SSA Minutes Summary: July 31st, 2017

July 31st Official SSA Minutes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BokCoUHrbAio9N8kf6AVdCwUphTbDIrliGN75YAksb8/edit?usp=sharing

Science Students Association Council Meeting Summary: July. 31st 2017

           In summary of the SSA council meeting, the executive committee reports the changing of our treasurer position, Benham Beizai now holds the title and responsibilities as treasurer. As a council, we also approved the funding requests of each Sehaj Pal Singh, and Mary Elaine Herrera, granting them $300.00.

           The selections committee is now looking at candidates for the position of “Director of Communications”, as Andrew, our previous appointed director was accepted into the faculty of pharmacy and therefore is no longer a member of the faculty of science or SSA.

           The president/vice report by Ryan Churchill and Laura Chan included discussion of renovations in the Parker building. This included the addition of a study space and new furniture/appliances. The bulk of the report however included the details of the September.5th/2017 science orientation day/event. Ryan and Laura outlined the plan for the day which in the following order will include a panel discussion, a scavenger hunt where there will be prizes for the top five teams, and a free BBQ lunch where there will be booths, beer gardens, a bouncy castle, a dunk tank, and multiple volunteers and SSA members working and willing to answer questions and greet the incoming freshmen. There was also discussion of the extension of, and addition of, new library hours. As of now, the front desk and upper floors will be off limits during these extended hours, however if things go well, this could change. The library will now be open until 8:00pm during the week, and will be open from 9:00am to 5:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Along with this, five days prior to exams, the library will be open 24 hours. The library has also allowed for the possibility of renting books/text items, along with the renting of study rooms. Lastly, the president/vice report included discussion of the “research open house” event to take place September.6th/17. Shady Rizk, along with SSA volunteers will be organizing and planning a day in which first and second year students will have the opportunity to meet with professors and listen to a tutorial from each of the many involved professors/areas of study; Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry, etc..

            Victor Aroso, lounge programmer, also reports the option of allowing the SSA lounge to be used as a contingency accommodation if there were to be another power cut in University Centre during the summer games (July 31 – August 13). SSA agreed that this would be fine.

             The indigenous report by Jordan Beck included discussion of a potential advisor day to highlight the many options for indigenous students coming in from northern/any communities. The event will include presentations, one with a community representative and the other with Firelight group, where they will describe their approach to facilitating community-driven research projects. The event will also include a thirty minute panel discussion centering around the topic of “What community based research means in the context of a science faculty?” and “How can it fit within an existing research program? How can such partnerships emerge?”

            The special events committee report included discussion of enclosed beer gardens along with prices to obtain an enclosed space. There was also discussion of the details/forms/budget of the orientation day event, along with the idea of sponsors/acquiring sponsors in order to cover the food and beer costs. There are many steps to take in order to achieve success for this event, so all of SSA is encouraged to volunteer and help out in any way they can.

             UMSU representative Lisa Huang reports of the new app built by students called “Connexus”, which will allow and provide improved resources to students, along with help with accessibility to scholarships. SSA discussed promoting this app on the SSA website.

             UMSU also approved the new health and dental plan so you can opt down or out, along with providing higher coverage that is specific to your needs.

             Lastly, Mira Villegas representing the Senate is a volunteer with “Canadian Blood Donors”, and had the idea of working with the blood donors by possibly advertising for the blood donor group. SSA could plan an event where there would be a faculty wide donation, or possibly set up a booth at orientation with blood typing and DNA swabs. Mira will send out an email to Canadian blood donors to officialise the idea of their involvement in the form of a booth at orientation.

SSA Minutes Summary: July 3rd, 2017

June 3rd SSA Official Minutes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kRGoK9JDVlBSapwkjf0Azk8MspDNIfLJ8-j3A42I01k/edit?usp=sharing

Science Students Association Council Meeting Summary: July.3rd 2017

            In summary of our council meeting, the executive committee briefed SSA on the new funding request form, updates from the meeting with the dean including details about our science orientation day, officially taking place on September 6th 2017. The executives also touched down on the reworking of our budget based on what money is needed for each of the different SSA groups, along with the need for online forms of reimbursement for executive spending (similar to the online funding request forms). Next we discussed sponsorships, finalizing our agreement with Prep101 and adding a sponsorship agreement with Fun Mountain where councilors and science students get discounts at their water park in exchange for advertising online and around the faculty. SSA also approved the funding requests from Laura Eliuk, Ian Thompson, Rebecca van Ginkel, Patricia Ordonez and Mark Unger by giving 300$ to each of them in support of their cause. Lastly, executive touched on Jordan Beck’s appearance in the bio 1020 lectures as a way to advertise for SSA.

            The president/vice president report included discussion of Ryan Churchill’s presence at the college of dentistry final selections meeting where he motioned to propose the idea that when selecting dentistry applicants, the board should take into account CCR credit/university involvement rather than GPA alone. We further discussed the rearrangement of lounge furniture, and the establishment of a study space in the halls to replace the loss of study space in Machray due to the expanding of the dean’s office. Discussion around the panel discussion for orientation day was also productive in that we decided on the number of SSA members to be answering questions on each panel, along with possible questions to prompt the panel along. Megan Skakum won our Instagram photo contest; “What does summer look like for a science student?”, as she had an interesting observership with an anesthesiologist. As a council we are also looking to partner with “Safe-walk” by promoting their cause through a brochure or advertisement around the faculty. Library hours have officially been extended to 1:00am Sunday through Thursday, and have become 24 hour during exam periods. SSA has also decided to add another position to the council; communications programmer. This spot has already been allotted and we look forward to having another helping hand to assist the director of communications.

            The treasurer report included discussion of the possibility of a POS system. This system could be beneficial for transactions and SSA expenditures however it is pricey as it includes a partnership with a bank. SSA is looking into other options such as ‘Square Reader’ or ‘Mineras’.

The indigenous report included discussion of planning an advisory day where SSA would recruit indigenous students into school/academics within the faculty of science by using speakers from the world of medicine/science research.

The special events committee has many activities planned throughout the year from pie eating contests in October, to socials, coffee houses, and the annual science gala in April.

UMSU representatives explain that there will be a student fair during orientation week where SSA will set up a booth, explaining our part in the faculty of science and recruiting science students. There was also talk of cutting ties with CFS, as the only benefit UMSU feels we are getting from CSF is the supposed advocacy they hold for us in government, however we have UMSU to represent our University. CFS claims that there is power in numbers, and that their representation in government along with UMSU representation would be the best situation; that is their argument, however, if all schools had this issue, each University could use their own ‘UMSU’ as representatives and then the numbers problem wouldn’t exist. CFS say they unify us, but we can unify ourselves.

The senate reports upcoming changes to the fall reading week, along with changes to the VW date and the lengthening of Christmas break (starting 2018-2019). There are also a few suspensions and modifications to the BSc honor program and the M.Sc. course requirements, the miter and fiter which only affect med students, and lastly the dGPA and cut-offs of retaken courses in Asper. The pharmacy program has also outlined a few changes that will be coming; consideration of applicants will now include the need for essential skills and abilities including 1) observation and perception; 2) sensory and motor competencies; 3) conceptualization, integration and quantitative evaluation; 4) communication; 5) ethical, interpersonal, and professional skills; and (6) stamina. The final nominations of the senate committee also went through with Mira Villegas and Carly Mastromonaco officially holding responsibility for curriculars and course changes, and appeals respectively. Abrar Latif has applied to hold senate for academic dress [lmao]

Where new business is concerned, SSA selected the official Bylaws committee who will periodically advise and amend the bylaws to benefit the students and to help/guide the SSA committee. The members include, Laura Chan, Tomi Adeleye-olusae, Ridimmah Thomas, Yaweh Villanueva, and Christine Vaccaro. Shady Rizk adds his meeting with the dean under new business which included discussion of a research program that would be formatted as open house; anyone interested can join and take part. This would help provide clarity and insight to those interested in research and will allow the professors and different programs to reach out to incoming students in a very relaxed and simple setting. Dates and official sign ups are tentative, however finalization and further discussion to come next meeting.