Students' Union Executive Types :: 2006-2007

Make Teaching Matter

2006-11-24T16:53:00.000-08:00

As some of you may have noticed, we've been running a little series of ads in The Gateway (the friendly neighbourhood student newspaper) regarding something called Professor of the Week.

Professor of the Week is an initiative of the Students' Union aimed to recognize instructors who make a difference for the better in the academic experience of their students through their dedication to teaching.

We've just wrapped up the fall run of Professors of the Week with eight winners. If you're interested in finding out who they are, you can check out this website.
Information on how to nominate your instructors is also going to be there some time in the near future.

Stay tuned for January!

Wall O'Debt

2006-11-02T22:27:00.000-08:00

Amanda! That was such a cute post, I didn't see that before.
Okay, more posting needs to happen, we are negligent in this regard.
Here are more pictures, because it is 11pm and I want to go home.

Our Wall O'Debt will be up for a while. You can come to 2-900 SUB and put your debt number on a brick. We'll put it up on our wall. Send a message that the provincial government didn't get rid of their debt, they just moved the weight around to students.

Holding The Fort

2006-10-23T23:16:00.000-07:00

As some of you may have noticed, our illustrious President and Vice-President (External)
of UPass fame are off touring the northern reaches of the province to get in touch with students, families and communities away from the Edmonton area.

That means that Vice Presidents Yusuf, Cunningham and myself (the invisible and/or imaginary members of the exec, if this blog is the only news you have about executive goings-on) are in charge of 2-900.

Unfortunately, the Executive Committee (the super-slick name the 5 of us get when our powers combine - plus the General Manager and Executive Assistant) doesn't have quorum without either Ms. Power or Mr. Cournoyer.

Ah well. So much for delusions of grandeur.

Tuition Sucks

2006-10-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

Hello,
Long time, no post. Disappointing, we're horrible for not posting. So I have some pictures for you.
Last week we held a media event reminding people that Ralph Klein promised us a tuition policy. The most affordable tuition policy in fact. We still have not received that policy. Here is a picture showing our frustrated faces.

Here is a picture of David showing the camera how disappointed he is.

The new policy should be out by November, but then, we're not holding our breath.

We're also going to be creating a wall of debt. Come by 2-900 sign a brick, anonymously putting your debt on it, whether it is in textbooks, tuition, rent, your soul, whatever, write it down and physically show the world how much debt we're carrying.
That'll be up at the end of the month.

Universities: Where Are They Headed?

2006-09-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

Alright Dave! Way to post, I'm not alone!
The forum is focused on discussing how Alberta is treating post-secondary education. We want to have a discussion on what Alberta needs to be doing to put education first, and in that way it will be a much more open dialogue. So please come out, hear the different views on what needs to happen and share yours on what Alberta needs to do to help universities and education as a whole. We have some of the worst participation rates in post-secondary education in the country, how do we fix that?

Also. I've recently found a book which has reinvigorated my view on universities and their mandate. I'll admit I haven't actually read it yet, I have however, thanks to the magic of the telephone, spoken with the author, and he is amazing. I highly recommend checking out this book. It currently is not available in the University bookstore, but I'm hoping that will be fixed in the next few weeks. The book is called Planet U, and it looks at how universities can become the leaders of societal change, and why they must become the leaders of change in order to advance our soceity. It not only talks about the barriers to this change, but also talks about what students can do to make this change, which is, quite frankly, awesome.

The second book I recommend is the classic: "No Place to Learn: Why Universities Aren't Working" by previous University of Alberta professors, Allan Tupper and Tom Pocklington. I read this book many years ago when I was a young Students' Union volunteer. It changed the way I looked at my university, how it was structured, where decisions were made, where the problems in university education actually were, and how changes need to be made. It's a frank discussion from professors on the inside and I highly recommend it. In fact I'll lend it to anyone who asks. My copy is highlighted though.

As if you didn't have enough to do.

Revolutionary Speakers Series

2006-09-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite SU events has been confirmed. Here's the Revolutionary Speakers Series line up for 2006-07.

October 10th - Severn Cullis-Suzuki: An activist since she was eight years old, Severn focuses on our ecological footprints and how we can become revolutionaries in our lives. Severn asks the question: Who's the Revolutionary? No other generation has had such big global responsibility, nor such incredible opportunity. Our fault? No. Our problem? Yes. Our opportunity? Absolutely. We are a generation who can choose our revolution.
Tickets: $9 students, $11 general public

November 13th - Carol Off: A journalist for several years covering everything from the war in Yugoslavia to the US led "War on Terror", she's won several awards for documentaries on Africa, Asia and Europe. Carol Off is currently the host of "As It Happens" on CBC. She'll be speaking on her most recent book: "Bitter Chocolate: Exploring the Dark Side the World's Most Seductive Sweet"
Tickets: $ 8 students, $10 general public

March 7th - Art Spiegelman: Pulitzer prize winning author of "MAUS" Spiegelman wrote the July cover of Harper's magazine which was pulled from Indigo/Chapter's bookshelves. His talk will focus on "forbidden images" and freedom of speech.
Tickets: $18 students, $20 general public

Series tickets: $30 students, $38 general public
All speakers will be in the Myer Horowitz in the Students' Union Building, University of Alberta Campus.

For more information on the history of the series, visit www.su.ualberta.ca/speaker
Hope to see you there!

Reclaim Your University

2006-09-20T00:57:00.000-07:00

We're organizing new events to communicate the message students need more from their university experience. Help us get the message out.

We will be having our first Volunteer Orientation meeting on Thursday September 21 starting at 5pm in CAB 273. We will have Free Pizza at the meeting!

This year, the SU Executive has identified seven main issues that we will be pushing for through our campus campaigns: the lowest tuition in Canada, student aid that enabled and doesn't indebt, putting the priority back in teaching, public funding for more professors, more student leisure and study space on campus, better transparency for mandatory fees, and increased access to University resources for student groups.

At the Orientation we will discuss the 7 main issues, a short history of SU campus campaigns, event planning, rapid response and media teams, volunteer opportunities, and your ideas!

This meeting will be a great time to meet other volunteers and see how you can help make this year?s SU campus campaigns great!

Looking forward to seeing you on September 21!

Starting With the Basics

2006-09-20T00:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a very brief outline of the executive's advocacy priorities this year. We always appreciate feedback.
We'll be tackling number of issues affecting your pocketbook, your learning and your campus experience.

We will be pushing for:

• The lowest tuition in Canada. Period.

• Student aid that enables, and doesn’t indebt.

• Putting the priority back on teaching.

• Public funding for more professors.

• More student leisure and study space.

• Better transparency and accountability for your mandatory fees.

• Increased access to University resources for student groups.

We Need You!

• To make your voices heard to the Government, the University administration and the public as well as to engage your student colleagues on the issues you feel are important.

• To stress that you have a right to an affordable quality education, a right that is currently not being fulfilled.

• To join us in making change to the policies preventing undergraduate students from achieving their best.

How Can You Help?

Get informed, get involved and volunteer.
This year we need your help on these initiatives:

• Campaign Planning and Action Committee (CPAC) – Strategic Planning

• Rapid-Response Team – Media Team

• Communications Captains – Letter-writing

• Event Planning Experts

• Core Campaign Team

• High Flying Faculty Liaison

contact:David Cournoyer vp.external@su.ualberta.ca or myself at president@su.ualberta.ca

Welcome

2006-09-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

Hello, and welcome to the SU President's blog. I'm going to be updating our work, media hits, and advocacy initatives on this blog. Currently I have to go to class though, so it will look quite blank and pathetic for now.