Cannon, CAUS visit Students’ Legislative Council
By Tina Shaygan, October 3 2017 —
The Oct. 3 meeting of the Students’ Legislative Council began with a 40-minutes presentation by University of Calgary president Elizabeth Cannon. She provided an update on the university’s Eyes High strategic plan, reflected on the past year and took questions from members of SLC.
Cannon said that in the Employment Engagement survey conducted by a third party, 82 per cent of faculty members understand the Eyes High strategy. The survey also found that the U of C provides a work environment free of harassment and employees are proud to work for the university. The survey had a 56 per cent response rate.
Cannon added that she believes the U of C is on a path of becoming a leading entrepreneurship university in Canada, emphasizing the importance of the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking will have in this pursuit.
The Council of Alberta University Students also gave a presentation, led by chair Reed Larsen and interim executive director Joshua McKeown. CAUS is traditionally made up of president and vice-president external of post-secondary student organizations in Alberta. They collectively represents over 100,000 Alberta post-secondary students to the provincial government through five participating students’ unions.
According to Larsen, CAUS advocates for students on issues like the tuition freeze, Summer Temporary Employment Program and mental health funding. CAUS released their advocacy priorities over the summer, which include financial aid for students and campus infrastructure.
A discussion and information period by vice-president operations and finance Ryan Wallace followed to discuss the appointment of two new students-at-large to the SU’s review board. The resolution to accept the students-at-large passed unanimously.
None of the executives provided verbal reports to SLC.
During the announcement period, Wallace and SU president Branden Cave discussed the vacant vice-president external position. The job was left empty when Shubir Shaikh resigned last week for personal reasons. Wallace encouraged SLC members to remain impartial in the process of appointing a new vice-president external. The nomination committee will present its recommendations for a new vice-president external on Oct. 17 during SLC.
The next SLC meeting will be on Oct. 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the Executive Council Chambers.