The November 19 session was a busy one for AUSU councillors. One major item was to set the date for the 2008 AUSU elections. Voting must be held within two years of the previous elections, and the 2008 elections will be held over four days, from Sunday, March 9 through Wednesday, March 12 (a call for nominations will go out 60 days prior).
Council also approved funding of up to $6,000 to purchase a bulk licence for SmartDraw. The program simplifies the creation of graphics often used in assignments, such as graphs, flowcharts, and maps, and will be available for AUSU members to download free of charge.
There was a change to AUSU’s undergraduate rep on the AU Academic Appeals Committee. Because of scheduling constraints, AUSU President Lisa Priebe is stepping down from the committee and Tamra Ross, AUSU Executive Director, will take on the post.
Several votes were ratified, among them the decision to donate $5,000 to the Coalition for Student Loan Fairness in support of their efforts to effect improvements to Canada’s student loan system. As part of the Executive Meeting report, Lisa Priebe noted that council has also been working with AU on the issue of tutor standards, and AUSU council is creating a database for independent tracking of student calls.
A final item of note is that substantial security updates have recently been completed on the AUSU site, and a security contractor is doing a review to ensure the security of the election website.
Council’s next formal meeting will be on January 21, 2008, and, as always, all AUSU members are welcome to listen in. Just call (1.800.788.9041 ext 3413) or email (ausu@ausu.org) AUSU for the toll-free number.
