Winter is Here: Term Goals & January 12th Council Report

Happy New Year and welcome to the Winter term! I hope that you enjoyed your holiday break and are feeling refreshed. This week, we’re running our semesterly “Know Your Rights” campaign to inform students of their academic rights at McGill. You can check out our website and Facebook event to learn more.

In addition, if you’re interested in learning more about the role of a student senator and/or SSMU Executive, we’ll be hosting info sessions on both topics later this month! The Student Senator Info Session will be on Monday, January 23rd from 5:30-6:30pm and will feature a presentation on university governance, the senator role, and perspectives from your 2016-2017 senators.

Start-of-year highlights:

  • Submitted Senate question regarding McGill governance best practices;
  • Launched Winter Add-Drop “Know Your Rights” campaign;
  • Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE) holding a Ratification General Assembly for their new collective agreement on January 9th;
  • Providing feedback on terms of reference for Sexual Violence Policy advisory committee (implementation plan) & campus study panel (review of existing policies e.g. Code of Conduct);
  • Preparing research report on support for students coming from foster care;
  • Library Improvement Fund made first round of allocations in early December;
  • Met with staff from Office of Innovation in December regarding adopting a humanitarian licensing framework for health innovations (as per our Global Access to Medicines Policy);
  • Met with project manager for Promenade Urbaine construction to discuss accessibility issues;
  • Hired Harmful Military Technology Researcher to begin work this term.

Check out our January 12th Council report to learn more about plans for the Winter term.

 

Over the Hump? Strikes, Medical Notes, & Service Point (November 3rd Council Report)

Another month gone! I hope it feels like you’re over the hump of midterms, although there’s still a ways to go. If you haven’t heard, the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE) is on strike through Wednesday, November 2nd. This means a full work stoppage is in force for all AMUSE members by law. Casual employees should check their pay stubs if they are unsure of their union status, and visit the AMUSE website to learn more (including about essential services and strike pay).

You should also watch for a new University Affairs listserv hitting your inbox soon. Otherwise, please check out my November 3rd Council Report for all the latest updates.

Recent highlights:

  • Student Services has unilaterally determined that medical notes will only be provided to students already followed by a clinician or who qualify for restrictive “safety appointments”
  • The VP University Affairs participated in a cyclical review of McGill Human Resources
  • Enrolment Services (Service Point, Exams Office, Registrar, Admissions, & more) is undergoing a cyclical review November 9th-11th; students can submit feedback here
  • Senators submitted Senate questions regarding campus accessibility during construction & university regulation of unpaid internships
  • Meetings are ongoing regarding revisions to the draft Policy Against Sexual Violence (Dean of Students, Associate Provost, Provost, external consultants, McGill Association of University Teachers, labour unions & more)

Fall goals completed to-date (italics = since last report):