Josh Redel: President

Josh Redel has helped guide the Executive and Council of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) through a smooth transition from the divided political atmosphere on campus last year. At the beginning of the semester, he stated that one of his main goals was to improve SSMU General Assemblies (GA), and make the online ratification system a success. So far, Redel has demonstrated his ability to follow through with his objectives. The Fall SSMU GA online ratification period exceeded quorum with 13 per cent participation. Although the GA lost quorum after passing two motions, the Tribune encourages Redel to maintain his efforts and increase advertising for the Winter GA.

Redel has also worked hard to represent student interests at Senate and the Board of Governors; he has helped organize and execute a newly integrated Orientation Week at the beginning of the semester. Rede has tried to reach out to Macdonald Campus and other parts of the university through his “roaming Council” initiative, which has SSMU Council sometimes meeting outside of its regular location in the SSMU Building. In the Winter Semester, the Tribune hopes to see Redel seek to increase Council’s engagement with different student groups, rather than simply changing the location of Council.

Allison Cooper: VP Clubs & Services

Allison Cooper’s enthusiasm never seems to falter. She has done a good job improving the room bookings section of the SSMU website to facilitate the process of booking space for clubs in the SSMU Building. Fall Activities Night also went on without a hitch, and The Tribune looks forward to seeing what she will do with Winter Activities night, which traditionally has allowed for more creative forms of student engagement. We are also excited to see what Cooper will do with her plans for a new “Club Hub” website.

On occasion, however, Cooper appears to be behind on her work. Last minute emails to heads of clubs and services have proved to be a source of frustration for some. She has also continued the long-awaited office re-allocations that former VP Clubs and Services Carol Fraser started last year. Although the process has not been seamless, we applaud Cooper’s efforts to give clubs and services the space they both want and need.

Jean Paul Briggs: VP Finance

Jean Paul Briggs has been one of the least visible executives on campus. Under his jurisdiction, however, the new Gerts renovations have been successfully completed, featuring a great new source of cheap student food at Gertrude’s Corner. While some students may have reservations about the bar’s new design, we are happy to see that the project is finally finished.

The Tribune is disappointed, however, with Briggs’ handling of the new second floor tenants of the Shatner building, who have expressed concern about their ability to promote their businesses on campus and access appropriate equipment. We also hope Briggs’ can make progress next semester on the long-awaited student-run café project, as we have been disillusioned with his apparent lack of interest in exploring all possible options for the long-awaited student-run café.

Haley Dinel: VP University Affairs

Haley Dinel has been an important presence on the SSMU executive so far this year. We appreciate her role in overseeing the newly created Student Advocacy Resource Committee, and we look forward to seeing this committee develop fully to help students navigate McGill’s bureaucracy. Dinel has also been diligently negotiating with the McGill administration over the new lease for the Shatner building, and we are impressed with her constant presence at events such as the Fall Consultation Fair.

However, attendence was lacking at the Consulation Fairs. The Tribune hopes that Dinel can help advertise future events like this more effecitvely and reach out into the student body. Dinel should also take care to be more aware of the repercussions of the public documents she writes. In a report to SSMU Council in September, Dinel wrote that Dean of Arts, Christopher Manfredi had officially confirmed the creation of an Indigenous Studies Program, even though he did not possess the authority to make such a claim.

At the beginning of the year, Dinel emphasized her commitment to improving and promoting equity on campus. We look forward to seeing how she will address this topic, especially at the equity conference, next semester.

Michael Szpejda: VP Internal

Michael Szpejda started the year off on a positive note with a well-organized, well-executed, and integrated Frosh. Frosh offered many ‘dry’ activities and “À la carte events” that engaged first-year students with student-run clubs and McGill services— successful initiatives that achieved their aim of being inclusive of different student interests. Since Frosh, however, Szpejda has dropped off the radar. The SSMU listservs are lacklustre and impersonal, and the Tribune detects very little effort to connect with the student body.

While Szpejda cannot be held accountable for other students’ actions, the presence of a person in blackface at 4Floors raises greater concerns about the running of SSMU events. In Winter 2013, we would like to see more effort on his part in maintaining the SSMU building as a safe space.

Robin Reid-Fraser: VP External

Robin Reid-Fraser has proven to be one of the more engaged and active members of the SSMU executive team this semester. She has conducted and initiated many projects ranging from Community Engagement Day, to helping create a program of Community Ambassadors to lint students to the wider community. She has also been a capable liaison between the student and non-student populations of the Milton-Parc community.

Reid-Fraser has also been an important representative to the Table de Concertation Étudiante du Québec (TaCEQ), where she has worked to represent different student concerns, and to bring awareness to the issues of international and out-of-province students. Robin has worked incredibly hard to create SSMU consultation sessions in preparation for the upcoming Quebec education summit, and created a website to make the topic of education more accessible to McGill students. However, these consultations were planned last minute, and were sparsely attended. We look forward to seeing more of her work in Winter 2013, especially with the Quebec education summit on the horizon.

Photos by Alexandra Allaire and Simon Poitrimolt