By Emily Senger
Vice-president operations and finance Cody Wagner was not properly interviewed for this review. While this might seem unfair, it also seems unfair that Wagner banked his vacation time and took five days off at the end of the semester when all of his commissioners were trying to finish up their projects, annoying many in the process.
Despite this, the rest of Wagner’s term should not be judged by five poorly-timed vacation days. Wagner was a hard working VP and was always plugging away in his office, labeled by co-workers as approachable, professional and friendly.
It was interesting to see Wagner grow as a leader throughout his term. When he first stepped into office, Wagner’s manner was a bit awkward. He often seemed unsure of himself and his portfolio and needed to defer to Students’ Union staff to answer many questions. As the year progressed, Wagner worked hard to gain the knowledge needed to effectively run MacEwan Students’ Centre. His confidence visibly increased, and by the middle of fall semester he could usually answer questions without running to SU staff first.
As his confidence increased, Wagner made better use of his strong commission, allowing each commissioner to develop their own projects and this approach worked to create tangible results.
The most notable commissioner project was redressing environmental issues in Mac Hall, including installing recycling bins. Wagner and crew were also responsible for breathing new life into the defunct campus recycling board. Though adding recycling bins was only a simple first step, it will hopefully set the stage for future greening of Mac Hall under the eye of incoming VP op-fi Fraser Stuart.
His commissioners also designed a survey to tackle an issue near and dear to the hearts of many students–Den service and quality.
Wagner’s calm, laid-back style smoothed previous feuds. Notably, signing a three-year deal with the Muslim Students’ Association and making headway on the CJSW/SU space dispute for the first time since their new operating agreement was signed two years ago. This is a big deal and Wagner should be proud. Wagner also maintained mostly positive club relations, not an easy task with more than 150 clubs.
The position of VP op-fi is not a glamorous one and requires a level-headed, agreeable leader to deal with numbers, building issues and multiple requests for money. Wagner was all of these, and students should be satisfied with his term.