Report of the Students’ Executive Council to the Students’ Representative Council - July 2020

Presented On: Saturday, August 1, 2020

Presented by: Sarah Kohut, Matthew Oram, Megan Cormier, and Kyle McNally

President - Sarah Kohut ​ Hello all!

The executive team is more than halfway through our monthly executive reports, which means we’re more than halfway through our summer! I hope you all have continued to enjoy your summer, and have been able to beat the heat!

Much like previous months, the executive team has been hard at work preparing for the upcoming school year, and preparing to ensure it is the best it can possibly be! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about anything mentioned in this report, and enjoy reading!

STUSU Meeting with Tyler MaGee I met with our Sexuality and Gender Diversity Representative Tyler to discuss Pride-related events and initiatives that STUSU will be doing in the future, one of which being the “What does Pride mean to you? In what ways do you support the LGBTQ+/queer community?” initiative on our Instagram!

Meetings with Matt Matt and I met a few times to go over our Campus Trust health and dental plans, and make some changes to our plans for the coming year.

David Coon Student Community Gathering I attended the virtual student community gathering with Fredericton South MLA David Coon, which was co-hosted by STUSU and UNBSU. It was great to see so many students in attendance, especially our STUdents!

STUSU Video in Incoming Class Facebook Group Requested by the Admissions Department, I posted a video of myself into the incoming class Facebook group. In the video I introduced myself, and explained briefly what the STUSU is and our role for students.

Meeting with Shinerama Coordinator Cindy and Welcome Week Chair Mar Cindy, Mar, and I met to discuss a fun Shinerama event Cindy is planning for September - stay tuned!

Meetings with Welcome Week Chair Mar and Vice President Student Life Kyle Mar, Kyle and I had our bi-weekly meetings, where we update each other on the status of Welcome Week and the various Welcome Week-associated initiatives.

Meeting with Assistant Director of Residence Life Carmen Law Carmen and I met to check-in with each other regarding Welcome Week planning from both the Residence Life and STUSU side of things. We set up a standing bi-weekly meeting between herself, Mar, Kyle, Welcome Week Coordinator Alaina, and I.

Meeting with Mar, Kyle Alaina, and Carmen We had two of the aforementioned bi-weekly meetings, where we all updated each other on the progress of our work towards Welcome Week.

Welcome Week Committee Meeting The Welcome Week Committee met to continue the Welcome Week planning process.

Welcome Week Volunteer Information Session I attended an information session for Welcome Week volunteers, to show support for our Welcome Week Chair and Coordinator, and to stay in the loop.

Maritime Student Congress The executive team attended the Maritime Student Congress, which is a conference for student union executives across a number of the Maritime universities and colleges. Each position had a day of the conference exclusively for other student union executives of their same or similar position, and then all executive members gathered together for the final day of the conference for a COVID-19 specific day. This conference is tremendously valuable, as it’s rare to get so many student leaders together in one space to discuss their experiences!

STUSU Executive Meetings The executive team continued to meet bi-weekly, and we will begin to meet weekly starting in August.

Welcome Week Module Videos The executive and I filmed videos of ourselves discussing STUSU and our services for the Welcome Week Module. The Welcome Week Module is a new initiative created for this year, which will function as a new and improved academic orientation day, considering academic orientation day will not occur in person this year. The Module covers in detail a number of services and opportunities found at STU, and in addition to first year students, will be accessible to all students come the start of the school year.

Check-in Meetings with the Executive Team I had individual check-in meetings with each member of the executive team, to see how they were feeling thus far in their roles.

Clubs and Societies Virtual Event Alongside Matt, I attended and co-hosted the virtual clubs and societies information event. It was a good success, and some valuable topics were covered!

Meeting with Director of Facilities Philip Cliffe and Vice President Student Life Kyle Kyle and I met with Philip to discuss what the operation of the Help Desk would look like for the fall semester, and what STUSU would need to do to ensure the safety of all students when using the Help Desk. Great news, the Help Desk will be open for the fall semester!

Campus Trust Conference Matt and I attended the Campus Trust conference, where the Campus Trust Board presented their strategic plan, discussed their committees in detail, and each institution spoke about the status of their health and dental plans on their campuses.

Welcome Week STUSU Message I designed a letterhead and wrote a message welcoming new STUdents on behalf of STUSU, which will be included in this year’s Welcome Week kits.

New Brunswick Student Alliance (NBSA) Executive Meetings Wasiimah, Patrick and I continue to have weekly executive meetings, every Monday.

Policy and Strategy Conference Megan and I attended the NBSA Policy and Strategy conference, where the Board gathers perspectives from each member institution on what the NBSA should focus on for the upcoming year, and then together we decide on the NBSA’s priorities. From these priorities, we create committees which address and work on each priority - I am the lead of the Health and Wellness Committee, and a member of the Financial Aid Committee.

NBSA Minutes and Agendas I created the agendas and wrote the minutes for a number of Board meetings, which is my responsibility as Vice Chair.

Board Meeting The NBSA Board met and had one Board meeting.

Financial Aid Committee The committee had our first meeting, where we divided up topics to be researched by each committee member in advance of our Policy and Planning conference in mid-August.

Health and Wellness Committee Similar to the Financial Aid Committee, the Health and Wellness Committee had our first meeting where we divided up topics to be researched by each member in advance of our Policy and Planning conference.

Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) Member Relations Committee Meetings I attended multiple MRC meetings, which I sit on as an observing member. During these meetings, we planned what our focus and priorities will be for the coming year!

Monthly Liaison Call I had STUSU’s first liaison call with Jess, a member of the CASA Board. The purpose of these calls is for the CASA Board to keep up to date with the occurrences and needs of each member institution. Because Megan is a member of the CASA Board, she does not join in on these calls.

Policy and Strategy Conference Megan and I attended CASA’s Policy and Strategy conference, where each of the CASA committees work to create their priorities for the upcoming year; and combined create the priorities of CASA as a whole.

Over August 3rd and 4th I will be driving from my home in Ontario back to New Brunswick! I’m excited to be back in New Brunswick, and hope to see all of your lovely faces soon. I hope you all enjoyed my report, and once again if you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to reach out! Talk to you all in my next bi-weekly report!

With gratitude, Sarah Kohut

Vice President Administration – Matthew Oram ​

Meetings Meeting with Sarah I met with Sarah various times throughout the month of July to discuss changes to our Campus Trust plans. We, along with our General Manager Tina, felt that it was necessary to make coverage changes to our plans to avoid going into an even bigger deficit in future years. Hopefully, with the changes that were decided upon, our plans will get back on the right track.

Clubs and Societies Info Session Sarah and I also set up a clubs and societies information session towards the end of July, where we encouraged all clubs and societies to attend so that they could bring up questions, comments, or concerns they had regarding the upcoming year. We also used the information session as a way to gauge exactly how different clubs and societies would like to be supported throughout the year, and if they had any event-related ideas at this point that could be done virtually. We also opened the session to the general student body.

Meeting with Rob Brewer, IT Services I also met with Rob Brewer from the IT Department to discuss closing any Microsoft Outlook accounts the Students’ Union no longer uses, and also to discuss the transferring of our files from our Google Drives before they are permanently shut down.

Campus Trust Conference Sarah and I virtually attended the Campus Trust conference, with other members of student unions and employees of universities that are a part of Campus Trust.

Miscellaneous Campus Trust Discussions with Paul Tucker, Campus Trust, Laura Tucker, Financial Services, and Reg Gallant, Comptroller Throughout the month, I spoke with many individuals regarding the changes being made to our Campus Trust plans. Paul, from Campus Trust, gave much feedback throughout the month on the effects different changes to our plans would have, and also what exactly would be the right route to solve the issues we’ve been facing lately. I spoke to Laura from Financial Services briefly about the changes as well, and decided upon a date for my Campus Trust policy to be finished and sent to her. Also, I emailed the new rates and coverages to Reg to update the STU website, so that can now be found there!

Gerontology Society Towards the beginning of the month, a student reached out to me in hopes of reviving the Gerontology Society at STU, and after reviewing their application and constitution, they are now a ratified society at the university. They can be reached by email at [email protected]. ​

Creative Khulture Club We also ratified another club by the name of Creative Khulture, who will now be a dance club at STU for any student to join and learn! For more information on this club, they can be reached by contacting Azaniah Madden at [email protected]. ​ ​

Clubs, Societies and Welcome Week I also spoke with our Welcome Week Coordinator Alaina Mejia about clubs and societies events that will be taking place throughout August, which will be a great opportunity for new students to get involved in university life!

Phone Call with Reg Towards the middle of the month, I also participated in a phone call with Reg Gallant to get a breakdown of the university’s fees for the upcoming year. Our executive as a whole were simply interested to see where the fees actually came from and go to, and a good explanation was provided.

Priorities for the NBSA Sarah also reached out to myself and the executive team to get our individual priorities that we would like to see the NBSA address throughout the year. I was glad to see that these priorities were then brought up in the following meeting, and hopefully they will be on the NBSA’s radar throughout the year.

David Coon Community Gathering I also briefly attended the Community Gathering Event that was put on by the STUSU and UNBSU, and it was great to see so many people participate and engage with Mr. Coon!

Venezuela 180 Email I contacted IT to get an email account set up for the Venezuela 180 group, so they can now be reached at [email protected]. ​ ​

Vice- President Education Report – Megan Cormier ​

STUSU Welcome Week Video

Each member of our executive team put together a few videos for the Welcome Week Module series. I made videos regarding my position, the committees I chair and the advocacy committees our students are a part of to introduce incoming students to STUSU’s work on advocacy.

David Coon Community Gathering

th On July 6 ​ the STUSU hosted an event with Fredericton South MLA David Coon alongside ​ the UNBSU. Students were invited to ask Mr. Coon questions on all things Fredericton. Mr. Coon answered questions regarding health services, remote learning, provincial elections, student financial aid and student advocacy. The event has been transcribed and will be shared by both the STUSU and UNBSU so students who were not able to attend can keep up with provincial politics. We are hoping to have more events like these during the school year to ensure students are able to have these important discussions with the MLA of Fredericton South.

Check-in Meeting with Sarah Kohut

Sarah met with me to do an executive check-in where we discussed how my term has been so far and what types of support I need. The meeting was extremely beneficial, and it is great to have a President who cares so much about her Vice Presidents.

Maritime Student Congress

Our executives attended the Maritime Student Congress this month where we were able to meet with the executive teams from student unions or student associations from across the Maritimes. The conference included schools represented by the NBSA and schools represented by , as well as the UPEISU and the . The event was meant to take place in PEI this year, but due to COVID-19, we had the conference via Zoom. Each day of the conference was divided into positions within our SUs which allowed us to have great discussions that related directly to our work this year.

Executive Meetings

Our executive continues to meet bi-weekly and discuss what we are working on. In our past meeting, we determined the appropriate changes to make to the student health plan, discussed potential internal advocacy ideas, and what we will be focusing on this fall!

Remote Learning Committee Meetings

I continue to meet with the Remote Learning Committee each week. We continue to focus on accessible education and improving the learning platforms for the fall. This month I have brought up concerns about faculty accountability and the learning approaches some faculty have chosen. We are looking at the best approach to help students and faculty adapt to the fall semester while working to improve the quality of education the best we can. If you have concerns about the fall semester and remote learning, please reach out to me at [email protected] and I will ensure that your concerns are brought forward to the committee.

Report for Ad Hoc Senate Committee on Remote Learning

To help provide evidence for my concerns regarding remote learning and professor accountability, I reached out to students to hear about their specific concerns they had from our previous semester and what professors they are most concerned about. I submitted this report to the Chair of the Remote Learning Committee, Andre Loiselle.

Reached out to Senior Administration About Fall Technology Funding

To better understand the increase in tuition for the fall semester, I reached out to Lily Fraser, the Vice President Finance and Administration for the university, for a breakdown of how university funds were being spent, specifically on remote learning and new technology.

The Canada Student Service Grant Graphic

After the government announced the new Canada Student Service Grant, I created a graphic to better inform students on the eligibility of the grant and how to apply. The grant has not been beneficial to students up to this point and we are hoping that the money that was put aside for that program will be used in a more effective way that actually helps students during the pandemic.

NBSA

Policy and Strategy Conference

The NBSA Board of Directors met up for our annual Policy and Strategy Conference via Zoom. During this conference, we established our policy priorities for the year and assigned members of the Board to NBSA committees. I am on the Systemic Racism and

Indigenization Committee, the Student Financial Aid Committee, the Environment and Sustainability Committee, and am helping the NBSA Executive team with student outreach. A graphic with our priorities for the year will be posted to our social media in the near future.

NBSA Board Meeting

The NBSA Board continues to meet bi-weekly. This month we approved our final draft of the priorities, decided we would continue to have the ED’s office at its current location in downtown Fredericton, and discussed our concerns with the lack of support for international students.

NBSA Reports

Prior to each NBSA Board Meeting, I submit a report to the Board laying out the work the STUSU has done.

Experiential Learning Steering Committee

This month, we had our final Experiential Learning Steering Committee Meeting for the summer. As a committee, we approved the change of name of FutureReady New Brunswick and FutureReady Wabanaki to just Ready New Brunswick and Ready Wabanaki. We also compared two programs that can be used to connect students to alumni.

Student Financial Aid Committee

rd On July 23 ,​ our Financial Aid Committee met to discuss what we would like to focus on ​ prior to our Policy and Planning conference in August. We divided our goals into sections and each of us are going to do research on that aspect of student financial aid, so we will be able to either write a recommendation to the government or a policy we would like to see the government implement. I am doing research on ways other provincial governments have supported international students during the pandemic and what types of grants are available to international students in other provinces.

CASA

Liaison Calls

Each month, the Board of Directors makes liaison calls to each member school to check-in on their institution and deliver important messages from CASA. For each call, we also fill out reports that I will later use to create a general liaison report to present at our Board of Directors Meetings. This month we covered topics such as the Canada Student Service Grant, CASA’s Policy Priorities, our National Indigenous Advisory Committee, and more!

Liaison Report for Annual Policy Priorities

After compiling all the liaison reports for the month of July, I created a report for our Director-at-Large of Policy, Malak Nassar, that outlined what schools are worried about this year and what worries occurred most in conversations. This report will allow Malak and her committee to determine what policies CASA should be focussing on this year.

Liaison Call Guides

For each monthly call, I have started creating liaison call guides to ensure our liaison calls are consistent. In creating these guides, I consult the Board of Directors and the Home Office to ensure that we are informing members of important matters. For the month of August, I have added committee reports so members of CASA are up to date on what each CASA committee has been up to.

Member Relations Committee (MRC) Meetings

This month I also held the first Member Relation Committee meetings. As Director-at-Large of Membership, I sit as Chair of the Member Relations Committee. At our first meeting, we determined our goals for the year, which will be turned into our Committee Action Plan at CASA’s Policy and Strategy Conference, and we elected our Vice Chair and Secretary. At the following meeting, we planned events for the Policy and Strategy conference. I am very excited to be working with such an amazing group!

Meeting with Akanksha

Akanksha is CASA’s new Communications and Public Relations Officer and is the Home Office representative on the Member Relations Committee. After the first MRC meeting, we stayed on the call to discuss our expectations of the committee and our plans for the year.

Meeting with Bryn

After receiving the liaison reports and creating a general report, I met with the Chair of the Board of Directors, Bryn de Chastelain, to discuss some of my concerns. During this meeting, we also discussed my 2020-2021 Board Action Plan.

Board Action Plan

Each year, the Board of Directors must present Board Action Plans to the members for approval at the Policy and Strategy conference. A Board Action Plan basically lays out what you would like to accomplish this year and how it can be done. My Board Action Plan includes addressing voluntary student unionism, improving liaison calls, and confronting barriers members might face to effectively participate in CASA’s decision-making process. It has not been approved yet but I am hoping I can accomplish these three things this year as Director-at-Large, Membership.

Events for Policy and Strategy Planning

To end off the evening of our first day of the Policy and Strategy Conference, the MRC has planned two events for members to attend via Zoom. These include a Jackbox Games call and a social call. The last evening of the conference, I will also be hosting CASAOKE for the members.

Policy and Strategy Conference

Sarah and I attended CASA’s Policy and Strategy conference, where the members of CASA plan CASA’s priorities for the upcoming year.

Vice President Student Life - Kyle McNally ​ Hello everybody! I hope everyone is doing well - one more monthly report means that we are one month closer to a different, but nonetheless exciting school year! Although it is a longer one, again, I hope you enjoy the report and are able to recognize how hard your SEC is working over the summer months alongside various stakeholders as well as the institution at STU! Enjoy!

Emergency Bursary Committee The Emergency Bursary Committee did not meet this month as we had no applications to review.

Community Food Smart Since the Student Union Building has yet to open as of now, the Community Food Smart program has been operating differently in the summer months as they were operating following an essential model. Although things were different, they are now back to their normal location following their normal guidelines; however, since there are still no pick-up locations that would be available on/near campus, the STUSU is still not able to offer this program yet. As soon as the buildings open up, Community Food Smart will be back up and running and better than ever!

Meetings Sarah Kohut Sarah and I had a check-in meeting this month.

STUSU Executive Council The executive met twice (bi-weekly) this month and will begin meeting weekly in the month of August again, as we did in May and part of June.

Marie-Carmen Boucher, Welcome Week Chair Mar and I met to discuss the Welcome Week stickers that are going to be going into the Welcome Week kits, as well as how Welcome Week has been going in general. During this meeting, I informed Mar that I have found a local artist in Newfoundland and Labrador, @katefudge (feel free to check out her Instagram!), who does the style of artwork that we are looking for the stickers, and is highly interested in partnering with the Students’ Union on this. This is super exciting as we are officially able to get the stickers we want with the artwork that we want as well, all for an affordable rate!

First-Year Experience Program Think Tank During this month, I was asked to participate in a Think Tank on the First-Year Experience Program (FYEP) to ensure that all gaps are filled and so that the program is well-structured. Not only was this meeting super informative on the FYEP, but it also gave me a few online platforms that I will be able to use to engage students this coming year for my own events. These platforms are: Padlet, Mentimeter, and Miro.

Brock Richardson Brock and I had our bi-weekly meeting, in which we discussed the Welcome Week kits we are planning on mailing out to first-year students, the First-Year Experience Program (FYEP), as well as briefly discussed STU’s mental health action plan for this coming year. During this meeting, Brock informed me that he is hoping to have groups of 22-23 students in each group for the FYEP, and that the call for student leaders went out on July 24th. Not only is this an excellent opportunity for first-year students to hear from upper year students about their experience first-hand, but it also provides upper year students who may not have had the chance to get involved at STU to do so. I am really looking forward to seeing how this unfolds!

Tri-Campus Sexual Violence Prevention Committee The Tri-Campus Sexual Violence Prevention Committee met earlier this month where we received updates from the CSASAs: they have started seeing clients at Sexual Violence New Brunswick and will continue to be remote until at least January. We also discussed the Sexual Coercion Campaign that summer student Monica and the CSASAs will be working on – it is called “Beyond the Bare Minimum”, Drawing The Line On Coercion. This campaign seems super interesting and I am super excited to see where the campaign is headed over the next few weeks. Furthermore, we also discussed the Bystander Intervention Training Outline which is currently in the process of being moved remotely for Welcome Week, and lastly, we discussed the Drink Spiking Committee and what direction we want to take the committee this summer and throughout the school year.

Food Bank Committee The Food Bank Committee met twice this month to discuss how to prepare for and how to do their Welcome Week activity that will be done alongside the Welcome Week Coordinator, Alaina. During this meeting, we also decided that we are going to meet again

th on August 5 ​ and Ale, the VP for STUISA and member of the committee, sent us invites to ​ an online platform called Freedcamp which basically allows for tasks to be divided up and assigned to everyone for the event. Now, throughout the year, I have found another online platform that I will be able to work with, potentially when it comes to committees as well as dividing up roles for events.

Marie Carmen Boucher & Sarah Kohut Mar, Sarah and I met to discuss our plans with the Welcome Week kits as well as to discuss how things are progressing with Welcome Week.

Sarah Kohut & Philip Cliff, Director of Facilities Management Sarah, Phil and I met to discuss the STUSU Help Desk for this coming year. We talked extensively about the Help Desk and how things will look a bit different this year, as we must adhere to Public Health guidelines. I will be updating Madi, the Help Desk Manager on what the plans are with the Help Desk, along with how the Help Desk is going to operate this coming year.

Initiatives STU Stickers for the Welcome Week Kits Throughout this summer, unlike usual, I have been helping Mar out with our Welcome Week kits, and I have been looking after the new STU stickers that will be inside of them. We are getting pictures of GMH done by an artist named Kate Fudge in Newfoundland and Labrador! Keep your eyes peeled for these stickers, they will be quite popular!

Flurrish App Approximately a week and a half ago, I was reached out by Spencer Badanai, the Business Operations Manager for Flurrish – an app that helps Student Unions create the social community and inclusive atmosphere that students are used to, even if not on campus. We talked about the pros and cons of this app, however, after spending a great deal discussing the app and what it does, unfortunately the app cost for this year exceeds our budget. Spencer gladly left me his contact information and mentioned that he and Flurrish would be interested in collaborating on initiatives this coming year.

Jack.org STU SRC Proposal Work Throughout this past month, something that I have been doing in addition to the other initiatives and meetings that I have going is working on drafting a proposal for the Jack.org STU Chapter to bring to SRC this coming September. The proposal includes implementing the Jack.org STU Chapter under the Vice President Student Life’s role as a “committee” that the VPSL would be in charge of each year, and replacing the STUSU Mental Health Committee.

STUgenda After finalizing all of the details and documents for the STUgenda earlier this month, it is officially completed on my end, all there is left to do is wait for a proof and then give MayDay printing the go-ahead to begin printing and producing the physical STUgendas. Don’t forget - keep your eyes peeled! There will be an online version in which students will be able to use virtually and type into, which I am hoping will be on Moodle and/or WebAdvisor.

Online Trivia Night Over the past few weeks I have been pondering on some thoughts on whether or not to do an online trivia night for students soon, with some good prizes of course. I have begun looking at themes and questions to draft up for it. Stay tuned on my STUSU Instagram account, @stusu_vpsl, for a poll on what Trivia theme(s) should be picked!

Narcan/Naloxone Kit Training A couple of weeks ago, after still not hearing back from AIDSNB and AdaptPharma, I decided to reach out to the provincial government and emailed David Coon, MLA for Fredericton South, to see whether or not there was anything that the province already offers or could offer in regard to this training for students. Great news – Mr. Coon has put me into contact with the Executive Director of AIDSNB. I found out that they are currently in the process of moving offices during a pandemic, which of course makes sense as to why I did not get any responses via email. I am really looking forward to this discussion and to start planning the training alongside AIDSNB, whenever they get back to me! Conferences Maritime Student Congress (MSC) This month, I attended my first conference as a STUSU representative to address issues being faced by STU students, as well as students in the greater provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Not only was it extremely beneficial to connect with these leaders, but it also gave me an opportunity to hear other ideas of what is happening on other campuses this year. During the conference portion for Vice President Student Life/Director of Events positions, we had gotten presentations from a Public Relations Firm in Halifax called UpPr. During the final day of the conference in which every position participated in, we received a presentation from Matthew Rios, President of the Acadia Students’ Union during a time where 4 students passed away. During this presentation, it was very insightful to hear how he acted as a student leader when his campus community was grieving the loss of these students. Lastly, we also received a presentation from Bridget Burgess, Director of Communications at Concordia University of Edmonton, where she talked to us extensively about using social media to engage students. Overall, this was a great 2-day conference that gave me a lot of insight on what this year will look like for all SU Vice President Student Lifes, and SU executives as a whole.