January 31st, 2021 — Mount Allison Students' Union

MASU Students’ Administrative Council

Meeting Minutes

January 31, 2021

Call to order: 6:03pm

Land Acknowledgement

Approval of the Agenda

BE IT RESOLVED (moved by Councillor Tobin, seconded by Councillor Nolan) that the Sunday, January 31st Agenda of the Students’ Administrative Council be approved
Amendment: Table Councillor Davy’s report (Councillor McKenney)

Approval of the Minutes

BE IT RESOLVED (moved by Councillor Tobin, seconded by Councillor Nolan) that the Sunday, January 24th Minutes of the Students’ Administrative Council be approved

Reports

Councillor Ferguson gave an update on work done since the last meeting of the Fall semester.
Updates include COVID monitoring, housing policy development, VPISA search committee, Maple League work, etc. All in all, fairly “business as usual.”
For more information see January 31st council package.

Councillor Burke
- Councillor Burke gave an update on work done since the last meeting of the Fall semester.
- Updates include Senate, pass/fail success, mock LSAT/MCAT, committee work, the OER faculty campaign, etc.
- Large surplus of hours over the Winter break due to work with pass/fail implementation. Shoutout to the Senators and Councillor Ferguson for working together to get this done for students!
- For more information see January 31st council package.

Discussion

Councillor Whiteway: In the case that we aren’t bringing forward a pass/fail option in winter, I think it’s super important to let students know very early on. What steps will MASU take to ensure this transparency?

Councillor Burke: I met with the residence AcMen a few days ago (mid-semester check-in) and we let them know we have no plans to bring this to the Senate so they should share this with students who need to seek academic support earlier on. I am hoping to have an update on our plans to spread this information to the whole campus for our next meeting!
Councillor Tobin: During the Senate meeting when pass/fail was passed, there was a discussion between some of the more progressive faculty Senators to include an amendment for the “discontinued” option. Essentially, this would replace fail with another option to avoid it affecting your GPA. Unfortunately, we could not get this passed at the time given that there is no “discontinued” option in the Academic Calendar. We are looking to include this in a future motion with the help of the Registrar.

Councillor Thorburn gave an update on work done since the last meeting of the Fall semester.
Updates include housing issue with 131 Main, committee work, Community Food Smart, NBSA/CASA work, the ad hoc sexual violence committee, etc.
Check out the “Close the Gap” report from CASA included in the council package.
For more information see January 31st council package.

Councillor Nolan
- Councillor Nolan gave an update on work done since the last meeting of the Fall semester.
- Updates include work with policies/by-laws, RBC partnership, committee work, hiring, etc.
- For more information see January 31st council package.
Councillor Penney
- Councillor Penney gave an update on work done since the last meeting of the Fall semester.
- Updates include Winter clubs and societies fair, Quo Vadimus, rescheduling of Pride, committee work (as well as work with entertainment director, Councillor Rawling), COVID-19 committee, harms reduction campaigns, hiring, Winter orientation, residence work, AHSVC, etc.
- For more information see January 31st council package.
Councillor Bubar
- Councillor Bubar gave an update on work done since the last meeting of the Fall semester.
- Updates include Senate work (pass/fail), committee work, INDG Minor and faculty hires, Indigenous Student Support Group, virtual CASA advocacy work, Sexual Violence Prevention Working Group and the MASU by-laws.
- For more information see January 31st council package.

Discussion

Councillor Blakney: Do you know anything about the Indigenous hires at this time?

Councillor Bubar: It’s open to whoever at the time (in any field) as long as they fit the job advert.

Councillor Nowlan gave an update on work done since the last meeting of the Fall semester.
Updates include committee work (i.e., Ad Hoc Sexual Violence committee, EA committee and sustainability committee).
Councillor Nowlan along with a few other councillors underwent trauma-informed training.
For more information see January 31st council package.

Business Arising from the Minutes (no items)

New Business

Motion to approve the constitution of Witch’s Society and ratify them as an official club within the MASU (moved by Councillor Penney, seconded by Councillor Thorburn).
ALL IN FAVOUR, motion passes.

Open Forum

Councillor Blakney gave an update on work done on BoR committees. For more details, the report is attached to the February 10th council package, directly following the minutes of January 31st.

Discussion

Councillor Richardson: Elections are going well, we have someone for every position except for Gender and Sexual Diversity Representative). By-election is still open for GSDR. More information on this is on the MASU website and in emails.

Reminders

Councillor Thorburn: Community Food Smart - Food box orders are due this Tuesday at 4:30pm!

In Camera

Motion to go in camera (moved by Councillor Nolan, seconded by Councillor Tobin).
Motion to approve this round of clubs and societies and academic enrichment funding (moved by Councillor Nolan, seconded by Councillor Penney).

Motion to move out-of-camera (moved by Councillor Tobin, seconded by Councillor Nolan).

Adjournment: 6:59pm

Motion to Adjourn the Students’ Administrative Council until Wednesday, February 10th, 2021 (moved by Councillor Burke, seconded by Councillor Penney).

February 10th, 2021