Annual General Meeting ? Your Say about Our Way
AUSU will be holding It’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, April 6th, at 5:00pm MST by teleconference, free to you from around the globe. There is one planned change to the bylaws as well as the presentation of the annual report that tells you where AUSU is and some of the things that may be in store for the future. The AGM is where AUSU can change its Bylaws, and last year several changes to the Bylaws were brought from the floor. Since our Bylaws define, among other things, who is a member and how much money the Voice receives, these are things that definitely concern you. We hope to see you there!
AUSU Election!
As you’ve probably already seen on our front page, the AUSU Election became an AUSU Acclamation, because only nine eligible members ran for seats. Out of those nine, only eight were accepted by the membership to sit on Council. Those eight are:
? Ashley Seely
? Barb Rielly
? Bethany Tynes
? Joel Benitez
? John Palmer
? Kim Newsome
? Sarah Kertcher
? Toni Fox
They will be taking office officially as of April 14th, so wish them luck and let them know what issues are important to you!
New 2010 AUSU Handbook/Planners ? Arrived!
Finally! People have already started receiving the new planners in the mail, and we’re currently shipping them out as fast as the orders come in. Full of useful information about AUSU, writing styles, course grading, great finds online for your studies that you may not have known about, as well as having places to write down your phone numbers, keep track of your assignments, and, oh yeah, a year’s worth of calendar to plan out your schedule too. we’ll give one free to each AUSU member just for the asking.
Remember, though, we only print a limited number of these each year, so when they’re gone, they’re gone.
Let ?em Know who Represents for You!
AUSU logo mugs, hoodies, USB keys, and much more are all available for sale from our office. Also, used locks can be purchased at half price! Check out our merchandise catalog on our front page. You should check out our hoodies in particular?made in Canada and 100% bamboo, we’re offering them for just barely over our cost, and they’re both durable and comfortable.
And if you have new little ones in your family, or know somebody who does, check out our baby onesies. Made by American Apparel, these onesies are high quality and let folks know your kids are growing up to great things as a “Future Graduate of Athabasca U”
AUSU Scheduling Meeting with Tutors? Union ? Not really an Update
Some things resist change. we’re still waiting for a response from the Tutor’s Union as to when we might be able to meet with them to discuss ways that AUSU and the Tutor’s Union can work together to ensure that students are getting the contact they need. Unfortunately, they haven’t yet replied, so we’re stepping up our campaign to get in touch with them. If you want to help, the next time You’re talking to your tutor, ask them if they know when the Tutor’s Union will meet with AUSU so that the groups can work together on common issues.
Our statistics we’ve been collecting from the forums and your calls show that issues with tutors ? specifically the amount of time taken for marking assignments and exams are your number one concern. Help us help you.
SmartDraw Program Renewal
Some of you who took advantage of our program to provide SmartDraw software to members have been getting notifications that your software license will soon be expiring. Fortunately, AUSU will be continuing this program, so if you haven’t already, go to the AUSU home page to download the newest version.
SmartDraw allows you to create a wide range of graphics for your assignments and submit them electronically in a Word file. You can also place your graphics in Excel or PowerPoint files, or export them as TIF, GIF, or JPEG files to make a web graphic or even a logo. Just a few of the graphics you can make include Venn diagrams, genetics charts, graphs, organizational and flow charts, and Gantt charts.
For any course that requires charts that cannot be easily created in Word or Excel, this should be a real time saver and make it easier to submit all portions of an assignment by email.
Remember, though, that you should always check with your tutor to find out if there is a specific format he or she prefers. Your tutor does not have to have SmartDraw to view these graphics, however. Installations under this program are good for one year. The package includes both the Standard and Health Care editions of SmartDraw.
