The meeting was called at around 5:35 PM. There were a couple of action items to review and ratify. The first was the appointment of Carle Knipe, Bonita Arbeau, Alex Pappas, Lisa Sinclair, and Lyle Harvey to the Joint Council/Voice Action Plan Committee. The motion carried unanimously.

There were a lot of new motions to discuss. The first proposed motion was to approve an increase to $3,838.10 in the current office software budget for some anticipated annual renewal expenses that had not been factored in by the new Council and staff at the time of their first budget.

More important, however, was the approval of AUSU’s new 2016/2017 budget. The Finance Committee presented their draft budget for the financial year of October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017. After a slight amendment to increase telephone expenses due to a last minute line item that hadn’t been included, the budget stood with total anticipated revenues being down slightly to $615,300 from last year’s budget of $622,880, and total anticipated expenses also dropping from $730,386 to $691,518. This means that the 2016/2017 budget has an anticipated deficit of $76,218, as compared to last year’s budget having an expected deficit of $107,516.

Of course, expected doesn’t mean it will happen, as I’m told that the actual revenue for this year is now expected to only be $611,379, and expenses only $669,349. Which means the projected real deficit for this coming year is $57,790.

So what’s changed?

On the income side, not much. A lower anticipated income is based primarily on AU’s expected enrolment numbers.

On the expense side, administration costs are increasing by almost 15%, ($14,330 from $12,500) and meeting expenses by almost a third ($16,500 from $12,500). Fortunately, That’s balanced by a decrease in the amount budgeted for rent, which is now some $8,000 lower than last year’s budget. VPFA Kim Newsome explained that staff and Council are trying hard to keep administrative costs down, but are unwilling to do so at the expense of service to members, and that AUSU is currently looking at the possibility of looking for office space that is less expensive than their current space in an effort to create a sustainable budget.

AUSU is also expecting to spend more on technology this year, doubling last year’s budgets for computer hardware for the office and for councillors, and nearly doubling it for software.

The staff payroll will remain close to the same, with an increase in benefits being closely matched by a decrease in “Staff Appreciation”

The biggest change in AUSU’s budgeted expenses comes in the Councillor Salaries and Benefits column. After AUSU’s internal Executive Compensation review committee did It’s work and brought the Executive Salaries into line with other student organizations in Alberta, AUSU will be saving almost $35,000 in Executive Honoraria alone over last year’s budget, a drop of almost 25%. This, coupled with slight reductions in both representation expenses and money spent on member programs, is largely responsible for AU’s budgeted expenses for next year coming down nearly $39,000 from the current year’s budget.

One item in the budget that did not change was the amount set aside for awards to students. That remains the same at $50,000.

It was noted in the discussions that while income from AUSU’s investments will likely be higher, and the services fees cost likely lower than projected in the budget, these numbers were chosen to reflect a possible worst-case scenario on items AUSU has little control over.

The budget discussion was lengthy, but eventually the motion to approve the 2016/2017 budget carried unanimously. The budget is now available at this link.

Sadly, the next motion was to accept the resignation of Councillor Philip Kirkbride as of June 24, 2016, ending his term on council approximately 22 months early. Even though Kirkbride was not present, the council members thanked him for his hard work and contribution. It was mentioned that he helped a lot with the AUSU Awards Committee, so thanks Philip for your hard work! This motion passed unanimously.

On a happy note, AUSU Council added a motion that proposed the appointment of Councillor Scott Jacobsen to the AUSU Member Engagement and Communications Committee. This motion also was carried unanimously. So, congratulations Scott!

The council members went on to discuss policy revisions. The policy that had the most changes was for travel and related expenses. When AUSU members travel on AUSU business, they will receive $0.48/km to cover gas and a meal allowance of $65/full day of travel. The previous meal amount was $60 ($15 breakfast, $20 lunch, $25 dinner). Therefore, dinner increased to $30, as it is sometimes hard to fit dinner under $25, especially once the tip and taxes have been added. So, the overall change is only $5 per day. It is good to note that a full day of travel means 10 or more hours away from home.

The larger change is that they do not need to keep the receipts for their expenses. However, prior to travelling, advance payments of meal allowances and incidentals must be requested and approved by the executive council. This policy helps the councillors and staff greatly, as it was noted that it can be hard to keep track of every receipt over a longer conference, and adds additional staff time taken to verify what are generally small amounts.

Changes were then made to AUSU’s financial oversight policies 6.05 and 6.06. Previously, any spending of 10% over budgeted amounts had to be brought before council. This meant it could vary from as low as a $50 overage needing to receive full council approval if it was for computer software, while a change of over $10,000 would have been under that 10% line if it was for staff salaries. At the same time, almost all spending within the budget amounts could done entirely by the Executive Director.

Council has instead now instituted tighter controls on expenditures over certain dollar amounts or budget percentages to only be allowable if authorized by different groups within council. Unbudgeted or expenses that are over-budget can now be approved by the Executive council or the Finance Committee depending on their size, with any unbudgeted expenditures over $2,000 still needing to be approved by Council as a whole.

AUSU then reviewed its policy positions, noting that the position policies all say that AUSU will advocate for certain things, but in reality AUSU does not possess the capability to actively advocate and lobby for all of the position policies simultaneously. The polices were adjusted to note that they are AUSU’s positions, which if an opportunity arises should be put forward, but that AUSU will only devote specific resources to advocating for certain priority issues each year.

The meeting was then moved in-camera at 7:16 p.m. The other student observer, Mark Teeninga, and I were politely asked to leave the meeting until we were contacted again.

The in-camera session ended at around 7:39 p.m., and when I rejoined, it was read into the public portion of the meeting that Council had voted on removing Josh Cross from council for 2 or more full absences from council and committee meetings without sufficient notice.

The next motion was to appoint Scott Jacobsen as chair of the AUSU Awards Committee. This motion carried unanimously.

Now with two vacant seats on council, AUSU Council decided to call a by-election for September 30, 2016, to fill them from the members of AUSU. For more information, see here.

Next, the council members briefly talked about reports for the months of June and July 2016. It is good to note that Communication and Member Services Coordinator, Donette Kingyens, has added more statistics about the AUSU mobile app. So, thanks Donette! The mobile app has grown so much, and it really does help students stay connected.

The meeting then went into the question and answer period. I asked more about the two vacant positions on the AUSU council. They said they would keep everyone notified. However, the by-election timeline is tentatively set as follows:

Call for Nominations August 31 ? September 14
Nominees Announced September 19
Campaign Period September 19 to October 3
Election September 30 to October 3

Also, there may be a change in the date of the October Council Meeting. Instead, of being on October, 11 2016, the meeting might be moved to the 18th of October. The reasoning is that the council thought it would be helpful for the new members (who will be elected to fill the two positions on Council) to have the chance to get up to speed on council activities before attending the meeting. The September council meeting will remain as it is on the 13th of September at 5:30 p.m. MDT.

With that, the Councillors commented that this Council meeting was by far the longest meeting for this term. However, it was very successful! At 8:14 p.m., the meeting was adjourned.

The first motion on the agenda was appointing Scott Jacobsen as the AUSU Council representative on the joint AUSU/Voice Action Committee.

The agenda and minutes of previous meetings passed quite quickly, with Council then moving to look at the action plan for AUSU. The time spent reviewing the action plan for the previous meetings was very brief.

The first policy that was reviewed was regarding executive accountability and compensation. This policy is made to ensure the accountability and compensation of AUSU executive Councillors. The policy speaks of time commitment and scheduling, reporting and accountability, and compensation benefits for AUSU executive Councillors. The suggested revisions relate to the banking and taking time in lieu for excess executive hours. For example, executive Councillors will receive equivalent time in lieu for all work, as sanctioned by the executive committee, performed in excess of the base hours per week. Also, another change states that when an executive councillor travels away from home overnight on behalf of AUSU, each full day shall be counted as 10 hours of work, instead of the previous 12 hours of work.

This change to the policy was made retroactive, to deal with the problem that sparked the discussion in the first place, and some Councillors shared their personal views on how this policy will affect them.

On a lighter note, the Councillors were munching on homemade chocolate chip cookies. Andrew Grey, who was attending via teleconference from British Colombia, even joked about sending him some of those delicious cookies. However, we all know that by the time the cookies reach BC, they wont be that delicious anymore.

Moving on, the next policy revision was regarding the joint Council/Voice action plan committee. I think this policy is very important as it directly involves The Voice Magazine. The AUSU Council unanimously passed a motion to work collaboratively with The Voice to help create a meaningful action plan to improve the publication and increase readership by providing non-financial support to The Voice Magazine. The Voice Editor, Karl Low, was even welcome to share his opinion regarding the policy. However, since the policy was very clear, there was little discussion to be made.

During the weekend prior to the meeting, the Councillors spent a great deal of time reviewing AUSU position policies. They discussed possible motions to adopt new polices as well as review or repeal some policies.

Finally came the question and answer period, but there were no questions being asked as it was a brief meeting. The Councillors then started talking about what happened on Friday’s June 24th meet and greet. They said it was a huge success, some of AU’s faculty members attended and even an AU student. The Councillors were happy to see him, rushing to hand him cookies as a form of welcome, and were impressed at how aware the student was about various student issues and how he was was unafraid to question the faculty present about these items. This seemed especially helpful as the student was asking about many of the same things that Council has been asking about as well. The Councillors noted that this meet and greet was nice as it brought distance education students together. I believe these meet and greets should be held more often as they make students feel less alone. Also it helps students understand that there are other people who share similar concerns.

Overall, the meeting was one-hour long, and there were brief discussions throughout the meeting. It was mentioned that the next AUSU Council meeting will be on August 9th, as July will be very hard to book with various holidays, and is also generally a slower period for AUSU. With that, at 11:06am the meeting was adjourned.

Following an update on the action plan, the discussion proceeded to the upcoming June council retreat in Edmonton. The meeting will take place at the AUSU office in Edmonton on June 24ththrough 26th. Unfortunately, not all council members will be able to attend the in-person sessions, with a third of the councillors now indicating they will not be able to attend, but they were encouraged to review the agendas so to participate by teleconference. Also, the council is having a public AUSU council meeting in person in Edmonton on the 26th of June. Members are also able to join this public meeting via teleconference.

The first point of interest was an update on the civil suit against AUSU. For the purpose of confidentiality, the name of the individual who raised the law suit was not given. However, the individual has withdrawn the complaints against AUSU. President Wasylyshyn noted that the other council members should be aware of this particular individual as they would like to minimize putting AUSU at further risk.

The first motion on the agenda was the approval of a new committee member. All councillors voted on appointing Jody Waddle as the new member of the of the Member Engagement and Communications Committee (MEC). Jody’s term begins immediately and ends in spring 2017, when committee appointments are reviewed. So, congratulations to Jody!

A new policy regarding reinstating members not in good standing has been implemented. Previously, there was no defined procedure to return members to good standing. However, the new policy states members who are not in good standing as a result of a motion of council may make a request to be reinstated as a member in good standing. Members not in good standing are required to fill out a Return to Good Standing Request Form and submit it to the AUSU office. Many councillors encouraged and were happy about this new policy. I think this policy is needed as it allows members to revaluate themselves, and it is good to give people a second chance.

An addition was made to the policy regarding student services, and it suggests that students be paid for internships. The councillors discussed how paid co-op programs and internships are important tools for students to gain hands-on experience in their field of specialization and to cross over into full-time employment. I think that this is a great addition to the policy. Students need to gain experience, and most of the students are not finically stable; therefore, paying students for internships can significantly help them start their career.

All of the motions passed unanimously, and generally with little discussion beyond the explanation of the new policies and changes.

President Wasylyshyn stated that the students are concerned about the retro-active changes being applied to the post-LPN nursing program. AUSU has met with Dr. Margaret Edwards, Dean of the Faculty of Health Disciplines in person on May 17. They heard directly from her perspective, the reasons for the changes and the implementation of them. However, AUSU members conveyed to her that while they don’t disagree that the changes were needed, they don’t feel that applying them retroactively is necessary. Also, AUSU council confirmed that they would continue to advocate against any retroactive changes across the board.

During the council meeting, AUSU’s Vice President, Kim Newsome, also voiced her concerns regarding the retroactive changes being applied to the post-LPN nursing program. She does not think it is fair for the students. These changes could drive students to give up on their program, or spend more money and time towards finishing the program.

In the AUSU council meeting it was noted that the post-LPN nursing program is very competitive, and students are already under so much pressure to finish. Many of these students are working, have a family, or they are busy travelling. They need to be able to focus on finishing their program without any further pressure and complications. The Voice Magazine is looking into gathering more information about the changes that could occur, and further coverage will be provided.

The Finance Committee has finally made it possible to access their financial information and activities on the AUSU website. In my opinion, this is a very convenient resource for students. I believe that posting monthly financial statements and annual budgets online will increase transparency to the memberships.

The Awards Committee report stated that this year AUSU has received around 250 applicants. This number of applicants is the highest AUSU has received over any previous year. The councillors are proud of all the hard work and dedication the students have put into their studies to be eligible to receive the awards.

Finally came the question and answer period. At first, no one was asking any questions, until the editor of The Voice Magazine inquired about the changes that are being implement to the post-LPN nursing program. Specifically, he was asking about the movement in GPA changes. The change requires that all practicum students receive a cumulative GPA of 3.0 in the courses taken through Athabasca University and university transfer courses. This was not required previously. However, these changes will most likely be in affect in 2017. Nonetheless, I think these changes could postpone the time of graduation for many students. As we receive more information, we will keep you posted about the retroactive changes that could be applied to faculty of Health Disciplines.

With that, at about 6pm, the meeting was officially adjourned. The councillors thanked one another and some even said “good work.”