Who’s Who in the SU: Haskayne Rep Huzaifah Abbas
By Kristy Koehler, November 26 2019—
In an effort to introduce new — or even continuing — students to representatives in the Students’ Union and in the Students’ Legislative Council, the Gauntlet is running the series, ‘Who’s Who in the SU.’ We introduced you to the executives, now let’s meet the Faculty Representatives. Haskayne School of Business Representative Huzaifah Abbas tells his story.
G: What do you do in your role?
HA: My role covers a few key areas — the initial focus is ensuring that I am an active representative of the Faculty of Business at weekly SLC meetings (that all students are welcome to attend), where representatives and executives come together to discuss key items that impact student ranging from updates to Students’ Union bylaws and operations. In the past, members of SLC have been used as a focus group to discuss ways to improve student life at the University of Calgary.
Other responsibilities include sitting on committees such as the General Faculties Council, Quality Money Committee, and committees within Haskayne, such as Faculty Council, and Faculty Tenure and Promotion Committee.
Apart from the mentioned responsibilities, I spend time on implementing platform goals that would better the Haskayne experience for students such as facility upgrades, development of initiatives, and ensure student interests are taken into account when making important decisions or changes.
G: Why did you run for your role?
HA: My experience has been a bit different, in which I applied to fill a vacant role. Often, I believe that students feel that they aren’t capable, or they feel that there is always a more qualified student to represent their faculty. What made me apply was a combination of wanting to leave a lasting positive impact and becoming more engaged with my university learning experience.
G: What do you specifically plan to do within your role?
HA: My number one priority is to work on fulfilling my primary duties I touched upon, representing and advocating for students at Haskayne. I plan to do this by increasing the level of collaboration within students clubs, through strategic partnerships and creating new avenues for incoming students to understand the vast resources available to them during their B.Comm degree. I hope to be able to share the resources available to students on campus through the Students’ Union to Haskayne students in my role as their Faculty Representative.
G: For someone who doesn’t know what Students’ Legislative Council is, how would you describe it? And how would you describe what it does?
HA: The Students’ Legislative Council is a team of faculty representatives led by executives that advocate and bring students voices and perspectives to the table, wherever that is; meeting with university administration, managing Mac Hall, and generating revenue for SU initiatives around campus to fund services for students.
G: A year from now, when you are done your role, what do you want to look back on and see?
HA: I would like to look back on a year of successful programming, and more importantly ensure that key event details are documented to ensure they can seamlessly be continued by future successors. I hope to partake in a seamless transition to my future successors.
G: What’s one thing that you’ve learned now that you wish you had learned in the past?
HA: One would be the amount of free resources offered by the Students’ Union that often many students do not take advantage of. Another would be the level of planning and length of time it takes to put together events. I plan to utilize these lessons to host well- organized events and share the resources available to students through my position.
G: How can students get in contact with you if they need you?
HA: Send me an email at haskayne2@su.ucalgary.ca. I do my best to reply within one business day.