University of Saskatchewan Students' Union
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 'University of Saskatchewan Students' Union represents undergraduate students at the University of Saskatchewan which is in Saskatoon.
Contents |
[edit] Executive
The USSU Executive is comprised of 5 elected members (President, Vice President (Academic Affairs), Vice President (Student Issues), Vice President (Operations and Finance) and Vice President (External Affairs). Elections take place in the second semester of each school year.
U-Pass:
On February 7 and 8 University of Saskatchewan Students voted 59% to 41% to implement a Universal Bus Pass. 7852 students out of a possible 18279 (43%) voted in this referendum making it the highest voter turnout in USSU history. The U-Pass will allow any undergraduate student at the University of Saskatchewan to use the Saskatoon Transit System free of charge. This will reduce parking problems on campus and in the surrounding areas while helping to reduce polution and promote sustainability. The U-Pass is probational meaning that another vote will be held in 2009 to decide whether to make it permanent.
Place Riel Renovations:
Immediately after the construction of Place Riel in 1980 students realized that the space was already inadequate. In 1990 a planning committee was formed to examine the possibility of expanding Place Riel to better suit student needs. These committees went through numerous iterations and many different plans were set out. However, one of the central issues was that no money was being set aside to fund these renovations not to mention routine maintenance. Thus, in 2003, students voted to implement an infrastructure fee to fund maintenance on Place Riel and to provide for a future renovation and expansion. Planning continued on this until 2006 when a feasible plan was finally settled on. The plan was presented to the University Students' Council and accepted. However, it was discovered that the fee instituted in 2003 was no longer sufficient given the rapid increases in construction costs and the fee was increased to account for this. With financing and a plan in place construction will move ahead as quickly as possible.
Centres:
The USSU runs a number of Centres designed improve both the academic and non-academic aspects of student life.
Services
The USSU also runs a number of businesses serving students
[edit] External Representation
In 2004, the USSU became prospective members of the Canadian Federation of Students. This meant all university students in the province were Federation members - undergrads and grads at the University of Saskatchewan, as well as students at the University of Regina and First Nations University of Canada.
From October 4-6, 2005, a referendum was held for members of the USSU (undergraduate students at the University of Saskatchewan) to end their relationship with CFS, or become full fee-paying members of the Canadian Federation of students. The results were in favour of becoming full members. On February 1st, 2006, the USSU Elections Board recommended that another referendum be held, due to issues which threatened the legitimacy of the process.[1]. On March 30th, 2006 the University Students Council voted 13 - 6 to uphold the October 2005 referendum results, ignoring the recommendations of its own elections panel which advised the University Students Council to hold another referendum. [2] On October 13th, 2006 the USSU lost a lawsuit filed by former president Robin Mowat regarding the referendum. The judge decreed that the results of the referendum are null and void.
The USSU is a founding member of the Canadian Alliance of Students Associations, which the University Students' Council voted to leave on January 26th, 2006.
[edit] Trivia
The USSU was known as the USSR for a few days after Engineering Students mustered a majority of the turnout at the annual general meeting and successfully changed the constitution. Louis, the campus pub was renamed Lennin's. University President George Ivany was to be known officially as Ivan the Terrible. The new title for president of the USSR was to become General Secretary. [3]
[edit] External links
 |
Canadian Students' Associations | |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Student Unions | |||
| Acadia | Alberta | Algonquin | Athabasca | Bishop's | British Columbia | Brock | Calgary | Carleton | Lethbridge | Manitoba | McGill | McMaster | UNBC | Ottawa | Queen's | Ryerson | St. Francis Xavier | Saint Mary's | Saskatchewan | Simon Fraser | Toronto | Victoria | Waterloo | Western | Wilfrid Laurier | Windsor | York | |||
| School Memberships | |||
| ANSSA | CASA | CAUS | CFS | CSA | NBSA | OUSA | |||
