Students' Union, UCalgary

SU @UCalgary

President’s Message: Rally for affordable housing, clubs week, and some important surveys

President’s Message: Rally for affordable housing, clubs week, and some important surveys 150 150 admin

Hello UCalgary,

There’s already a lot happening this fall, and we are only in the second week. Here is a quick list of upcoming events and ways you can help make sure student voices are being heard:

Rally for housing affordability this Thursday: see you on the bus!

Everyone knows someone who has struggled to find an affordable place to live this year. City councillors are voting on a Housing and Affordability Taskforce recommendation package that would make it easier to build more affordable housing for students and all Calgarians.

Let’s show city councillors that voting in favour of affordable housing is the right thing to do.

We have a bus to take rally attendees to City Hall. To join us on the bus, please meet us no later than 11:15 a.m. at the education bus loop located just off the intersection of University Drive and 24 Avenue NW (Google Maps link for visualization). Please note that space on the busses will be limited, so if you would like to come down and cannot meet us at that time, the C-Train runs directly from University Station directly to City Hall, and we will be joining the rally there at noon!

Join us at City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 14 at 12 p.m  – sign up now.

Give your feedback on course feedback (deadline Sept. 12)

The way in which students give feedback on their courses is changing – now is your chance to help design a better survey. Your VP Academic, Sandra Amin, is part of a committee to create surveys that are more intentional and inclusive. Give us your feedback at this link by Sept. 12.

Advocacy Survey

We are running an advocacy survey right now to learn how students feel about tuition and fees, employment, food insecurity, housing, and more. Your responses will guide our efforts on these issues. Please take a few minutes to fill out the SU Summer Advocacy Survey by Friday, Sept. 22.

SU By-Election nominations

Are you a leader in the campus community? Would you like to be? Consider running in the upcoming SU By-Election. We have five vacant Faculty Rep positions: Arts (2), Schulich School of Engineering (1), Nursing (1), and Veterinary Medicine (1). Nomination days are coming up Sept. 25 – 27. All the info you need is here on our website.

Apply to join an SU Committee (deadline Sept. 19 at 4:30 p.m.)

Looking for other ways to get involved on campus? We have student-at-large positions available on many different committees. See the whole list here.

Clubs Week is Sept. 18 – 22

Clubs Week is back in Mac Hall! Check out hundreds of different clubs, explore your interests, and make some new friends. You can preview the whole Clubs list here, or just drop by Mac Hall North and South Courtyards all next week.

Pet Therapy

The puppies are back, too. Join us on Wednesday, Sept. 20 from 12 – 1:30 p.m. in That Empty Space (lower level Mac Hall), and enjoy a visit with our friends from PALS.

Are you an undergraduate researcher?

Have you spent some time in the lab and made a unique discovery? Will your critical analysis lead to positive social change? Share your accomplishments at the Undergraduate Research Symposium for the chance to win a scholarship. Abstracts are due Sept. 29 at 4:00 p.m. For more information or to submit an abstract, visit our website.

81st Executive Annual Plan 23-34

Last but not least, SLC voted last week to approve our Executive Annual Plan for 2023-24. You can find the annual plan and last year’s Report to the Community on our website.

Shaziah,
Your Students’ Union President


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President’s Message: More things to know in September

President’s Message: More things to know in September 150 150 admin

Hello UCalgary,

I hope you had a chance to check out Monday’s email that featured a list of welcome back events (the first event is Friday: Dinos Kickoff Tailgate at McMahon Stadium). This email is going to focus on what your SU has been up to, as well as some of the other things you should know for September.

Advocacy update

We’ve been busy all summer working on issues that impact students:

  • speaking to media and raising awareness about the student housing crisis;
  • working with the SU Wellness Centre to get students access to walk-ins this fall; and
  • working with university admin to make sure students would have real term breaks without assignments due.

There is so much more, and if you want a full recap of our summer, check out our advocacy blog.

Speaking of advocacy, we are running a survey right now to learn as much as we can about your priorities and make sure we are putting our efforts in the right places. Please take a few minutes to fill out the SU Summer Advocacy Survey by Friday, Sept. 22.

Run in the SU By-Election

Maybe you want to join us! Have you ever thought about being a faculty rep? We are having a By-Election to fill vacancies in Arts (2), Schulich School of Engineering (1), Nursing (1), and Veterinary Medicine (1). All the details are available here.

Choose your locker

Need a locker? My first year locker was in Professional Faculties on the way to the bus loop, and it turned out to be the perfect place to keep my winter boots. Reserve locker through your my.ucalgary.ca student centre.

Health and Dental Plan – make your changes by Sept. 22.

Finally, if you don’t have alternate health and dental coverage, the SU’s got you covered. The deadline to opt-out, add family, or re-enroll is Sept. 22 and you can do so by clicking here. (Note that family must be added yearly). If you’ve already opted out, you’re set – you only have to opt out once during your university career.

I’ll be back with another update soon. In the meantime, the best way to stay up to date is to follow the SU on Instagram or TikTok at @SUUofC.

Shaziah,
Your Students’ Union President


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Advocacy Blog: Updates From Summer 2023

Advocacy Blog: Updates From Summer 2023 150 150 admin

The SU executives have been busy over the summer, transitioning into their roles, working to have student issues heard in the media, and preparing for the fall semester. Cultivating strong relationships at all levels of government has been a key priority for the elected SU executives. Over the summer SU executives have had the opportunity to meet with the UCP Minister of Advanced Education, Minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism, and many elected NDP MLAs. Read all about what we accomplished this summer, as well as what we are still working on!

Affordable housing solutions cannot wait

For the second consecutive year, UCalgary on-campus residences are completely full, leaving many students scrambling for alternatives. Vacancy rates in Calgary are the lowest in nearly a decade, and prices have increased rapidly. Many students are struggling to find affordable housing near the university and are being forced to live far from campus, often in areas poorly served by transit.

The SU is here to help fight back. To provide assistance immediately, we put a call to action out for all Calgarians with a spare room or rental to consider renting to a student and posting it on the SU’s housing partner’s website at www.places4students.com. Calgarians showed up for students and played a key role in helping many students find a safe place to live. Anyone with a place to rent can continue to post listings on the SU’s housing partner’s website at www.places4students.com. The immense support from Calgarians coming together to support students when they need it most has been heartwarming, but the need to support folks being impacted by the housing crisis doesn’t stop there.

Looking at the bigger picture, the SU is advocating to the city council the importance of supporting and implementing the housing affordability recommendations, which will be brought to committee on September 14th. The recommendations are essential for students and Calgarians alike, to address the housing challenges that folks are currently facing. The SU advocacy team will be speaking to city councillors before this meeting to express the need to pass all 33 housing recommendations and the significant impact that the housing crisis is having on students. Join the SU at City Hall on September 14th to stand in support of the housing recommendations!

Taking a big STEP forward

Did you have trouble finding a summer job between the school years? You weren’t alone. This summer, youth unemployment was double the provincial average, pushing many students further into debt and unable to make ends meet. With increased tuition and cost of living, many students need full-time work in the summer to support themselves and afford tuition.

The Summer Temporary Employment Program (STEP) helped students find meaningful work over the summer, but that program was cancelled in 2019 and has not been replaced since. This summer, we met with multiple government officials expressing the importance of reimplementing a temporary jobs program that supports students and helps connect them to employers. This work will continue throughout the year in hopes of providing students with more options to gain temporary employment opportunities next summer.

Making progress here on campus

A big win that is just in time for the fall semester is that your term breaks will now be actual breaks. The university has recognized that term break is a time for students to prioritize their mental health and well-being, free of academic assessments. Even though the 2018-19 calendar recognized that term breaks were critical aspects of student well-being and mental health, we heard from many of you that it didn’t feel like a break with so many assignments still due in your courses. Our SU President Shaziah Jinnah Morsette started the fight to make sure that student mental health was made a priority during her term as VP Academic last year and has seen that fight through this year. We are overjoyed to have the university commit to respecting students’ need for time to rest and take care of their well-being ahead of this fall semester. Relevant policy changes to ensure that their statement can be enforced will be worked on by the University this governance year. Term breaks this academic year will be held during the fall and winter semesters from November 12-18th and February 18 –24th, respectively. Read the full statement from the University on the Term Break Resources website here for more details.

Tuition prices remain a major issue for students, and it is important to have your voice heard. The SU is working with the university to finalize a tuition and fee consultation guide. This is especially important to ensure that student consultation is consistent and meaningful throughout discussions regarding tuition and fee increases. The SU continues to advocate on behalf of students in these discussions and determining how best to foster ongoing communications between the university, the student body, and the Students’ Union.

In 2020 the university paused the use of Academic Regulation relating to Supporting Documentation and Statutory Declaration (M.1), announcing plans this past June to reinstate this policy. The SU fought heavily for the university to pause the reinstatement of the regulation before having thorough student consultation because this policy does not work for students, but the university moved forward with reinstating the policy anyway. However, because of continued advocacy, the SU has received a commitment from the university to work together on a holistic review of regulations around absences due to illness for assessments.

Demand at the SU Campus Food Bank keeps increasing as student costs skyrocket. The SU Campus Food Bank has been actively supporting the campus community for over 30 years and worked tirelessly over the summer to continue to support folks. To expand the SU Food Bank capacity, the SU hired a third food bank coordinator to help support outreach and awareness efforts, food literacy education, and food hamper preparations. To donate or access resources from the SU Campus Food Bank visit here.

If that wasn’t enough for you, we also have two meaningful wins to benefit students coming back to school! First is that walk-ins at the wellness centre are back for students. The SU has been working with the SU Wellness Centre to bring walk-in appointments back to better support students. Second, club funding has also been streamlined, meaning it’s now easier for clubs to access funds for events and activities. Learn more about Clubs here.

SU executives extending advocacy efforts

Finally, the executives have extended their advocacy efforts at municipal and federal levels through collaboration with other post-secondaries. Vice President External Mateusz Salmassi was elected the Director of Advocacy for the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. Through this role, he elevates the advocacy work the SU does by collaborating with other student associations across Canada to fight for student needs federally. The hot button issues this summer have been housing and student affordability, as mentioned earlier in our blog.

SU President Shaziah Jinnah Morsette was elected as chair of the Calgary Student Alliance (CSA) at the beginning of her term, representing 120,000 postsecondary students on municipal issues in Calgary. This role allows her to amplify the voices of postsecondary students in Calgary, by collaborating towards common goals and bringing attention to the challenges students in Calgary are currently facing. Significant efforts from Shaziah and the CSA have been focused on housing and the upcoming city committee meeting on September 14th. The work that she has undertaken to strengthen the relationships among postsecondary institutions in Calgary has been vital to further the SU’s advocacy reach.

President’s Message: Welcome Events!

President’s Message: Welcome Events! 150 150 Gene Baines

Hello and welcome back, UCalgary students!

If I haven’t had the chance to meet you yet, my name is Shaziah Jinnah Morsette and I am your Students’ Union President. You’ll get an email like this from me a few times each month to let you know what the SU is up to, but this one is all about fun events.

September is packed with events where you can meet new friends, learn about the SU’s services, and pick up some fun swag. Join us at:

Dinos’ Kickoff Tailgate Party – Sept. 1 at McMahon Stadium

The Dinos are playing UAlberta Golden Bears on Friday, Sept. 1 at McMahon Stadium. We’ve teamed up with the Dinos and UCalgary Alumni to host the Kickoff Tailgate Party starting at 3:30 p.m. on the east side of McMahon Stadium. Join us for a free barbecue, games and prizes, a petting zoo, live music, and Dunk-a-Dino in support of the SU Campus Food Bank.

Welcome Fair in Mac Hall – Sept. 5 and 6

Next week, join us in the Mac Hall courtyards for a Welcome Fair on Sept. 5 and 6 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This is a great place to stop by and learn about volunteer opportunities, clubs, concerts, and other SU programs. Pick up some swag and enter to win some prizes, too.

Trivia Nights are back at The Den, starting Sept. 12

Have you heard of the Den, yet? Best place to get wings or nuggets on campus, and they’ve got Trivia Nights planned all semester. (The first one is The Office on Sept. 12!)

Clubs Week in Mac Hall – Sept. 18 – 22

One of the best ways to make new friends and enrich your student experience is to join a club. Hundreds of clubs will be there, and the best advice I can give you is to join at least one.

Live Music in Mac Hall

Mac Hall Concerts has a huge list of shows this fall, including Erin Nam, Cooper Alan, and The Beaches. Get on the mailing list or follow us @macewanhall so that you always know who’s coming to town.

I’ll be back later this week with another quick list of “things you need to know”. In the meantime, the best way to stay up to date is to follow the SU on Instagram or TikTok at @SUUofC.

Shaziah
Students’ Union President

Arlington Antonio Santiago – Biography

Arlington Antonio Santiago – Biography 150 150 admin

Vice President Operations & Finance

Arlington is originally from Barranquilla, Colombia. After being displaced at age three, he became a political refugee and entered Canada via Montreal as a protected person at the age of five. He moved again to northeast Calgary a few years later. Growing up, Arlington loved making others laugh. He also enjoyed anime, playing street fútbol, and baking bread at his parents’ family business.

In 2021, as a first-time volunteer with the Falconridge-Castleridge Community Association, Arlington was elected Secretary and joined the Board of Directors. The association accessed a grant to install solar panels that reduced the operating cost down to zero, enhancing the quality of services offered by the community centre. Later that year, Arlington also volunteered as a project manager to build a fit park dedicated to an underfunded and underdeveloped part of the city.

Arlington’s journey so far has taught him to be proud of overcoming setbacks, and what it means to make important improvements to structures of power in his local community. He is passionate about breaking down barriers to entry when it comes to post-secondary education such as the cost of education, access to affordable housing and proper economic development conditions for students. He will be the first but certainly not the last member of his nuclear family to attend university and graduate with more than just a degree.

Arlington is in the Faculty of Arts, with majors in Political Science, Law and Society, and Sociology. Over his time as an undergraduate, he has been studying the possibility of an anticipatory post-work society.

Arlington loves to work out and go for long walks around the Bow River with his dog, a CattleJack named Astro-Juice (AJ for short). He aims to hike five times this summer and go for at least one winter hike. Arlington is big fan of Manchester City Fútbol, and can be also found at the library reading manga, geo-political economy and watching a wide variety of documentaries.

Ermia Rezaei-Afsah – Biography

Ermia Rezaei-Afsah – Biography 150 150 admin

Vice President Student Life

Ermia Rezaei-Afsah grew up in Tehran, Iran, and moved to Calgary when he was 10 years old. As a kid he loved trivia and geography, and was interested in world history and politics even as young as seven years old.

After serving last year as an SU Faculty of Arts Representative on the 80th SLC, Ermia was elected to VP Student Life. His passion for equity and accessibility is informed by his experience as an immigrant to Canada and by his experience as a student trying to navigate the university system to access resources. His practice in the latter turned him into an advocate to help others navigate the system as well. These experiences are what inspired him to run for VP Student Life.

He has previously worked at a farmer’s market and landscaping. He has been a part of clubs such as the History Students’ Association, Food Justice Now, Philosophia, and Students for Direct Action.

Ermia is majoring in History and Anthropology, with a minor in Latin American Studies. He is most interested in Middle Eastern and Latin American history and their intersections. His favourite subjects are culinary history and the history of food.

His interest in cooking stems from an interest in both learning about other cultures and carrying on his own. Ermia likes to learn recipes through learning about the context and politics behind the dish. Food is a great way to connect, and he loves to host and create space for people. His interest food in naturally led him to gardening, and includes different growing techniques, light woodworking, growing things on a budget, growing culturally important produce in very different climates, and more.

Ermia loves to cook complex and unique food and grows as many ingredients as he can. He knows how to ferment foods and make his own yogurt, cheese, fermented pickles, sauces, kombucha, among other things. He even knows how make vinegar from scratch. He also loves preserving produce by making jams, vinegar pickles, and Cheong-style preserves (Cheongs are Korean syrups made with zero-heat). His four food obsessions are tea, yogurt, olive oil, and vinegar. He’s also obsessed with pasta.

Mateusz Salmassi – Biography

Mateusz Salmassi – Biography 150 150 admin

Vice President External

Mateusz Salmassi grew up in Los Angeles, California. He was a quiet and shy kid, spending a lot of his time reading classics such as Charles Dickens. Mateusz also played a lot of soccer, even dreaming of becoming a professional soccer player.

His first job was canvassing for Greenpeace; the role connected his passion for politics with an understanding of the power of face-to-face conversation. Mateusz went on to advocate for a public health care system for the state of California, and brought these political inclinations with him when he moved to Calgary.

While he was the founder and president of the Student’s for Direct Action (SDA) and president of the Faculty of Arts Students’ Association (FASA), Mateusz acted as a student liaison for student organizers and bookstore workers helping to defeat the proposed privatization of the UCalgary bookstore. He also worked for the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation and was a Canada Food Guide Ambassador for Meal Exchange, where he worked on on-campus food insecurity.

Mateusz decided to run for the SU VP External when he realized that the most effective way to make the changes he wanted to see made was to enact them himself, and the SU was the perfect vehicle for enacting these changes. His experiences dealing with the restrictions placed on international students and with rent and food insecurity further fuelled his passion for change. In addition to these issues, Mateusz is also passionate about creating more democratic culture at universities, empowering students with the tools to exercise their political power within the university and the government. Student apathy is actually student hopelessness, and hopelessness can be overcome.

Mateusz is studying Psychology under the Faculty of Arts, completing a certificate in Sustainability Studies. He has aspirations to complete a Masters in Social Work. While he originally wanted to become a counselling therapist, the love he developed for advocacy and grassroots organizing has pushed him towards a path where he can pursue both. That being said, he is open to following the journey of life, which often takes us on unpredictable paths.

In his free time, Mateusz likes to garden. He also likes to spend time together with friends and family. When he goes back to visit Los Angeles, Mateusz loves to go out, enjoy Mexican and Persian cuisine, and dance. His favourite sports team is the soccer team FC Barcelona, and he can juggle a soccer ball an infinite number of times.

Sandra Amin – Biography

Sandra Amin – Biography 150 150 admin

Vice President Academic

Sandra Amin has always been bright, both in demeanor and intelligence. The Egyptian education system’s fierce competitiveness, as well as a drive to succeed, meant she spent much of her younger years studying. Her world would quickly change as she was a firsthand witness to the violence and instability that swept the nation during and after the Arab Spring. At the age of ten, she moved to Canada.

After serving last year as a Science Faculty Rep, Sandra was elected as VP Academic for the 81st SLC. She built an impressive portfolio as a Science Rep, hitting the ground running by spearheading the Open Educational Resource campaign. Her strong sense of responsibility and empathy have empowered her to make sure every student’s voice is heard. She firmly believes that change is necessary for post-secondary education, and this change is the reason she ran for office. While the world is quickly changing with the prevalence of remote work and AI, so too is our education system. She aims to reimagine assessments for a modern student, as well as ensure all students know their academic rights. She believes that the university must be prepared to support all students, through accommodating neurodivergence and offering greater mental health supports.

Sandra is studying neuroscience with a certificate in Wellness. After initially aiming to become a doctor to help others, her interests have expanded to include AI, software, politics, and policy.

In high school, Sandra volunteered for the Veteran’s Food Bank and CAWST (A Safe Water For All Initiative). More recently, she volunteered for Calgary’s Future. She has also worked as a DRO for Elections Canada.

Sandra is a singer – Disney songs are her specialty! – and dancer who can do leaps, splits, and pirouettes. In her spare time, Sandra loves to crochet, build puzzles, and play volleyball.

Shaziah Jinnah Morsette – Biography

Shaziah Jinnah Morsette – Biography 150 150 admin

President

Born and raised in Calgary’s north east, Shaziah Jinnah Morsette continues to call the area home. Shaziah describes her childhood self as a “major nerd” who was also obsessed with dance and fashion. As a daughter of a refugee, she always had questions to ask, and was always creating connections in her mind, which she now attributes to undiagnosed ADHD.

The academic landscape is not friendly to all identities; including racialized folks to those with neurodiversities, and all the intersections in between. This is an issue that Shaziah can speak on with experience, having been placed on special academic probation in 2017 and navigating the process that took her from the Academic Turnaround Program to the Dean’s list, and being elected to Vice President Academic of the Students’ Union (SU).

Shaziah was featured for a Community Stories video with the Campus Mental Health Strategy, empowering others who share similar barriers to aspire to leadership positions. Ultimately, Shaziah prides herself on being an authentic and vulnerable leader, bringing both her failures and successes to the table.

In 2022-23, as the SU’s Vice President Academic, Shaziah advocated for a formal policy to prevent online exam proctoring and breaking down the stigma between mental health and academic success, leading her to continue to advocate for several policy changes regarding due dates over term break and access to experiential learning opportunities.

As an interdisciplinary student in the Faculty of Arts, Shaziah is pursuing an honours degree in Communications, and a degree in Multidisciplinary Studies with a primary focus on Political Science, and a secondary focus on Psychology. She also has two embedded certificates in Mental Wellbeing and Resiliency, and Pluralism and Global Citizenship. Her studies have led her to focus on post-secondary pedagogy practices and policies, including the future directions of liberal arts institutions and market-driven educational discourse.

You can find Shaziah spending time with her husband and their pitbull, Xena, catching up with her close friends, camping or gardening through the summer, and listening to audiobooks year-round.

Release: City Council fails students, misses opportunity to address housing crisis

Release: City Council fails students, misses opportunity to address housing crisis 150 150 Michael Brown

Calgary – Calgary City Council defeated expert housing recommendations yesterday that would have created additional housing units and taken a first step to addressing Calgary’s housing crisis, a crisis students are acutely feeling again this year. A handful of students resorted to temporarily living in their vehicles as they could not find housing last year.

City Council’s refusal to take action on housing will compound an already difficult housing supply and housing market. As students begin to look for housing ahead of a return to Calgary for their studies in September, Council has thrown up additional and unnecessary barriers that affect students and vulnerable Calgarians.

“There’s no other way to say it: Eight members of City Council have made a bad situation worse. Students are at a breaking point and have been left behind by these members of Council,” says Mateusz Salmassi, Students’ Union VP External. “Let’s be clear about what those eight members of Council voted against, they voted against 1,000 additional homes and 3,000 affordable housing units added per year above the normal number of homes. They voted against enabling secondary and backyard suites to add to housing supply. These are basic measures that Calgarians support.”

In the City of Calgary 2022 Fall Survey of Calgarians, affordable housing was identified as one of the areas of lowest satisfaction with the City. A great majority of Calgarians (78%) identified affordable housing as an important City program, with 74% calling for the City to invest in such housing. Investment in affordable housing was top of the list when Calgarians were asked about investment in programs.

“City Council is well aware that Calgary’s reputation as an affordable city is at risk,” says Salmassi. “City Council has money to pay 97% of the up-front cost of the new arena, but apparently neither the money nor the will to support lower income Calgarians, including students, when it comes to housing. This decision risks Calgary’s competitive advantage and risks losing the young, educated people in our city. If they can’t find housing, how can they stay and why would they want to? This decision puts Calgary’s economic future at risk.”

For the second year in a row, residence buildings on the UCalgary campus will be full and the university has no plans to add residence units in the near future. In addition, the University District, a development overseen by the university, has frozen out students by making units largely unaffordable.

On top of that, housing in close proximity to the university remains unavailable or unaffordable for students. Students are being pushed into unsafe rental housing or housing in the far corners of the city, poorly served by transit. This should not happen in a city like Calgary.

While the recommendations may not have had an immediate impact on these concerns, approval would have allowed for the creation of more secondary suites and other housing that would be safe and affordable for students in the medium and long term.

Media Inquiries may be directed to:
Mike Brown
Manager, Communications & Government Relations
Michael.brown1@ucalgary.ca // 403-560-0577