VUSAC
SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT WINTER 2021
EDITED & COMPILED BY: VERONICA CHIANG, COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR
www.vusac.ca
Copyright © 2021 by the Victoria University Students' Administrative Council All rights reserved.
table of contents EXECUTIVE TEAM
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President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2. Vice-President External . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 .. Vice-President Internal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6. Vice-President Student Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ..
COMMISSIONERS & CO-CHAIRS
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STAFF TEAM
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COUNCILLORS
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Academic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ... Arts & Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 .. Commuter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 .. Equity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 ... Mental Wellness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 .. Scarlet & Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 ... Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 ... Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ... Chief Returning Officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 .. Communications Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 ... Finance Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 ... Office Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 .. International Councillor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 ..
VUSAC Winter 2021 Semi-Annual Report
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executive team
PRESIDENT MICHELLE ZHAO
Preamble In my role as the VUSAC President, I act as the spokesperson for the VUSAC and set the tone for this year’s council. I collaborate and communicate with members of the council, levy heads and club members to help support them in their roles and responsibilities, and I act as one of the four VUSAC executives. As the VUSAC President, I am not only involved in the workings of council, but I also sit on the three governing bodies at Vic; the Victoria College Council (VCC), the Victoria University Senate (VUS), and the Board of Regents (BoR). I meet regularly with the Dean of Students, the Associate Director from the Office of the Principal, and the President of Victoria University to provide updates and to discuss student concerns. I also represent Victoria College students on a campus-wide level, within groups such as the St George Roundtable (SGRT) and the Provost’s Undergraduate Students Advisory Group (PUSAG). BIPOC Student Leader Award and Fundraiser I am happy to announce that the BIPOC Student Leader Award fundraising page has been open since December 18th, 2020. The award will be conferred upon a student who identifies as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or Person of Colour), and who has been involved in a leadership position within Victoria College, the University of Toronto, or their personal communities. All donations are being matched, not once, but twice, by an anonymous alum and by Victoria University, and we are aiming for a goal of $25,000. As of February 16th, we have raised $3,175, not including the match ($12,700 with the match). If you are interested in donating or learning more about the award, the donation page is linked here. We’ve also been so lucky to collaborate with U of Meg’s Megan (@uofmeg on Instagram), to release a small number of limited-edition crewnecks, which we will be selling to fundraise money for the award. On February 15th, we released an exciting giveaway announcement, which has already led to a number of donations being made by community members. In March we will be selling the remainder of the merchandise, as well as running a final giveaway, with 100% of proceeds being donated to the BIPOC leader award. I am so grateful for the community support that this award has been shown, and I am excited to see how our college will continue to serve our BIPOC-identifying students in the years to come. I will be working with the relevant offices in the coming months to cement the application and review process for the award, and hopefully it will be available for students starting in the 2021-2022 year!
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executive team Student Leader Handbook I am currently working with Holly (office manager) and Kate (councillor) to create a handbook for the current, incoming and prospective student leaders of Victoria College. The purpose of the handbook will be to serve as a guide and an introduction of the various ways students can get involved in student leadership at Victoria college, such as through VUSAC, clubs, levies and more. I also want it to provide a strong overview of student governance at Victoria College, with information on the different governing bodies, different administrative bodies, and how students interact with these different bodies throughout their time in university. I remember how inaccessible VUSAC felt to me when I was running in the spring election two years ago, and I hope that this handbook helps to make council, and student leader positions in general, more accessible and friendly to all students. The goal of the document is to provide prospective student leaders with information and tools to empower them to become involved in leadership roles, and also to aid current and incoming student leaders navigate the new and often unfamiliar terrain of student leadership! Elections I have also been working these past few weeks with our incredible Chief Returning Officer, Tabina, and our Assistant CRO, Maggie, to plan the upcoming Spring 2021 Elections. As of February 17th, we have already run two elections information sessions, and we have several more planned throughout the nomination period. Tabina and Maggie have created a strong advertising plan for the election, and I am excited to see a new generation of passionate student leaders come into VUSAC for 2021-22! If you are at all interested in learning about my role as president, please feel free to reach out at any time at president@vusac.ca; I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have! Additional Work: The following is a list of additional tasks that I have been involved with, but didn’t have enough space to talk about here! If you are interested in hearing about any of the following, or if you have any questions about anything that was mentioned in this report, I invite you to reach out to me anytime at president@vusac.ca. Winter budgeting period Highball refunds and cheque requisitions Co-chair and staff hiring Alumni of Victoria College meetings Supporting the Vic Zero team Sharing information on accessing Vic’s on-location mental health and wellness support Meetings of the PUSAG and SGRT
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executive team
VICE-PRESIDENT EXTERNAL MEHR MUKHTAR
With two months left in this position, I have been focused on seeing through the priorities that I had set for this term and continually working on general VPE duties. This has been an extremely gratifying semester with an enormous amount of hard work being done by an engaged student council that has been prioritizing the needs of the student body. General VPE Duties I have been meeting with the Dean’s Office, Victoria College administration, external student bodies and governing bodies to update them on the work that VUSAC is doing as well as learning about how best we can support each other. I have discussed promoting transparency in communications with the fantastic Board of Regents representatives who have been increasing social media presence for the governing body. The first virtual Caucus took place last semester after which I released a feedback form and am compiling it into a miniature report to better understand the needs of the student body. Caffiends Space Negotiations I have been working with Caffiends to ensure that their Occupancy Agreement is renewed and that the space negotiations for the levy are going smoothly. Bergita Petro and Alero Ogbeide from the Dean’s Office have been integral in facilitating these conversations. Shannon and Emily have been absolutely wonderful in this process and we are hopeful that a successful renewal will take place! BIPOC Student Leadership Award One of the most exciting projects that I have been working on is the creation of the BIPOC Student Leadership Award with Michelle, the fantastic VUSAC President. The $1000 award will annually recognize a BIPOC student who has made positive and significant contributions to student life or their community. This award was created in recognition of the lack of diversity in student leadership positions as well as the financial barriers faced, particularly by marginalized communities, in getting involved. Fundraising for the award is open and we are seeking the target of raising a total of $25,000 by the end of the semester! Crescams Crescams are happening! Nominations for the Crescam Serviendo Award are open until the 28th of February and the ceremony will be held on the 1st of April. This semester also involved wrapping up gifts to the winners and nominees from Crescams last year, which were disrupted because of the pandemic. We were able to send gift cards and will be mailing out the frames soon.
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executive team International Councillor I have been assisting Stuti, the fantastic international councillor, in working towards fulfilling her goals for the year. We worked on circulating an international student feedback survey to better understand the diversity student concerns on campus and be able to best support them. In addition, there has also been work on formalizing a communications group for international students. I also facilitated connecting the international councillor with the Assistant Dean for International Students to discuss some of her goals. Sustainability Guide I have been collaborating with the lovely Sustainability Commissioner, Co-Chair and councillor to finalize the development of a sustainability policy that would be encouraged to be used by VUSAC as well as clubs, levies and other student organizations. The policy aims to outline sustainable practices that can be incorporated in the operations of the VUSAC office as well as event programming. The draft for the policy should be presented at the next VUSAC meeting. VUSAC Town Halls Over the course of the semester, I have collected feedback from students who were hoping for more informal avenues of communication to share their concerns and ask questions from VUSAC and the Dean’s Office. I carried out consultations with other student organizations to discuss the establishment of a monthly VUSAC Town Hall that would allow more frequent and more casual interactions with the student body. For the semester, this culminated in an event titled “VPExCLC Chats” that I held in collaboration with Alero, the Campus Life Coordinator, where we invited students to come chat, share their feedback and ask questions about programming. We are hoping to continue this monthly for the rest of the semester. VUSAC Equity Survey I was passionate about implementing an internal equity survey at VUSAC, similar to the equity census introduced by UofT. The purpose of this is to try to identify the demographics that generally compose student councils and to understand certain barriers that may be excluding students from participating and getting involved. I have been meeting with student organizers on campus to draft this survey in an impactful and respectful way. It should be circulated amongst members of council in the next two weeks!
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executive team
VICE-PRESIDENT INTERNAL TRAN THAI
Although there are only two months left, there has been a lot that has happened this semester! My primary focuses this semester have been integrating the new members of the team and supporting council in a variety of projects. Over the Winter break, we hired 3 new individuals to join the team. We first underwent the hiring process for 2 of our staff positions: Chief Returning Officer and Finance Chair! All hiring was redacted and followed Equitable Hiring Policy. In the end, we hired Tabina Ahmed as the new Chief Returning Officer and Faye Tan as the new Finance Chair. Simultaneously, we also began interviewing various candidates for the position of Mental Wellness Co-Chair. After deliberation, the hiring panel decided on hiring Rachel Leggett as VUSAC’s first Mental Wellness Co-Chair. After everyone was hiring, I had onboarding meetings with each of them and also ensured they had all the necessary support to transition into their roles on council. During the month of January, I have been supporting Zoe, Leila and Nerija, who chaired or are currently chairing the review committees for our governing documents (Constitution, Council Policies and Elections and Referenda Code). All 3 of these individuals have put in tremendous work into making sure that VUSAC’s governing documents are updated and representative of VUSAC’s operations. The amendments for the Elections and Referenda Code were raised to council at the January 29th VUSAC meeting and passed at the February 12th VUSAC meeting. The amendments for Constitution and Council Policies will be raised as a discussion item and motion at the upcoming VUSAC meetings. Additionally, I’ll be updating the Equitable Hiring Policy to match the hiring panels of various positions and bringing this forward as a discussion item at a future VUSAC meeting. This includes updating the internal VUSAC hiring panels and other adjacent positions. Currently, I have been supporting the VUSAC members in various initiatives. I have been helping Fatima in finalizing the Highball refunds from last year and wrapping that up. I have also been aiding Dorian in organizing Vic Across the Globe. I have also been helping Tabina, Maggie and Michelle in preparation for the Spring elections. Finally, I have been working with Holly to improve the VUSAC office space in the eventual transition to in-person and making sure there are a set of rules in place. I will soon be beginning my check-ins with all the VUSAC members to find other ways to support the council. In the next 2 months, I have various projects that I am hoping on completing. First, I am hoping on reviewing the Finance Chair position to make sure the position has stability. In the past, VUSAC has had many difficulties in finding individuals who are dedicated to the role. This is mainly due to the role presenting a significant workload that is poorly compensated. At the advice of last year’s exec and Michelle, I will be looking into transforming the position of Finance Chair to be better compensated. I hope to make Finance Chair a Work-Study position or at the bare minimum increase the honoraria. This will ensure that future councils do not have this same concern. Even if this does not come to fruition this year, I will leave behind a document or outline for the next President and VPI to implement.
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executive team My second project is creating a document to help future council transition into in-person operations. The goal is to make sure that internal VUSAC will understand how we operate the office space in person and what the various spaces are used for. This is to ensure that there is continuity in how VUSAC has been in-person even though we have not been on campus for a year. I have loved every moment of being VPI for the past 10 months and I am excited to complete the year with the rest of the council. If you have any questions or suggestions for council, please reach out to me at vpi@vusac.ca or drop my online virtual hours on Fridays from 3:30 to 4:30 PM EST! I would also love to hear your thoughts on any of my ongoing or upcoming projects, or even just to stop by and say hello!
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executive team
VICE-PRESIDENT STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS JAY MUOIO
Winter Clubs Fair During the first week of school, the VUSAC President and I collaborated with the Dean’s Office to plan and host a Winter Clubs Fair over Zoom, where students were able to speak to representatives from Vic’s Clubs, Levies, and Commissions. Admittedly, the event had a relatively low turnout, but I believe it was a useful experiment and hope it will continue to be held in future (in-person) years, where it will likely be more fruitful. Levy Handbook I have continued to make updates and revisions to the levy handbook that I introduced last semester. This handbook (available at vusac.ca/levies) is intended to act as a guide to VUSAC’s Policies for existing and prospective Levy Heads. I took up this initiative to address the many issues and miscommunications that have occurred in the past due to the inaccessibility of levy-related policy (with it being spread out throughout the nearly 100 pages of VUSAC’s governing documents) and hope it will be a real resource for Levies and VUSAC alike moving forward. VicPride! After a nominations period involving over a month of extensions, a Presidential resignation, and a follow-up nominations period with no applicants, VicPride! still remains without a Judiciary nor an executive team. With it already being so late into the winter semester, it unfortunately seems that it will stay that way until the next academic year. As such, VicPride!’s levy fee was reduced to $0 for the winter semester. I have also been drafting a detailed transition report for whoever will be next year’s President, based on my knowledge of and past experience with the levy, to better facilitate the transition process after this dormant year. Advisory Boards As VPSO, I serve as Chair on both the Student Projects & Cat’s Eye Advisory Boards. In regards to Student Projects, the Advisory Board recently underwent an in-depth review of the levy’s Operating Policy throughout the late fall and early winter, which I organized and facilitated. In regards to the latter, I recently chaired the hiring committee of the new Junior CoManager, who will be serving for the duration of 2021, and will hopefully be chairing another meeting soon in regards to reviewing amendments to the Cat’s Eye Operating Policies and Procedures. Fall 2020 Levy Audits Levies are audited following the conclusion of the fall and winter semesters. Along with the VUSAC Finance Chair and a representative from the Office of the Bursar, I am helping to conduct the audit of each levy’s Fall 2020 financial books, to be completed by, at the latest, the end of the winter semester.
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executive team Policy Review I volunteered to sit on both the Constitutional and Council Policies Review Committees this year. I have been attending weekly meetings throughout the winter semester to aid in the annual revisions of these governing documents. Continuing Responsibilities Much of the work I’ve done this semester parallels the work I did during the Fall: Club & Levy Check-Ins: As I am mandated to do each semester, I have been checking in with the heads of every club/levy to discuss their goals and how I can best support them in their work. I will have hopefully met with each group by the end of February. Club Applications: I continue to accept and manage Club Applications on a rolling basis, bringing them forward to VUSAC for ratification when appropriate. Budgeting: By nature of my position, I sit on the VUSAC Budget Steering Committee. Like the fall, I had a very involved role in the execution of the budgeting process this semester. All Clubs Meeting: The winter All Clubs Meeting will take place on March 12th and, like the fall, will act as a forum for Club Heads to come together and discuss overarching topics and issues relating to Vic's clubs this year, as well as share ideas and updates with their peers. Equity Training: I have been coordinating Winter Equity Training sessions in cooperation with the Diversity & Inclusion Training Coordinator; these sessions being for the benefit of new clubs and clubs that did not meet the equity training requirements during the fall semester. General Support: Of course, just like last semester, the vast majority of my time in my role has been spent providing individualized support to Clubs & Levies and helping to address issues involving student groups as they arise.
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commissioners & co-chairs
ACADEMIC COMMISSIONER NERIJA GRAY
As the Academic Commissioner, I work with the Academic Co-Chair to promote academic and professional development events and programming for Vic students through the Academic Commission. We recently had our annual Networking Night, which was a big success! Joining us we had 19 alumni from a variety of different fields, and the event ended with a quick but enlightening panel discussion featuring two distinguished alums who were recipients of Emerging Leader Awards. Since the event was held online, we held a giveaway where 15 of the student attendees also won $30 Uber Eats gift cards to replicate the ‘dinner’ portion of the event in their own homes. We also hosted Exam Jam in December, where we had extra Drop-In study spaces throughout the week, a Jeopardy destressor event with VOCA, and even more MUJI stationery giveaways. Stay tuned for our next round of Exam Jam events later in the semester! In terms of advocacy work, at the end of last semester, our commission collected all the student concerns from surveys and coffee chats. We wrote a letter to Dean Woodin to advocate for the academic concerns of Victoria College students, and to provide solutions and/or alternatives to some of the aspects of online classes that students thought needed improvement. The Dean kindly responded and indicated that our suggestions would be taken into account for winter semester planning. Thank you to all the Vic students who took the time to voice their concerns to make this possible! Our commission has a bunch of other exciting events on the horizon, including our BIPOC Professional Panel in collaboration with the Equity Commission on February 24th from 5-6:30 PM! We’ll also be hosting Program Roundtables in March. We’ll be asking upper-year students in a variety of different programs to come out and talk about their experiences, favourite courses, and why they chose their programs. We’ll also have a segment at the beginning of the event about how to choose your program and understanding different program types. If you’re in first year or if you’re simply looking to explore different program options, I’d highly recommend coming out! The exact date and time will be posted on our social media in the near future. The Academic Commissioner also traditionally serves as the chair of the Grad Banquet Chair Hiring Committee. In lieu of a regular grad banquet, I’ve been in talks with the Dean’s Office to release surveys to graduating students to determine an alternative event or commemorative programming. If you’re graduating this year and have ideas about grad programming, please send me an email at academic@vusac.ca. Finally, outside of the Academic Commission, I also acted as the chair of the Elections & Referenda Code (ERC) Review Committee this year. We edited the ERC to include rules for online elections and to clarify the meaning of neutrality in elections, amongst many other edits. The amendments passed in the February 12th VUSAC meeting and will be in effect for the 2021 Spring Elections.
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commissioners & co-chairs
ACADEMIC CO-CHAIR CATHY GUAN
As the Academic Co-Chair, I work alongside the Academic Commissioner to aid in producing professional, academic, and networking content and events for the VCU. As the co-chair, I specialize in social media management, logistics, and other various responsibilities. In an attempt to maximize our social media presence, we have focused on continuing to provide informational content and event advertisements on our social media channels. Most notably, in preparation for our annual Vic Networking Night, we produced educational infographics that shared tips on networking and sample questions to ask alumni to get students started. We also highlighted each of our Vic alumni at the event by grouping them by field and highlighting each of their career paths. Moreover, we produced a Career Development Series in which we provided an interview prep workshop, resume tips, and helpful job-searching resources. Additionally, this semester we are continuing to host Drop-In Study Space in which we provide a quiet workspace to help students stay accountable while they study. In these sessions, we play lo-fi music and display a Pomodoro timer for students who find it helpful. We have a lot planned for the rest of the semester so stay tuned with the Academic Commission and keep up with us on social media!
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commissioners & co-chairs
ARTS & CULTURE COMMISSIONER JENNY ZHANG
Vic Artist’s Bursary The commission applied to the Performing Arts Endowment last semester and secured $2500 in total funding for the VAB. A google form will be released in the month of March to collect applications for reimbursing art-related costs incurred. Examples of items VCU students can request reimbursement for: filming equipment, lighting, tripod, art supplies, software. Applications for large costs may not be fully reimbursed depending on the number of applications for the endowment, but partial reimbursements will be issued. Check out page @vicartsandculture for more information. UofTiff UofTiff is a film festival happening over the month of March. The iFILM challenge is from March 1st to March 28th and specifically challenges students to create short films by only filming on mobile phones without needing special camera gear. Students are encouraged to apply to the VAB for any side costs like purchasing a tripod or lighting equipment for the creation of their short films. Submission Google form will open on March 1st and early participants will receive Vic Arts & Culture merch – sweater, toque, laptop stickers, pins. Merch packages may be sent out at the end of the winter semester, or can be collected in the VUSAC office once it reopens for anyone without a stable address. The UofTiff Film Screening is a collaboration with Motion Victures and will feature student films that were intended to be screened last winter at their premiere event at Isabel Bader. New submissions to the Film Screening are encouraged and films can be sent to artsandculture@vusac.ca. The Film Screening will be streamed online on April 2nd, the Friday of a long weekend, and will feature films from Motion Victures and films from the iFILM challenge. The Bob Sketch Comedy Revue The Bob has made submissions to the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival this semester. The show streamed last semester is still up on YouTube for viewing. Check out their awesome work at @thebobrevue!
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commissioners & co-chairs
COMMUTER COMMISSIONER RHEANNON DEMETER
A goal of mine for this year was to transform the Commuter Commission into a platform through which students can, as executive members, develop and showcase their abilities in creating and managing programming and services that cater to the Victoria College and wider U of T community. Throughout the Winter 2021 semester, myself and Aya (Co-Chairs) are primarily focusing on special projects and Commuter Appreciation Week while our executive team members create and implement all other events and independent projects with our support (when needed). WINTER Co-Chair-run initiatives Released Fall 2020/Winter 2021 programming survey on all social media accounts & received over 70 responses January 9: Released statement regarding programming format for Winter 2021 and foreseeable future February 8-14: Commuter eValentines – I created TTC Station-themed puns which were used by our Communications duo to make 7 different eValentines. Students signed-up to send eValentines to a friend, family member etc. and 3 sender-recipient pairs were randomly selected to receive 2 x $25 gift cards of their choosing (1 per person). We received a total of 112 sign-ups, and I personally wrote and sent out each of the emails the morning of February 14th Executive-run initiatives January 4-11: Assisted with creation of Fall 2020/Winter 2021 programming survey January 9: Assisted with composing statement released Weekly until March 29: PC Gift card giveaways January 11-15: January Giveaway (Win 1 of 5 $20 Tim Horton’s eGift cards) January 29: “The Fault in Our Stars” Movie Night collaboration with Vic for a Cure (with raffle for 2 x $25 gift cards) February 1-5: February Giveaway (Win 1 of 5 $20 Indigo Gift cards) February 1: First Weekly VOCA Collaborative Spotify Playlist released (Playlists curated by First-Year and Councillor duos – students can request for desired song(s) to be added to playlist of their choosing) February 4-24: Vic Virtual Art Gallery Collaboration with Arts & Culture Commission (Submit any piece of artwork: photograph, doodle, animation, painting etc., to be featured on our social media pages and for a chance to win 1 of 5 $20 Uber Eats Gift Cards) February 8-14: Commuter eValentines – Created 7 eValentine Cards February 12: VOCA Friday Exec Features – First Duo feature posted on this day February 15-20: Reading Week Book Giveaway Collaboration with Boundless Books – Featuring 6 books written by U of T alumni February 18: Reading Week (Colour, Chat & Chill) event (with draw for 2 x $10 gift cards of your choice) UPCOMING February-March: Student Projects Fund Collaborative Information Video release March 1: Commuter Cookbook release March: Minute to Win It Challenge Event March: First-Year & Councillor duo-run event 2-3 Student Projects Fund proposals (to be revealed if all goes well) Purchasing new pancake griddle Updating VOCA logo Commuter Appreciation Week (March 8-12) Collaborating with Off-Campus representatives from Innis, Woodsworth and Trinity 6 events & lots of prizes!!!
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commissioners & co-chairs
COMMUTER CO-CHAIR AYA RAGHEAI
Working alongside Rheannon, the Winter semester has been pleasantly successful thus far. We have been able to obtain feedback on the last semester, discuss and implement changes to further cater to the needs of commuter students. As always, we are open to and highly encourage the input of all students. The following includes some of the programming initiatives that have been achieved as of late: Fall Feedback Survey Weekly PC Grocery Gift Card Giveaways Monthly Giveaways (Tim Hortons and Indigo Gift Cards) Movie Night collaboration with Vic for a Cure (The Fault in Our Stars) VOCA Spotify Playlist Vic Virtual Art Gallery Commuter e-Valentine’s Colouring night Book Giveaway Executive member Friday features on Instagram For the remainder of the semester, I am looking forward to collaborating with the commuter commissions of other colleges to organize Commuter Appreciation Week. This entails a week of events and prizes aimed to garner the engagement of all the commuters at UofT. The collaboration is with Innis, Woodsworth and Trinity college with six events during the week of March 8th to 12th. Additional initiatives include replacing VOCA’s pancake griddle and potentially adding some appliances or items to the commuter kitchen for future in-person semesters. Lastly, I hope to continue to strive for programming that is easily accessible in the current online setting.
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commissioners & co-chairs
EQUITY COMMISSIONER LULU KARRA
I was so nervous assuming such a big role back in October. Honestly speaking I still am. However, working hand in hand with other VUSAC members has made the process manageable. I can gladly say I have enjoyed my time as the Equity commissioner this year and have definitely learnt so much about Vic and how the college strives to ensure a more accessible and inclusive space for all Vic students! I also do appreciate each member of my commission for the effort they have made thus far. Each one of them has made things run smoothly on my end. A big shout out to Alero (the Campus Life Coordinator) for being the best and for everyone I have worked with this semester as well. Equity Commission The commission has fifteen members; Co-chair, Communications Exec, Secretary, 2 councillors, 9 general members and I. Our meetings are held bi-weekly. Courtesy of our Communications Exec, Natalia Sandoval, Equity Commission members have been introduced via Instagram; one of our social media platforms. (Thanks to Beth Gouda as well for the amazing idea!) We are also looking forward to promoting Equity related clubs and groups on our platforms this semester, for Vic students to engage with. Committees I sat on the Student Orientation co-chair hiring committee (end of fall). I sit on the Dean’s Advisory Committee and Student Project Fund Committee. I will be sitting on Student Orientation Executive hiring committee this semester. Upcoming Activities Environmental Equity Week: February 22nd - March 4th, in collaboration with the Sustainability Commission “Pride & Prejudice: Finding Community in Your Career as a Person of Colour”: March 2nd through to March 12th in collaboration with the Office of the Dean of Students Doc and Talk: "13th" by Ava Duvernay (date TBD)
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commissioners & co-chairs
EQUITY CO-CHAIR SOOYEON LEE
Throughout the winter semester, I’ve been primarily working to plan out Environmental Equity Week alongside the Sustainability Commission which will be happening throughout late February to early March. I have been working alongside Maggie to organize the details of a Doc n’ Talk surrounding the film "The Condor and the Eagle," which will be happening on February 23rd from 2-4 PM EST. Questions are also being prepared to encourage a fruitful discussion after the viewing. Otherwise, I have been sitting on hiring panels for various positions, such as the hiring of the CRO and the orientation executives, as the equity co-chair. Sweaters from survey giveaways were also finally shipped out throughout January to various students. I also have been communicating with the commission’s councillors and executive members to organize introduction posts of the Equity Commission on our Instagram. Finally, I have been working with Mehr to contact the Arts and Science Student Union about limitations on degree requirements for various departments. I have spoken to some students about certain restrictions that are placed on degree requirements that limit the range and diversity of courses that students are able to take. This strikes me as an equity issue that is not just a reflection of the various departments that have courses and degree requirements, but a reflection of systemic inequality at the university, and I am in the process of reaching out to the ASSU about this issue.
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commissioners & co-chairs
MENTAL WELLNESS COMMISSIONER DORIAN DITOMMASO
While the difficulties of COVD-19 remain, the Mental Wellness Commission has continued to grow and evolve albeit at a slower pace. I want to touch on three major things regarding the commission this semester: the slowing pace of the Mental Wellness Commission, the Vic Across the Globe project, and the hiring of a Mental Wellness Co-Chair. Our Pacing It is important to recognize that the pacing of all things has been slowed now that we are entering the second year of a world dominated by COVID-19. That said, I want to address my own pace in the context of the Mental Wellness Commission. I started my term by engulfing myself with multiple different projects and I am proud to say that many of them have been seen to their completion. That said, there are some projects which have been cancelled or delayed. This is mainly due to some personal health issues that have greatly hindered my ability to work on the commission. I hope that once these issues are resolved I will be able to return to my former effectiveness in working for the commission and the Victoria College community but in the meantime, I ask for your patience. Vic Across the Globe The Vic Across the Globe project has been unfortunately delayed multiple times on account of funding difficulties. That said, we should be able to have the packages shipped by the end of this school year, meaning you will receive them sometime over the summer months if not sooner. I have secured funding and am currently in the process of purchasing items for the care packages. Once all items are purchased packaging and shipping will take only a matter of days. Once again, I ask for your patience and understanding, as a project this size is tremendously difficult especially in the context of COVID-19. Mental Wellness Co-Chair Over the winter break, we hired a Mental Wellness Co-Chair who has been imperative to the continued running of the Mental Wellness Commission. In my time of difficulty, she has been able to take the reins and manage the majority of the commission on her own whilst I work on getting better and finishing up the Vic Across the Globe project. I thank her immensely for her work over the past two months. Planning for the Future As the end of my term as Mental Wellness Commissioner approaches, I will be starting to prepare the commission for the transition to a new head. That is to say that I will be gathering all of the documents I made, non-sensitive information I collected, connections I made, etc. into a document that I will use to ensure a strong transition report and a smooth transition for the next Mental Wellness Commissioner.
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commissioners & co-chairs
MENTAL WELLNESS CO-CHAIR RACHEL LEGGETT
After being appointed in January, I have begun my duties as the Mental Wellness Co-Chair. As the first person to hold this position on this commission, I aim to both support the Commissioner in their responsibilities, as well as take on a few projects for my own portfolio. One new initiative I am working on is to collaborate with Health and Wellness to provide the executive team on our commission with basic suicide prevention training. As student representatives in mental health leadership, this training will be important to ensure we are prepared to recognize signs of a mental health crisis if this ever should come up in our work, as well as to strengthen our team’s overall mental health literacy. I am also working alongside our executives in the development of our new website which we are expecting to launch this semester. One aspect of the website I am especially excited about is an anti-stigma campaign that will publish students’ own stories of their experiences with mental health and mental illness. The goal of this campaign is to destigmatize struggling with mental health, emphasize community supports and care, and recognize the strength and resiliency of this community. Be sure to check out our Facebook and Instagram pages to stay up to date on what we’re working on and the content we’ll be publishing in the coming months!
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SCARLET & GOLD COMMISSIONER FATIMA RANA
Being the Scarlet and Gold Commissioner this year so far has continued to be a very interesting journey. As I am reaching the end of my term, that fact has been becoming increasingly clear. As we all know, this commission is very much a socially based one in regard to all its regular annual events: back to school pub night, semi-formal, and Highball! In the past, these main events have mostly been large-scale, in-person, social events with a huge gathering. As mentioned before, this year, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the course of these events and I had to rework what the Scarlet and Gold Commission would be offering to the Victoria College community, while adhering to the main purpose of the commission. Starting the new winter semester, my team and I decided that I wanted to bring back Winterfest at Vic. To my understanding, Winterfest last year (2019-2020) was cancelled due to a lack of engagement in the previous years. Since our format is different this year, I decided that having a week-long string of various online events would be suitable. We had 5 days’ worth of events planned. The following is a list of those events by day: Monday, January 18th - Comedy Night Tuesday, January 19th - National Popcorn Day: MOVIE NIGHT! Wednesday, January 20th - Trivia Night! Thursday, January 21st - Dress Your Pet Up Day! Friday, January 22nd - Arcade Night: Winter 2021! The series of events was pretty successful, and we had the most turnout during Trivia Night and Arcade Night, which is what we expected as those are more interactive events. Prizes are to be given out for the attendees of Trivia and Arcade Nights. In addition to that, my team and I decided to also have an event for February for Valentine’s day. In the fall term, we wanted to organize a virtual Scavenger hunt, however, due to the lack of time we had in terms of planning between Winterfest and the next February event, we decided to move forward with a love-themed Trivia night, which was called: “Will you be my Trivintine?” The turnout was not the best, but it was decent, and we played a bunch of Kahoots themed around Valentine’s Day. Additionally, we are at the end of the Highball 2020 refunds process. We set a last-call deadline and now are just writing up the last few remaining cheques. For March, typically we have our annual Highball. In order to replace that, I have decided to have a Highball-themed Vic-wide Scavenger Hunt. We are currently in the works of planning this event. It will be our last big social and interactive event. It definitely has been a learning process so far while figuring events out during these unprecedented times, but it has been a fun journey and I cannot wait to end the term on a good note with our Highball Scavenger Hunt!
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commissioners & co-chairs
SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSIONER LEILA TJIANG
Over the past several months, I have endeavoured to make progress on many of the same projects that I worked on over the Fall and Summer; however, the Sustainability Commission has a renewed focus on programming ahead of Environmental Equity Week. Vic Zero: Since my last report, the Vic Zero Sustainability Strategic Plan has been released to the public and, as of February 10th, our petition in support of the plan has gathered 153 individual signatures and 15 student group endorsements, including signals of support from the UTSU and ASSU. This petition will remain open for the foreseeable future. Several members of the Vic Zero authoring team, including myself, have met with President Robins, Lisa Khoo (Chair of the Board of Regents), and other members of Vic’s administration to discuss moving forward with reviewing and implementing the recommendations made in our report. We plan to continue holding these meetings over the coming months to ensure that tangible progress towards sustainability will be made within the following year. Sustainability Policy: VUSAC’s Event and Office Sustainability Policy remains in the drafting phase, but is on track to be completed and implemented by the end of this school year. Ideally, the next commissioner will take on the work of promoting and enforcing the policy. Additionally, the commission may work on outlining a third part of this policy, specifically pertaining to broader climate justice and action goals, for the next council to draft and ratify. SGSRT: The newly formed St. George Sustainability Roundtable will continue to meet this semester. Our main focus will be to share knowledge on drafting and ratifying sustainability policies within each colleges’ student council’s governing documents. UTERN EWG: The University of Toronto Environmental Resources Network’s Environmental Working Group plans to work on several projects this semester: electing environmentallyfocused candidates to various student leadership positions around campus and continuing to support and advocate for divestment at UofT. I will remain an administrative member of the divestment team, but I have handed off the remainder of EWG-related responsibilities to Jerico, our co-chair. Programming: The Sustainability Commission has and will hold two key events this semester. Firstly, our Interfaith Response to Eco-Grief collaboration with the Spiritual and Community Life Program at Emmanuel College on February 3rd went smoothly, and I look forward to further collaborations with the College in the future. Secondly, Environmental Equity Week, which will take place during the weeks of February 22nd and March 1st, will consist of three speaker events, an educational workshop on divestment, and a documentary screening. The three speaker events will each focus on the topics of Indigenous-Led Conservation, Food Justice and Sovereignty, and Policing and Housing.
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commissioners & co-chairs
SUSTAINABILITY CO-CHAIR JERICO RAGUINDIN
This semester revolved around the planning of Environmental Equity week, which has now been underway. It consists of divestment, police and housing, and indigenous sovereignty and conservation. Other activities the commission has been planning is to prepare for the future advocacy work of future members, which includes divestment, Vic Zero, and formal collaborations with other sustainability organizations on campus with UTERN and college councils. I think it is always best to introduce commission members and the commission itself to a variety of organizations to work with as it bolsters all parties and allows for more successful initiatives. Internal advocacy regarding VUSAC office and events policy is being finalized, along with a contribution of a larger stance on climate policy and its systemic aspects. This should reflect more of VUSAC's stances and pattern of statements regarding not just sustainability, which it has done multiple times this year, but mental health, student life, and more. Regarding divestment, due to capacities and the prioritization of the Vic Zero campaign, divestment work is being kept at a research level and as future preparation. I have been happy to support the commission in multiple ways to try and achieve a variety of different goals, most particularly, advocacy work and furthering tangible sustainability goals at Vic.
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staff team
CHAIR
ZOE LAZARIS One of the many jobs that my position has tasked me with this term is chairing the VUSAC constitutional review committee. This year, the committee has worked in tangent with the council policies review committee. On top of our biweekly meetings which I orchestrate, we have had a number of meetings with the council policies review committee in order to synthesize the two governing documents. The principles I am keeping in mind for the review are equity, accessibility, and clarity. My main goal was the synthesize and clarify the documents so that those who are not as involved in VUSAC can easily jump into a role or find out more. To make the documents more accessible we reorganized the structure, clarified points, and simplified passages and language that were unnecessarily confusing. We also made sure to get feedback from people currently holding positions in the Victoria College community while edited the passages that pertained to them. A number of non-VUSAC students attended meetings to provide this crucial feedback. With their help, the review will successfully look over every chapter in the constitution by March 2021, when we will present the amendments at a VUSAC meeting. Last term, I released a feedback form for VUSAC meeting attendees. Since its release, it has received a couple dozen responses. These responses are being used to inform a guide that I will create and pass on to future VUSAC chairs that explains the feedback I received and discusses how to ensure equity and accessibility in meetings. The form responses are already being used to inform how I chair VUSAC meetings. One common piece of feedback was confusion around Robert’s Rules and meeting procedure. To mitigate this confusion, I attached the meeting procedure guide I created to all VUSAC agendas, as well as a guide to Robert’s Rules created by a past chair. I also placed these resources in the VUSAC meeting event Facebook page. As always, I have chaired all VUSAC meetings of the winter semester. During these meetings, we have increased security to minimize the chances of Zoom bombing. I have also met one on one with a number of attendees to get direct feedback about how comfortable they felt in meetings, which has been invaluable to me.
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CHIEF RETURNING OFFICER TABINA AHMED
After having been hired as Chief Returning Officer (CRO) at the very beginning of the 2021 year, I have made progress in terms of planning the Elections event for the Spring 2021 Elections. Here are some of the highlights of what I have accomplished thus far: Dates for the Elections period The VPI and I have been in contact with each other to establish dates for the upcoming Spring 2021 Elections. The following events will be held on the provided dates: Nominations Open: February 26th, 2021 All-Candidates Meeting: March 19th, 2021 Town Hall: March 26th, 2021 Voting Period: March 27th - March 30th, 2021 Elections results announced: April 2nd, 2021 Advertisement and Holding Elections Online Throughout the term, I have managed to create a full timetable of when I would like the advertisements for Elections-related events to be held throughout the semester. This includes a full two-month breakdown (From February to the beginning of April) of when the informal/formal Elections events will happen, along with different posts, newsletter ads, and Q&A sessions that I would like to hold before and during the nominations period. The President, VPI, Communications Coordinator and the ACRO (Assistant CRO) have all been a great support system throughout its overall planning. The following is a list of the advertisements and Q&A Sessions that are to be/have been held: Position Profile posts on both VUSAC Facebook page, Instagram and website Advertisements for Q&A Session week on VUSAC Facebook page, Instagram and website Q&A Sessions: February 16th, 2021 (3:00-4:00 PM) February 17th, 2021 (5:30-6:30 PM) February 18th, 2021 (4:00-5:00 PM) March 9th, 2021 March 11th, 2021 March 17th, 2021 Reminders for nominations opening The ACRO and I will conduct a special project for Elections advertisement, where we will be creating a compilation video of members from VUSAC that is meant to inform viewers of different roles within the VUSAC realm. This will not include members who plan on running in the elections in order to maintain neutrality throughout the elections period. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, we have also established that the Elections will be held online. There are a lot of logistics that need to be solved and looked through in order to ensure safe and organized elections.
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COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR VERONICA CHIANG
This semester, I have been continuing to work with various members of council, clubs, and levies to promote VUSAC and Vic-related events and opportunities on our social media platforms, website, and monthly e-newsletters. Beyond these tasks, I have been making sure our website stays up to date, responding to any queries received via email or through social media, preparing the design for VUSAC merchandise, and of course, compiling this SemiAnnual Report! Spring Elections 2021 In the weeks preceding the nominations period for our Spring 2021 VUSAC elections, I have been working with the CRO Tabina, President Michelle, VPI Tran, and Councillor Maggie to put together a series of graphics that showcase all of the available positions that students can run for. I have also created 9 additional graphics that will be posted in the upcoming weeks which will provide more information to students interested in the elections. These graphics detail information regarding Q&A sessions, the nominations opening date, Town Hall, and voting deadline. Social Media Outreach & Monthly E-Newsletter Since the Fall (November 2020), our Instagram page has slowly grown from a following of 1077 to 1116. Similarly, our Facebook page now has 1921 followers, with 1757 page “likes”, a modest growth from November 2020 (1916 followers and 1754 “likes”). Unsurprisingly, our social media growth has not been as great as it was in the Fall semester, likely due to a lack of promotion and understandable internet fatigue. Regarding VUSAC website analytics since November 20th 2020 (compared to August 22 to November 19, 2020), there has been a 9% increase in total site sessions (4744) and a 53% increase in unique visitors (3094). However, the average session duration has decreased 45% (3 minutes 39 seconds). Lastly, since December 2020, our monthly e-newsletters have had an average of 52.5% email “opens.” I will be compiling two more e-newsletters (March and April 2021) before the end of my term. VUSAC on Quercus Upon meeting with Alero Ogbeide (Campus Life Coordinator) and Emily Leahy (Dean and Registrar’s Office Communications Coordinator), we discussed how to improve VUSAC’s presence on UofT’s Quercus site, currently located in “Vic Student Involvement and Success” shell. This site will eventually act as a starting point for students looking to be a part of VUSAC and will host direct links to our social media pages. This will hopefully bring more attention to VUSAC, increase traffic to our online presence, and allow for better student engagement in all the wonderful events and opportunities available.
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staff team
FINANCE CHAIR FAYE TAN
Since my employment as Finance Chair from the beginning of the Winter 2021 semester, I have prioritized my time to completing immediately outstanding items, which includes cochairing the budget ratification meeting, catching up VUSAC’s finances by working on overdue bank reconciliations, and completing outstanding cheque reimbursements from the previous semester. For the rest of the semester, along with reimbursing cheques, I will be working on reviewing documents with the Budget Steering Committee to improve policy surrounding VUSAC’s finances. Winter 2021 Budget Ratification Prior to the budget ratification meeting, I reviewed the preliminary budget with other members of the Budget Steering Committee and identified budget allocations that required further clarification or justification. After the meeting, VUSAC VPSO Jay and I contacted individuals who had submitted a budget on behalf of their organization to streamline communications resulting in an efficient budget ratification meeting. Due to the expedited budget submission timeline for the Winter 2021 semester, the traditional period of grievance was omitted from the budget request timeline. Instead, requests to strike, add, or reallocate budget lines were brought up directly in conjunction with ratifying the budget with the help of VUSAC Chair Zoe. Through vigilant communications between organizations and myself, grievances were discussed and became motions in parallel with the ratification of the budget. Bank Reconciliations and Levy Audits Prior to accepting the position of Finance Chair, VUSAC’s bank reconciliations were backlogged by almost a year. The consequence of this is that there is a discrepancy between the balance in VUSAC’s bank account and the actual amount of money VUSAC has to spend. Thankfully with much support from Hannah from the Finance Office, bank reconciliations have been largely caught up to date. Next, I will be working on conducting reviews of levy audits along with VUSAC VPSO Jay. Cheque Reimbursements Outstanding cheque reimbursements from the Fall 2020 semester have been addressed, with the help of VUSAC President Michelle. To improve the workflow system of sending out cheque reimbursements, I have created a new form for cheque reimbursements so that cross-referencing budget line items is kept to a minimum for optimized reimbursement approval. I am also in the process of exploring options to notify individuals of their cheque reimbursement status through email alerts. Review of VUSAC’s Budget Steering Policy Exposure to VUSAC, club, and levy expenditures has allowed me to observe areas in the Budget Steering Policy and Council Policy that require review, due to either their lack of specificity, or to their lack of accommodating for an online semester. I have initiated a review of these two documents and will be conducting them with VUSAC President Michelle. Please look forward to the proposed amendments, coming soon! For any questions, please email me at: finance@vusac.ca
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OFFICE MANAGER HOLLY JOHNSTONE
Hello! While our summer forecasting planned on a reopening of the VUSAC office by the winter semester, the worsening COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario has unfortunately put a damper on those plans. It is always our goal to maximize the safety and well-being of the students and council members who use our space, meaning that the office has been and will continue to be closed until we hear it is safe to do otherwise from the university. Given the office’s current state of affairs, my work has been predominantly centered around the taking and editing of minutes from our bi-weekly VUSAC meetings. For the last 2 months, minutes have been edited and posted on the VUSAC website within a week of the previous meeting. Side note: please go check out the minutes on the VUSAC website under “Meetings”! They’re really fun and informative and there for students to hold VUSAC accountable for the claims we make in meetings. In addition to taking meeting minutes, I have also been working with our VPI, Tran, to update VUSAC’s office rules and bring them into alignment with VUSAC’s current mandate. Notably, the rules include a strict enforcement against hate or violent speech in the office which— while we have not had an issue with this in the past—we feel is important to protect student safety in the office space. I am hoping to have finished and edited the rules by the end of February which means that they should be posted for public access on the VUSAC website by early March. Outside of my work as Office Manager, I have been working with our President, Michelle, to compile the Student Leader Handbook. This is an incredibly exciting initiative that hopes to act as a sort of manual to Vic and its various forms of governance for students who might too feel intimidated its complexity to get involved with student government. We are currently working on drafting up the handbook’s copy and aim to have a finished & pretty-looking document compiled by the end of April! As always, you are more than welcome to email me with any questions you might have about my position or the work I’m doing on council! You can reach me at officemanager@vusac.ca if you ever feel the urge come over you. Thank you for reading this report and I wish you all the best!
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councillors
COUNCILLOR ALEXANDRA KURTESI
One of my goals for this year was to create a Commuter Cookbook for VOCA and I am pleased to announce that it will be published on March 1st. This cookbook will include sections for breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts and snacks, with vegan, vegetarian, and allergy-free options. It also includes a level of difficulty from 1 being the easiest and 3 being to hardest for each of the meals and I provide a variety of substitutions for everyone to enjoy. In addition, there will be a raffle draw for 5 President’s Choice gift cards for those who recreate the recipes. For the Mental Wellness Commission, I am continuing to update VUSAC’s Mental Resource database in conjunction with the other team members. In addition, I will soon be receiving mental wellness training, specifically in regards to suicide prevention training, learning how to identify concerning traits in others and what to do about it. For the Academic Commission, one of my goals was to hold a BIPOC Professional Studies Panel in collaboration with the Equity Commission, which will be happening on Wednesday, February 24th, 2021. This panel includes BIPOC individuals in Medicine (Dr. Chika Stacy), Law (Dr. Douglas Sanderson), and Academia (Dr. Tolu Kayode) discussing the intersectionality of pursuing higher education and racial identity. I am very excited for this panel to provide a unique and insightful experience for Victoria College students, especially during the 30minute question and answer period.
COUNCILLOR ELAINE LEE
I am excited to share what I have been working on with VUSAC since writing my Fall 2020 SemiAnnual Report. The second semester has provided opportunities for me to continue to engage with the VCU community as well as collaborate with my assigned commissions to provide engaging online programming. My role as part of the Equity Commission has been fulfilling so far. We are in the process of organizing Doc n Talks and constructing a more robust social media presence. In collaboration with the Sustainability Commission, the organization of the annual Environmental Equity Week has been going well. With a small team and with Leila’s support, I have led the process of organizing the research and script-writing of an event on Indigenous-led Conservation. I am excited to be moderating this discussion and hope that members of our community will find the topic as engaging as I do. With the Commuter Commission, I have been working on two main initiatives this semester. The first is VOCA Collaborative Playlists which the Councillors and First-Year Representatives have worked together on, for which we invite students to submit songs that are shared in playlists available to the whole community. The next initiative is a collaboration with the Arts and Culture Commission: a virtual art gallery to allow students to share art with the community in a lowpressure, non-competitive, and supportive environment. We have already received a variety of submissions and are planning to display them on the VOCA website and on social media!
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councillors
COUNCILLOR JOY WANG
In the second semester, I continued my work under the commissions that I was assigned to, and also helped out at events such as the arcade night hosted by the Scarlet and Gold Commission. I will continue to aid the VPE in compiling reports and assembling slideshows for Winter Caucus, and compiling data from the International Student Survey. Additionally, I also intend to attend several DAC meetings in order to familiarize myself with the needs and concerns of the VCU. For the Academic Commission, I will continue to gather resources for Vikipedia, with a focus on the scholarships that the University offers. Our hope is to come up with an easy-to-read list of the scholarships, so that they can be more accessible to students. I hope to help out with the upcoming Program Roundtables as well. For the Sustainability Commission, I will be helping out with research for the Environmental Equity Week events.
COUNCILLOR KATE HABERL
As a Councillor, I am assigned to three portfolios: The Sustainability Commission, the Arts & Culture Commission, and working with VUSAC’s president Michelle! I am also the Events Director for the Sustainability Commission, which means I work on a variety of projects. This semester we are holding Environmental Equity Week in collaboration with the Equity Commission. This year, Environmental Equity Week is split into two weeks of incredible programming. The video series that I began work on last semester has progressed, and the first video is out now on our YouTube channel! With the Arts & Culture Commission, I continue to work on various events, like the Vic Virtual Variety Show, and toss out wacky ideas at weekly meetings. With Michelle, my main projects are more about internal tasks, like paperwork. Presently, my main involvement is with the development of the Student Leader Handbook, which I am working on with Michelle and Holly, VUSAC’s incredible office manager. Outside of my portfolios, I sat on the Budget Steering Committee this year as the club representative, and I sit on the Victoria College Council, which while not directly linked to my role as a VUSAC councillor helps me to stay informed. I also hold weekly office hours, which are a great opportunity to connect with people. I continue to enjoy my role as a councillor and am so happy to see the impact that VUSAC has had this year despite everything being online. I continue to be incredibly proud of VUSAC as an organization.
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COUNCILLOR MAGGIE ZHANG
Since my last report, I’ve been even more involved with VUSAC. In addition to attending VUSAC meetings, hosting weekly office hours, and participating in the engaging Winter Retreat, I also sat on the Elections and Referenda Code Review Committee where we made amendments to the entire document, replacing outdated sections with relevant information. We especially focused on defining neutrality and online elections. Carrying on from last semester, I continue to support my portfolios. Early January, I helped plan and advertise Scarlet & Gold’s Winter Fest, a week filled with social events including Comedy, Movie, Trivia and Arcade Night to kick off the new semester. I made a Disneythemed Kahoot for Trivia Night and monitored the breakout and waiting rooms throughout the week. I’m eager to start brainstorming Easter events to end the year off strong. I’ve been taking on more responsibilities under the President portfolio. I made revisions to our Co-curricular Credit request form, helped put together VUSAC’s winter budget, and contributed in making the Fall Feedback Survey. It’s been incredibly insightful working behind the scenes with Michelle. For the rest of the year, I will keep providing assistance wherever I can. I look forward to helping our CRO advertise and execute the Spring 2021 Election Cycle as ACRO. I’m excited to see the flipside of elections and learn the logistics in organizing such an event. It has truly been an honour being part of a student governing body that makes tangible changes and strives to improve the Vic community.
COUNCILLOR MAXIMUS CARON
Over the past months, I have been focusing mostly on work with the Sustainability and Scarlet & Gold commissions. For the Scarlet & Gold, we have been working on three main events. The first was Winterfest which took place in January. This was a weeklong event where every day there was a new activity that we ran and coordinated. Each day had a different theme (such as trivia night, arcade night, etc.) and different activities. The second event was a Valentine's day (Friday before) trivia night where we gave out chocolate to those who attended the event. While not the biggest event, it was still good to have some show up and spent over an hour doing different trivia Kahoots. The final event that is still being planned is the end-of-year scavenger hunt. The virtual scavenger hunt will take students around Toronto and the school campus on a CYOA style game where they race to the end. For Sustainability, I have been focusing on helping to write and revise the Sustainability policy for VUSAC. We have split this up into two sections, office policy and event policy. We hope to present this to VUSAC by the first March meeting and get it voted on shortly after that. I also worked on a joint event with Elaine in the VOCA (Commuter) Commission to host a virtual art gallery. I mainly worked to help with portfolio collection and organization of art.
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councillors
COUNCILLOR NATHAN CHING
It’s been around 4 months since I was elected councillor, and I am excited to share with you what my role as a councillor has entailed during this time period. Our regular meetings on Fridays with other councillors and commissioners have generated interesting topics of discussion, such as Cat’s Eye renovation and the introduction of our new Finance Chair and CRO. So far, it’s been extremely rewarding to stay interested in VUSAC affairs, and to maintain engagement with school affairs. My aim in the future is to continue student awareness towards VUSAC’s internal affairs. The Arts and Culture Commission is busy working on a film festival event with other clubs at Vic college. I’ve been put in charge of logistics and contacting our partnership. It’s interesting to see Arts and Culture create an event of this scale and of this calibre, and I’m extremely excited to see where the event goes. On the other hand, the Scarlet and Gold Commission has been busy planning out holiday festivities for the Vic community. So far, our Winterfest events have been a hit, with many participants (even non-Vic friends!) coming in to chill with us. I’m really looking forward to our final March event and to seeing our commissions thriving.
COUNCILLOR VEDIKA JHA
I am a first-year councillor who is a member of the Academic Commission, the Equity Commission, and the Budget Steering Committee. With the Budget Steering Committee, we met several times over December and January to review the 2021 Winter budget for VUSAC, clubs, and levies. In our meetings, we made sure that there were no errors, inconsistencies, or left-out details in the budget. With the Academic Commission, I helped organize Networking Dinner, which was restructured to fit an online format. This event connected students with professionals from various fields and gave students the opportunity to learn more about potential paths to take after undergrad. I am working with the rest of the commission to plan future events such as an event to help first years select their programs, and events to help students prepare for exam season. With the Equity Commission, as well as the Academic Commission, I am helping to run a BIPOC Professional Studies Panel planned for late February. For the rest of the year, I hope to focus on events specifically catered towards first-year students, such as the Academic Commission event mentioned above. As a first-year councillor, I believe that I can effectively engage with other first years at Vic and motivate them to come to these wonderful events. In general, I hope to continue voicing my opinions in VUSAC meetings, being actively engaged in all of the commission events, and of course, learning lots.
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INTERNATIONAL COUNCILLOR STUTI ROY
Hi everyone! This semester has started off by implementing the ideas from last semester and expanding on new ways to connect with, and advocate for, international students. I have been lucky to work with our VPE, Mehr, on these initiatives! We have thought about ways to better interact with students including things like online events and Instagram takeovers. Following from last semester, the International Student Survey went up in January to get an idea of the specific areas of interests of internationals at Victoria College. The results of this survey are still coming in and I will structure the rest of the semester based on these results. Secondly, the Facebook group to connect the international community has been up since January it is nice to see some people join. The goal for the rest of the semester is to really engage with the community actively and bring the feedback I receive back to VUSAC. I have also been built connections with VISA, who have been a great source of community for international students. I look forward to engaging more with VISA and its members so as to better represent the diverse student body that makes up Victoria College. I am excited to continue this exciting work where actively engaging with the students at Victoria College is a key priority!
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