Tuition Hikes?

Today I was interviewed by News 95.7 in Halifax about the Education Policy Institute report which was recently released.

The report addresses the recession and how it might affect the post secondary education system across the country. One of the solutions that are proposed, and the one that is gaining a lot of attention in Nova Scotia today, is to stop freezing tuition and to increase it.

The thought of increased tuition is one that I am against and one that I can only assume the average student in Canada will be against as well. Last year the Council of Nova Scotia University Presidents signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Province of Nova Scotia. One of the facets of the agreement was that tuition would be frozen for the next three years. Additionally there has been a Nova Scotia student grant that the province gives to all Nova Scotia students studying at universities in Nova Scotia. These grants will increase over the next three years to hopefully bring Nova Scotia's tuition level down to the national average (there is about a $1000 difference between Nova Scotia tuition and the national average). There is also a grant for Canadian students studying at Nova Scotia institutions in the third year.

The memorandum of understanding and the grants were something that the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Association had worked closely with over the last year and were very happy to see these results.

It is our hope that the government of Nova Scotia will honour their commitment to Nova Scotia students and will not increase tuition.

What's In It For You?

Dalhousie University has been embarking on a campus master plan process which commenced in the summer and is now working its way into phase two. Starting on Monday March 2 there will be a series of charattes available for the Dalhousie community to view and give their feedback on.

Phase one consisted of many stakeholder meetings and gathering information on what people like about the campus, what they do not like, and what they would like to see. The campus master planning team has gone to the drawing board and created ideas for the campus which ideally will encompass the feedback that they received during phase one.

This phase of the process is integral to have your input on and I really hope that you will engage in some, or even better all, of the meetings. Please click here for more information.

And remember - this is your campus, your experience, so get involved and have your voice heard!

Spring Exam Schedule

The DAL spring exam schedule has been posted - I know you've all been eagerly waiting to find out when you'll have to write exams. Here is the link to the webpage where you can find the scheduled exams.

Reading Week

This week is reading week for DAL and I have decided to take it as a vacation (executives do not have automatic vacation days just because it is reading week).

Although my plan is to relax, hang out with friends, and get caught up with life in general I still will be doing some work (mostly writing reports, answering some emails, and all that jazz - just no meetings).

And I will still try to update my blog when things are going on, for example - tonight the Dalhousie Women's Water Polo team is playing at the Dalplex at 7:00pm. This is part of the tournament that they are hosting this weekend. I will be at the game - and if you are free tonight I'd be glad to have your company!

I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing reading week!

Follow us on Twitter!

The DSU has a twitter account which means that you can get up-to-date information on everything that is going on!

To join the group just:

1.Go to http://twitter.com/

2. Create a username and password

3. Login

4. Search 'Dalhousie Student Union'

5. Click 'follow'

It's super easy and another great way to stay in touch with YOUR union!

Being a Better Union for YOU!

One of the areas that the average student most likely would not look to for what would create a better union for them is the DSU's by-laws and regulations, more commonly known as the DSU Constitution.

This year a Constitutional Review Committee was struck at council to review and propose amendments to the current by-laws and regulations. The Committee has completed its review and the proposed amendments are now available to be viewed by the entire Dalhousie student body.

The by-laws and regulations set out what executive responsibilities are, what committee exist and what their functions are, what commissioners exist and their responsibilities and so on. These documents are the foundation of how the DSU can work to enhance YOUR student experience.

At this week's Council meeting, February 18th, the proposed amendments were given a notice of motion (this means that they will appear as new business on the next Council meeting's agenda and will be able to be discussed at that meeting).

The next Council meeting is on Wednesday March 4th at 6:30pm on Sexton Campus. Any proposed amendments need to be approved via Council before they move to the General Meeting.

On Wednesday March 11th at 6:30pm in room 303 in the Student Union Building a General Meeting will take place, this meeting is open to all Dalhousie students (and they all have the right to vote as well), to vote on the proposed amendments.

To view the proposed amendments and the summary of the changes please visit the documents section of the DSU website.

I hope to see you at the upcoming meetings and to gain your support for the committee's proposed amendments.

DSU Election Fever

It's that time of year again - reading week and candidate nominations are on students' minds.

Tomorrow is the last day of classes for a week which will provide students with a much needed break in the always busy winter semester. And on Monday the DSU candidate nomination period opened.

Students can put their name in for any one of the following positions: President, Vice President (Internal), Vice President (Education), Vice President (Student Life), four (4) student Senators, two (2) student Board of Governors members. Forms can be picked up from the Information Desk in the main lobby of the SUB. These positions range in responsibilities but all of them carry the weight of being accountable to the Dalhousie student body and representing students' best interests. If you, or anyone you know, may be interested in getting involved at a representative level I urge you to pick up a form, get the information you need, and run a campaign to get yourself elected. All of us are at university to learn, have a fulfilling experience, and become something great - and these positions are a great opportunity to expand students' university experience.

For more information about the DSU 2009 Elections please visit the facebook group.

Burgers and Wings at the' Wood

The Grawood is proud to announce the return of Wednesday Wing Night and the Burger Special on Thursday nights.

Starting on February 18th the Grawood will be offering wings for $0.40/each (with the purchase of a beverage) from 6:00pm - 9:00pm. Appetizers will also be available from 5:00pm - 9:00pm.

The special will continue every Wednesday that the Grawood is open.

Starting on February 19th the Grawood will be offering its burger special (double draft, burger, and fries) for $5.50 from 6:00pm - 9:00pm. Appetizers will also be available from 5:00pm - 9:00pm.

The special will continue every Thursday that the Grawood is open.

So please come check out the Grawood's newest features every Wednesday and Thursday!

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.