Why Student Governance Matters
By Sam
This post was updated on February 26, 2021.
Student government often goes unnoticed by the average university student but its effects are felt everywhere on campus, from our classes to our clubs. We are immensely fortunate at the U of A to have so many opportunities for making our voices heard. It’s not always perfect (in fact, it’s never perfect), but it’s how we make things better. One conversation, one meeting, and one vote at a time.
Student governance can seem convoluted at first glance with an array of institutions, governance bodies, and acronyms (like GFC, SU, ROFL, etc.) all under the umbrella of student representation. Before we get into why student governance is so important it’s necessary to outline what exactly it is and how it’s structured. The biggest student government body is the Students’ Union (SU) which most of us are familiar with (here’s a thrilling organizational chart for a refresher). At the top are the Students’ Council and the Executives; they include the Students’ Union President and four Vice-Presidents who represent the undergraduate student body as a whole. The Executive positions get the most attention since they’re the highest and most demanding roles in the SU — but there’s a lot more to student government than just the Executive team. The SU, in addition to other student government bodies, is made up of hundreds of passionate student advocates all working to make the U of A a better place.
What Student Government is Good For
In a chat I had recently with a sitting Executive they summed up the role of student government by saying that at its core, student governance is advocacy work. This work is done most formally by elected student representatives in the SU and GFC, but it’s also done via faculty associations, departmental associations, and residence associations (associating is very big in governance). Student government exists to advocate for you, the student, seeking in all things to create a better student experience.
Without this advocacy work, the student perspective could be overlooked and institutional accountability eroded. Creating and maintaining healthy channels of political influence for students creates a stronger University environment that is better able to adapt to student concerns and keep the University well-functioning. This advocacy work, and crucially, the knowledge that these channels for advocacy exist, helps prevent breakdowns like what happened in Quebec in 2012. Mass action can have a time and place, but generally speaking, protests are a move of last resort and ideally can be avoided if proper advocacy networks exist.
How it Works
Students’ Council is the University’s highest student governance body with 40 members including the five SU Executives, Board of Governors Representative, Speaker, General Manager, and 32 Faculty Councillors. Faculty Councillors and Executives work together to craft bills, motions, and engage in other work. There are six subcommittees of Council and a number of other subcommittees and working groups that are formed to tackle certain issues or areas.
The General Faculties Council (GFC) is much larger than Students’ Council, consisting of 158 members, including staff, students, professors, and more. Given its broad membership, the GFC doesn’t exclusively focus on creating student-led policy but instead includes a large space for crafting student-oriented policy in conjunction with other University groups. It also includes students in pretty much every committee, working group, and decision that affects students.
The Student’s Union Executives, the President, VP Academic, VP External, VP Operations and Finance, VP Student Life, and the Board of Governors Representative (who is not paid but still serves a vital role) are all tasked with particular advocacy portfolios and are answerable to Students’ Council. A good way to think to think of Students’ Council is as a City Council in that there is no party structure or opposition group but rather that all of Council acts to create policy and hold its members to account. Faculty Associations and Departmental Associations often have more narrow governance structures with a President and a few VP’s (or an equivalent) each in charge of a particular area within that association. The election information for these Associations can be found by checking out the Associations’ websites or by contacting them directly.
How You Can Make a Difference
So how can you engage in student governance and make a difference? The first and most important thing you can do is to get engaged (but no diamonds necessary!). Pay attention to the issues that are brought up throughout the election and do your research on the respective candidates and referenda sides. Since there are two sets of elections in March you’ll be able to do your homework in plenty of time. Candidates typically have websites that display their platforms and posters put up across campus. The Gateway publishes a wealth of information on the elections from Q&A’s to the famous poster slam. Finally, attending a forum is a great way to hear from candidates in person and to ask a question about their platform. All forum dates are available online.
The second thing you can do: VOTE! Do have a computer or smartphone? Then you can vote! Voting for the 2021 SU Executives & BOG. Rep. General Election will take place between 8:00 am on Wednesday, March 3 and 6:00 pm on Thursday, March 4, 2021. Voting for the 2021 Students’ Council and General Faculties Council Election General Election will take place between 8:00 am on Wednesday, March 17and 6:00 pm on Thursday, March 18, 2021. All voting is done online su.ualberta.ca/vote and only takes a couple of minutes. Check out this link for more information on how voting works.
