It’s been a busy few months as UASU President! My main priorities over the summer have been transition, setting the executive team up for success, external advocacy, and launching STRIDE. The following will briefly go over those projects.
Transition
Over the summer, the executive team have spent ample time working collectively to set up our success for the upcoming year. That involved establishing regular meetings with the executives and staff, developing team retreats, and creating timelines for our goals for the upcoming year. Due to our strong summer, I can confidently say that we are on track for a great year and are a very strong executive team.
External advocacy
Over the summer, most University governance is on hold, so the majority of my advocacy efforts were spent externally. VP Larsen and I spent a lot of time out of town this summer attending Council of Alberta University Students (CAUS) and Canadian Alliance of Students Associations (CASA) conferences. We took these conferences seriously and as a result got many U of A specific issues on provincial and federal advocacy documents, including deferred maintenance and funding for underrepresented demographic groups on campus. We are also worked over the summer to establish a Get Out To Vote effort for the upcoming municipal elections. Lastly, one of my goals was to work with the City of Edmonton to better introduce international and out of province students to the city, I am pleased to say the many U of A students participated in a city welcome event specifically designed for post secondary students.
STRIDE
I am pleased that the UASU launched STRIDE this summer! This inaugural program aims to increase the amount of women and non-binary students in student governance by giving them the knowledge and community to run effective campaigns as well as be smart advocates. In the initial launch, we received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the participants and are hopeful we will see an increased number of women and non-binary students run in the 2018 elections!