By Ryan Pike
The structure of the University of Calgary Students’ Union is one step closer to a big change. The Students Legislative Council voted overwhelmingly Tuesday in favour of a motion restructuring the SU.
The current SLC is comprised of the president, four vice-presidents and 16 commissioners, each working for one of the four VPs. Under the proposed new structure, the SLC would instead eliminate commissioners and replace them with a representative number of faculty representatives from across the university. At present, faculty representatives are elected to the SU’s Student Academic Assembly, but do not have a vote at SLC.
Vice-president operations and finance Joey Brocke said the next step for the governance review is the second reading before the SLC on Tue., Dec. 8. If the review passes second reading, the balance of the break between fall and winter semesters will be spent reviewing the SU’s existing bylaws and updating them within the guidelines of the new structure. According to Brocke, the nature of the bylaw updates will be determined by how much the new structure allows them to change — some sections will merely update wording, while more outdated portions may be subject to a larger rewrite.
The amended bylaws are expected to receive first reading Tue., Jan. 12, and second reading Thu., Jan. 14, with the goal of having the new governance structure and bylaws finalized prior to the annual general election in the spring.