With spring term winding down, things are slowly starting to ramp up in the world of FedS, with all the new first-years and regular-stream students set to arrive back for the Fall term. Here’s a quick update of some things that have happened recently.
First off, as many of you have already heard, the Canadian Asian Student Association (CASA) was recently disbanded. The original disbanding was passed by the Internal Administration Committee (IAC), which oversees all FedS clubs, and was appealed by CASA to Students’ Council. The appeal at council included presentations from CASA, and the IAC, and, since it was such a contentious issue, was followed by a three hour discussion of council. The appeal was ultimately denied and as a result, CASA, or any similar club, will be unable to reform for 2 years. For more details check out the official press release from FedS on July 12th, available at pulse.feds.ca, as well as the July 16th issue of Imprint.
Next up, the FedS Services Review 2009-2010 was presented at council, and is available at pulse.feds.ca. Over 2500 students responded to the review, which is unprecedented for a review of this type, and faculty/years of respondents were an accurate representation of the student body. From the report, it appears that most students are unfamiliar with all the services provided, however can name or have used some. From the ones they are familiar with, the services got positive reviews for the most part. For those of you who don’t know, the total listing of all services offered by the Federation include:
- GLOW, the Queer and Questioning Community Centre, which provides resources and support to members of the LGBTQQ/queer community on campus
- The Student Refugee Program, which sponsors refugee students to attend university and support them while at UW
- The Food Bank which provides food to students who are experiencing financial distress
- The Women’s Centre, which provides resources and support of gender equality on campus
- The International Students Connection which exists to create a sense of community for international students and to explore what Canada has to offer
- Campus Response Team which gives first aid support during on-campus events and for students to hone their first aid skills
- Off Campus Dons, which aims to foster a sense of community for off-campus first year students
- Finally, the UW Sustainability Project which promotes sustainability and environmental friendly practices on campus.
If you are interested in getting more information on any of these services, check out feds.ca and click on ‘Businesses and Services’.
Finally, for those of you who are looking to get involved, a number of commissioner positions are currently accepting applications. Positions currently available include: Academic Commissioner, Government Affairs Commissioner, Municipal Affairs Commissioner, Arts Commissioner and First Year Commissioner. Commissioners report directly to FedS exec members, and are comparable to an “exec-lite” role. It is a large time commitment; however the positions do have a great deal of responsibility. Applications are due AUGUST 2! If you want more information on each role, go to feds.ca, click on “Info”, and view the volunteer positions currently available.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me at t.ek.jenkins@gmail. Otherwise, good luck with exams and see you all in the winter!
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