SRA Members discussed the progress of committee reports, discussed the use of the SRA special projects fund and adjourned for the semester.

On Nov. 26, 2023 the Student Representative Assembly met for the last meeting for the Fall 2023 semester. 

The meeting commenced with Jovan Popovic, McMaster Student Union President, requesting on behalf of Abigail Samuels, MSU vice-president (education), who was absent, to push back both the University Affairs Committee report and Executive Board committee to the next SRA meeting. Only the University Affairs Committee report was pushed back through unanimous voting. Despite the unanimous voting Kevin Hu, from Engineering Academic Division, voiced a question about the lack of submission for SRA reports and year reports. The question was unanswered due to it being posed during the wrong period of meeting and Hu was encouraged to discuss this privately or at the next SRA meeting directly with Samuels.

During this SRA meeting there were summaries of the First Year Council report, Science Caucus report, Social Sciences Caucus report, Municipal Affairs Committee report, Executive Board report and VP (Administration) report. 

SRA members shared a questioning period where two points were primarily discussed.

There were discussions regarding the Union Market, which at the time of the meeting had not been open. Popvic shared that the timeline has been pushed back numerous times and explicitly mentioned at the meeting that they expected an opening for following Monday but that it was the third week of the expected opening date being pushed back.

“It’s been one of the many challenges in opening the entire food and beverage department in such a rush. We’ve had, obviously, the POS issues. There’s been staffing issues. Still attempting to overcome it all,” said Popovic in the 23K SRA meeting.

There were discussions regarding the recently passed motion regarding violence in the Middle East, as described by the MSU. All of the questions were about how a donation from the motion was taken from the SRA Special Projects Fund, for which approximately $15,000 of $19,000 were utilized. 

Simon Batusic, from the Social Science Academic Division, asked if there was enough consultation done when taking money from the SRA pool for SRA-specific projects. Kerry Yang, from Health Sciences Academic Division, also questioned if SRA members were informed about the use of SRA Special Projects Fund, as she had thought it would come from a different budget. Popvic answered that extensive consultation was done and that previous precedent dictates that for such a motion SRA Special Project funds are utilized. 

“We spent a vast majority of the time crafting the motion as well as consulting with various different parties to fully understand what it is that the students were actually looking [for]. To make sure that student voice and student priorities were heard,” said Popovic in the 23K SRA meeting.

Nelosha Suganthan, from Sciences Academic Division, inquired what the current timeline for donations. Safa Otchere, MSU VP (finance), said there was no definitive timeline but that the process would likely commence within the next few weeks.

Overall, the SRA will have several reports and seats to discuss in the first meeting of the Winter 2024 semester. As the new year commences, students should hope to hear more updates on the opening of Union Market and successful donations to the decided charities.

Student Representative Assembly represents the undergraduate students of McMaster University to ensure equitable services and advocate on their behalf to McMaster staff. They meet bimonthly, discussing a range of topics.