MASU winter mandate announced

The Mount Allison Students’ Union Executive has announced their winter mandate for 2014. The mandate includes such issues as students’ academic rights, researching an on-campus Maritime Bus stop, developing a policy on residence assistant pay, and the institution of a clubs and societies database.

Mount Allison Students’ Union (MASU) President Melissa O’Rourke explained the mandate in a Jan. 10 interview. “It will probably not be drastically different from what we did in the fall. A lot of the goals we will be working towards appeared on the fall mandate as for full-year completion,” she said.

O’Rourke outlined what she saw as the success of the fall executive agenda. “For me,” she said, “everything that I had listed that I wanted to do in the fall, which was organizational history, office space report, executive position review, and executive summer recommendation, are all things that I feel we have done successfully.”

The mandate is relatively set, but changes or additions could be made by council at any meeting. As O’Rourke said, “The only changes I could foresee for this document are things that could be mandated by council.”

Unlike last semester, the executive will not be holding a presentation of the mandate. O’Rourke explained the reason for this in the Jan. 10 interview, saying, “We won’t be doing it again, because we presented everything at the beginning of the year.” 

The executive “will make an attempt to hold an Annual General Meeting in late March or early April,” though O’Rourke said she “would be surprised if we reached quorum, because quorum for such a meeting is really high in our constitution.” Such a meeting would act as a debriefing for students to take account of the work of the executive and council over the year, and provide an outlook for the next year.

EXECUTIVE MANDATES:

President Melissa O’Rourke: will lobby the administration on implementing the METRAC safety and security project, update the union’s Operating Procedures, and prepare a transition document for her successor. O’Rourke will also attempt to improve MASU archiving, and try to improve the public profile of the ombudsman position.

 Vice-President, Academic Affairs Ryan Harley: will draft a policy entitled “Responsibilities of Academic Staff with Regards to Students,” which will outline the academic rights of students, and submit it to the provost. Harley will also continue researching co-curricular transcripts, academic experience surveys for all students, and a fall reading week.

Vice-President, External Affairs Ian Smith: will research the viability of a student information desk, work toward finalizing an airport shuttle service, getting a Maritime Bus stop on campus, expanding the volunteer database, and lobbying for an expansion of Mountie Money uses.

Vice-President, Campus Life Heather Webster: will update MASU mental health policy, aim to improve MASU-alumni relations, enhance services provided to MASU clubs and societies, and create a MASU stance on the payment of Mount Allison residence assistants.

Vice-President, Finance and Operations Josh Outerbridge: will work on a “streamlined consent process” for the health and dental plan, review MASU budgeting processes, review MASU printing services, and conduct a structural review of union committees with an eye toward separating them into committees and commissions.

Vice-President, Communications Matt Ranson: will continue to work on the MASU website, while managing MASU advertising campaigns, auditing the communications portfolio, looking into a clubs and societies database, and looking into MASU-branded items.

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