This is the platform I was elected on in the spring of 2008.  For accountability I have decided to put it online for anyone to review.  If you have any questions never hesitate to contact me.

Financial Responsibility

Financial responsibility will be the cornerstone of my administration. I will put an end to unnecessary spending on projects such as aesthetic renovations and ensure, with the full participation of the Board of Directors, that any capital projects contribute directly and tangibly to the student experience. Money left unspent in the budget will be put into bursaries accessible in the following year.

Transparency

I will ensure that communication between the student media and WLUSU is open and regular. Members of management and the Board of Directors need to be trusted to use their own discretion in interviews, and if they have constructive criticism to give, we should be willing not only to listen to it, but allow it to spark debate amongst the student body. To that end, besides having my door open to any student with questions or concerns, I will also dedicate time to holding “out of office hours” in the same place at the same time every week in an informal social setting such as the Dining Hall or Wilf’s. Additionally, maintaining cordial, respectful and constructive relations with other campus organizations must be a priority of WLUSU. The bottom line is that the Union doesn’t need to hide the fact that it is working in the best interest of students.

Reimbursement to Volunteers

Often times volunteers find themselves out of pocket because WLUSU will not reimburse them for expenses incurred for Union events. With O-Week in particular, expenditures that occur annually but have not been traditionally covered should be if we want to maintain our high level of volunteer satisfaction. Budgets will take these items into account, and clearer guidelines will be established to avoid confusion.

Brantford Campus

The Brantford campus is rapidly expanding and moving towards the point where it needs to be given much greater autonomy. I will consult with Brantford staff and students and consider what changes need to be made to move in this direction. Along with this, I will adjust our hiring procedures to become less restrictive, allowing Brantford the opportunity to organically build its own volunteer culture instead of imposing Waterloo ideas upon it. The WLU administration will be approached to extend the Brantford OneCard program, especially as food options such as the William’s Coffee Pub expand. I will aggressively pursue the prospect of a transit link between the two campuses. Finally, I will ensure that several joint campus events are held each year.

Student Safety

Safety and security are imperative to enabling students to acquire higher education. While efforts have been made at Laurier to ensure that all students feel safe in this community there is still work to be done.  I will ensure that programs are instated on campus that will deal with the core issues surrounding assault and sexual harassment.  Currently efforts are underway on this campus to create a national body to develop and oversee the efforts and strategies of Universities to end sexual assault on their campuses.  By collaborating with this working group and other agencies I will bring programming to campus that will help us to stop these problems where they happen most, behind closed doors and in our own homes.   Solutions such as whistle programs and safety poles are a great start but we must do more. To ensure this happens I will hire a summer researcher to develop on campus training efforts and programming to increase awareness of assault and rape and work to end them.  I will also require that all WLUSU management receive training to better understand the needs of women and members of the LGTBQ community.

Campus Clubs

Campus Clubs, over 100 clubs encompassing more than 2000 members, is by far our biggest outreach to the student body, as well as a significant administrative undertaking. I will hire a paid staff member to create a higher level of accountability, reliability and consistency on a year-to-year basis, something that has been lacking in the past. This will help avoid problems such as the bank account fiasco from this past fall.

Human Resources

Although behavioural based hiring is appropriate for many of our positions, our current practices are outdated and need to be reviewed and updated. Our current hiring system (STARR) gives an unfair advantage to applicants who have previously applied for positions as they know how the system works.  We need to implement a hiring system that no longer disadvantages our first years and first time volunteers.  To this end I will invest in a professional Human Resources consultant to advise us in creating hiring policies that will provide staff and volunteers with a lifelong, relevant experience. I will also give our coordinators access to  a discount card system similar to the WLUSU House Account cards in order for them to receive a general discount on all WLUSU business services.

Environmental Sustainability

The environment is one of the most important and serious issues facing society today, and Laurier needs to be at the forefront of environmental sustainability initiatives, not behind the curve as is currently the case. If elected, I will ensure that sustainability is a priority for the Union and work to make WLUSU a leading green organization. I will purchase and create space for a commercial dishwasher in the Terrace to allow the use of trays, instead of packaging all food to go. The use of non-biodegradable takeout containers in all of our businesses will be stopped. We need to contribute to and implement changes based on the environmental audit that is currently occurring across campus. Although sustainability initiatives may be associated with marginally higher costs, these add up to a huge investment in our environmental future.

Charitable Foundation

WLUSU currently collects over $200,000 in donations to our numerous charitable committees per year, but under our current system we cannot provide tax receipts for these donations.  I will create a charitable foundation for WLUSU which will allow us to provide tax receipts to our donators and moreover will reward our benefactors with higher donations.  The cost of creating this foundation would be at a low cost to the Union and would be a benefit to all of our stakeholders.

Student Work Space

The recent reduction to the hours of the Science Building has highlighted the increasing rarity of on-campus study space. I will ensure that WLUSU space, such as the Hawk’s Nest, is utilized to its fullest to help solve this problem of lack of workspace. Additionally, I will coordinate with the university administration to work towards a long-term solution.

Laptop Accessibility

Laptops are quickly becoming a necessity for the average student. Between this and our increasing enrolment, students will soon find it nearly impossible to find an electrical outlet on campus. I will work to provide more plugs in WLUSU spaces like the 24 Lounge, and lobby the university to do the same in the Concourse and elsewhere.

WLUSU as the Representative Body of Students

As a member of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, WLUSU should be pushing harder to our university administration to implement many of its policies.  Included in these policies are initiatives such as a review of teaching evaluations and pushing for significantly higher student representation within university governance (Board of Governors and Senate).  The lobbying for implementation of OUSA policies will be major initiative of the University Affairs department.