By Megan Lambert (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: March 4, 2015
Firmly rapping a shiny rosewood gavel at the head of the table, chair Zack Soderstrom called the February 27 Student Union Society (SUS) board of directors meeting to order.
As it was the first meeting following the SUS election, which ran from Feb. 23 to 27 on myUFV, the results of the vote (right) were announced. Just like with the current board, these students will congregate once a month to discuss issues from their respective departments and propose new ideas to the rest of the board.
Four hundred and seventy-three students voted in the election. Outgoing president Ryan Petersen noted that out of 9,000 students in those faculties, that number is not an accurate representation of the student body.
“The whole idea of democracy works when everyone participates,” he said.
“We would really like to see that increase in participation from our membership.”
After the new board members were announced, Thomas Davies (currently VP internal) presented the new budget to the board. The 2015-16 financial plan passed unanimously.
Davies noted that instead of adjusting last year’s budget for next year, he and the SUS budget committee started from scratch using historical data. This, he said, will allow for a more accurate budget, and funds the society was not using could be reallocated.
A few days later on Mar. 16, SUS will hold its annual general meeting (AGM). Then it will end the month by hosting the annual Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) conference, where student unions from across Canada will congregate to discuss lobbying initiatives and common student concerns.
The next board meeting will be March 20 at 6:30 p.m. in A2428 at CEP in Chilliwack.
Position |
Elected |
For |
|
President |
Thomas Davies |
285 |
|
VP internal |
Ricardo Coppola |
285 |
|
VP external |
Sukhi Brar |
231 |
|
Aboriginal rep |
Jennifer Janik |
230 |
|
College of arts rep |
Ekaterina Marenkov |
221 |
|
Faculty of health |
Ria Geluk |
235 |
|
Faculty of professional |
Derek Ward-Hall |
250 |
|
Faculty of sciences rep |
Joshua Wilke |
125 |
Correction: In print this article stated that “SUS will hold a budget forum on Mar. 13 to publish the completed plan and further explain how much money will go to employees, clubs and associations, and other SUS services.” However, the budget forum on March 13 is a UFV forum.
