The Students’ Representative Council (SRC) is a council composed of a body of students elected by their peers, who are in charge of running the Acadia Students’ Union. The Council meets bi-weekly on Tuesdays at 5:15 PM in the Beveridge Forum which is located off of the Michener Lounge in the old Students’ Union Building (SUB). Every meeting is open to the public and students are encouraged to attend the meetings to learn more about the decisions being made on their behalf.
On March 5th Council met to discuss the financial update as of March 4th, Ad-Hoc Committee’s March report, Amendments to the Athenaeum Constitution, and House Council Committee. Sacha Russo presented Council with the general election re-cap long with an outline for the upcoming special election. In addition, the Council received numerous project proposals from members regarding various activities that will be held around campus.
Financial Update
Jared Craig, VP Finance and Operations, presented council with the ASU’s most recent financial update as of March 4th. Most services are performing at an expected average net income loss such as the Information Desk and Union Market, however, two areas took a much greater than anticipated loss in this update. Perkin’s net income loss came in around $15,220 which is $12,372 more than Perkin’s was expected to lose. Additionally, bar services only profited $19,847 during this past period which was a significant hit compared to the estimated profit of $59,404 that was expected. Craig attributes some of the bar’s loss to the fact that the bar can’t get enough people there on Saturdays and reached out to the Council in a request that they brainstorm ideas to increase the bars net income. Overall, Craig believes that the ASU is doing average financially with a total net income loss of $4,450 and is pleased with most of the ASU’s services.
Ad-hoc Committee Report
As per requirement the Ad-hoc Committee, which was established in order to respond and propose changes to the new bylaws, must give an interim report of their progress as of the first Council meeting in March. Molly Anderson, SRC and bylaw committee chairperson, presented Council with a report update updating them on the work that has been done within the Ad-hoc committee to address the concerns of students about the newly implemented bylaw 3 regarding impeachment and referendum. Through research, the committee has discovered variety across institutions regarding the procedures of impeachment and referendum. There have been student members appointed the the committee and Anderson believes that wider consultations will begin within the coming weeks. Anderson stressed that the committee is aware of the time constraints and will be meeting o a regular basis to accomplish what is needed.
Amendments to The Athenaeum Constitution
Council discussed the recommended suggested amendments (2019-03-04) to the current Operating Procedure 11 of The Athenaeum Constitution. It is recommended that all hired personnel of The Athenaeum ‘shall attend all required meetings of The Athenaeum unless excused by the Editor-in-Chief or Managing Editor’. There were no questions nor arguments to the proposed changes which will be voted upon in the next meeting.
House Council Hiring Committee
Applications have been distributed for the 2019-2020 house council positions Kyle Vandertoorn, VP Student Life, announced at the meeting. Vandertoorn is hoping to do interviews on Sunday, March 17th (St. Patrick’s Day) and requested two people from the Council help to conduct the interviews on that day. All candidates will be brought to the SUB and the interview will be an interactive group one, in order for the hiring committee to acknowledge the candidates potential and talents. Vandertoorn emphasized that it was an amazing experience to have, and the Council then voted on the two volunteered members that will join her.
Election News
Sacha Russo was present at the recent SRC meeting in order to provide the Council with a recapitulation of the 2019 General Election and Winter By-Election, as well as to discuss the upcoming special election. Regarding the past election, all positions were open and a total of 23 candidates were running in both elections. There were four acclaimed positions, one withdrawal and one disqualification. The election followed Russo’s timeline which was proposed in January and commenced with the results first being distributed to the candidates and then the general student body. There was also a total of seven complaints concerned with campaign violations against three candidates that triggered two Elections Committee meetings during this election.
Regarding the upcoming Special Election for the 2019-2020 school year, Russo explained that the VP Finance and Operations position was not filled by a candidate in the past election and it is required a student fill this role before May 1st, 2019. The nomination period will open March 5th and close March 8th with an All-Candidates meeting taking place in the Michener Lounge at 5pm. There will be the usual candidate’s debate along with candidates written statements being published in The Ath. Voting Period will last from March 14th to March 19th and the results will be distributed in an all students email shortly after voting concludes.
Project Proposals
There were several projects proposed by council members in the recent meeting. The first project proposed was from Katie Winters, Arts Senator. Winter proposed a Culture Show that will take place in the Mackeen Room sometime in late March/early April. The Culture show carries the same premise of a traditional talent show and emphasis’ encouraging students of all cultures to perform. Winters believes this event will allow students to celebrate the variety of talent and diversity we have at Acadia.
Jared Craig, VP Finance and Operations proposed an event that will focus on the financial considerations for students before and after university. Partnering with Investors group, there will be a presentation on budgeting along with a question period for any lost or confused students. Craig is currently unsure of when this will take place but wants students to have the resources required to make financially stable choices.
The third proposal came from Councillors Christopher Vanderburgh and Jonah Van Driesum. The two proposed an open discussion regarding the state of politics in Canada at the various levels of government. The discussion will take place April 1st at 7:30pm in the KCIC Auditorium featuring engagement from students and professors on campus. Vanderburgh and Driesum will be the moderators of this discussion and hope it will provide an ‘analysis of what politics in Canada might look like in the near future’.
Mackenzie Jarvin, incoming VP Academic and External and Dahlia Chahine, Student Board of Governors Representative proposed a mock LSAT and MCAT which will be provided by Princeton Review. The LSAT is currently scheduled for March 20th 4:30pm-8:30pm (4h) in BAC 132 but Jarvin and Chahine are thinking about changing it to the following Sunday instead. The MCAT will take place March 23rd 9:30am-5:00pm (7.5h) in BAC 132. Both tests will be proctored by Jarvin and Chahine and scantrons will be sent off to get marked.
Rylie Moscato is a first year English student and columnist for The Athenaeum
