A review from the USSU members of their first semester in office and their plans for the second semester.

As the winter semester of 2023 begins, the members of the Executive Team at the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union (USSU) reflect on their accomplishments so far, and look forward to future endeavors.

Abhineet Goswami (he/him) – President 

Some of the key ideas from Goswami’s campaign were accessibility, affordability, anti-oppression and decisive action. He views these as “interrelated goals that support student’s academic and non-academic wellbeing.”

So far in his term, Goswami has prioritized hearing student concerns and working to address them, and has had meetings with the deans of various colleges as well as several student groups to that end. He has also utilized his position as a voting member on the USask Board of Governors to give students a voice and prioritize their needs.

“I am a firm believer in collaboration because together we can achieve great things,” Goswami said.

Goswami went on to say that “USSU executives and staff have taken anti-oppression training,” with the goal of promoting “diversity, inclusion, and equity.” USSU policies have also undergone external consultation in order to review them “through a different lens,” which has led to changes in some USSU policies and procedures.

Community engagement and re-introducing the USSU following the COVID-19 pandemic has been another area of focus. In addition to this, Goswami and the USSU have been advocating for “more healthcare professionals and support at the Student Wellness Centre, Student Affairs and Outreach teams and Access and Equity Services (AES).” 

Through a federal grant called Riipen Level Up, funding has been secured “for students to get paid opportunities with the USSU.” Throughout the rest of his term, Goswami intends to keep focusing on affordability through the USSU recommendation for the 2023-24 budget, as well as advocating for more scholarships for Indigenous and International Students. Financial issues are further mentioned later on in this article, as he and Lia Storey-Gamble, the USSU’s Vice President of Operations and Finance, reflect on their time lobbying the federal government.

Goswami will be busy through the winter term with the transition to the new Executive team, Executive portfolio restructuring, lobbying the provincial government and working with the provost office on the budget recommendation for the upcoming 2023-2024 academic year. 

He plans to continue conversations with the USask administration and community as well as government officials for student support. In addition to this, he wants to work with tuition consultation groups to keep students better informed about any changes in fees.

As for engagement on campus, Goswami explained that “the Executive team are attending as many events, orientations and meetings as possible to inform [students] about USSU and its associated services.” Additionally, the USSU has hired a Social Media and Events Coordinator for the first time, which has helped with the Union’s presence online and at various events.

Lia Storey-Gamble (she/they) – Vice President of Operations and Finance

During their campaign, Storey-Gamble focused on improving the organizational capacity of campus groups, strengthening the University’s ties with the City of Saskatoon and applying for grants to renovate campus group spaces.

She has made considerable progress on these aims throughout her first semester in her position. Working extensively with various campus groups has involved helping to plan events and provide advice for setting up governance. In the coming semester, she plans to continue working on developing and achieving the goals of these groups and attending more of their events throughout the semester. 

Storey-Gamble also believes that “ties with the City have never been stronger.” The USSU has had numerous meetings with the City and Saskatoon Transit to work through various issues and provide better information to students, and many City departments were involved in Welcome Week.

The winter term is when the budget is determined, which will take up much of Storey-Gamble’s time. They are pursuing additional grant funding through this process. 

She also mentioned that the USSU is advocating for the investment of more money into student services, such as the Access and Equity Services (AES), Learning Communities and food services. By doing so, the USSU is seeking to address topics of safety, mental health and food insecurity, all of which Storey-Gamble identified as some of the biggest issues on campus right now.

Goswami and Storey-Gamble were invited to attend the Throne Speech at the Saskatchewan Legislature on Oct. 26. While they were there, they met with the First Nations University and the University of Regina Students’ Union. Of this, Goswami said that “the USSU is looking forward to collaborating with other post-secondary institutions across the province.”

“It’s hard to tell you about the experience of doing these things as there’s nothing to compare it to,” said Storey-Gamble. “It’s thrilling, and it’s exhausting. It’s politics.”

Storey-Gamble described how they have been “working with the provincial government and opposition to create meaningful solutions to students’ problems while building strong ties with the MLAs and Minister of Advanced Education.” 

From there, Goswami and Storey-Gamble went on to lobby the Parliament of Canada in association with the Undergraduates of Canadian Research-Intensive Universities (UCRU). During this campaign, conducted between Nov. 26 and Dec. 2, 2022, the group put forward four priorities: student financial aid, student employment, mental health and Indigenous student education. Storey-Gamble called it “a successful lobby week.” 

Goswami noted some of the lobby group’s major achievements, including advocating for the permanent removal of student loan interest, the expansion of the repayment assistance plan so that the borrower now makes $40,000/year instead of $25,000, and the temporary removal of the limit to off-campus hours for international students. He described these as “huge successes” for post-secondary education.

Sharon Jacob (she/her) – Vice President of Academic Affairs

For Jacob, student engagement, student advocacy and upgrading technology and its accessibility to students were among the big pillars of her campaign. She was particularly interested in speaking with students about their interests and concerns and finding solutions with the USSU to better their academic experience.

On the subject of upgrading technology, Jacob said that concerns about Wi-Fi and internet access have been raised at meetings with varying levels of university administration.

Throughout the fall term of 2022, Jacob and the USSU worked toward her goals of advocacy by hosting events such as Academic Awareness Week and the Dean’s Fair. These encouraged students to “engage with more serious academic topics, know their rights, and connect with university-level faculty.” The events also created a welcoming environment for students to broach such topics. Now the USSU plans to build upon this success by hosting another Academic Awareness Week in the winter term of 2023, from Jan. 16-20.

In addition to this, Jacob’s plans for the winter  term include two other large events: the Undergraduate Symposium and the Experience in Excellence Awards.

The first of these, to be hosted by the USSU on March 30, 2023, is “a university-wide showcase of student research projects of the past year.” Sharon also aims to promote student engagement at the Symposium and encourage students to “dip their toes into the research experience.”

The Experience in Excellence Awards has a ceremony planned for March. Students will be able to make nominations, following which the USSU will conduct surveys and tally the results. The Awards are meant to highlight the hard work of many within the USask community, including students and educators.

Punya Sanjeev Miglani (he/him) – Vice President of Student Affairs

Sanjeev Miglani’s campaign was focused on making campus a more interactive space and promoting internationalization, diversity, sustainability, and mental health and well-being.

His office has organized over a dozen events to make the campus a more interactive space for students. He has also organized the installation of bike workstations in Place Riel to promote wellness, and started a De-Stress initiative that “hosts various events to cater to students’ different interests.” The Sustainability Committee has been at work throughout the fall semester, with great success in their bike-to-work day event. 

In addition to this, Sanjeev Miglani’s office has helped to revamp the structure of the International Students Advisory Committee in order to better “encompass the community’s needs;” the Committee will have its first meeting since establishing this new structure in mid-to-late January.

Looking toward the ongoing winter term, Sanjeev Miglani plans to continue hosting De-Stress events. He currently considers student engagement and involvement to be one of the big issues on campus right now, and he plans to continue organizing activities and searching for ways “to get students more involved with events, leadership, volunteerism, and other opportunities.”

After a successful first semester of organization, new development, and even travel and lobbying campaigns, the USSU Executive Team looks forward to the winter term of 2023 as an opportunity to look out for students’ interests and to get them as involved in life at Usask as possible. If you want to reach out to the USSU, they can be reached through contactus@ussu.ca or through the USSU website.