Each year, the Students’ Union (SU) presents an annual operating plan highlighting key priorities and goals to the Students’ Legislative Council (SLC) for approval. At the Sept. 8 meeting, the SLC approved the 84th SU Executive’s 2026-27 plan.
The first set of goals falls under one of three overarching outcomes: the SU is dedicated to enhancing the quality of students’ experience.
One goal under this pillar aims to improve support for SU clubs.
“We have heard from many students who run clubs that they have some complaints regarding bureaucracy within the Clubs Office,” said Abdu Negmeldin, the current Vice President of Internal, “It has impacted their reputation, for the SU as well, so the goal is to improve these processes and reduce said bureaucracy to essentially allow for better quality when it comes to the SU Clubs Office and resources that are available to clubs that are registered with the SU.”
Other priorities include preserving the Quality Money Program, increasing student engagement and awareness of resources through social media campaigns, and creating informative guides for students on navigating politics, housing and employment.
Negmeldin also highlighted his goal to organize and execute awareness campaigns to inform students on self care, coping mechanisms and what resources are available on and off campus.
“The overwhelming majority of students, when asked about what resources they’re aware of, can only mention the Wellness Centre and even then, don’t necessarily know the specifics of what other resources are available on campus,” said Negmeldin.
The second overarching outcome targets advancing an equitable and inclusive environment on campus.
Under this pillar, the SU plans to advocate to the university’s executive leadership for a long-term plan addressing gaps in multi-faith spaces on campus. As of now, the SU has used student feedback and reviews on how spaces are used to guide recommendations brought to leadership in conversations. University leadership has committed to addressing these issues in their long-term projects.
Another goal is to explore the possibility of an additional statutory holiday to accommodate religious holidays observed by Muslim and Jewish students.
“This is not something that we’ve done research into before. It’s not something that we have an existing understanding of something that can be pursued or not,” said SU President Gabriela Dziegielewska. “So my kind of overarching goal for the year is to do that background work and research and establish connections and relationships with the campus groups that can help us in getting there.”
Dziegielewska explained that she is trying to be realistic with how quickly an additional statutory holiday can be implemented because it requires the cooperation of multiple groups on campus, including The University of Calgary Faculty Association (TUCFA), the Alberta Union of Provincial Employee (AUPE), as well as other groups like the university legal team and the Office of the Registrar to amend the academic schedule.
So far, the SU has conducted an environmental scan of additional statutory holidays at other post-secondary institutions and have had conversations with TUCFA and AUPE to assess support.
SU President Gabriela Dziegielewska also addressed one of her biggest projects this year: establishing a SU Free Breakfast Program to help combat food insecurity.
“The goal is to have it running by winter term,” said Dziegielewska. “The Black Lounge [is] currently under construction [...] that space is getting converted into a cafe outlet with a student lounge [and] the Free Breakfast Program is going to be run out of the cafe.”
Funding for the program will be requested through the Quality Money Program.
On housing, Vice President External Mahad Rzain outlined his plan to lobby Calgary City Council to implement a new category for students in the municipal analysis of the housing census. If successful, future SU executives and students will be able to use this data to identify needs and advocate for student housing.
The third overarching outcome focuses on advocating for an affordable, accessible and high-quality post-secondary education.
Under this pillar, the SU plans to lobby the Minister of Advanced Education to maintain the current two per cent tuition cap for domestic students. It will also advocate on the federal level for an expansion of the Canada Student Grant Program, either by increasing the grant amount to reflect rising living costs or making the funding permanent.
Additionally, the SU will lobby the provincial government to implement zero per cent interest on provincial student loans.
“Unfortunately, there are many cases where, for whatever reason, students don't find jobs immediately after graduation or [for] other sorts of reasons, they’re unable to pay back that fast within [the current interest-free period of] 12 months,” said Rzain, “It seems kind of unfair and frankly, exploitative to even be charging interest on students. Whatever is invested into students will be beneficial to the province long term.”
Academic wellness is another major focus of the operating plan.
“There has been a very significant upward trend in students working part-time [and] full-time during their studies as the cost of living increases [...] so wellness support such as flexible deadlines or wellness days would provide students much more flexibility with these extracurricular responsibilities,” said Vice President Academic Zoe Zeritsch.
The SU will also advocate for an institutional direction on artificial intelligence (AI) use and AI literacy among faculty and students.
“U of C is one of the only U15 institutions without an AI policy, leading to rampant privacy concerns and concerns around the quality of education of our students from AI usage, both on the student side and the faculty side,” said Zeritsch. “I’m currently pushing with the [Vice-Provost Teaching and Learning] and the Provost Office for a policy, not a guideline.”
Other goals include simplifying academic advising processes and advocating for increased expansion of hybrid and digital learning to accommodate capacity expansion and reduce enrollment stressors.
The 84th SU Executive’s 2026-27 annual operating plan is available on their website.
