The Student Union Society (SUS) board of directors is the highest governing body of SUS. In addition to discussing matters related to oversight of the society, the board approves changes to policies, the annual operating budget, and project initiatives. They are also responsible for both supporting the SUS executive team and holding them accountable. Executives give a report at the monthly meetings on their activities and the progress of their goal plans.
There are currently four members on the SUS board of directors. The three members of the executive team, president Tripat Sandhu, vice president external Gurvir (G) Gill, and vice president students Kimberly Hunter, sit on the board. Of the 10 available student representative positions, only one is filled by Andrew Stahl, College of Arts representative.
Upcoming by-elections
SUS announced the dates for their upcoming by-elections. By-elections are the mid-year elections for open positions. Currently, nine of the 10 student representative board positions are unfilled as is the vice president internal executive position.
Last year the SUS by-elections were cancelled when the only running candidate dropped out of the election. Gill said during the board meeting that SUS will work to better market the open positions, but did not say what this would entail when asked. In the future, the board said they would be looking into changing the student representative positions from being program-based to more general requirements, mentioning women and Indigenous representatives as examples.
Candidates will begin campaigning for the by-elections Oct. 1, with voting taking place from Oct. 15 to 18.
Executive reports
Sandhu, SUS president, reported on her ongoing work planning the upcoming New Student Orientation programming. She also mentioned a proposal regarding a tutoring program run by SUS but did not provide details.
Gill, vice president external, has been working on the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations’ (CASA) Get Out the Vote campaign, which encourages post-secondary students to vote in the upcoming federal elections. He has also been preparing for the Alliance of B.C. Students’ (ABCS) 2019 Lobby Days, where the organization meets with MLAs to advocate for B.C. students.
Hunter, vice president students, has been working on communicating with Clubs and Associations (C&A). Monthly meetings have been set up with Student Life to discuss ongoing support options for C&A.
