September’s almost over, where did the month go? And, I’m already hearing rumblings about people running for my job next year. I swear those discussions begin sooner and sooner every year.
New Bus Service!
So the majority of my work the past two weeks has been getting details of this service confirmed, and running. Posters went up last week, and ticket sales began on Tuesday. Here are the details for you:
There are two buses running on Friday of Thanksgiving weekend to get people home: one goes to Kitchener and Guelph, and the other one goes to London, Woodstock and Brantford. Both of these buses return from the same cities on Monday night, allowing time for a Thanksgiving dinner with families as well. Tickets cost $22 for the Kitchener and Guelph run, and $30 for London, Woodstock or Brantford. These are savings of up to 27% over the student price offered by Greyhound and Coach Canada on their regular routes, and saves over an hour of travel time to all destinations.
For now, this is just for Thanksgiving weekend, but based on demand we hope to be able to extend this to every weekend throughout the school year, and even run reciprocal buses by partnering with the students’ unions at Waterloo, Laurier, Guelph and Western. If the demand exists, we hope this can become a permanent addition to the regular lineup of savings that BUSU offers to students on a regular basis.
It may not sound like much, but I spent the majority of these two weeks confirming buses, destinations, design and ticket details, and the back-end POS system at GB and SS where we are selling them. I’m happy that this service is finally good to go, and I expect a great response
The website contains all the information and frequently asked questions about this service, along with specific departure and arrival times. Please direct your friends who may be from these cities, who may take the bus home, and help them save a little money at the same time.
OUSA
The OUSA executive met by conference call to discuss two very important documents: the long term plan of OUSA, and our bylaws, which have not been amended since 2005. As Treasurer (and due to pending bylaw changes, soon-to-be VP Finance), I had pretty significant influence in the wording of some of the proposed changes. The bylaw changes are mainly changes of wording and reflective updates, while the long-term plan will be a very progressive, forward-thinking document. OUSA has the potential to take many large steps forwards in the next few years, and we need this vision written down and passed to take us there.
After this, Steering Committee met at Western to discuss these documents and refine them further. As well, we discussed logistics for the upcoming General Assembly in Waterloo, and talked about our submission for post-Reaching Higher in Ontario. Campus Coordinators also attended this meeting to get some training, so Carly White came along with me as the first part of her job this year.
OUSA is/was here on campus today (Tuesday) with a booth set up to talk to interested students, as well as conducting the first in a series of focus groups. The initial set are centered around the issues of financial aid, and student services on campus, and will be used to inform our future policy development. You will also find a presentation from OUSA Home Office staff on tonight’s agenda, and if you have any questions about the organization after this, please feel free to ask.
Senate
We now have a full complement of senators for the year, and for the first time that I can remember, we had all seven student senators at a meeting last week. It looks to be a promising, but important year from that end. Many committees will shortly be reviewing a new Travel Policy for Brock, which could have some significant ramifications. If you recall from the last two years, this is also a critical year for the issue of 3 and 4 year degrees. If all three year degrees are to be phased out by 2014 as the Brock Academic Plan suggests (note: this was never passed by Senate, or by students), this year is the one where the changes need to be made, such that no students are allowed to enter a three-year degree program beginning next year. Also, there are issues surrounding new degree and program expectations from the provincial government, and we will be examining ways to give senate more control over the program reviews that happen around the university.
Most crucially, it appears that all phases of the budget process will be accelerated this year, to allow Senate committees (and most notably the Undergraduate Program Committee, which deals with all program and course changes at the university) to appropriately approve/reject proposals that are contingent on budgetary decisions. The series of Town Halls that were held last year about the budget will return, with the first one being held this year on Friday October 23rd, at 8:30am in the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre. This of course is not a particularly student-friendly time, but I will be there, and we will ensure that one is held again inside Isaacs at a time more convenient for the majority of students.
Community Barbecue
One Community Barbecue has been held so far this year, in Thorold on September 16th. Turnout was approximately the same as last year, with over 300 people coming to grab some free food and connect with their neighbours. Mayor D’Angela, as well as Thorold councillors were also in attendance to help work the grill. This is a very important piece of neighbourhood relations, and also very important to the city of Thorold, who helps us out greatly every year.
The St. Catharines barbecue location and time have not been confirmed yet, but we are aiming for some time in the week of October 5th to 9th. That coincides with....
Great Neighbour Week
This is an initiative that Community Connections and Off Campus Living have started for this year, which BUSU will be assisting with. October 5th to 9th is the week, and this is when we will be rolling out the Brock Off Campus Living/Brock University Students’ Union Great Neighbour Awards. There will be great prizes available for 6 individual students, 6 groups of students, and 4 long-term residents/households in a program that I had envisioned during my campaign, and am now bringing to practice. Coincidentally, however, OCL was already planning something similar, so we have joined our resources together to offer over $2000 in prizing.
CASA
The Governance Review Committee of CASA has sent out requests for BUSU’s thoughts on the CASA structure, and I have finalized my comments on that, sent to Lianne for her review as well. The Strategic Planning Committee, which I am on, held a few meetings this week with our consultant to begin the next phase of our plan for that organization. The Childcare Committee is also continuing to hold regular meetings, and we will have some policy and a number of internal CASA issues ready to discuss at AGM at Dalhousie in November.
VPUA Job Tip of the Week
Tip #2 – Academica’s Top 10
Academica is a marketing company that does research, branding, web and recruitment in the realm of higher education across North America. They have a host of clients of all types, including Brock University. They also have one of the farthest reaches when it comes to information about higher education. Academica’s Top 10 http://www.academicagroup.ca/top10/subscribe is a daily newsletter sent out (usually between 3am and 4am – turn off those blackberries while you sleep folks) with the top 10 stories of relevance to universities and colleges in Canada each weekday. Lots of it focuses on their core business – rebranding, new websites, etc., and each day’s stories usually include university expansions, new buildings and groundbreakings. But there is usually very interesting and relevant information on students, student groups, and statistics which appear a few times a week, as well as a smattering of random news which is very interesting to keep your eye on. Check out their free subscription service to get your daily dose of PSE news from across the country.
Closing Lyric of the BUSAC
“We can't really enforce a curfew, as there is no light or sound.Just one of the many problems, with hosting a sporting event in space.”
- The Lonely Island
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