September 1, 2020

The SFSS Board of Directors had a productive month of August to conclude the summer semester. The first meeting of the month occurred on August 7th, where the Board passed the motion for the reinstatement of the U-Pass program for Fall 2020 and further semesters. Around 51% of the students who took the survey voted in favour of the reinstatement of U-Pass. Considering that students who do not need public transportation would lose $42.50 per month, whereas students who use the student pass could save up to $100-$177 per month, the Board decided to reinstate the U-Pass.

The Board also approved the Final SUB staff office allocation proposal, where the SFSS Executive Committee will handle future changes to staff office allocations. The Board also ratified funding for the StreetFest, which will take place online this year, with $1,000 ($500 virtual booth and $500 in gift cards) and an additional $500 for another booth for the SUB.

The Board met for the second time on August 21st where VP University Relations Gabe Liosis presented an update on the By-Law review. The document proposes several changes to the governance models of the SFSS regarding the Board and the Council. The new By-Laws proposes to give the Council more power and hold the Board accountable. Under this new model, Faculty representatives and At-Large representatives are being removed in favour of greater power and representation to Council.

The Board members also passed the motion to have Fall AGM on Monday, October 26th, 2020, at 3:30 pm. The Board has also assigned a working group that has taken the initiative on rebranding the current SFSS logo. The VP Student Services Matthew Provost and Science Representative Weichun Kua went over to Lougheed to support SFU Health Science Professor Dr. Tim Takaro on behalf of the SFSS on the protest against the Trans Mountain Pipeline.

The Events Committee held a Pad Thai Food workshop and will be hosting a Dance workshop, Graphic design workshop, and Cultural week in September. The BIPOC Committee is currently working on Health & Counselling Collaboration and SFU Anti-Racism Campaign. The Governance Committee took the initiative to review the SFSS By-Laws, which were later presented in the Board Meeting. The UAA Committee is working on a second SFSS COVID-19 Survey that will be released by the start of next semester.
 
We would like to wish all our members best wishes towards the new semester. Good luck!

August Timeline:

[5 August] Council Meeting
[7 August] Board Meeting
[14 August] Board Development Session [19 August] Council Meeting
[20 August] Pad Thai Food Workshop [21 August] Board Meeting
[28 August] Board Development Session