The McMaster Students Union
PRESIDENT’S PAGE
SIOBHAN TEEL Vice-President (Education)
vped@msu.mcmaster.ca 905.525.9140 x24017
With students returning to class for the winter semester, it’s an appropriate time to reflect on the academic year thus far. Students have grappled with a lot over the past nine months, during which time the MSU’s Education and Advocacy Department has been listening to students’ concerns. The Department has amplified student voices and opinions to leaders within McMaster University, and across the city, province, and country. At the municipal level, AVP Municipal Affairs, Mymoon Bhuiyan and I, along with members of the Municipal Affairs Committee, have been working on the MSU’s annual municipal
msu_mcmaster msumcmaster.ca text “MSU” to 71441
pre-budget submission. This document outlines the requests that students have to City leaders, in hopes of improving the experience of living in Hamilton. The MSU will delegate before City Council’s General Issues Committee to speak to student priorities, such as landlord licensing, transit, cycling infrastructure, lighting, snow clearing, racial equity, and policing. Additionally, we recently released the 2022 Your City Survey for student feedback. This bi-annual project helps track the experiences of students living in Hamilton. This longitudinal research tool is a great way for the MSU to gather data to provide guidance to City Councilors. An example of past priorities garnered from this research includes the discovery of poor visibility in Ainslie Wood area that led to safety concerns in the community. The City subsequently worked with the MSU to increase street lighting infrastructure. On the provincial front, both I and Muhammadhasan Nasser, a Research and Advocacy Assistant within the MSU, have been bringing the McMaster student perspective to our consultations for the Ontario Undergradu-
The President’s Page is a space sponsored and used by the Board of Directors of the McMaster Students Union (MSU) to communicate with the student body. It functions to highlight the Board’s projects, goals, and agenda for the year, as well as the general happenings of the MSU.
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ate Student Alliance’s (OUSA) upcoming policy papers on Student Financial Aid, Mature Students, and Tech Enabled Learning. In the last policy cycle, the AVP Provincial and Federal Affairs, Sneha Wadhwani and I were thrilled to have our policy paper on Accountability and System Vision ratified and released by OUSA. Currently, the team is working to draft recommendations for the Tech Enabled Learning paper, which we plan to present during OUSA’s Spring 2022 General Assembly. OUSA policy papers become the foundation of the organization’s lobbying efforts, wherein OUSA representatives meet directly with MPPs from all parties, as well as government officials, as they advocate for students’ priorities and improved policies. Through our federal lobbying efforts, I have been able to represent McMaster students through our federal lobby partner, the Undergraduates of Canadian Research-Intensive Universities (UCRU). At UCRU’s 2022 Lobby Week, McMaster reps highlighted student employment, improving mental health resources, supporting students with disabilities, and student financial aid, as key areas of
DENVER DELLA-VEDOVA President
www.thesil.ca | Thursday, February 10, 2022
CHRISTINA DEVARAPALLI Vice-President (Adminstration)
focus for advocacy efforts to MPs and members of the federal government. The MSU has been a member of UCRU since 2015. To date, UCRU has functioned as a volunteer effort amongst member schools. In the next few years, UCRU will likely seek to introduce a fee (similar in nature to how OUSA operates), allowing the organization to hire staff and allocated resources to support research, policy papers, and lobbying agendas. For McMaster students, this is something to welcome, as the expansion of UCRU will open the doors to improving Francophone, Indigenous, and international students’ experiences on campus across Canada. There’s always a ton of hard work going on at the MSU, driven by the passion and effort of students. If you would like to learn more about MSU advocacy work, please don’t hesitate to reach out. As well, many job opportunities for next year will come available on the MSU website soon. I would encourage anyone interested in gaining advocacy, lobbying, or policy writing experience to stay tuned and keep an eye out for opportunities to get involved!
SIOBHAN TEEL Vice-President (Education)
JEGANIYAH (JJ) JAYACHANDRAN
Vice-President (Finance)