Yesterday was the first full public meeting of the new 2018-2020 AUSU Council. A bunch of new Council members means that I suddenly know a bunch of people who can be badgered into giving interviews, and you’ll find the first of those showing up in this week’s issue. Some of them have been previously interviewed in our Minds We Meet column, but the new position is a great time for a refresher, and a reminder of exactly who we elected. This week, we interview AUSU’s new VP of Finance and Administration, Natasha Donahue. However, if you want to get in on the action (and perhaps get a little swag for yourself) by all means contact me at voice@voicemagazine.org and let me know you’d be willing to share your own experiences.
I’ll have the full Council report from yesterday’s meeting sometime next week, but until then, the big take-aways are that AUSU Council voted in a $0.75/credit increase (that’ll take effect for courses starting October 1, 2018), and that AU is looking at taking on AUSU’s mental health activities—which will be a big cost savings for AUSU, and part of why the per credit increase is only $0.75 rather than the initially planned $1.50.
Also coming up is Mother’s Day, this Sunday, and we’ve got a couple of articles that make note of it, with one looking back to some of what she gained from her mother, and another looking forward to note what she’s passed down from her own.
Also this week, we welcome a new writer, Laurel Stafford, who’s testing the waters here both at AU and with The Voice Magazine, you can read her first article that talks about what she’s found so far as she dives in for the Full AU Experience. It’s an article that I’m sure a lot of us can relate to, both in the reasons for seeking some post-secondary education and for the response of family and friends when we tell them we’ve decided to take up distance education.
I’m also trying a bit more poetry, as the response I got to the last inclusions was generally positive. Who knew there was such an artistic streak to The Voice Magazine’s readership? Although I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised.
Some of you, however, might be wondering about the cover issue from last week. As it turns out, there was some agreement that the cover was a bit out there, but the consensus seemed to be that it wasn’t that bad, and that the discussion it caused was a great result. So, my verdict is that it was a cautious success. But that doesn’t mean its one I’ll be repeating soon. After all, what makes it powerful is that it was unexpected.
Of course, we also have events, scholarships, advice, course reviews, and everything else to help keep you connected to what’s going on in the AU and AUSU communities.
Enjoy the read!
