
Garbutt outlined the 2025 by-election advertising strategy. The strategy includes reaching out to faculty associations to inform them of vacancies in their faculties, utilizing UASU social media, and using UASU Perks.
“We are looking to make sure that our language is very clear as to which faculties can participate and which faculties can vote,” Garbutt said.
Nursing councillor Asha Jama inquired about engaging first year students in the by-election. Garbutt said she’ll make sure that information on the by-election reaches students.
Additionally, council passed a motion approve the fall 2025 UASU by-election nomination package.
Executive updates
Vice-president (student life) Logan West shared that she wrote a letter of support for a group of faculty of nursing members seeking to secure a grant to establish a Recovery On Campus program. West announced that their grant application was successful and they’ve received $70,000.
According to West, the program “will be incredibly beneficial for our student body, as there’s nothing like it on campus currently.”
Vice-president (academic) Katie Tamsett said that she worked with Campus Services to organize a ONEcard table for students attending orientation at Campus Saint-Jean (CSJ).
Vice-president (external) Abdul Abbasi discussed his advocacy efforts towards student housing and expressed his excitement for the City of Edmonton’s Downtown Student Housing Incentive. If approved by Edmonton City Council, the program will direct $15 million towards student housing projects.
Vice-president (operations and finance) Nathan Thiessen shared that the Strategic Planning Committee has met and began working “to work to lay out the mission, vision, values and goals of the UASU for the next five years.”
He also announced that Room At The Top (RATT) days of operation will expand to include cafe service Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with existing operations on Friday remaining.
President Pedro Almeida highlighted the work of the Get Out The Vote (GOTV) campaign task force. According to Almeida, the task force has “begun producing the content that will be going out and the plan for engaging students in the upcoming municipal elections that are happening here in the fall.”
Board of Governors (BoG) Representative Karina Banerji said she’s working on a student engagement measurement to gauge students’ priorities. Banerji will consult student groups for this initiative and is planning to present a report to BoG in the fall.
