School of Environment & Sustainability Students’ Association 117 Science Place, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK. MEETING MINUTES DATE: IN ATTENDANCE: REGRETS: September 26, 2014 Krystal Caldwell, Hardi Shahadu, Amandeep Sangha, Martin Boucher, Kathleen Aikens, Manuel Chavez Ortiz (Skype), Aimee Schmidt (Skype) Evan Andrews, Kelly Richardson, Naomi Maina MOTION DISCUSSION 1. CALL TO ORDER No official call to order, began at 2:30pm APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA N/A 2. APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MINUTES N/A 3. DISCUSSION ACTION 1. Introductions i. Introductions of all members present: Krystal, Manu, and Aimee, returning
members; Hardi, Aman, Martin, and Kathleen, new members ii. Brief overview of last year’s events by Krystal: social events, international food
fair, better than bottled water campaign, Ness Creek Music Festival waste
diversion (have been invited back to Ness) 2. SENSSA 2014-15 i. Increased formality for SENSSA this year: i. By structures such as meeting minutes, making agendas and circulating
one week before meeting, possibly requiring a time commitment
(meeting attendance) for SENSSA execs. ii. Changing the SENSSA constitution to better reflect the current needs of SENS
students, as well as anticipating future needs/growth of the student body;
clarify ambiguous portions; narrowing the values and vision (current a long
list). 3. Sharing ideas for possible SENS activities/foci for the upcoming year: i. lowering energy consumption in Kirk Hall ii. linking SENSSA to local/global events iii. SENSSA taking a leadership role on campus and community iv. suggestion to put SENS student profiles on display boards within school, v. activities to increase student engagement (lack of student interest in elections
is concerning), vi. suggestion of an annual intercultural dialogue event, vii. SENSSA should embrace its diversity (e.g., by designating SENSSA seats for
representatives from different places, creating a sustainability video project), viii. develop an alumni database, ix. building a greater sense of community within SENS (could use social media), x. spotlighting a student each month, xi. mentorship program where new students are paired with senior students, xii. fossil fuel divestment movement, xiii. SENSSA needs to “walk the walk” There were a few discussions that emerged out of the idea-sharing, two footnotes: 1. The idea of intercultural dialogue provoked a few discussions. A suggestion that we
might be able to build a greater sense of community through retreat. Discussed the
intent behind the ‘Knowledge Sharing Lunches’, which were created to encourage
socializing and share different worldviews/knowledge. Originally, were conceived
of as more structured, with focussed questions, then became more sociallyfocused. We could bring back more structure, with questions, or through organized
panel discussions. 2. We also discussed student engagement in terms of timing, communication, and
SENSSA structure. Some of the concerns brought forward included: -Is the timing of election right for connection with all members? (Spring elections
would mean that students would know who they were voting for, but this would
exclude a lot of MSEM students). -It might be better to elect general members of the SENSSA board, rather than
positions (deciding on positions after elections). Students may not see themselves
in any of the positions or might be intimidated to run. -What are the most effective means of communication? SENSSA has introduced
itself at seminars, communicated through email, posted in the common lounge
(i.e. done a lot of work!) How can we reach more people? Small e-newsletters?
Bigger posters in the lounge? 4. Many great ideas were proposed above. SENSSA execs need to find a large chunk of
time to sit down together and workshop these ideas, so that we can pick a few that we
can do really well. -Want to avoid burnout and focus our priorities, as well as plan ahead -Need to narrow down our values and vision, as well as build SENSSA’s identity -Need to discuss changes to constitution Krystal will send out a doodle poll to arrange a time for everyone to meet together for
several hours. Please reply as quickly as possible. 5. Highlighted executive/council duties
6. GSA Council and General meetings
i. General meetings take place twice a year, all grad students welcome to attend and vote
ii. Council meetings take place once a month. 1. We can have 1 representative per 25 students attend (SENS has 95 students).
iii. We are required to attend both General and Council meetings 7. Pictures for website
8. Get contact info (email and phone number) to put on website
9. Additional questions/concerns:
Martin asked a question about revenue streams for SENS. Answer from Manu and Krystal: GSA is the main revenue source (other than events SENSSA hosts). However, last year we rarely paid for events; instead, asked for contributions from SENS or the Office of Sustainability. Hardi asked about doing an engagement survey; Krystal will send out last year’s survey for feedback TASK TBD Next Meeting Time: Place In preparation for longer workshop, each member will develop further and type up their proposals. This way, we will have a better understanding of, and more information about each idea, so that we’ll be able to make better informed decisions about priorities. Recording Secretary Kathleen Aikens Meeting adjourned at 4:00 pm