By Dessa Bayrock (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: January 23, 2013
The SUS board of directors meets every two weeks on rotating campuses in public meetings open to all students. Starting with last Friday’s meeting, The Cascade will be bringing you condensed updates on what went down. One or some of our reporters will also be live-tweeting these meetings in real time using the hashtag #thingsSUSdoes.
In-camera protocols to be tackled by governance
An in-camera session is basically a discussion about a sensitive topic in which the voice recorder is turned off and SUS relies solely on the VP internal to take minutes. This type of discussion can involve anything from disciplinary issues to contract discussions.
“My worry is the process we are going down right now would not involve the context required for future boards,” Potter said, proposing that in the future a separate in-camera agenda be written, approved in advance by board members, and attached to the minutes of the regular meeting.
“I think this sounds like a really good idea – in not only keeping better documentation of what happens in an in-camera discussion but also [it] keeps us on top of bringing things public when they’re no longer of a sensitive nature,” Mitchell agreed.
The revision of the in-camera policy was delegated to SUS’s governance committee.
Under the proposed policy change, in camera minutes that don’t involve human resources issues would be released to the public after a certain length of time.
Advocacy report by DvdK
SUS is currently developing a referendum to ask students if they want to be in or out of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), a federal lobbying group.
Van der Kroon has also continued pursuing an active relationship with Cinema Politica, a group that brings independent films and documentaries to campuses and town halls across the country.
“I’m hoping it will turn into a long-term partnership for this organization that will help to raise the level of democratic discussion among our members,” van der Kroon said. “We are aiming to increasing the frequency of those films to bi-weekly.”
Van der Kroon is also looking at helping organize town hall discussions across the Fraser Valley concerning the upcoming provincial elections.
Three motions and two referendums
Two referendums concerning membership in CASA hit the table at the board meeting – one worded to ask students if they are in favour of staying a part of CASA and willing to pay a dedicated fee, and one worded to ask students if they are in favour of leaving CASA. Either way, the referendum would need a 60 per cent majority to either pass or fail.
“I would be concerned asking questions in the negatory, along with questions in the positive,” Potter also commented. “I see that as a potential cause for confusion.”
There was discussion of creating a more general lobbying fee rather than a dedicated CASA fee, which would mean the fee could be used to pay for membership in CASA or any other lobbying group.
After approximately 45 minutes of debate, the issue of wording was tabled.
The upcoming transit referendum was the second to see discussion, changing to describe a more accurate $6.75 student fee instead of a $6 fee.
Clubs, clubs, everywhere
The first club discussion of the day centred around the idea of similar clubs, and whether or not they should assimilate into a single club.
“I just wanted more input on how you feel about clubs with similar activities or clubs with similar portfolios,” Potter said, using the example of a Video Games club, a Minecraft club, and a Video Game Team club.
Consensus was that as long as membership lists between clubs avoid major overlap in membership or events, similar clubs dedicated to niche groups shouldn’t prove a problem. Both Potter and Zach Soderstrom, clubs and associations rep, said they would only become concerned if they saw the same group of students running similar clubs.
In other club news,the Students for Sustainability Club was allowed to carry over funding from last semester to this semester, since they registered as a club late in the term.
The board also granted funding to the Baker House Residents Association to bring brunch to the residents of Baker House, and funding was likewise granted to the UFV Dance Club to provide refreshments at their meetings.
The Table Top Games Club, Students for Sustainability Club, Visual Arts Student Association, and the Video Game Enthusiasts Team (VGET) club were reviewed and officially accepted as UFV clubs – VGET pending submission of a full membership list.
The board approved the UFV Health Club as an official club, with signing authority suspended for two of the five executives pending their confirmation as UFV students.
According to Petersen, $2800 is left in the pot to fund clubs and associations as of the end of December.
Finally, Stickland revamped the registration package for new clubs and associations to reflect the information SUS actually uses from it – notably the addition of student numbers and the subtraction of phone numbers.
The pub formerly known as AfterMath
Sales are up approximately 25 per cent at the campus pub over last January, even though it didn’t quite manage to break even in November and was closed for the month of December.
There was an electrical fire at the pub earlier this month, which was caught before it caused any serious damage.
“We smelled the smoke before it became a fire,” Ross explained, noting the part was replaced for a little under $200.
Several events are slated to hit the pub, including a Cinema Politica screening, two pub crawls, and a show by B.A. Johnson, who will be performing on St. Patrick’s day this year.
“He did his encore in the washroom,” Ross said, describing Johnson’s charismatic performance at the pub last year, “and everyone followed him to the bathroom.”
Posters up on campus for the military
An advertising agency approached SUS on behalf of the Canadian department of defence to mount six posters in and around high traffic areas at UFV at a price tag of between $800-1000.
After a brief discussion, the motion passed.
Honoraria returned to reps for December
As part of the motion presented at the November Extraordinary General Meeting, reps-at-large and community reps were stripped of their honoraria.
“For an honoraria to be taken from a member [on Nov. 28] is not adequate notice,” Potter stated, arguing that reps be paid for the month of December. “If they were an employee, we would not be allowed to do this.”
According to Petersen, there was room in the honoraria budget to support paying reps for the month of December.
The motion passed by a secret vote that excluded any affected reps to avoid conflict of interest.
When next we meet
The next regular board meeting will be held on the Abbotsford campus at 9:30 a.m. on February 1 in a room to be determined. All student members are welcome to attend as guests.
