Exec Blog
Ted Horton
VP University Affairs
Please note that the Campaigns Committee meeting has been postponed and will instead occur on October 17th.
September 14th 2009
Agenda for the Campaigns Committee: http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/59614/Campaigns_Committee_Agenda.doc
Minute from the April meeting: http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/59620/April_2nd_Minutes__Public_.doc
Below are the motions submitted by undergraduate students for the Campaigns Committee on August 19th:
"Students United for a Free Iran"
"Right to Campus"
http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/59266/MOTION_for_the_Right_to_Campus_Campaign.doc
"Red Fridays"
http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/59267/Red_Fridays_-_Draft_Campaigns_Committee_Motion.doc
"Right to Education"
http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/59299/ProposalR2E(2).doc
August 9th 2009
I do have to apologize for the rather lengthy break in blog posts - it hasn't been from other commitments taking priority (though certainly there are enough other projects going on that I could claim that as my excuse), but because our Adobe InContext has been on the fritz (or so I am told). That's the program we use to edit our site. It lets me blog directly and not have to send everything to the Webmaster, which is pretty neat.
So, what has been going on recently? The SFUO has been hectic. We've had a lot of absences, which means picking up a lot of slack. Our President was away for a few weeks, our Executive Coordinator has been away for a week, and our VP Finance has been out for a few days for a CFS-Ontario Executive Meeting. That leaves me dealing with a few portfolios that are fun - student space, food services, a bit of sustainability. It's fun stuff.
For my part, I've been doing a lot of prep work for the Fall. I'm working on the Student Rights campaign that is my pet project. It's less a campaign of lobbying and advocacy, which has been a lot of the Fed's focus in the past couple of years, and more informing. For background, I put on a Tenant's Rights workshop this spring with a representative from the Legal Aid Clinic on campus and a Duty Counsel from the Landlord and Tenants Board. For the fall, I'm hoping to do a series of such workshops on a number of subjects - Tenants Rights, Academic Rights, Worker's Rights (rights of students in their workplace, regarding pay, safe working conditions, sexual harassment, etc). I'm also working on a website that I hope will contain a lot of this information. So yeah, that's that.
Also gearing up for the fall in terms of...Governance! The most exciting part of any day, and a part of your balanced Student Federation. The University Affairs Round Table is still working on Federated Body Elections Reform, while I have been meeting with Fed Body Execs with our Governance Coordinator to discuss Faculty Councils, Departmental Assemblies, and exciting things like that. What's more, I'm excited to discover that the first uOttawa Senate and BOG are both happening on the same day - September 14th! The day after Fedstock.
Sigh.
Also, I'd like you to note this down - the first Campaigns Committee:
Saturday September 19th, 4:00 PM
SITE room A0150
Why Saturday? No classes. I realize some students will be at work, but I would rather remove classes as the obstruction to participation. Why SITE? All the better to include the south end. Why attend? The Campaigns Committee decides on the creation and modification of SFUO campaigns.
For information on how to submit motions, email me at vp.university@sfuo.ca
Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Ted
It's sunday, and as that means (once a month or so), it's BOA time. The BOA, or the Board of Administration, is the highest institutional decision-making body of the Student Federation. While conforming to the constitution and applicable laws, the only higher authority is a direct vote by the members of the SFUO - the undergraduate student body.
So once a month or so the BOA gets together to debate and decide upon the direction of the Federation. Meetings are held in both official languages and tend to lasts anyywhere from four to eight hours.
This is one of the points of contact for students who want to get involved on campus - there are Directors who are elected proportionally by faculty. So if you have a concern about the SFUO or wish to speak your mind, get in touch with one of the Executive or a Director to chat, and be sure to come out to one of the meetings!
You can find the list of Directors here.
July 2nd 2009
When I was in third year I rented an apartment in Sandy Hill with a friend from my hometown of Caledonia who was himself going into his second year. We signed a yearlong lease from May to April, and I spent the summer working with the Federal Government in a Co-Op placement while he went home to work.
This was my first time renting from a property management company who owned a number of units instead of from Residence in first year and from a friend who owned a house in second year. It would also be a very unpleasant experience.
From the first time I paid rent and was accused of not having done so only days later (thank various deities or lack thereof for keeping a paper trail of receipts), to waiting months for something as simple and important as a broken door to be fixed and having to do it myself, to a general lack of upkeep of the property, the ongoing sentiment I received from the owner was neglect.
So many students go through similar circumstances and much worse situations as they go out and rent their first houses and apartments. Dazzled by the high hopes of finding the perfect house with great roommates, we will rush to sign a lease before fully reading it, sign on to an apartment without fully inspecting it. And not only do we not do our groundwork to know everything about what we are signing for, but when things go wrong we lack the information to make it right.
Many students are not informed of their rights as tenants, and are unaware of the legal recourses available to them to make sure they are treated fairly and provided with housing that is clean, safe, and well maintained.
For information, questions, or concerns about housing and Tenants' Rights; or if you are experiencing problems with your housing and are in need of advice, email housing@sfuo.ca
June 23rd 2009
So, most every executive has what is called a Round Table. It's a meeting of all the members of every Federated Body executive of the same position. For example, Jean chairs the SRT - the Social Round Table - which plays a big role in planning 101 Week.
This evening, I had a meeting of the UART - the University Affairs Round Table - which includes all the VP Academics, VP Externals, VP University Affairs of all the Federated Bodies. They're a swell bunch. We have been discussing elections regulations - gripping things, regulations - and are coming to a bit of a consensus over how elections should be run.
The idea is to bring all the Federated Bodies into a common area of how elections are run in order that they all be similar in regulation and legitimacy - establishing a base minimum of control over accessibility of candidates, bilingualism, funding, limits, etc. After all, if we are to represent students, the least we can do is have the best possible electoral process across the board in order to have the legitimacy to speak for them.
But kudos to my UART for sticking around until 11:00 PM going over the regulations clause by clause with me. You're all a bunch of troopers.
May 27th 2009
I never realized how many meetings one could cram into a day. The can all run into each other – from 7:30 meetings with GSAED to prepare before meeting with the uOttawa admin, to "brainstorming" sessions with the exec to plan out 101 Week which can run from 7 to 11:45 PM, the day just gets filled up.
Or, as I am finding more and more, the day will fill itself up if you don't block off time for specific things.
All in all, every time I am asked "How's it goin?", "How is the new job?", or other similarly vague and open-ended questions, I typically respond "Hectic, but fun"; because it's constant running around, but very fulfilling.
For example, I had a meeting last week with Ottawa Police Services to coordinate for 101 Week. At the meeting was Josh Vanin, Vice President of Action Sandy Hill. I was proposing to the officer that we participate in ride-alongs during the Zero Tolerance weekends, and help to promote awareness of the campaign to students (because it's never fun getting two tickets in the same day for open alcohol in a public place, as a friend of mine did last year), when Josh mentioned he had written an article for the Fulcrum three years ago (my first year) about a ride-along he did.
An article I read and well remember.
This connection let me discuss the issue of Tenant's Rights within the community with Josh as an experienced member of the Sandy Hill community, and we agreed that it was a shared concern of ASH and the SFUO. Meetings leading to meetings, eventually leading to good work.
May 1st 2009
My mandate begins today! Once I'm a bit more settled into the job and the website is ready for blogging I will get down into this more regularly. I plan to alternate posts between French and English - keep track of both to stay in the loop!
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Welcome to the blog of the Vice President of University Affairs. This is an avenue to see what I am up to and get a better idea of what sort of work I do as a member of the executive of the Student Federation.
Feel free to get in touch with me at vp.university@sfuo.ca
I represent your rights and concerns to the University, lead our political campaigns, and fight for shared concerns like student housing, transit, academics, and more. I also oversee the Student Appeal Centre and the Centre for Equity and Human Rights.
Hometown: Caledonia, Ontario
Hobbies: Cooking, radio, hiking
One goal for this year: Raising awareness of the diverse campaigns of the SFUO among students
