Minutes for the 19th meeting of the

78th Students’ Legislative Council

6:30PM, October 20th, 2020—Zoom Video Conference
Speaker: D. Anselmo — Official: N. Flemming

The meeting came to order at 6:30PM.

1. Treaty 7 Territory Recognition

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the traditional territories of the people
of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, which includes the Blackfoot Confederacy
(comprising the Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai First Nations), the Tsuut’ina First Nation, and
the Stoney Nakoda (including the Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Wesley First Nations). The City
of Calgary is also home to Métis Nation of Alberta, Region III. I would also like to note that
the University of Calgary is situated on land adjacent to where the Bow River meets the
Elbow River, and that the traditional Blackfoot name of this place is “Moh’kins’tsis”, which
we now call the City of Calgary.

2. Quorum Check

The Speaker noted that quorum is present and the business of the meeting could begin.

PRESENT
Frank Finley, President
Semhar Abraha, Vice President Academic
Marley Gillies, Vice President External
Assad Ali Bik, Vice President Student Life
Mohammad Ali, Vice President Operations and Finance
Fayo Abdi, Faculty of Arts
Justin Gotta, Faculty of Arts
Caitlin Hornbeck, Faculty of Arts
Malika Qurishi, Faculty of Arts
Shagufta Farheen, Haskayne School of Business
Aly Samji, Haskayne School of Business
Naomi Shaw, Werklund School of Education
Juan Sanchez, Schulich School of Engineering
Bharat Uppal, Schulich School of Engineering
Deyana Altahsh, Faculty of Kinesiology
Dalal Souraya, Faculty of Law
Pranav Khosla, Cumming School of Medicine
Jasleen Brar, Cumming School of Medicine
Jonah Feng, Faculty of Nursing
 Pragya Chopra, Faculty of Science
Manpreet Sahota, Faculty of Science
Chaten Jessel, Faulty of Science
Jovanna Rodney, Faculty of Social Work
Douglas Doyle-Baker, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

GUESTS
Gordon, Board of Governors Representative
K. Koehler, Editor in Chief, The Gauntlet
G. Sahota, Business Manager, The Gauntlet

3. Conflict Check

The Speaker noted no declared conflicts of interest.

4. Approval of the Minutes: October 13th, 2020.

Motion: To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

(A. Samji/M. Qurishi)
Motion Carried

5. Approval of the Agenda

Motion: To approve the agenda.

(A. Ali Bik/M. Gillies)
Motion Carried

6. SU Announcements
D. Souraya announced that there is an upcoming Indigenous and Black student Law
admission session. D. Souraya added that Student Legal Assistance is part of students’
tuition.

C. Hornbeck announced that starting the week on October 19th, she will be hosting Zoom
office hours every Tuesday from 2:00-3:00pm and Friday from 10:00-11:00am.

D. Altahsh announced that J. Brar, F. Abdi, N. Shaw and herself are hosting a “Building
Resiliency Through Self-Care” workshop next Tuesday at 1:00pm.

J. Gotta announced that The Arts monthly newsletter, September edition, is now live along
with the first installment of the Arts Reps monthly survey. The survey is now open for
students to complete and students will be entered to win a $50.00 Skip the Dishes gift
card.

M. Gillies announced that the Government of Alberta has released a survey for students to
share their opinions about the future of post-secondary education.

7. Consultations
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a) The Gauntlet Annual Report Consultation – K. Koehler and G. Sahota (30 minutes)

K. Koehler and G. Sahota shared an Annual report presentation with SLC.

K. Koehler and G. Sahota shared that the Gauntlet Publications Society (the Gauntlet)
went through institutional changes over the 2019-20 term. The biggest change is due to
COVID-19, with the Gauntlet transitioning from a mostly-in person operation to solely
online operations on March 13th, 2020. With the uncertainty of the pandemic, the Gauntlet
followed the guidance of the Students’ Union and the University of Calgary until more
information was available in order to resume physical production of the publication. Further
institutional changes include reexamination of their policies and protocols, formalizing
said protocols and overseeing advertising in-house. An annual general meeting (AGM) for
the fiscal year from May 1st, 2019 to April 30th, 2020 would have been held in late April with
the exception of this past year. Main expenses for the year were the printing of the paper,
salaries, and professional fees. Once COVID-19 became a global pandemic, the Gauntlet
only missed three printing runs for this term, a cost difference of $9,272 as compared to
the previous fiscal year. Due to COVID-19, The Gauntlet will schedule an AGM in the Fall
2020 semester in which the items discussed in this report will be presented.

K. Koehler and G. Sahota shared that in growing efforts to increase readership, the
Editorial Board was recently expanded to include a new section, Voices, to bring the
Gauntlet's opportunities to marginalized students on campus and students who have a
unique perspective. A Science and Technology section was added to appeal to faculty
majors that do not usually volunteer with the society such as the sciences and business.
Additionally, social media platforms are used by tagging interested parties such as
professors who were interviewed or other interviewees, in order to increase their reach.

A. Ali Bik asked about the sustainability efforts around printing newspapers. K. Koehler
answered that The Gauntlet has connections with K-12 educational facilities who pick old
newspapers up for crafts. The Gauntlet also has connections with the Arts facilities at the
university. Lastly, The Gauntlet monitors how many newspapers are picked up from stands
each month and adjusts according to demand.

b) Board of Governors Post-Report – A. Gordon (15 minutes)

A. Gordon gave a verbal report to SLC. A. Gordon shared that students should prepare for
more tuition increases and that Provost and Vice-President (Academic) Dr. Marshall said
that there will be townhalls regarding tuition over the next six weeks. Tuition will be an
action item during the December Board of Governors meeting.

The Board was presented with the University of Calgary’s 2020 Main Campus Landscape
Plan (MCLP). This will set the direction for future development and maintaining existing
landscapes. This plan incorporates elements of ii' taa'poh'to'p, the Campus Mental Health
Strategy and the Institutional Sustainability Strategy.

The Board heard a presentation regarding the upcoming release of the University’s 2020
Institutional Sustainability Report highlighting the University’s annual progress towards the

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 Institutional Sustainability Strategy (ISS) goals. The final report will be released during the
week of October 26th with an interactive website.

The Board was presented with a completed Child Health and Wellness (CHW) Research
Strategy. This strategy is a joint initiative with Alberta Children’s Hospital, Alberta Health
Services and community partners to address child health & wellness nationally. This
strategy will be shared publicly in November 2020.

A. Ali Bik asked how A. Gordon plans on transitioning her focus and goals now that the
new Board of Governor’s Representative has been elected. A. Gordon responded that she
has reached out to the upcoming representative to help them through the transition and
offer herself as a support system.

A. Ali Bik expressed concerns about the performative nature of having University Town
Halls to get input about tuition changes even thought the University has already made
decisions. A. Gordon stated that Town Halls are still an opportunity to hear the voices of
students, and Town Halls are better than nothing. C. Hornbeck asked about student
consultation other than Town Halls. A. Gordon responded that the other forms of
consultation were with the Students’ Union and Graduate Students’ Association.

M. Sahota stated that one of the ways SLC raised awareness for town halls was by
promoting it through the Gauntlet. M. Sahota expressed concerns over Town Halls being
at inconvenient times such as at noon on a weekday.

8. Reports
a) Executive Reports

President F. Finley provided the following report:

Internal Business
• Attended a University of Calgary Board of Governors meeting
o Discussed the campus landscape plan, and made recommendations
regarding lighting and student safety
o Discussed the Child Health and Wellness research theme
• Attended a meeting with President E. McCauley
o Made recommendations regarding the Growth Through Focus strategic
plan.
o Invited President McCauley to attend SLC for further consultation.
• Attended a meeting of the Tuition and Fees Consultation Committee along with
Vice President Gilles
o Discussed internal processes of student consultation with regards to
tuition and fee changes.
• Attended an Intercultural Conflict Styles Session
o Explored differences in work and communication styles.
• Attended a plethora of other internal meetings, including executive sessions,
numerous preparation sessions, and strategic planning meetings.

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 External Business
• Attended a meeting with UCSU’s Canadian Alliance of Student Associations
(CASA) board liaison.
o Discussed ongoing federal advocacy and compared institutional issues.

Vice President Academic S. Abraha provided the following report:

Internal Business
• Attended the Intercultural Conflict Styles workshop with fellow executives on
October 15th.
• Attend meetings with C. Jessel, to discuss QM applications.
• Conducted interviews for students who applied to join her Equity, Diversity and
Inclusion (EDI) Writing Group.
• Conducted research to better understand means to frame discussions around Open
Educational Resources.

Vice President External M. Gilles provided the following report:

Internal Business
• Had a preparation meeting for Tuition and Fees Consultation Committee.

External Business
• Attended the National Advocacy Committee through CASA.
• Attended the Student Leaders Intro to Government session through the Ministry of
• Advanced Education.
• Attended the AB Student Leaders Call.
• Chaired the October Calgary Student Alliance (CSA) meeting.
• Had a call with Alberta Counsel Political Consulting Firm.
• The executives attended a meeting with Dr. Hart, Vice Provost (Indigenous
Engagement).
• Attended the Student Engagement Working Group through Senate.
• Attended the Council of Alberta University Students (CAUS) weekly meeting.
• Had a CSA Chair and Vice-Chair meeting with SAITSA VP External.
• Continued planning for the Meet Your City Councilor Event.
• Attended a Student and Enrollment Services (SES) Executives meeting with the
other SU Executives.

Vice President Student Life A. Ali Bik provided the following report:
Internal Business
• Met with General Manager J. Marshall regarding Bermuda Shorts Day.
• Prepped for a meeting with Vice Provost (Indigenous Engagement) Dr. Hart with M.
Plottel, External Communications Specialist.

External Business
• Attended an International Student Support Network Committee (ISSN) to discuss
updates on international students.
• Conducted a radio interview with 770 radio.

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 • Attended EDI Week planning committee lead by Vice-Provost (Equity Diversity
Inclusion) Dr. M. Smith to discuss potential events, workshops, EDI awards and
keynote speakers.
• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Task Force held their first meeting. They discussed
the Terms of Reference, SU programs and services and had a roundtable
discussion for objectives of the Task Force.
• Participated in Intercultural Conflict Styles workshop lead by G. Beatty, International
Student Advisor.
• Attended the last half of the Senate Governance Committee meeting.

Vice President Operations and Finance M. Ali provided the following report:
Internal Business
• Took part in interviewing candidates who applied for the SU Payroll Coordinator
position.

b) Committee Chair Reports

As chair of Operations and Finance Committee, M. Ali provided the following report:
• Met on October 19th to discuss updates.

As chair of Undergraduate Research Symposium Working Group, S. Abraha provided the

following report:
• Met this week to select participants for 2020- 2021 academic year. This year, 96
applications were received, and 52 have been selected.

As chair of Teaching Excellence Award Committee, S. Abraha provided the following

report:
• Met twice this week to complete committee training. This year there are five
students-at-large, six faculty representatives, and two SU Students Staff on the
committee.

As chair of Cabinet Committee, F. Finley provided the following report:

• Committee met on October 13th.

c) Faculty Representative Reports

Fayo Abdi, Faculty of Arts, provided the following report:

• Promoted the SU Fall Harvest food drive and SU by-election on social media.
• Met with Clubs Committee on October 13th.
• Met with co-representative C. Hornbeck on Wednesday October 14th to discuss
plans to create career workshops for the students in their faculty.
• Met with Kinesiology representative D. Altahsh and discussed how meetings with
Dean R. Sigurdson usually go and provided her with tips and advice for her meeting
with the Dean of Kinesiology.
• Attended Arts Faculty Council on Thursday October 15th.
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Justin Gotta, Faculty of Arts, provided the following report:
• Dealt with a student concerns over how their course was being delivered.
• Met with VP External Gillies and President Finley.

Caitlin Hornbeck, Faculty of Arts, provided the following report:

• Attended the first Arts Faculty Council meeting on Thursday, October 15th.
• Responded to a request to promote a Last Lecture event on Arts social media
platforms.
• Met with F. Abdi to discuss plans for their November career workshop
• Attended TEA orientation on Thursday, October 15th.

Malika Qurishi, Faculty of Arts, provided the following report:

• Nothing to report.

Shagufta Farheen, Haskayne School of Business, provided the following report:

• Communicated with Facilities Advisor, J. Brown, regarding the Scurfield Hall
bathroom renovations Quality Money application. Discussed about questions to
include in a faulty wide survey regarding this problem and worked on edits to the
Quality Money application.
• Sent out a mass email to all Haskayne students regarding SU updates.
• Met with the First Year Mentorship Program – Special Events squad to plan out
upcoming social event for program participants during the Halloween season.
• Worked with A. Samji to complete the draft for the monthly SU updates email, sent
to all Haskayne students.

Aly Samji, Haskayne School of Business, provided the following report:

• Attended a meeting with S. Weaver, Associate Dean Undergraduate and S.
Hershcovis, Associate Dean Faculty in regard to concerns of students with
discriminatory comments being made on unmoderated academic group chats.
• Posted on behalf of a student for “The Haskayne Report” on Hello Haskayne.
• Attended a meeting with Vice-President Ali Bik regarding the statement to students.
• Worked with Vice-President Ali Bik, SU External Communications Specialist M.
Plottel, and Assistant General Manager J. Morgan to create a statement to students
that addresses the concern of discriminatory comments being made.

Naomi Shaw, Werklund School of Education, provided the following report:

• Attended a meeting with Associate Director - Counselling J. Thannhauser, and D.
Altahsh to discuss their upcoming mental health workshop.

Juan Sanchez, Schulich School of Engineering, provided the following report:

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 • Reviewed proposed changes to the University of Calgary’s Sexual and Gender-
based Violence Policy in preparation for consultation with D. Book and S. Barker at
SLC on October 13th.
• Attended Teaching Excellence Awards Committee orientation meeting on October
15th.
• Promoted SU by-election on SU engineering representatives’ social media pages
(Instagram: @suuofc_engineering, facebook.com/suuofcengineering).

Bharat Uppal, Schulich School of Engineering, provided the following report:

• Nothing to report.

Deyana Altahsh, Faculty of Kinesiology, provided the following report:

• Promoted the UCalgary Stem Fellowship “Intro to Research” event on the KNES
Rep D2l shell.
• Advertised another event on D2L from the Leadership & Student Engagement
Office; “Virtual Speed Friend-making”.
• Evaluated and submitted feedback to 32 URS applications.
• Attended the TEA orientation on October 13th.
• Met with Councilor Abdi to discuss meeting logistics for meeting with the Dean.
• Met with Councilor Sahota to discuss D2L management.
• Attended the Kinesiology Faculty Council Meeting on October 14th.
• Met with Associate Director - Counselling J. Thannhauser and N. Shaw on October
15th to discuss hosting a workshop on resiliency in late October.

Dalal Souraya, Faculty of Law, provided the following report:

• Nothing to report.

Pranav Khosla, Cumming School of Medicine, provided the following report:

• Met with Cumming School of Medicine Program Coordinator J. Logan discussing
possible improvements to faculty and program changes focusing mainly on possible
events/additions for the graduating class.
• Met with Fitness Operations Coordinator S. Groeneveld regarding Quality Money
applications.

Jasleen Brar, Cumming School of Medicine, provided the following report:

• Met with a club to discuss marketing strategies and how the medicine
representatives can assist them.
• Reached out to the faculty office regarding email lists for newsletters.
• Attended the clubs committee meeting on October 13th.
• Informed students about the SU Fall Harvest food drive and by-election through
social media and word of mouth.
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 • Communicated with Councilors Altahsh, Abdi and Shaw for their next mental health
event and started making a poster.

Jonah Feng, Faculty of Nursing, provided the following report:

• Attended ASIST October session this past weekend.
• Currently working to create a temperature check survey regarding COVID-19 and
how the students feel regarding nursing club, faculty, and SU support.
• Have asked for input from Undergraduate Nursing Society and Nursing Peer
Mentorship club.

Pragya Chopra, Faculty of Science, provided the following report:

• Attended Faculty of Science Council chaired by Dr. B. Mayer (Interim Dean).
• Sent follow-up email to Dr. L. Wu (Assistant Head for Outreach and Student
Engagement) regarding the representative from Computer Science for URS.
• Promoted events hosted by various clubs through the D2L shell and the Science
Reps Instagram page.
• Completed interview with N. Agarwal (writer for Gauntlet) regarding the
international student experience.
• Attended Teaching Excellence Award Committee orientation.

Manpreet Sahota, Faculty of Science, provided the following report:

• Attended a talk called “Captivated by Space” by Dr. E. Spanswick (Assistant
Professor, Physics & Astronomy). This talk was in celebration of Ada Lovelace Day.
• Met virtually with Counsellor Altahsh to discuss the management and logistics of a
SU Faculty Rep D2L shell.
• Responded to five student concerns/messages on their Science Reps Instagram
account.

Chaten Jessel, Faulty of Science, provided the following report:

• Met with VP Abraha to discuss potential Quality Money projects.
• Posted about an Unwind event occurring on October 20th on the Science
Representative D2L.
• Had discussions with staff at TFDL about ways to use Quality Money to support
having more open education resources available at the library.
• Met with the URS committee to grade and select the abstracts that will be shown at
URS.

Jovanna Rodney, Faculty of Social Work, provided the following report:

• Interviewed by staff from the Gauntlet surrounding her acclamation of the role of the
Faculty of Social Work representative on Friday, October 9th.

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 • Met with Faculty of Social Work Undergraduate Program Director C. Gulbrandsen
and Research Assistant J. Sauerwein, as well as Associate Professor G.
Dimotropolis on October 13th, about whether the Social Work Peer Support
program should be modelled after other successful programs that have worked at
other universities or whether the faculty should pioneer its own program.
• Met with C. Gulbrandsen, J. Sauerwein and M. McCaughley from Student Wellness
Services on October 16th, regarding the training that social work students would
have to take in order to be peer support facilitators for the program.
• Attended week five of an eight week Compassion Cultivation training on October
16th held by the University and the Faith & Spirituality Centre covered by an SU
Quality Money grant.
• Attended the Faith & Spirituality Centre’s Resilience Tea Time as the centre hosted
a conversation with social work students and other students around mental and
resilience on October 16th.
• Meet with M. Bennett, 75th and 76th Faculty of Social Work representative about
transition and faculty representative role on October 15th.

Douglas Doyle-Baker, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, provided the following report:

• Met with the search committee for the new Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine.

9. Question Period

M. Sahota asked when students will know if their Winter 2021 courses will be
asynchronous or synchronous. S. Abraha answered that the University is working on it and
will be releasing that information soon. F. Finley added that himself and S. Abraha have
advised the University to release information about Winter 2021 courses as soon as
possible.

M. Sahota asked if the University Administration is aware of the course overload of

assignments and tests faced by students in the Faculty of Science. F. Finley answered that
the Academic Crisis and Management Committee has been retired since September. F.
Finley has been reaching out and making meetings to University Administration to go over
quality of course delivery and possibilities to make things better for the next semester. F.
Finley added that he has made progress with mental health supports at the Wellness
Centre, who have lowered their seven-hour appointment time window to three hours. This
means there is a three-hour time window during which Counsellors can call students once
they have made an appointment.

A. Ali Bik asked J. Feng about the ASIST program mentioned in his report.

A. Ali Bik asked J. Rodney to speak to her experience with working with the Wellness
Centre regarding Peer Support. J. Rodney answered that the Faculty of Social Work is
trying to create a Peer Support program for students. J. Rodney shared that she found the
training provided by the Wellness Centre very helpful and they are looking to getting more
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 training for Social Work Students. J. Rodney added that the ASIST program is Assisted
Suicide Training, and the goal is suicide prevention.

F. Abdi asked A. Ali Bik about his progress with the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Taskforce. A. Ali Bik answered that they met and had a roundtable discussion about the
Taskforce and how it will make positive change. F. Abdi asked about his participation in an
Intercultural Conflict Styles workshop. A. Ali Bik answered that he learned about his style
of conflict resolution and discussed how one can embrace conflict as a way to move
forward.

C. Hornbeck expressed that she appreciated F. Finley discussing the “Growth Through
Focus” strategy with President McCauley and inviting him to SLC. F. Finley noted hat
President McCauley accepted his invitation to speak with SLC.

P. Chopra asked if there will be any expansion to class sizes for Winter 2021. F. Finley
responded that larger class sizes depend on the pandemic. The upcoming semester may
look like the previous one, so he does not expect significantly larger class sizes.

D. Doyle-Baker asked about faculty-specific news about class sizes. F. Finley responded
that there is no faculty-specific news yet, but that he will reach out to the Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine for more specifics.

10. Statements or Questions by Gallery Members

K. Koehler asked about the feedback collected from students regarding the proposed
revisions to the Campus Sexual Violence Policy. F. Finley responded that most of them
are general comments about the policy as a whole and the feedback was mostly positive.

11. Internal Business

None.

12. Quorum Check

PRESENT
Frank Finley, President
Semhar Abraha, Vice President Academic
Marley Gillies, Vice President External
Assad Ali Bik, Vice President Student Life
Mohammad Ali, Vice President Operations and Finance
Fayo Abdi, Faculty of Arts
Justin Gotta, Faculty of Arts
Caitlin Hornbeck, Faculty of Arts
Malika Qurishi, Faculty of Arts
Shagufta Farheen, Haskayne School of Business
Aly Samji, Haskayne School of Business
Naomi Shaw, Werklund School of Education
Juan Sanchez, Schulich School of Engineering
Bharat Uppal, Schulich School of Engineering

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 Deyana Altahsh, Faculty of Kinesiology
Dalal Souraya, Faculty of Law
Pranav Khosla, Cumming School of Medicine
Jasleen Brar, Cumming School of Medicine
Jonah Feng, Faculty of Nursing
Pragya Chopra, Faculty of Science
Manpreet Sahota, Faculty of Science
Chaten Jessel, Faulty of Science
Jovanna Rodney, Faculty of Social Work
Douglas Doyle-Baker, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

13. Notice of Next Meeting: Tuesday, October 27th at 6:30 PM (Zoom Video Conference)

Motion: To adjourn.
(D. Souraya /F. Abdi)
Motion Carried

The meeting adjourned at 7:53PM.

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