Abby SchenkStudents’ Council meets every second Tuesday in ETLC E1 008 at 6 p.m. Council Meetings are open to all students. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at Faculté Saint-Jean where free food will be provided for all attendees. So if you’re into student politics, drop by and get your democracy on.
This week served Mexican enchiladas, beans and rice. Good thing we have our voice recorders going all meeting so we can step outside the use the bathroom when needed.
SU President focuses on improving student mental health
Students’ Union President William Lau kicked off the goals update with a rundown of seven goals he is currently working on including improving student mental health, strengthening the relationship between SU and Alumni Relations and Strategic Planning.
Along with university senior managers, work on the strategic goals will be completed during the upcoming months.
Lau mentioned that the goals of Student Life Central, a hub housing various student services like Student Group Services and Safewalk, has been achieved due to the resource’s completion and current operation.
On the front of a mental health strategy, Lau said that the SU is limited by the fact that the campus-wide mental health strategy lies in the hands of University Wellness Services. However, he said that the SU has been working on its own “side initiatives” which include exploring how mental health language can be incorporated into policies.
VP (Student Life) goes over student life resources, prayer spaces and not hosting Break The Record
Vice-President (Student Life) Nicholas Diaz mentioned that he’s achieved several of his goals. The Landing, a new student space which offers support for gender and sexual diversity, is now mostly autonomous in their operations, and Student Life Central is running and serving its intended purpose.
Diaz said he is still working on revamping communications within the Students’ Union, as well as supporting the International Students Association in its time of transition.
Additionally, he is continuing work on establishing a central prayer space on campus — a task he said to be a bit complex as it may require some fundraising to place it in HUB Mall.
But Diaz said his goal of securing a transportation structure to and from Augustana Campus in Camrose still needs some progress, but isn’t gaining traction with university officials.
He also added that the Break the Record dodgeball game, which hasn’t been held at the U of A since 2012, will not be taking place this year.
VP (Academic) talks midterm prof evaluations, access codes and new library textbooks
Vice-President (Academic) Kathryn Orydzuk has been working on reducing barriers to academic materials, a goal she has achieved by establishing the Be Book Smart campaign, which runs in both the fall and winter terms.
The campaign involves posters and banners, sending letters to professors on how they can save students costs on academic materials, and the establishment of a new award for professors who save students money.
Orydzuk said this has been a success as the materials got out to first-year students, and there have been “thousands” of hits on the Be Book Smart website.
Similarly, the online textbook exchange registry has been updated and now contains about 100 books. An advertising campaign on this will be seen soon.
A new policy has been established which requires professors who use materials requiring an access code to offer a cost free option for students who are not willing to purchase the access code.
Additionally, the U of A libraries have invested $100,000 to buying new textbooks for the library. Orydzuk said that the SU put an additional $4,000 to buying books in classes that had high enrollment.
Students should also expect to see the introduction of mid-term professor evaluations, as Orydzuk said it is something they are trying to set up this winter term.
VP (External) discusses post-Secondary education, student participation and opportunities
Improving financial assistance in order to increase access to post-secondary education has been one of Vice-President (External) Navneet Khinda’s main goals. But she said most of the results on this will be seen in the upcoming provincial budget due to the lobby-based nature of the goal.
Despite this, she has been able to make advances in starting a discussion on using the allocation of taxpayer money, currently used for tax credits, and reallocating it to forms of upfront credit. This will help in future lobbying efforts to MPs, she said.
Additionally, in terms of increasing student participation in democracy and politics, Khinda has been working towards building stronger infrastructure to communicate with students. She also added that there will be polls on campus for students to vote in the upcoming federal elections.
Khinda is still pushing for a new summer employment program, especially after the Summer Temporary Employment Program (STEP) was cut a few years ago.
Traction has not been easy to gain in regulating the international differential fee, but MPs will put deadlines on the discussion of this topic, she said.
Similarly, according to Khinda, MPs are not receptive to the goal of increasing permanent residency opportunities for international students. As a result, Khinda will be dropping this from her focus goals.
VP (Operations & Finance) North Power Plant, and SU office renovations
The North Power Plant Project has been a main area of work for Vice President (Operations & Finance) Cory Hodgson. He said that due to developments with the university they will be “scrapping” a document, created in consultation with the Graduate Students’ Association on what they want to see the North Power Plant space become.
The area initially was set out to be a campus living room space, but is now likely to become a space for alumni and students to interact. Hodgson said this is positive as it is in line with their original idea and will now help the project develop further.
Hodgson also mentioned that there will be a few renovations made to the SU offices on second floor of the Students’ Union Building, which will entail some re-developments, re-shuffling and a new coat of paint.
