First SRA Meeting of 2010/2011 - MacInsiders - Student-run McMaster University Help Forum

huzaifa47

UPDATE: MSU VP elections are...

VP Education: Joe Finkle
VP Finance: Nick Shorten
VP Admin: John McIntyre

First SRA meeting of the '10/11 Term today Sunday the 11th April. Vice President Elections are the biggest item on the agenda, the SRA will be electing the the 3 Board Members who will be responsible for a large part of running the MSU. So if anyone is on campus from 12pm-1am(estimated) tommorow please feel free to drop by and witness in Gilmour Hall 111!(Council Chambers)

**lorend** · 04-11-2010 at 11:15 PM

Congrats to the new VPs!

**aviaf** · 04-11-2010 at 11:22 PM

I just wanted to congratulate all the newly elected VPs.

I look forward to working with all of you in the coming year as a member of the SRA and a PTM

**aviaf** · 04-11-2010 at 11:27 PM

Also Congrats to Ms. Naheed Yaqubian for her re-election as MSU Speaker!!!

MD-L · 04-11-2010 at 11:59 PM

Hey I just wanted to congratulate Mr McIntyre, Mr Shorten and Mr Finkle. They all were fantastic candidates and I think are of incredible value to the MSU. I also wanted to congratulate all others who ran, it's difficult to go through the process and they all maintained a level of professionalism that was damn impressive.

-MDL

ferreinm · 04-12-2010 at 09:31 AM

On behalf of the IRC, I'd like to congratulate the newly elected Vice-Presidents of the MSU. We look forward to working with you next year! =)

samd · 04-12-2010 at 11:39 AM

It would be nice if students outside of the SRA and MSU knew about this BEFORE the vote had already happened. Even though we don't get a vote it would be nice if we could inform ourselves and tell our reps who we would like to see as VPs. Or maybe even decide to run ourselves.

At least give us the illusion that this is a democratic process.

mellye · 04-12-2010 at 11:57 AM

Posters were up for weeks. If i'm not mistaken, an e-mail was sent out as well. Sorry if you didn't see either?

**lorend** · 04-12-2010 at 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samd

It would be nice if students outside of the SRA and MSU knew about this BEFORE the vote had already happened. Even though we don't get a vote it would be nice if we could inform ourselves and tell our reps who we would like to see as VPs. Or maybe even decide to run ourselves.

At least give us the illusion that this is a democratic process.

The SRA don't take student account into this process; platform presentations and a question & answer period and/or discussion period occur AT the meeting, with votes cast after the Q&A/discussion period is over.

samd · 04-12-2010 at 01:18 PM

But shouldn't this election be just as visible as the presidentials?
Why is the whole thing done in one SRA meeting at the end of term?
Why can't we have the chance to tell our rep which platforms we like and which we don't? How can the representatives represent us if they don't even know what we want?

I would understand this process if these were smaller positions, or positions that only related to the inner workings of the SRA, but that's simply not the case. The VPs have massive responsibilities that touch every person in the student union. If we're not going to actually have a vote in this we should at least be able to research and examine the candidates and then tell our reps what we want.

**lorend** · 04-12-2010 at 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samd

But shouldn't this election be just as visible as the presidentials?
Why is the whole thing done in one SRA meeting at the end of term?
Why can't we have the chance to tell our rep which platforms we like and which we don't? How can the representatives represent us if they don't even know what we want?

I would understand this process if these were smaller positions, or positions that only related to the inner workings of the SRA, but that's simply not the case. The VPs have massive responsibilities that touch every person in the student union. If we're not going to actually have a vote in this we should at least be able to research and examine the candidates and then tell our reps what we want.

I don't disagree with you; I think the VP elections should be done the same as the presidentials (campus-wide). However, I'm not entirely sure why the process is the way it is, and how or why it hasn't been changed so there is more involvement.

deadpool · 04-12-2010 at 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samd

It would be nice if students outside of the SRA and MSU knew about this BEFORE the vote had already happened. Even though we don't get a vote it would be nice if we could inform ourselves and tell our reps who we would like to see as VPs. Or maybe even decide to run ourselves.

At least give us the illusion that this is a democratic process.

You have to have been blind to not see the millions of posters and advertisements soliciting candidates, and letting people know to come. There were a lot of observers there last night who DID show up after seeing these posters and knowing what was going on.

The process is fine for the most part. Students don't make the best decisions for the Union because they vote based on optics. Look at the Presidential election. Nothing was truthful.

These aren't elected officials. They are hired by the SRA to do the work of the SRA. The President and SRA are elected because they are the representatives of the student body.

If you turn the VP process into elected positions, the politics will kill the MSU, and the best candidates will be shunned for the people with the glitziest campaigns.

Naheed · 04-12-2010 at 01:59 PM

The Constitutional changes that were proposed, and will be put to the student body in a referendum in the 2010-2011 school year, change the position of Vice-President Administration to be open to all MSU members, rather than just the SRA. However, voting will still occur at meetings of the SRA, with only members of the Assembly having a vote.

Regarding transparency of the process, there were posters up for the past couple of weeks, and ads on the Presidents Page describing the positions, as well as other paid ads in the Silhouette. Next year, we might look into advertising the candidate's platforms beforehand, as it may increase student engagement within the process. Thanks for the feedback.

samd · 04-12-2010 at 03:03 PM

Advertising =/= Transparency

I haven't been on campus much in the last two weeks, so I must've missed all those posters.

I understand why student shouldn't have ALL the say in this. It's the elected president who's actually in charge anyways. But we should be able to read a platform and make a recommendation. What's wrong with that? Most of the stupid people only concerned with optics barley bothered to vote, what makes you think they would actually take the time to read platforms and say something about them?

deadpool · 04-12-2010 at 06:45 PM

So do it? I did, as did everyone else.

The MSU is not some secret club where people are selected when they first enter McMaster. If you actually take 3 minutes to go look at the news where it is presented properly for everyone to read, you will see opportunities to get involved and get informed.

More than that, the SRA has become astonishingly transparent. Nothing about this meeting was done behind closed doors, and there was no way for it to have been more advertised, unless you wished for the SRA to personally track down each and every student to let them know.

Armchair quarterbacking is fun and all, but it does not beat actually being part of it.

Also, if you wish to do something, there are seats available for MSU members onto the SRA's Standing Committtees. Go to the SRA meeting on the 25th (likely will be around 2pm in Gilmour Hall room 111) and get a seat.