CSU Council Updates in Brief

New Names for Executives, Austerity Research Update

NewsMichelle Pucci — Published December 14, 2015

Union renamed

By-laws to rename executive positions and the council meeting secretary have come into effect. Here’s the list:

• The CSU ​President is now the General Coordinator
• VP Finance is now the Finance Coordinator
• VP Academic and Advocacy is now the Academic and Advocacy Coordinator
• VP External and Mobilization is now the External and Mobilize Coordinator
• VP Internal and Clubs is now the Internal Coordinator
• VP Student Life is now the Student Life Coordinator
• VP Sustainability is now the Sustainability Coordinator
• VP Loyola is now the Loyola Coordinator
• The council meeting Secretary is now the Minute Keeper.

The new titles come with new responsibilities, General Coordinator Terry Wilkings said in a previous interview with The Link. Executives, like the Sustainability Coordinator, will liaise with student groups, in this case sustainability groups.

“It may assist in removing the ego aspect of the executives,” Wilkings said. “In the past, sometimes it could get to your head.”

Austerity at Concordia

A document on the effects of provincial budget cuts to universities on Concordia was presented by the union’s Campaigns and Academic Researcher, Gene Morrow.

Morrow, a former VP Academic and Advocacy, was hired to look into how approximately $30 million in cuts to the university’s operating grants since 2012 has affected academic life.

The 16-page working document suggests coordinating public statements between the administration and student associations against the cuts, and distancing university education away from market pressures and corporate donations.

Morrow’s presentation also listed fewer course options, larger class sizes, heavier workloads for teaching assistants, lost co-op placement opportunities, and lost staff positions due to hiring freezes as consequences of the cuts.

With files from Jonathan Cook