e McMaster Students Union PRESIDENT’S PAGE

SIMRANJEET (SIM) SINGH President

president@msu.mcmaster.ca 905.525.9140 x23885

As we look forward to a new year, there is typically a sense of new hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the future. e same themes of community building, large scale events, and opportunities for involvement that de ned rst semester at Mac will continue in the coming term. I hope the return to an in-person campus leaves a lasting impact on all within the McMaster community moving forward. e Vice-Presidents of the MSU and myself conmsu_mcmaster msumcmaster.ca tinue to make progress on our goals. As we approach the twilight of our term, we are glad to have made inroads on numerous fronts. My agship goal, to increase access to Open Educational Resources, has made significant progress. e initiative is nearing completion. As we look forward to the next few months, our team plans to leave a lasting mark on issues of student wellness resources, sustainability, and increasing collaboration between the Hamilton community and McMaster. We also enter a phase where the MSU members will be electing new student leaders, who will take on the responsibility of direction setting. I hope all candidates who run for President possess not only a dedication to their goals, but also an inspirational vision for how to leave a positive mark on our community. e opportunity a orded to candidates allows them to enact change for all at Mac. us they must not only bring forth their own ideas, but be continually aware of how to evolve them, receive feedback to improve them, and have a capacity to modify them, as the needs of the student body evolve and circumstances change. e ability to engage with an array of people and groups, understand their goals, and then present student views in a way that is most likely to succeed for the bene t of our constituency is vital. e president will have unique perspectives, certainly, but should also have a passion for supporting others, whilst advocating to varied stakeholders such as administrators at McMaster, community members, City o cials, and leaders of provincial and federal governments. With the election, students will also have the opportunity to vote in three separate referenda. e Student Rep- resentative Assembly has brought forth questions on the students fees related to a new three-year contract for the HSR bus pass, as well as the student levy paid to Engineers Without Borders and McMaster Solar Car. For the HSR bus pass specifically, this referendum takes place every three years, following rounds of negotiations between the HSR and the MSU. e referendum is how students ultimately approve the contract that guides the bus pass fee structure for the following three years. rough the contract, McMaster students have enjoyed access to public transit in Hamilton at a fraction of the cost of the adult monthly bus pass. Please visit msumcmaster.ca/elections to learn more about each of the three referenda that will appear alongside the presidential election, taking place online January 24-26.

The President’s Page is a space sponsored and used by the McMaster Students Union (MSU) Board of Directors (BoD) 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.