The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) met for the first time since the 2020 elections on Feb. 25, discussing upcoming projects and plans for the transition to the newly-elected executive members during the meeting.
The meeting lasted only 27 minutes.
“Elections have come and gone,” said Farook Al-Muflehi, who was re-elected as vice-president (internal).
“Thankfully, a lot of students came out this year and a lot of students rallied,” he said. “It’s always nice to see students taking initiative and stepping out of their comfort zone and running.”
Jacob Howell, who was also re-elected as vice-president (finance), said not having to transition a new executive is bittersweet.
“I unfortunately and fortunately don’t have anyone to transition, so I have the pleasure of working with everybody else on their portfolios and figuring out where they all mesh together,” he said.
Of the six executive positions, Howell and Al-Muflehi are the only two returning members.
Mental Health Accommodations
As final exam season approaches, Sissi De Flaviis, vice-president (student issues), said she is working on improving mental health accommodations based on recommendations from the student mental health engagement committee.
“There’s a form that students can fill out, and I’m not sure if everyone’s aware of this, but for exam season you can just fill it out and defer your exam. You don’t have to bring like a doctor’s note or anything, it’s just automatic,” she said.
Despite mental health accommodations being granted without a doctor’s note within the faculty of engineering according to De Flaviis, students have previously voiced concerns about the accessibility of academic accommodations at the university.
“But we realized not many students know about it and we also wanted to implement it during midterms and during assignment times,” De Flaviis added, saying she’s working on creating a campus-wide form students can use.
De Flaviis also said herself and the committee are looking to speak with the Paul Menton Centre (PMC) to see if the organization would be interested in leading a guided meditation session on campus.
Sexual Violence Prevention Strategy
Jamie Laxton, vice-president (student life), encouraged students to take the time to familiarize themselves with Carleton’s Sexual Violence Prevention Strategy, which is once again under review.
“It’s a living document,” she said. “It gets reviewed and revised every three months.”
“It works off of feedback from students as well as anyone who wants to contribute to it,” Laxton added, encouraging students to review the document and bring any suggestions for improvement to the university.
Sustainability
With sustainability being a hot topic during the CUSA election campaigns, De Flaviis said she is currently working with incoming CUSA president Kathleen Weary and the Student Experience Office (SEO) to make frosh week more green.
De Flaviis said current ideas include “reducing the different t-shirts or the flyers we give out,” adding the conversation is still ongoing.
Featured image by Tim Austen.
