VSTSA General Meeting                                                   October 2, 2003

 

Minutes : Draft Copy   Please email corrections to the Secretary.

 

Present: Christine Muise, Tim Bowman, Shannon McAdam, Cynthia Turley, Mary Lynn Siwallace, Margaret Wanless, Elizabeth Maupin, Carmen Lansdowne, Eleanor Rogers, Julia Varga, Jeff Seaton, Scott McLeod, Robin McGauley, Bruce Yeates, Debra Faulk, Paul Guiton, Sharon, Swanson, Sophie Rolland, Heidi Brear, Jean Hutchinson, Tara King, Karen Millard, Christine Conkin, Elizabeth Ruder, Dawn Hermann, Barbara Boruff

 

Guest: Gerald Turnbull

 

The meeting was opened at 1:00 pm by Vice President Liz Ruder.  Scott McLeod offered the opening prayer.

 

 

Appointments

The following appointments were made:

 

Academic Policy Committee                                           Sharon Swanson

Board of Governors                                                         Carmen Landsdowne, Paul Guiton

!st Year Rep to Faculty Council                           Cynthia Turley

Library Committee                                                          Anke Rohleder, Julia Varga

1st Year Rep to Executive                                                Christine Muise

Altar Ego Editor                                                 Sophie Rolland

Altar Ego Staff                                                               Julia Varga, Sharon Swanson

Constitution Revision Committee Chair                 Jennifer Goddard-Shepard

Constitution Revision Committee                         Scott McLeod, Dawn Hermann

Auxiliary Tea Coordinators                                              Tim Bowman, Maureen Sirrett

Food Bank Coordinator                                       Elizabeth Maupin

    

 

Positions remaining to be filled:   Please contact VSTSA if you are interested.

 

Health and Dental Plan rep to UBC:   Barbara  Boruff would like someone else to take this role on, but will continue serving until someone steps forward.

 

Proxies to UBC Student Council:  Several students needed to alternate with Christine Conkin who will continue to serve as our rep but would appreciate occasional proxies to take her place.

 

Motion: That the above listed individuals and those names brought forward at the meeting be appointed to these positions.   So moved by Heidi Brear; seconded by Sharon Swanson.  Motion carried.

 

Liz outlined the reporting policy developed by Executive in order to give everyone time to present as well as provide written documentation  of meetings available to everyone.  The reporting policy will be:  All reps must present verbal reports no longer than three minutes at general meetings and provide written reports, documents, minutes and agenda for either website posting or for VSTSA files.  Please provide the Secretary/Webmaster Barbara Boruff with your documentation either by placing it in the VSTSA mailbox or emailing her at vstsa@vst.edu.

 

 

 

 

Budget Report                                                                         Dawn Hermann

 

Dawn presented a draft budget (click to review).   At present VSTSA has about $4,000 on hand and another $4,000  to come when student fees are forwarded to us from Accounting

 

            1. Approve Expenditures

                        1. Website Domain Name & Hosting                                $60

                        2. Webmaster Honorarium                                              $500

                        3. Décor for portables (candles, plants, posters)   $100

                        4. Fan for study carrel room                                              $25

                        4. Student Food Bank Start-up                                        $500

 

Motion: That the above expenditures be approved in principle.  Motion approved.         Christine Conkin stated that a fan she has in storage in Columbian House might be used in the study carrel area.

 

 

            2. Approve signing authority for Elizabeth Ruder.

Motion: that Elizabeth Ruder be officially invested with signing authority on VSTSA checks as an Executive officer.  So moved by Debra Faulk; seconded by Karen Millard.  Motion carried

 

Current Issues

 

  1. Student Poverty Initiative

The Student Association has recently been made aware of the severity of student poverty at VST.  In response, Executive has developed several student services to address the problem.

·         The Minister’s Closet: Donations of good quality, professional clothing will be accepted and kept in the closet of the Student Office.  All are welcome to select items or donate items.  Sophie Rolland raised the issue of whether the student association would pay for dry-cleaning.  It was decided that the expense of dry-cleaning will be belong either to the donor or the recipient, and the student association will not be involved.

·         Student Food Bank: Elizabeth Maupin has graciously agreed to coordinate this project.  The Student Association will provide start up funds to purchase bulk basic items, with other items to be donated by students, faculty and possibly alumni.  Food parcels will be available to chaplains and faculty for private distribution.  There will be no application process or eligibility criteria.  Elizabeth stated that she would also develop a grocery-shopping carpool to help students get to lower-cost grocery stores.

·         Student Lending Account:  The Student Association will work with the chaplains and others to develop funds for this initiative which will grant emergency loans to students for such purposes as buying books or family needs, often while waiting for loans or bursaries to become available. The process will be confidential and will not entail a formal agreement.  It is anticipated that many will pay the loan back as soon as possible, while others may take years to do so, and, in some cases, the loans would be forgiven.

 

Motion: That the Executive and those VSTSA members working with them be authorized to work with an initial budget of $1000 , always allowing for a minimum of $1,000 to remain in the VSTSA general Account.  So moved by Debra Faulk; seconded by Paul Guiton.  Motion carried.

 

  1. Financial Aid Situation:  Liz reported that Executive has been in communication with Ken Macqueen and the results have been that the Financial Aid Officer will receive two weeks of re-training.  Students are asked report to VSTSA or to Ken Macqueen if problems persist after this period.
  2. Tuition Increase: Several student letters have been written.  Please communicate with VSTSA if you have concerns.
  3. Library/Photocopier/Taylor Centre                  Gerald Turnbull

Gerald stated that the photocopier lease ends in March and he is seeking feedback on what features students feel are essential.  To date, the consensus is that two-sided copying, a document feeder, and a copy-card feature are essential.  Added features will increase the price of individual copies.  From October 1 until the end of March, copies will cost five cents.  If there appears to be any profit remaining from the copier budget, that amount will be donated to VSTSA.  Regarding Taylor Centre concerns, Gerald stated that a number of repair and installation issues have not been addressed for over a year, despite numerous requests made.  The situation is being pursued by VSTSA as well as by Gerald.  Barbara Boruff, Taylor Centre rep, has written a letter to Cary Williams and will continue to pursue the matter on behalf of VSTSA. Concerning the library’s location in the refurbished Iona Building, Gerald stated that because of security issues as well as the logistics of the building layout, what will be most practical will be a divided or limited-access collection, with older and less-often used material located in a separate area.  These items would circulate, but would need to be retrieved by staff, or in some cases, students would be admitted to the area to do their own retrieval.  This arrangement will have the most impact on students who research by browsing the shelves.  A benefit to the arrangement is the preservation of older materials not printed on acid-free paper that are deteriorating.  Arrangements of study carrel and computer access has not yet been finalized.  Gerald welcomes student input either made directly to him or through our committee reps: Library, Anke Rohleder and Julia Varga, and Taylor Center, Barbara Boruff.

  1. Mission Statement                                           Sophie Rolland

Sophie asked everyone to read Ken’s address to the Board of Governors.  Copies are available on the notice board in the cafeteria as well as on the door of the student association.  She will keep us informed of meetings and opportunities to provide input.

 

 

New Business

 

  1. Canadian Theological Students Conference  Sophie and Heidi spoke about their experiences last year.  The Altar Ego articles they wrote are available online.  Watch for details about applying for this year’s conference.
  2. Frequency of VSTSA Meetings  Please take the online poll at our website.
  3. Health & Dental Plan Survey   Please complete a survey.  Your  opinions affect the cost of the plan next year as well as what will be covered.  Copies are available on the notice board in the cafeteria as well as on the door of the student office.  Or you can quickly take the survey online.               

 

Other

 

Iona Décor: Mary Lynn Siwallace represented student concerns at the recent meeting.  Please contact her with your thoughts and ideas.

 

 

Closing Prayer

 

Meeting was adjourned at 2:00pm.

 

Barbara Boruff, Secretary