The Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union (WLUSU) Board of Directors met Oct. 29 to discuss routine issues and move forward on new initiatives including the possibility of online voting for February’s WLUSU elections.
President Kyle Walker gave a financial snapshot for the end of the monitoring period including the operations of Wilf’s and other businesses. Wilf’s and the Terrace food court are both over-budget currently, a fact Walker attributed to food and labour costs during this time of year. “Sales are up pretty much across the board and it’s an investment,” he said, noting that the costs stand to be recouped later in the school year.
Walker’s update also singled out Laurier Brantford’s Williams coffee franchise, which despite running more than $250,000 over budget last year, is currently tracking on budget, a fact he attributed to a “skeleton staff.”
Walker also spoke on the Terrace expansion project, which after the tendering process was completed now stands at $317,705 over budget, a decrease over the amount reported last meeting.
An online elections update was given and the Board unanimously passed a motion to allow Walker to continue pursuing the initiative, which would see WLUSU collaborate with the university’s information technology personnel to setup e-voting for the elections through the existing myLaurier web portal.
Chair of the Board Kyle Hocking explained that the election policy review committee would make a presentation at the Dec. 10 meeting outlining extensive changes to election policy resulting from the move to online elections. “It’s going to be a barn-burner of a meeting,” he said.
VP of university affairs Saad Aslam answered questions on a proposed academic congress which would see the students’ union consult student representatives from other campus groups on future lobbying goals. Director Chris Walker pointed out that last year’s market research indicated engagement across campus in such a manner as important.
The meeting concluded with Director Jon Pryce opening a discussion on engaging students in creative ways and drawing awareness to Board processes and meetings. Suggested were utilizing various channels to promote when WLUSU meetings happen, broadcasting video of meetings and having more methods of online response available for students to comment on union operations.
The next Board meeting will be held Nov. 12 at 2:30.