Bonuses for faculty representatives among topics at Feb. 27 SLC

By Jesse Stilwell, March 1 2018 —

The Feb. 27 Student Legislative Council (SLC) meeting began with a discussion led by vice-president academic Tina Miller on proposed amendments to the transition process for incoming and outgoing faculty representatives. The proposed changes include shifting the existing March bonus to April in order to incentivize outgoing representatives to complete transition documents, as well as meeting with, advising and bringing their successors to committee and faculty meetings to ensure they are prepared for their term in office. Currently, faculty representative positions are given monthly honorariums of $300 along with a bonus $50 that can also be awarded each month.

Social work representative Marissa Bennett raised concerns over how to improve the process for representatives who are inheriting a position that was previously left vacant and how representatives that will not have a successor will still be able to receive the bonus. Miller noted that these were concerns that she is taking into account and is seeking feedback to improve.

Arts representative Nabila Farid raised concerns that the monthly bonus may not be enough of an incentive for some representatives to do a good job completing transition documents. These concerns were echoed by Miller, who clarified that completing transition documents is a task that representatives must complete as part of their job and the bonus is meant to incentivize going above and beyond on this task.

SU president Branden Cave reported that the Feb. 12 meeting of the President’s Consultative Task Force included discussions on undergraduate research resource accessibility and issues students encounter with block week courses, including attendance for eight-hour lectures being inaccessible. Cave also said that the Quality Money committee is ahead of schedule and a final list of applications will be read by the Board of Governors at their March 16 meeting.

Vice-president external Puncham Judge announced she will be presenting to Calgary city council on March 12 about the importance of secondary suites to students and encouraged students to attend. Judge noted she had reached out to Mount Royal University and the Southern Alberta Institute for Technology multiple times for support but has not received a response. If students wish to attend the presentation, they should arrive at City Hall at 9 a.m. on March 12. Miller also announced that Teaching Excellence Awards nominations are now closed, with the SU receiving over 1,000 nominations this year.

The next meeting of SLC is on March 6 at 6:30 p.m. in MacHall Executive Council Chambers. All meeting documents can be accessed here.