Fall Semester Report
Introduction:
I am the VP External Relations of the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS). This office serves as a
spokesperson to organizations outside the University, such as: Government (municipal, provincial, and
federal), Translink, non-profits, all other local and international corporations, and other Student Unions and
Student Societies. I sign press releases, open letters, and other means of external communication on behalf of
the Society. I chair the Advocacy committee and the Constitution and Policy Review Committee, while sitting
on six other SFSS committees including: Commercial Services, Extended Health and Dental Plan, Labour,
Bargaining, Executive, and the SFSS Health and Safety Committee.
This report shall describe the work done by office during the Fall 2014 semester and will remain a high-level
overview, because it would be impractical to summarize every detail in this single report. It also provides my
insights into the role and the organization. I have written my report in this manner to provide students the
opportunity to meet with me, challenge my views, and present their ideas on how I may improve my work in
this role.
My hope for this semester has been to continue building on a foundation for the rest of my term, apply what
I learned in the previous semester in office, and pass on the same foundation for my successor. I must
acknowledge that I am not perfect and have made mistakes, and for these I take full responsibility. The
organization currently has many issues and a great deal of growing to do, and while it does impact my work it
is a reminder of the amazing potential in this organization. Please note that any critiques are never against a
person, but the organization, and are meant to be constructive with the intention of improving the SFSS.
I invite those who have questions, comments, or concerns after reading this report to contact me at
vpexternal@sfss.ca.
Outreach Work:
Outreach is one of the main functions of the Board of Directors, and there were many instances in which the
Board fulfilled this function well. Flipping pancakes for students at pancake breakfast, tabling and engaging
clubs at clubs’ days, and promoting the SFSS Annual General Meeting, are the largest examples of this
student outreach. Other examples include: attending events held by and for clubs and departmental student
unions, meeting with students during office hours or by appointment, and petitioning for the SFSS Open
Textbook Campaign, among others.
Administrative Work:
A majority of my time for this semester went into this kind of work. This work includes reviewing
documents, properly preparing for meetings, responding to 60-80 e-mails per day, phone calls, and writing
updates and other documents as needed and requested. This work also includes editing documents sent to me
through e-mail such as motions, letters to students, and project proposals. While it is tedious to perform this
kind of work, it is very necessary and a vital part of good decision making. Being on a board means having to
perform these, seemingly boring, labour intensive activities, and it cannot be helped. Moreover, updates,
reading, and writing are all essential to the work of a board member, even though it is not the most exciting
or rewarding part of the position.
Part of my administrative function is to hold open office hours which are every Monday and Friday, 3:30PM
– 5:30PM. There were over one hundred students who attended my office hours to ask questions this fall,
which is a significant improvement compared to the previous semester. Most of my office hours were on the
Burnaby campus, with only two exceptions. I have not spent a lot of time on other campuses, largely is part
of the meetings and schedule I keep as an executive officer. My hope is to reach out to other campuses
during the spring semester, through town hall meetings and other projects. Most topics brought up by
students during office hours are: opportunities to get involved, how the Society works, and SFSS elections.
Committee Work:
Advocacy Committee:
First and foremost, I would like to commend the members of the Advocacy Committee for their work this
year. Projects include, but are not limited to:
1.
2.
3.
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5.
6.
The Open Textbook Campaign.
The residence improvement campaign (Louis Riel).
Opposition international student tuition increases.
Opposition to the Kinder Morgan Pipeline Project.
Transit advocacy.
The #SFUVotes campaign encouraging students to vote in the municipal election held during the fall
semester.
7. A campaign to promote fair trade practices on campus and in the SFSS.
Before I go into the details of my work specifically with these campaigns, I want to make it clear that this
work has been done by members of the committee and they deserve the credit.
I have positioned myself as a source of support, tracked all the finances of the committee and all spending
down to the penny, and done my best to make it as effective and efficient for students to pursue their
passions with campaigns through this committee. An example of this is creating a fillable campaign plan that
helps students put their thoughts on paper, streamlines the process, and clarifies everything in a single
document. There was also an orientation to SFSS financial practices which was meant to help members of the
committee understand the paper-work, bureaucracy, and financial structure, in a practical context. The idea
was for the orientation help people navigate the system so student volunteers spend less time navigating
bureaucracy and more time working on their projects.
Combined with portfolios housed in the office of the Campaigns Research and Policy Coordinator, my hope
is to create a procedure for announcing the positions held by the Advocacy Committee, on behalf of the
organization, with a press release at the start of every semester. My hope that these campaigns will be
combined into one annual advocacy plan used for organizational reference, based on the priorities of the
organization and the committee.
Open Textbook Campaign:
Due credit must be given to SFSS Arts Representative Brady Wallace and SFSS President Chardaye Bueckert
for their work in leading this campaign. This Fall I was petitioning, keeping track of expenditures, and
participating in meetings with the Faculty Association and other parties when possible. This campaign has
been focused communicating the merits of the project to students, seeking student support through the
petition mentioned earlier, and positioning itself to work with the University in creating high quality content
for the program. Considering the major issue research institutions have with the program is the quality of the
material, I am convinced that this approach, with time and prudent planning, will see success if continued for
years to come.
Residence:
I have been attending a working group focusing on issues in residence, specifically Lious Riel House, in hopes
to finding solutions. My contributions are limited to the meetings themselves and looking into working with
the City of Burnaby in partnership with the University. This has been a slow process as a result of limited
capacity, and the Board’s priorities for the year lying elsewhere. My hope is to work with the Residence Hall
Association to look into this issue further.
Kinder Morgan Pipeline Opposition:
My work regarding this campaign has been limited to going and purchasing coffee and snacks for protestors,
as well as tracking the finances spent on the campaign. Most of my work regarding this campaign has been
responding to e-mails with questions regarding what the Society is going in regards to this subject. The
Society has taken a formal stance opposing the project, has acquired intervener status with the National
Energy Board, and is preparing a submission to the NEB. Due credit must be given to Chardaye Bueckert
and Tesicca Truong for their work in preparing the submission.
Transit Advocacy:
I have attended meetings of the Translink Board of Directors, been receiving the report of bus pass-ups
through the form created by SFU Ancillary Services, and met with the Director of Parking Services on a few
occasions. My thanks goes to SFSS Science Representative Deepak Sharma for attending meetings of the
Mayors Council, among others, when I was unable to.
#SFU Votes:
This campaign was done in conjunction with the Political Science Student Union, with the mandate of
encouraging students to vote in the municipal election. This campaign is one I consider to be vital for a
number of reasons. It promotes students becoming involved in the political process, aids significantly in the
Society’s ability to reach out to students, and it supports government relations done by the SFSS. Without a
student body that votes, the Society has no leverage when trying to lobby government. During this campaign
most of my time was spent responding to e-mails from municipal candidates with questions and comments
regarding the campaign.
Constitution and Policy Review Committee:
The SFSS Policy Manual is being slimmed down, policies are being changed to reflect the purpose of a policy,
and the changes are being effectively put into practice (elections policy for example). Faculty Student Union
Constitutions and By-Laws were both vetted this committee, which required extensive review. Elections
policy changes were put into effect, as were other small changes. The committee also recommended setting a
Board meeting time in policy, and has considered many other change such as condensing the first five Rules,
investment policies, and issues policies, among others.
I would like to take the time to thank the members of the committee for their hard work. Reviewing the
documents is very labour intensive, not particularly stimulating (for most), but essential. The work of this
committee directly impacts the organization, but in the least exciting way possible, and I would like to extend
my deep appreciation for committee members working so hard.
Commercial Services Committee:
This committee receives reports from the Society’s commercial services such as the Food and Beverage
Services and the Copy Centre. Discussion included going from a liquor primary to a food primary licence,
which the committee voted down. The committee also receives updates from the financial office, Copy
Centre Coordinator and Food and Beverage Manager.
Extended Health and Dental Plan Committee:
This committee did not meet in the fall, though with the two year premium on the SFSS’s contract with
Student Care coming to an end I expect this committee to meet in the spring semester.
Labour Committee:
This committee is responsible for HR matters of the Society which escalate higher into the grievance
procedure, and as needed should the committee have reason to be called. The work of this committee is
confidential because it is highly inappropriate to discuss such issues in a public setting. I am the representative
of this committee to the SFSS Health and Safety Committee as well. It must be noted that while Board
members are on this Labour Committee, the HR work of the Society is done by the office of the Executive
Director and Board members do not become intimately involved in the process, which I believe is very
appropriate.
Bargaining Committee:
The Collective Agreement between the SFSS and CUPE Local 3338 Unit 5 has expired and will be negotiated
at the end of the fall semester and during the following semester. Negotiations are highly confidential, and
notice of the employer’s intention to bargain was served in November 2014. My hope is that we will be able
to complete this project in the coming semester without any major complications.
Strategic Planning:
The document with the objectives of the 2014-2015 Board of Director’s has been completed and has served
as the organizations guide for prioritizing the allocation of resources. Unfortunately, government relations,
transit advocacy, and general advocacy work of the Society was placed lower in the priority list in place of
improving communications work and the internal structure of the Society. The list is incredibly ambitious and
the process of following through with the document has been difficult. However, it must be noted that this is
the first time the SFSS Board has done this, to the best of my knowledge, so we did not expect the process to
be perfect. However, if this kind of process were to continue it would prove to be incredibly beneficial not
only from the perspective of the Board but staff as well.
BUILD SFU:
This project remains the number one priority of my office. This semester the majority of the work was in the
context of outreach for the Annual General Meeting because the agenda of said meeting included obtaining a
debenture to finance the project and move into the construction phase. The agenda also included an item
adding a by-law mandating the Society to pay back any loans it takes from financial institutions.
The meeting exceeded our expectations, breaking records for attendance (five times the average of the past
five years). Consequently, not every student was able to enter the venue for voting on two items. While there
is no question that the meeting was valid, it was unfair that students who wanted to vote on the items could
not vote as a result of the fire regulations limiting attendance, so the Board resolved to host a Special General
Meeting in the spring for those items.
This project will remain the number one priority of my office until the end of my term. It has the largest
impact on the future of the Society, has already been given significant investment from student dollars, and
will give the student body what it desperately needs. For these reasons, coupled with Board strategic priorities
placing other initiatives I had in mind as lower priorities, I keep this as the priority of my office until the end
of my term.
Society Communications:
My individual platform during the election period included intra-society public relations as the number one
objective. Website traffic is a record high, as is social meeting traffic across all our platform based on a report
I received from the department coordinator in October. While I am very happy with the steady improvement,
there are many issues with the manner in which the communications work of the Society is done. The SFSS
employs a full time Communications Coordinator, and a part time Social Media Assistant; however, the
structure in which they operate does not let them do their job to the best of their ability. The
communications work of the Society needs to be concentrated into this office if it is to be done effectively
and that is not the case right now. The staff in the department provide the expertise we have in this field, and
while the way to concentrate this work in their office is quite difficult to explain in the confines of this report,
I will be working actively with the Communications Coordinator to find appropriate solutions in consultation
with staff.
Concentrating this work where it is best suited would save money by having the professional in the field
manage the spending. It would mean being able to send the same message through one office instead of
having every department send a different message, which is overwhelming, inconsistent, and confusing to
anybody who tries to understand the Society holistically. Communication is not just about sharing everything
all the time. The department needs to be given a chance to manage and organize the flow of information
because the manner in which the Society currently performs this work hurts more than it helps. Students are
confused but not for a lack of effort. This confusion is a consequence of how the Society is structures
communications work internally. Although there has been improvement this year, my hope is to change the
way such things are operating internally, starting with the way advertising is budgeted across all departments.
From there, I would like to address the creation of content, establish a consistent brand, and develop clear,
concise messaging for the whole Society out of our Communications Department.
Other Projects:
Town Hall Meetings: My hope is to host six town hall meetings on a variety of topics to try and get person to
person feedback on what the Society is doing and how it can improve. It is preferred to have three prior to
the SGM and three after.
Government Relations Working Group: I would like to create a working group for students interested in
government relations work and have them work with me on such a project. The details are not finalized.
Financial Reporting: A committee chair currently has no way of controlling how their committee chooses to
allocate their budget, which is concerning. There is no standard method of reporting in place, and there needs
to be because it is difficult to claim being accountable if there is no reporting in place to keep track of each
departments, or committee’s finances. There is also a clear misunderstanding of the role of committees as
organizational units that to advance the priorities of the organization set by its Board of Directors. My hope is
to work with our VP Finance and the Financial Coordinators to create a useful system of reporting.
SFSS Statements of Position: The Society often takes positions on various subjects, such as government
programs, on campus issues, and large scale projects such as the Kinder Morgan Pipeline. I would like to
create a system for consolidating these positions consistently, based on completed Advocacy Campaign Plans,
so that anyone can find one place to identify all of these positions taken over a long period of time. In effect,
this would also take the place of the Issues Policies, which are currently a significant weakness from a policy
perspective, since many of them are outdated.
Annual Advocacy Plan: I would like to create a system where, on a yearly basis, the Society may publish a
comprehensive Advocacy Plan yearly. This plan could also be reformatted at the start of every semester to
reinforce the Advocacy work of the organization, and account for any changes to the plan as changes are
likely to occur with time.
Governance Reform: The Society needs to reform its governance structure. This does not preclude a review
of the management structure of the organization as well. These two are vital, and until both are reformed in
some way, the Society will never be able to reach its potential.
Conclusion
This semester has not been without challenges, but I am very proud of the work our administration has done
until now. I would like to give my thanks to the membership for their support, my fellow Board members for
their patience, and the SFSS staff for their guidance and advice over the course of this term.
With my best regards,
Darwin Binesh