Your-SG Platform

Student Voice

• Groups like STAND and Uncommon demonstrate that student activism is at an all time high. It is the job of the Student Government to ensure that these voices are heard. SG must fundamentally change its communication philosophy from a passive role to one that actively seeks student input and advocates those views to the administration. With greater understanding of student opinion comes a greater ability to advocate for change. Our credibility is fundamentally tied to our ability to know the student body. That is not to say that all students agree with the positions taken by either of these organizations, but rather more students are unhappy about more issues, and there needs to be an open line of communication

Administration

• Despite all best efforts students are continuously marginalized by the administration. We need an administration that asks what students think first before making decisions that fundamentally impact us. As University students, the administration owes it to us to explain their thinking and take into account our opinions. To that end, we will work proactively to ensure that students are an integral part of all-university committees and other decisions that will have a great impact on students.

Green Campus

• The University just received a D- from the Sustainable Endowments Institute. This is indicative of a broader problem of environmental issues on campus. We need to integrate a Sustainability Coordinator into the administration so that environmental concerns can be consistently incorporated into university decision making. This is not only a good step for the environment, but can also help save money by reducing energy usage and excess purchasing.

Bring Back the A-Level

• The A-level was a part of our culture as U of C students and was one of the primary social scenes on campus. It was a place that brought people together both in and out of the classroom. The A-level was taken away without student input. It is demonstrative of the enormous discount between the students and the administration. If we cannot bring back the A-Level, we should look into exciting alternatives such as using the Reynolds Club as an all night study space, or working to make the Crerar Cafe an asset to student life.

Student Care Center

• The University has recently renegotiated its health care service contract with Chickering. We support Student Health Insurance Review Committee's (SHIRC) work in pressing Chickering to expand the services provided by the SCC, such as bulk discounts for larger prescription orders and discounted vaccinations for students going abroad. Its time we made the most of our health care spending.

Technology

• Why does it feel like NSIT is still preparing for Y2K? We need to finish the Student Government website and invest resources into building a portal for students online. The internet allows for collaboration between students at an unprecedented level, its time the University took an active part in making this collaboration happen. The Registrar's decision to make Transcripts available online is a move in the right direction towards making both student and administrators lives easier by moving services online.

Communication

Student Government operates without much student involvement or interaction. This needs to change. We have several easy solutions which will make Student Government more receptive, transparent, and

• Constant Contact:
  
• Constituent Wide E-mails: Representatives need to be in contact with their constituents, whether this is in the form of personalized e-mail sent by Graduates out to their divisions or to College Students by year. We now have the technology with Bulk Mail 2: a mass mail program that allows users to messages to a select number of recipients. While there has been a proposal to use Bulk Mail 2 with the College Council, we need to extend it to graduate divisions as well. By reliably and frequently communicating with students, College and Graduate Council Representatives can keep people informed of current affairs and reach out to students to gage their opinions.
• Blog: The SG Website is nearing completion but still doesn't posses a blog which can be updated regularly with the thoughts and news of student government. We pledge to create such a space, and keep it updated, so students can always see what we're doing, thinking, and yes, even feeling.

• Transparency:
• More Minutes: Minutes are taken in SG Committees on a volunteer and irregular basis. There is no formal method, no rhyme or reason from meeting to meeting or year to year. In an effort to change that, we propose using SG money to guarantee each meeting of Student Government, be it Campus Services, College or Graduate Council, or the Assembly, has a designated minute taker. We promise to post and host these minutes online, guaranteeing the right to all students to see what their government is up to.
• Boldly Going: Paper minutes and transcripts are a wonderful resource, but we can go further in today's age of Youtube and podcasts. We propose supplementing traditional minutes by the end of next year with streaming video transcripts of every meeting. This will guarantee transparency and ensure that each student can experience the thrill firsthand of attending all of SG's exciting meetings.

• Reception:
• Discussion: In the true U of C Spirit, we will begin the first Student Government discussion board. We all yearn for the thrill of real intellectual debate and this will provide a forum where students can debate the issues of the day such as divestment, gripe about problems such as housing, or theorize on how to structurally alter SG. By making these discussions public, we will have access to the diversity of student thought and hopefully stimulate real involvement as well all try to put off our homework.
• RSO-Wiki: ORCSA attempts to keep a student database which provides up to date information on all the various RSOs. Its a hard job keeping track of every RSO and that's why we think the responsibility should be in the hands of the RSO. A wiki provides a way for groups to easily alter their image, post content, and keep information up to date.