Another year of SLC kicks off at May 8 meeting

By Ashar Memon, May 11 2018 —

(With files from Derek Baker)

Fresh new faces, as well as some familiar ones, greeted the Executive Council Chambers in MacHall on May 8 as the 76th Students’ Legislative Council convened for the first time.

The evening kicked off with a report on the April 26 meeting of the University of Calgary senate by senate representative Alisha Gordon.

The senate selected business journalist Deborah Yedlin as the next chancellor of the U of C, replacing current chancellor Robert Thirsk at the end of his term on June 1. When asked why Yedlin was selected, Gordon cited her “strong ties to the Calgary community,” as well as her philanthropy and commitment to students.

Gordon also discussed, among other things, the creation of a new program expected to launch in September which allows senate members to mentor Students’ Union clubs.

Later in the evening, SLC passed the first reading of a resolution to appoint Ioana Rontu to the vacant engineering representative position, which passed with one abstention by engineering representative Ahsen Imran. SLC unanimously passed the first reading of a resolution to appoint Tina Miller to the vacant education representative position. Miller previously served as vice-president academic on the 75th SLC.

During discussion, vice-president academic Jessica Revington provided an extensive overview of the GFC, the university’s highest academic body, in preparation for its next meeting later this month.

SLC then discussed current work on the university’s cannabis policy. Revington said highlights of the policy are the prioritization of education and harm reduction. She added that consumption of cannabis will not be allowed in university facilities or vehicles.

Social work representative Marissa Bennett pressed executives on details regarding accommodations for medicinal marijuana use. Arts representative Quinn Stevenson agreed with Bennett.

“We should have clear and concise criteria for the accommodations necessary for medical use of cannabis because essentially we could be denying somebody a medical benefit on campus,” he said.

During executive reports, president Sagar Grewal said that he attended a meeting of the presidential search committee and dined with the SU’s insurance provider, Gallivan & Associates, alongside vice-president operations and finance Kevin Dang.

Dang said that along with the dinner, he attended several budget meetings, met with the cannabis working group, and also met with various SU staff to discuss the vacancy for the SU vice-president external role.

Vice-president student life Nabila Farid reported that she met with the SU clubs coordinator to discuss her platform, and other SU staff to discuss CJSW as well as the budget for the vice-president student life position.

All executives reported that they participated in SU orientation activities and attended an executive retreat.

The next SLC meeting is on Tuesday, May 22 in the MacHall Executive Council Chambers. All meeting documents can be accessed here.