By Jen Smith
All you students out there who aren’t elected officials are known as ‘students-at-large’, a.k.a. SAL’s.
All undergraduate students at the University of Calgary are automatically members of the Students’ Union but few of you understand how the SU operates, or your power to influence it.
The highest governing body of the Students’ Union is Students’ Legislative Council. Composed of 16 commissioners, and five executive, the powers of SLC include the ability to pass the political policy that defines what stance the Students’ Union will take on various issues, the ability to create and amend bylaws, policies and procedures that describe how the SU must operate, and the ability to direct which initiatives the SU must focus on. During the Fall and Winter Semesters, SLC meetings occur every Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. in MSC Council Chambers.
Students’ Academic Assembly meets every second Monday at 5:30 p.m. in MSC Council Chambers and is composed of 13 faculty reps, the VP Academic, and the President. SAA has the power to pass academic policy and to direct academic initiatives, such as De-stress Days. All students are welcome to come and watch both SLC and SAA meetings, and to ask questions during question period.
Every student-at-large member of the Students’ Union has a certain degree of power to influence the direction of the Students’ Union, and to hold their elected officials accountable. The greater your understanding is of how the system works, the better your chances of successfully getting what you want out of it will be.
For more information, check out the ‘Student Government’ portion of www.su.ucalgary.ca.