ANSSA Meets New Minister

Today Board Members and the Executive Director of the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations met with the new Minister of Education, the Honourable Judy Streatch.

The meeting was our opportunity to present to the Minister the areas that we would like to see the Department of Education advance and to pass along more information to us on.

We discussed 4 many areas:

1. Provincial Review of Student Financial Assistance - follow up

2. Direct Lend Efficiencies

3. Infrastructure Spending

4. Comprehensive Review of Post-Secondary Education

Overall the meeting went well and we are looking forward to developing a partnership with the new Minister that ANSSA has had in the past with other Ministers of Education.

DFA Supports DSU Food Bank

The Dalhousie Student Union is proud to announce the partnership between them and the Dalhousie Faculty Association.

During the Fall 2008 Semester the DSU and DFA met to discuss opportunities to partner together. Through a generous contribution of a DFA member and the support of the DFA executive, the DFA were able to raise $450!

The $450 donation will be put directly into the DSU Food Bank which is a service open to the Dalhousie community. Through generous donations the DSU is working to provide a more accessible food bank.

If you are interested in donating to the DSU Food Bank please contact Daniel Boyle, Vice President (Internal), at dsuvpi@dal.ca or 902.494.1276

Imagine Campaign 2009

The DSU has been working with a strategic plan for the past 3 years. The plan is very flexible in terms of the actual 'events' that take place within it but the purpose stays the same - to engage with Dalhousie students to create conversations around topics of interest and gain feedback on ways we can enhance their union to better serve them.

Today is the official launch of the DSU's Imagine Campaign. It runs Monday February 2 - Thursday February 5 (with Munro Day being on Friday February 6).

This time around we decided to go with a different 'event' and try a few methods that could take the strategic planning process to the students.

Currently in the lobby of the SUB we have volunteers running carnival games and giving out free treats - while at the same time informing students that the campaign has begun and how they can submit feedback to the DSU.

We also have an online survey at: http://www.dsu.ca/campuslife/imagine/imagine-2009-what-else-can-the-dsu-do-for-you

Comment cards and a 'wall' have been created to allow students who are on the run between classes to quickly jot down their suggestions to the DSU.

Once all of the information has been collected we will be creating a report of the recommendations and then passing it along to DSU Council and it will also be presented at the Candiates Cafe (a meeting of election candidates and outgoing executives/Board of Governors representatives/Senate representatives).

There are a lot of opportunities to get involved in the campaign and I hope you will at least fill out our survey.

If you would like to volunteer please contact me at dsupres@dal.ca

Also please visit our facebook event.

Together we can make a stronger, better union!

Back in the Swing of Things

It has been awhile since my last blog post and I do want to apologize for that.

Here is what has been going on in the past 2 weeks at the DSU:

1. University and Student Union Presidents Meeting

On January 22nd the Council of Nova Scotia University President (CONSUP), Student Union/Association Presidents, and representatives from both the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations (ANSSA) and the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) met. The purpose of the meeting with the touch base and to discuss the issues that both groups are looking to advocate to the provincial government on to include in their budget. The meeting was informative for everyone in attendance because it allowed us all to gain an understanding of the direction each group would like to take.

2. Presidential Review

As many of you will know the Dalhousie University President, Dr. Tom Traves, is seeking to extend his current 3 year term by 3 years. I am a member of the Presidential Review Committee and we have been meeting over the past few months. The deadline for submitting feedback on your view on Tom's reappointment is now closed. The committee will be putting forth a submission to the Board of Governors on the extension of the term at an upcoming meeting.

3. DSU Winter Carnival

The DSU hosted its annual Winter Carnival from Jan 21-24. The entire carnival was a great success with very talented Dalhousie students raising money for Shinerama through an open mic event, the always wonderful Sue Johanson gave a presentation as part of the DSU's Speaker Series, and as always Charity Ball was fabulous and our auction raised over $2000 for this year's selected charity.

4. Constitutional Review Committee

An ad-hoc committee of council was formed several months ago and the members on the committee, I am one of them, are working to revise the by-laws and regulations of the DSU Constitution. We are still seeking feedback on all areas of the constitution - if you have suggestions please email dsupres@dal.ca. The proposed changes will be available to the student body on February 18th and then on March 4th the DSU student body will be able to vote on the proposed changes - please note we need at least 75 union members to host the meeting.

5. ANSSA Student Assembly

This past weekend the members schools of ANSSA went to Cape Breton University for the winter 2009 student assembly. The student assembly meets twice a year with ideally 5 student delegates (which are not ANSSA board members) to discuss policies and set direction for the organization. The conference this weekend looked issues surrounding infrastructure, our pre-budget submission to the NS government, and our strategic plan. Overall the conference was a great success!

Those were the 5 large items that have been on my radar in the past 2 weeks. I have also had lots of meetings with members of senior administration, DSU councilors, executive and staff around day-to-day items and student concerns.