Hello MRU students,

We are your 2022/2023 Representation Executive Council (REC). REC is comprised of four MRU students just like you who were elected by MRU’s student body and hired by the Student Governing Board to represent student issues to MRU and all levels of government. 

The 2022/2023 executive team is:

REC President, Joseph Nguyen
Vice-President Academic, Yasmin Ahmed
Vice-President External, Vacant*
Vice-President Student Affairs, Pamela Malec
*The responsibilities of the VP External are being managed by the remaining members of REC until the 2023-24 REC begins at the end of April.

In this post, we want to let you know about the highlights of our advocacy work from February 2023.

Summary:
CAUS Counterparts and Advocacy week
GOTV pledge event
Student Employment and Work-Integrated Learning
Program Changes at MRU
Student Input on the Academic Calendar
Mandatory Indigenous 3-Credit Course Update
REC Members Speaking at Events
Hiring a Director of Student Success and Learning

CAUS Counterparts and Advocacy week

• From February 18th to the 24th, Pamela and Joseph were in Edmonton to attend two conferences put on by the Council of Alberta University Students (CAUS). CAUS is a student-led provincial advocacy group that SAMRU is a member of. The Counterparts conference was held on the long weekend to bring student executives from across Alberta together to share information and build relationships.

• Then, from Tuesday to Friday, student leaders from across Alberta participated in an Advocacy Week with the goal of discussing student issues with provincial politicians and other stakeholders. For example, Joseph met with the Minister of Advanced Education, Alberta Food Matters, the Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services, and Alberta Innovates, amongst others. 

GOTV pledge event

• On February 13th, REC hosted an event to gather student pledges as part of our ongoing Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaign. Pledges for Donuts was a great success. We gave away all 600 donuts and gathered just as many pledges! We’re well on our way to reaching our target of 1000 pledges and have a plan in place to reach that goal.

• Anyone that has pledged or will pledge to vote, including in this event,  will be entered to win one of five $20 gift cards to West Gate Social. You have until April 3rd, 2023, to be considered for the draw. Pledge at this link now! 

Student Employment and Work-Integrated Learning

• On February 7th, 2023, at a meeting with Cecilia Moore, the Post Secondary Specialist from the Calgary Youth Employment Centre, President Nguyen offered the opinion that students at MRU should know more about the resources available to them regarding career/employment support. President Nguyen suggested that Cecilia and her team focus on marketing and meeting students where they’re at to further their reach and help their services be known to students.

Program Changes at MRU

• On February 7th, 2023, at APCC, President Nguyen and VP Ahmed voted yes in favour of major program changes in the Bachelor of Nursing. These changes include utilizing CASPer tests (which assess candidates’ non-technical skills and situational judgment) and clarification of the intent of the calendar language regarding graduation requirements.

Student Input on the Academic Calendar

• Each academic year, MRU makes changes to the academic calendar, which impacts programs, courses, prerequisites, etc. At a meeting with key MRU decision-makers, Yasmin argued that student feedback should be collected prior to the changes being made and in person, allowing students a meaningful opportunity to contribute informed responses to these changes. 

Mandatory Indigenous 3-Credit Course Update

• Back in our November 2022 blog, we included an update on how MRU is currently developing a mandatory 3-credit Indigenous course requirement for all programs. We wanted to provide an update on this ongoing work – back in November, Yasmin advocated for this component to be delivered through the GNED foundational courses. We are pleased to report that this idea may be gaining traction. REC will continue to push for this approach. 

REC Members Speaking at Black History Month Events

• In February, REC members represented SAMRU at events celebrating Black History Month. These included:
  • Yasmin was a panellist for the MRU Office of EDI’s Scarborough Charter Event, which discussed anti-Black racism and Black inclusion in Canadian higher education. It was great to see an audience of key stakeholders taking part in this extremely important discussion.
  • Pamela represented SAMRU at an MRU event celebrating Black leadership, togetherness, and belonging and gave a speech focusing on SAMRU’s contributions to the topic. 

Hiring a Director of Student Success and Learning

• Throughout February, Yasmin was involved in the interview process for MRU’s new Director of Student Success and Learning. With the search now concluded, Yasmin is pleased to welcome Alena Bocheck to MRU and is looking forward to working with them to improve the student experience.
  

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Thanks for reading!

We, your REC members, are employed in our respective roles full-time over twelve months, which means that every day is full of advocacy and representation happening behind the scenes dedicated to improving your student experience at MRU. 

Keep your eyes open for updates, statements, and more on these and other upcoming initiatives on social media by following the SAMRU REC Twitter @SAMRUREC. If you have questions, email us at representation@samru.ca. You can also visit this link to learn more about the four REC members this year, view updated position descriptions of each member of REC, as well as learn how to potentially become an elected student representative yourself!