Notes from Council: UASU discusses 2024 general election advertising strategy

“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 January 9, members discussed the advertising strategy for the 2024 UASU general election. In addition, council approved amending the first principles of Bylaw 6100.

First, UASU Speaker Christian Zukowski welcomed Ellen Tam, the councillor for the faculty of agricultural, life, and environmental sciences (ALES). Zukowski then announced Engineering Councillor Aiman Saif’s resignation from council.

CRO presents UASU general elections advertising strategy, gets feedback from councillors

Chief Returning Officer (CRO) Jacob Verghese presented the UASU’s advertising strategy for the upcoming general and council elections. Verghese said that social media marketing had contributed to greater participation in Students’ Council and General Faculties Council (GFC) this year. Likewise, Verghese anticipates that advertisements on Instagram and Facebook will boost student involvement in the upcoming UASU elections.

However, Verghese voiced concerns about advertising the general election on certain social media platforms, such as X, Threads, and Reddit. These sites lack moderators from the elections office, he said.

Per his presentation, Verghese thinks holding the general election in the new Myer Horowitz Theatre would increase student involvement. He also proposed holding forums at all U of A campuses to encourage involvement. As well, he recommended translating posters and election results to French to increase engagement among French-speaking students.

Verghese encouraged councillors to provide feedback on marketing the general election. He also asked them for their thoughts regarding the event held for results night.

Augustana Councillor Adrian Lam asked for the distance between Augustana and North Campus to be considered when deciding where to host results night.

”Travel is difficult,” Lam said. “Elections, in general, [are] not really geared for any Augustana involvement.”

Verghese acknowledged that Augustana and Campus Saint-Jean campuses “haven’t gotten the engagement” for the general election. He said the Elections Office is open to providing an informal avenue for executives to come together, as an alternative to holding a formal election results party.

Fotang says Humanities Centre closure has been “very stressful and anxiety-inducing” for students

In his oral report, UASU President Christian Fotang acknowledged the recent electrical fire in the Humanities Centre (HC). This fire resulted in the HC’s closure for the remainder of the winter 2024 semester.

Fotang mentioned that the HC housed classrooms, student spaces, deans’ offices, and the faculty of arts undergraduate students’ services.

“It’s incredibly important that these services are relocated so students can continue to rely [on them] and get the supports that they need.”

The Organization for Arts Students and Interdisciplinary Studies (OASIS) also primarily operates in the HC. Fotang said he has been meeting with OASIS President, Hussain Alhussainy, to help provide the organization with necessary supports.

“We’ll be continuing to send information as it comes our way, recognizing that this has been a very stressful and anxiety-inducing thing for a lot of our students,” Fotang said.

Council approves first principles of Quality Academics and Augustana Campus policies

Vice-president (academic) Pedro Almeida introduced the motion to approve the first principles of the UASU’s Quality Academics policy. Per the motion, the first principles of the policy outlines the direction to be taken for both the UASU’s Quality Instruction policy, as well as the Assessment and Grading policy. These policies determine the direction the UASU’s advocacy takes on matters of quality instruction, and assessment and grading.

Council approved the motion unanimously.

Next, Lam introduced the motion to approve the first principles of the UASU’s Augustana Campus policy, which the UASU’s policy committee had been tasked with updating and renewing. The motion passed unanimously.

Council votes for the ability to waive referendum petition requirements for DFUs

Vice-president (finance and operations) Levi Flaman introduced the motion to amend Bylaw 6100.

In order for interested parties to submit a referendum question to appear on the general election ballot — such as one for a dedicated fee unit (DFU) — they must go through a petition process. In it, they must submit a valid petition bearing the names, signatures, and student ID numbers of at least 15 per cent of the total membership of the UASU.

Per the motion, the bylaw would be amended to extend the ability for Students’ Council to waive the petition process from UASU services and operations for any currently existing DFU and Student Representative Associations. Council could waive the referendum petition requirements to include currently-existing DFUs, as well as those which have expired within the last three academic years.

Flaman said that while student groups should still have to complete a petition to amend a DFU, council should have the ability to waive the requirement.

”[This would] streamline the process and eliminate some red tape for those who have already overcome the arduous process to create [a DFU] initially,” Flaman said. “While also leaving council with the ability to say ‘no.’”

Council voted in favour of the motion unanimously.

Lastly, members moved into closed session to discuss the council feedback form.