Notes from Council: 2026–30 UASU strategic plan ratified

At the University of Alberta Students’ Union (UASU) Students’ Council meeting on January 27, the new UASU Strategic Plan for 2026–30 was ratified. The UASU Strategic Plan has not been updated since 2023, when the last one expired.

According to President Pedro Almeida, “the strategic plan … is, without a doubt, not finished. The UASU has not had one for as long as I’ve been an executive … and the work of this plan will continue to be a part of council.”

Council members expressed concern about the wording of “building community and belonging” in the strategic plan.

Board of Governors (BoG) representative Karina Banerji stated that “concern comes from how similar the wording is to the university’s policy of Access, Community, and Belonging (ACB), [which is] the replacement of our [equity, diversity, and inclusion] (EDI) policies.”

After discussion amongst council members, Almeida proposed “that the word ’belonging’ be switched to ‘connection’ throughout the document.”

Open Forum

The Gateway asked Almeida about the statement he made at the General Faculties Council (GFC) meeting on January 26 in support of removing the commitment to EDI in the U of A’s draft recruitment policy.

In the speech, Almeida argued that using EDI language in the U of A’s draft recruitment policy is jeopardizing the university’s ability to gain government funding and public support.

“While we acknowledge that the province itself faces fiscal pressures, we should also be honest about another possibility: that the U of A is being deliberately targeted for the current iteration of EDI language it has implemented,” Almeida said at the GFC meeting.

When asked by The Gateway about who was consulted before making the statement on behalf of students, Almeida stated that he “spoke with [his] executives.”

He also emphasized that he expressed “how the UASU is in support of creating a university that is equitable, diverse, and inclusive” at this meeting.

In a follow-up question, The Gateway asked Almeida whether he believes there are any other principles or values that should be removed or hidden to gain government support.

According to Almeida, while it is important to ensure progress on the U of A’s commitment to community and belonging, it is “also [necessary to understand] who brunts a lot of the burden when the U of A suffers at the hand of elected provincial officials, which is students.”

“So, making sure that we can stick to the principles of what we believe, I think, is really important, while recognizing that language tensions can sometimes cause students to be at detriment,” Almeida said.

Executive updates

Vice-president (student life) Logan West highlighted the Take Back the Night March that took place on January 22.

Additionally, West made an update on the HUB Community Association (HCA). Considering the former executive team is not residing in HUB Mall, as well as the HCA’s inactivity in the academic year of 2025–26, Residence Services will refund the student representative association membership fee for fall 2025 and winter 2026.

Vice-president (operations and finance) Nathan Thiessen addressed issues with the infrastructure of the Students’ Union Building (SUB), especially the second-floor bathrooms and elevators.

“The UASU is responsible for things like cleanliness of SUB, while the university is responsible for utilities, piping, electrical, and elevators of SUB,” Thiessen said.

“Our staff has consistently reached out to our counterparts at the university to address these issues. Some progress has been made … however, there are clear concerns with the speed at which many of these concerns have been addressed, and we’ve been disappointed with a lot of it,” Thiessen added.

Vice-president (academic) Katie Tamsett made an update on the Course Material Access program, formerly known as First Day Access. The program will be available starting in the fall of 2026, for a fee of $259 for fall and winter semesters, and $139 for spring or summer semesters. Students who do not want to use the program will have to manually opt-out.

Almeida highlighted an update from the Campus Saint Jean GFC representative, David Lachance Donald. The university is working on implementing accessible translation functionalities for My Schedule Builder and BearTracks.

According to Almeida, the feature should be live in the first week of February.

January 31 council meeting

Another council meeting was held at the U of A’s Augustana campus on January 31.

A motion to approve amendments to the standing orders of the Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Committee (ARRC) passed. The motion included changing the name of the committee to the Truth and Reconciliation Action Committee (TRAC) and updating the Elder protocols.

Additionally, motions to approve student representative association membership fee renewal questions for the Education Students’ Association (EAS), the Interdisciplinary Science Students’ Society (ISSS),  the Lister Hall Students’ Association (LHSA), and the Nursing Undergraduate Association passed.

A motion to approve the Golden Bears and Pandas Legacy Fund dedicated fee unit renewal question also passed.