Student representatives may soon have voting rights on the General Faculties Council (GFC), the academic policy body of the University of Calgary. Specifically, this means faculty representatives who sit on the Student Academic Assembly (SAA), the Vice-president Academic and President of the Students’ Union. This was the result of a year-long initiative by incoming VP Academic Nic Porco and other SAA and SLC representatives.
Allowing the SAA to have voting rights at GFC means that not only will students have a voice on this 99 member committee, but also they will be able to directly influence academic policy at our university. Although this was passed at the
Appointments Promotions and Dismissals committee (APD) it still needs to be formerly approved at the next Board of Governors meeting and GFC on April 14.
Getting this far took over a year and came with many challenges. Opposition from the University of Calgary Faculty Association was one of challenges student leaders had to deal with. TUCFA argued that students weren’t mature enough to have voting rights. Porco assured the committee that students who get involved in university governance are dedicated, caring individuals who take time from their schedule to attend the often over four-hour meetings.
Nic Porco worked incredibly hard on this and I am, as many students are, very proud of his efforts and those of the other students involved. We also can’t forget all the faculty members that supported this initiative: Jeremy Brown from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Dr.Boorman, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Joan Vickers from the Faculty of Kinesiology.
My term is almost over as one of your External commissioners, however, if you have a sudden urge to learn more about your SU feel free to e-mail me at: agd@canada.com or call me at 220-3913.