Weekly Briefs

<p>International education week This week marks International Education Week, which celebrates international students in Canada. The union, alongside the international office and the St. Thomas University International Students’ Association, organized events to commemorate the week. Ana Lucía Pavón, the international student representative, noted the lack of involvement from domestic students during the Global Connection Challenge, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>NBSA Advocacy Week The New Brunswick Student Alliance’s Advocacy Week will take place from Oct. 16 to 20 and  the St. Thomas University Students’ Union  (STUSU) will focus their advocacy on international students. “We’re attempting to understand and ensure that we are hearing the voice of the international students within our institution,” said STUSU president [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Drafting the Strategic Plan for 2023-25 St. Thomas University&#8217;s Students&#8217; Union presented a draft of its strategic plan for 2023-25 outlining its main five pillars: reconciliation, student-driven advocacy, student engagement and growth, transparency, and accountability and sustainability. Alex Nguyen, president of the St. Thomas University&#8217;s Students&#8217; Union, said the executive has worked on the draft [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Canada Student Grant advocacy The federal investments in Canada Student Grants (CSG) are set to decrease for the next academic year, powering advocacy from the St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union (STUSU) and the Canadian Association of Student Associations (CASA). CSG is a grant for full-time students in financial need. For the 2020-21 academic year, the [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Dates for general elections Minahil Fatima, vice president of administration at the St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union, said the nomination period for STUSU&#8217;s general election starts on Feb. 24 and runs until March 3. Those interested in running must have had one head nominator and nine nominations, as well as attend a mandatory candidate meeting [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Possible collaboration with CHSR-FM Alex Nguyen, president of the St. Thomas University&#8217;s Students&#8217; Union, said CHSR-FM reached out to the union to see how they can support the radio station and increase student engagement. &#8220;We can potentially be partnering up with them for upcoming campaigns,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I&#8217;m also going to put out an advertisement calling for closed [&hellip;]</p>

<p>New election process for valedictorian Alex Nguyen, president of the St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union, said the union, in collaboration with STU, proposed a new election process for the spring convocation valedictorian nomination and selection. The proposed changes include creating a selection committee compromised of senior administration, the president and student representatives. &#8220;We want to ensure [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Accessibility for parent students Alex Nguyen, president of the St. Thomas University&#8217;s Students&#8217; Union, said STUSU has been discussing accessibility issues for students with children in meetings with Kim Fenwick, STU&#8217;s vice-president of academic and research, and University Registrar Karen Preston. Nguyen said STU only has one bathroom on campus with a changing table, currently [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Winter Formal Estefania Martinez, activities coordinator for the St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union, said tickets for the Winter Formal will begin to sell on Nov. 29. The event is set for Dec. 8 at the Fredericton Inn starting at 8 p.m. with the theme &#8220;Gala Extravaganza.&#8221; Martinez said the venue&#8217;s capacity is 200 people, so [&hellip;]</p>

<p>More Than Tuition campaign update Alex Nguyen, president of the St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union, said members are working on a report based on the &#8220;More Than Tuition&#8221; campaign, which launched in the summer to tackle the assumption that tuition is the only concern for students. In the campaign&#8217;s first phase, STUSU surveyed students on [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Free Community Food Smart bags for all Victoria Young, St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union vice-president student life, said she had a meeting with the campus food bank committee where STUSU received a grant from Greater Fredericton Social Innovation and Agriculture Canada. The grant offered STUSU over $1,000 to be distributed to the campus food bank [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Affirmative Action Bursary Recipients St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union vice-president administration, Alex Nguyen, said out of the 70 Affirmative Action Bursary applications, 10 recipients were selected. Winter carnival becomes spring carnival St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union vice-president student life, Victoria Young, said the winter carnival that was being planned for before reading week will now [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Students&#8217; Union spring general election St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union president Tyler MaGee said nominations for STUSU&#8217;s spring general election open on Feb. 28. More information on election dates will be released this week. Affirmative Action Bursaries St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union vice-president administration Alex Nguyen said due to the high volume of Affirmative Action [&hellip;]</p>

<p>COVID-19 operations on campus Ryan Sullivan, associate vice-president enrolment, attended the weekly St. Thomas University Students’ Union meeting to address some student concerns about COVID-19 operations on campus and in residence. Sullivan, along with Kim Fenwick, attends weekly calls with other publicly-funded universities and colleges in New Brunswick, the department of post-secondary education, labour and [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Psychology Society ratified Alex Nguyen, St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union vice-president administration said STU&#8217;s governance committee ratified the psychology society. Global Brigades funding application Alex Nguyen, St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union vice-president administration, said Global Brigades requested $750, but STU&#8217;s finance committee recommended $700. Nguyen called for a vote from all the voting members of [&hellip;]</p>

<p>UNBSU Fredericton withdraws from NBSA Tyler MaGee, the St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union president, announced the University of New Brunswick Students&#8217; Union for the Fredericton campus decided to withdraw from its membership status with the New Brunswick Student Alliance. The decision was passed by UNBSU&#8217;s student representative council and will be effective starting in September. [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Transgender Day of Remembrance St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union president Tyler MaGee said the University of New Brunswick&#8217;s 203 Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity reached out to STUSU to co-host the Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony. The ceremony will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Nov. 20 in the Kinsella Auditorium, located in STU&#8217;s [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The University Women&#8217;s Centre Emily O&#8217;Donnell-Shaw, chair of the University Women&#8217;s Centre attended the St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union meeting on Oct. 17 to share information about the University Women&#8217;s Centre located in room 129 of the University of New Brunswick Students&#8217; Union Building. The centre is open to both STU and UNB students. They [&hellip;]</p>

<p>STUSU 2021 Fall By-Election The St. Thomas University Students&#8217; Union By-Election campaign period starts Oct. 4 at 12 a.m. and will close on Oct. 6 at 11:59 p.m. The voting period opens on Oct. 7 at 8 a.m. and closes Oct. 8 at 6:00 p.m. The results of the STUSU By-Election will be announced Oct. [&hellip;]</p>

<p>CASA honorarium St. Thomas University Students’ Union vice-president education Megan Cormier proposed creating an honorarium for her work with the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. She represented STU on the CASA board of directors, created a board action plan, chaired the CASA member relations committee meetings, created a committee action plan, attended conferences, updated the [&hellip;]</p>