DSU Toy Drive

The Dalhousie Student Union is proud to announce that we are hosting a Toy Drive to assist in making the holidays happier for children in need and we are looking for your support to make the event a success. All toys collected for the event will be donated to the IWK Children’s Hospital.

The Dalhousie Student Union recognizes that Dalhousie University is part of the larger Halifax community and is striving to support the community during the holiday season.

A full list of requested toy donations will be posted on Saturday on the Dalhousie Student Union website – www.dsu.ca

And more information can be found at our facebook event

All toys can be dropped off to the Student Union Building Information Desk during building hours starting on December 1^st and the end date will be on December 14^th.  Also if you are unable to drop your toy donation off at the Student Union Building we can arrange to have them picked up.

With your support we can make the holiday season merrier for children in Halifax!

Student Events

The DSU Executive love going to events being put on by students, societies, and groups on campus. So let us know when you event is and we will do out best to be there!

This week I attended the Dalhousie/Kings Conservatives guest speaker event, the residence's trip to the Mooseheads game, and tonight I am attending the Shirreff Hall winter banquet.

Thank you to all of the students and societies that have invited myself and other executives to your events in the past and we look forward to being apart of your future events as well!

Wireless on Campus

At the Senate meeting on Monday November 24th it was announced that the University understands that the wireless on campus needs to be improved and it would cost approximately $2 million to upgrade it and an additional $200,000 to maintain the wireless internet each year. This project will be going forward if there is room in the University budget.

Movember Nearing an End

One of the most memorable months of the year is always November.

Movember is a charity fundraiser for prostate cancer and it is through growing moustaches that people work to obtain pledges for the cause.

On Sunday the month of November will come to an end and so will all of the gentlemen around campus with their creatively styled moustaches. 

And although it is typically men that grow their facial hair for this memorable charity, women are also getting involved by making fake moustaches to be able to take part as well.

So no matter what your gender is remember to keep sporting your moustaches until Sunday and make sure to get lots of pledges!

DSU Supports Shinerama!

As I am sure that you are aware the student council at Carleton University passed a motion on November 24th stating that they would no longer be supporting Shinerama.

For the wording of the motion please click here.

Personally I was shocked to hear that their council could pass such a motion on information that was untrue.

Myself, other executives, councilors, and students all wanted to make it very clear to the CUSA's student council that we did not support their decision and to the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation that the DSU will continue to support Cystic Fibrosis research now and in the future.

Myself and the DSU's Shinerama Director wrote a letter to the CUSA council via their President stating that we are deeply disappointed with their council's most recent motion and that we hope that they will reconsider their decision. And we also wrote a letter to the CCFF stating that Dalhousie students have been very proud to have been involved in Shinerama for the past 43 years and for raising over $700,000 for Cystic Fibrosis research and will continue to be involved in the Shinerama campaign.

On November 26th the Metro newspaper here in Halfiax did a story on the events that had taken place at Carleton University. I was interviewed on November 25th for my comment on the event:

'Dalhousie Student Union president Courtney Larkin said she was “surprised” to hear of the Carleton decision, but Dal won’t be following suit.

“I think the Shinerama team does a really good job letting students know how this could affect you, that it could be a classmate or a friend,” Larkin said.'

For the full article please click here.

Our Shinerama Director was also on Global news last night giving his statements around how we are disappointed that their council has passed a motion on untrue information and that we will not be following suit.

Attention on students at Board of Governors

Monday November 24th at 8:00am the Dalhousie Board of Governors met.

The topic that took a great portion of focus at the meeting was around students and their experience while at Dalhousie University.

The Student Experience Committee (of which I am a member of) announced that for their annual meeting with students they would be focusing on athletes - meeting date to be determined.

Another key student focused area was around traditions that are a part of the Dalhousie experience. The Student Experience Committee will be working with both members of the University and students to determine what are classified as Dalhousie traditions and how to improve them for the future.

There was also discussion around student engagement and how the University can best go about engaging their students.

Of course there were other items on the Board's agenda but I felt that it is important to mention that students are currently being discussed and that the Board has a great interest in the experience that Dalhousie students have.

Maritime Executive Meeting

Last Friday, November 21st, several student unions/associations made plans to meet at Acadia University to take part in the second maritime executive meeting this year (the first meeting with held in July in Prince Edward Island). 

Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and executives from both Saint Mary's University and St. Francis Xavier University were unable to attend the meeting. However, members from Dalhousie University, Acadia University, and the University of Prince Edward Island did attend the meeting.

There were several productive conversations that took place at the meeting. However, due to the size difference in schools and the complexity in the governance and operations of the DSU it is my recommendation that for future meetings of student union/association executives that the DSU find a union that has a similar size and model to meet with to discuss ideas.

WUSC Wine & Cheese

Tonight the Dalhousie division of the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) held a wine and cheese event at the Gradhouse. 

The purpose of the event was to bring people together who are involved with WUSC at Dalhousie and to say thank you to everyone for being part of a wonderful initiative.

I attended the event along with a few other DSU Executives. I really enjoy being able to go to events where students are celebrating the successes that they have accomplished. The host of the event was also superb at greeting everyone and providing information about WUSC as well. And I am very pleased to hear that it is anticipated that WUSC will be able to bring 3 students to Dalhousie next year (currently this year there are 2 refugee students that have come to Dalhousie through WUSC).

For more information about WUSC please visit their website. 

By-Law S-800 (A Note to Societies)

The Halifax Regional Municipality’s by-law S-800 is focused around the requirements for licensing temporary signs. This by-law, along with all other by-laws, must be followed by Dalhousie societies. This specific by-law is of importance for you and your society due to the advertising that has occurred in the past. Under the by-law all forms of signage (including but not limited to posters, sandwhich boards, banners, mobile signs, and planter box signs) that are placed without a license on city property has the potential to result in a fine. The fines range from $250 - $10,000 and your society will be responsible for paying the fine if charged. Also any affiliated groups/individuals on your advertisement can also be charged (example – a member from the Spanish Society places a poster on a lamp post advertising that the event is being held at the Grawood. The individual who placed the poster, the society, and the Grawood could all receive fines). Please make yourself and your society members informed on this by-law and the reprecusions that can come from it.

Dalhousie Business Ethics Case Competition

This year the Dalhousie Student Union sponsored the Dalhousie Business Ethics Case Competition. The event took place this past weekend and as a representative from the DSU I was able to attend the closing banquet.

The banquet was wonderful and was full of students from Dalhousie all the way to Florida! Everyone that I spoke with at the dinner continually mentioned how great of an experience the event was and how they are excited to be apart of the event next year.

The one thing that I would like to see more of next year is maritime university participation! This year it was only Dalhousie and Memorial (NFLD) from the eastern region of Canada. I will be meeting with several maritime university executives this coming Friday and will pass along the information on this competition to this in the hopes that they will send students in the coming years.

All around this was a wonderful event to be at and to have the DSU sponsor. A huge congratulations goes out to all of the students that took part in the event and the Dalhousie planning team for hosting.

Dalhousie Faculty Association

Today was my first meeting with the executive of the Dalhousie Faculty Association. The meeting was basically to introduce myself and themselves and to talk about any areas we may be able to pursue together.

The topics that we discussed were:

- partnering on events (ex - winter skate for students/faculty with chili)

- partnering on fundraising initiatives (ex - Shinerama)

- course evaluations (issue is currently at Senate, I wanted to provide them with a student perspective on the topic)

- co-curricular transcripts (including extracurricular involvement on students' transcripts once they finish university)

- having a member of the DFA attend the next Canadian Roundtable on Academic Materials conference in December (currently the DSU VP Education and the manager of the Dalhousie Bookstore attend)

We had a great conversation on all of the above topics and it was great to be able to meet with their executive. I do plan on working with them when possible during this year to build a better university experience for our students.

Senate Forum

On Monday November 10, 2008 Senate held a forum in which Seantors could come together and discuss selected topics. There were 3 brief presentation at the beginning of the forum on topics that could be related to the selected discussion topics for the event. I was a presenter at the event and spoke to the group about student evaluations.

Currently at Dalhousie there is a wide range of evaluations that are being used by students to evaluate their professors at the end of the semester. The Dalhousie Student Union would like to see a standardized section of the evaluation be created and used for all classes. We also want information from the evaluations to be available to students. Many other universities in Canada have standardized sections of their evaluations and have the information available (some just to students, some to just the university community, and some have the information available to anyone on their website).

The three selected topics for Senators to dicuss at the meeting were (1) learning and teaching, (2) research initiatives, (3) community engagement.

There was lots of great conversations that took place in each of the groups. The group that I sat in on was learning and teaching and here are a few of the conversation points we had:

- create first year interest groups (around academics)

- move towards service learning

- have more students participating in exchange programs

- have the opportunity for more Dalhousie students to participate in communities (within Nova Scotia, Canada, and globally)

- have faculty/student mentorship programs through student societies

- course capture (online lectures for students to access)

I was very happy that Senate put the effort into creating a forum where Senators could come together and openly discuss topics on how to make Dalhousie better for our current and future students.

Remembrance Day

Today approximately 4500 (my guesstimate) people gathered at Grand Parade Square in downtown Halifax for the annual Remembrance Day ceremony.

Among the 4500 guests there were students from several local universities, members of the DSU executive, council and societies.

The DSU executive was proud to have a wreath placed at the ceremony today, in honor of those who have served and in memory of those who have fallen.

(The picture on the right of this article was near the end of the ceremony once all of the wreaths had been laid. The Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia is the lady standing in front of the monument)

40th Anniversary of the SUB

Yesterday the DSU was proud to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the grand opening of the Dalhousie Student Union Building.

The preparations for the event were done through our Vice President (Student Life), Kris Osmond, and his 

events committee. They began decorating the SUB on Thursday night.

Friday at 12 noon the celebrations kicked off in the SUB lobby with a giant birthday card and hat, cake, loot bags, music, free pens and programs, and pictures from the past 40 years. I was honored to give remarks to kick off the event. There was approximately 250 people in the SUB lobby for the event.

Last night was the Grawood party where students, staff, faculty, and alumni came out to do an official countdown to midnight (the official opening of the building took place on November 8, 1968). The Grawood was full of students happy to be celebrating the wonderful event.

It has taken 96 years to get to where we are with 56 of those years dedicated to the student union advocating for having their own building on campus and the building taking place.

There have been millions of people walk through the doors of the SUB and many high profile people as well such as Jean Chretien, K-OS, the Princess of Ghana, Bryan Adams, Sarah McLaughin, and Sue Johanson.

The DSU is very proud that we are able to have our own building on campus and are continually working towards providing services and spaces in the building that help to enhance our students' experience.

Nov 5 DSU Council Meeting

Last night was one of the biweekly council meetings.

There was a lot of items on the agenda and for the first time in awhile we were able to get through all of them (with extending the meeting another hour - which made it run from 6:30 pm - 10:30 pm).

At the beginning of our meeting we had presentations from 3 different groups: Campus Master Plan, Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, and the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations.

The Campus Master Plan presentation was an introduction to the project manager, Larry Sherman, and to get councilors the opportunity to give feedback. This gained interest from council and I will be working to set up another opportunity for councilors to meet with Larry to discuss ideas for the future of the campus.

The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations presentation was a brief overview of what CASA does, how it was created, their successes, and what they are looking to work on for students this year. Both the National Director, Zach Churchill, and the Members Relations Officer, Dan Murphy, attended our council meeting.

The Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations presentation was also brief and it covered what ANSSA does, what the priorities are for this year, the structure of the organization (board members, student assembly, executive director), and the successes that ANSSA has seen in the past year. Our Executive Director, Kelly Wilson, attended the council meeting and gave the presentation to our council.

Other than the presentations to council there were several large topics that were dealt with. The Board of Operations recommendation that the Recruitment Committee Handbook be worked on by the Recruitment Committee passed. The society policy amendments for the NSPIRG section passed. And the audited financial statements were passed.

There were three notices of motion for the next meeting on November 19th: (1) academic policies, (2) revised DSU budget, and (3) election timeline.

The next DSU council meeting will be held at 6:30 pm on Wednesday November 19th, 2008 in Council Chambers (2nd floor of the SUB).

Courtesy Umbrellas

Many of you may have seen the recent addition of 'courtesy umbrellas' in the lobby of the Student Union Building.

This is a joint initiative between the Dalhousie Student Union and the Real Life Community Church. There is a basket of courtesy umbrellas by the front doors of the SUB and other locations across campus a well. On days when it is raining outside the Dalhousie community can use the umbrellas to get from one building to another without getting wet. When they get to where they are going they can just place the umbrella in the basket at that location.

This is a small initiative but I have only heard positive feedback about this project and am happy to be able to work with outside groups to make the university experience more positive even if it is through small things such as umbrellas.

What Not To Wear - Reveal Event

Today at lunch the Dalhousie department of management career services and the career services center hosted the first annual 'What Not To Wear' reveal event.

I was involved in this event because I was one of 4 judges on the selection panel for finding 4 Dalhousie students to partake in the event.

There were 2 male and 2 female participants. Each received a clothing makeover of $300, and also a makeup/hair/facial/manicure makeover.

There were 2 major sponsors of the event - Halifax Shopping Center which donated $1200 in gift cards for the event and Fred salon/cafe/art gallery provided Fred Conors (hair stylist, self esteem coach, and sytle coach for the transformations).

The event was held in the atrium of the Rowe Mangement building and was complete with a catwalk which each participant proudly walked down to show off their new business casual and corporate business attire.

This event was very fun to be a part of and I really do think that it gave the students involved in it a strong step towards being prepared for their future careers.

Dalhousie Bids on CIS Mens Hockey Championship

At 12:00pm (noon) today Dalhousie Unviersity announced that they, in partnership with Events Halifax, have placed a bid for the 2011-2012 Men's CIS Hockey Championship.

As part of the bid there will be early bid ticket packages and only $25 is required to secure a ticket package. Sales for this will commence on November 12 and will end on December 31. The full ticket package price is $110 for adults and $100 for students,children, and seniors.

This is a wonderful event and would be great to have at Dalhousie for the first time. 

Last week I was contacted by DAL Athletics to write a letter in support of the Dalhousie bid. I was very happy to write a letter in support of the event coming to Halifax and my letter was submitted with the bid along with a letter from the Premier of Nova Scotia, and a letter from the mayor of Halifax Regional Municipality.

More information on the event can be found on the DAL Athletics website.

Mark A Hill Accessibility Center

Back in the beginning of October the new accessibility center on Studley Campus had an event to celebrate the naming of the building, Mark A Hill Accessibility Center.

I attended this great event and was fortunate enough to meet the parents of Mark A Hill (a Dalhousie student who was in a car accident which left him paralyzed). Through attending the event, meeting Mark's wonderful parents, meeting the staff who work at the center, and current students who have and will use the center it was wonderful to see that Dalhousie is working to be as inclusive as possible for our students.

I also addressed the audience on behalf of all Dalhousie students and thanked the donors and Mark's parents for their wonderful contributions.

I wanted to post this event on my blog because it was a great event to be a part of and having an accessibility center at Dalhousie is very important, even though the event did happen a few weeks ago.

Imagine Event Report

I am proud to announce that the report from the Fall 2008 Imagine Event is now completed.

To view a copy of the report please visit the council document section of the DSU website and scroll down to 'Reports of Committees and Societies' and the report is there.

I have forwarded copies of the report to council and to the project manager of the Master Plan.

The consultants are still working with many groups to gain more feedback on how to improve the campus.

If you would like to contribute and ideas or thoughts please email studentexperience@dal.ca