From advocacy discussions to elections within the assembly

An overview of the last five months with the SRA

In the summer of 2020, the Student Representative Assembly held a total of three meetings, including one emergency meeting in August. 

On June 14, the meeting focused on closing nominations for multiple committees, discussing online proctoring and the issue of McMaster University’s connections with Hamilton Police Services. 

Members of the assembly stated that there are privacy concerns with online proctoring and discussed the possibility of releasing a public statement requesting the university to follow the guidelines in the supporting documentation when choosing online proctoring software. 

The meeting also resolved that the SRA supports the removal of Glenn De Caire, head of McMaster’s security and parking services.

The meeting also resolved that the SRA supports the removal of Glenn De Caire, head of McMaster’s security and parking services. Other resolved issues of the motion involved calls upon the university including: termination of De Caire from his position, phasing out the majority of the special constables program by Sept. 1 and full removal of the special constables program from McMaster by Jan. 1, 2021. 

In the July 12 meeting, the assembly discussed clubs ratification for the 2020-2021 year, board of director and caucus year plans, as well as security concerns with using the platform Zoom. 

On Aug. 23, the SRA held an emergency meeting to conduct the MSU VP Education by-election. The only nominee, Daniella Mikanovsky, was not elected due to over 50 per cent no confidence votes. 

Since the start of the 2020-2021 school year in September, the SRA has now held two meetings. The first meeting on Sept. 13 had several motions including the official resignation of McMaster Students Union VP Education, Fawziyah Isah and the election of Ryan Tse as the new VP Education. 

In the same meeting, Hargun Grewal and Alison Hacker were ratified as the chief returning officer and the deputy returning officer, respectively, of the MSU elections department. 

In addition, SRA seats on the clubs advisory council and the internal governance committee were filled. 

Several MSU committee seats were closed at the next meeting on Sept. 27. This included the teaching awards committee, clubs advisory council, elections committee, internal governance standing committee and services standing committee. 

On Sept. 27, the MSU committee seats from the previous meeting were closed, leaving MSU seats for teaching awards still open. The seats will remain open for nomination until the next meeting. 

The second meeting of the month also included motions to waive club operating policies. The policies include a requirement that all clubs have to have a membership list of 25 full-time MSU members and a minimum $5 club membership fee. 

The policies include a requirement that all clubs have to have a membership list of 25 full-time MSU members and a minimum $5 club membership fee. 

News of these membership requirements for clubs led to dissatisfaction from many, as evidenced by social media. 

https://www.facebook.com/macconfessionss/posts/377807706947621

Many students believe that requiring a membership fee will put smaller clubs at a disadvantage. The membership fee will make it more difficult for clubs to recruit members and thus make it even hard to have a membership list. 

The motions were moved by MSU President, Giancarlo Da-Ré and seconded by MSU VP Finance, Jess Anderson. Following voting across the assembly, both motions were passed. 

Both Da-Ré and Anderson expressed that due to the circumstances regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, clubs would not have been penalized for not implementing such requirements this year either way. However, because of the concerns and confusion that had arisen, a formal motion to waive the policies should help to clear things up. Although the operating policy has been waived for the 2020-2021 year, the policies are still in place for future years.

Although the operating policy has been waived for the 2020-2021 year, the policies are still in place for future years.

During the meeting, two groups who are a part of the bylaw 5, Incite Magazine and Engineers Without Borders, also gave presentations to speak about various plans for the year and details of their budget. The next SRA meeting will be held on Oct. 18 at 5 p.m. Meetings can be viewed live on the SRA Facebook page.