SLC convenes for a busy first meeting of fall semester
By Ashar Memon, September 12 2018 —
The University of Calgary Students’ Union executives and faculty representatives packed into the MacHall Executive Council Chambers for a busy meeting of the Students’ Legislative Council on Sept. 11.
The evening began with several announcements from SU executives. President Sagar Grewal announced that nomination days for two SU faculty representative positions, as well as the vice-president external position, will take place between September 24–26. Vice-president student life Nabila Farid announced that the SU will be holding a stress-management workshop called Stress Buster this Friday. She also announced that the #IBelieveYou campaign, which aims to create awareness on how to respond when someone discloses their experiences with sexual assault, has returned to campus this week.
After announcements, SLC invited Gauntlet editor-in-chief Jason Herring to present the publication’s annual report. Among other things, Herring reported a surplus of $48,605.77 last year in the Gauntlet’s finances, which he said was spent on capital expenses. Herring also said that the Gauntlet will be hosting NASH 81, a national student journalism conference, in January 2019.
During executive reports, Grewal reported that he had held several meetings with university officials. Vice-president academic Jessica Revington reported on consulting with Enrolment Services on a redesign of the U of C’s online student centre, as well as taking part in the Calgary Pride Parade.
Vice-president operations and finance Kevin Dang reported that he and Grewal launched a MacHall expansion consultation survey and worked on changes to the Refugee Student Program. Farid additionally reported consulting on the student centre redesign, plus reviewing several clubs registrations.
All executives and faculty representatives reported attending fall semester orientation activities.
After reports, SLC unanimously voted to approve the second reading of the SU Executive Annual Operating Plan for 2018–19. SLC then briefly circulated a “report to the community” from the previous members of SLC, which outlined their activities during the 2017–18 academic year.
Later in the evening, executives presented highlights from their trimester reports, including the committees they sit on, their responsibilities and issues they plan to address. Since the vice-president external role remains vacant, Grewal said that its responsibilities were woven into the other executives’ reports.
Among other things, Grewal mentioned that the MacHall expansion survey has received nearly 1,200 responses. Grewal also said that the U of C has established a “Community Relations Task Force to address growing concerns over activities” taking place at D-Block at the end of the academic year. Its members include representatives from the Calgary Police Service and the City of Calgary.
In their reports, Farid and Revington said that they are coordinating the ‘get-out-the-vote’ campaign for the upcoming provincial election. Revington also said that progress has been made on reforms to the Undergraduate Research Symposium, specifically to “streamline the application form, offer an extensive list of presentation options and clarify the language around evaluation criteria.”
In his report, Dang mentioned “the continuing issue of sustainability” of the Health and Dental Plan. Dang also said that renovations to the MacHall skylight are halfway done and will be completed in the coming weeks.
The evening concluded with a brief review of the General Faculties Council Caucus by Revington.The next meeting of SLC will be on Sept. 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the MacHall Executive Council Chambers. Access elected official reports, trimester reports, minutes and all other SLC documents here.