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If nothing else, Jonathon Tonietto has been honest throughout his campaign. The MSU presidential candidate made it clear in his conversation with The Silhouette that he has not spent time analyzing his fellow candidates’ platforms, instead choosing to focus on his own campaign.
Tonietto has also made it clear that he cannot lower tuition. His expanded platform, posted online over the weekend, has a full section on Mac Discount, the introduction to which reads: “Unleash Financial Shackles of Student life: I cannot make the promise of lower tuition but I can lower the cost of student living.” Having been a McMaster student for six years himself, Tonietto is no stranger to the wide range of costs incurred by being a university student.
While Tonietto does address these concerns, through the implementation of a “Marauder Price Cut Card” and a more cost-effective textbook rental program, no component of his platform addresses the elephant in the boardroom. While the current Board of Directors has not promised to lower tuition at McMaster or across the province, the MSU and the Ontario University Student Alliance is in the process of lobbying the provincial government for a tuition freeze.
According to the current VP (Education) Spencer Nestico-Semianiw, the 2016-17 BoD will need to continue the advocacy initiated by this year’s MSU President and VPs. “Since there will likely be a consultation process for the new framework, it will fall to the new team during the remainder of 2016 and early 2017 to advocate for these changes in the new framework,” he said in an email.
It is concerning to see that for all his talk of maintaining communication between BoDs, Tonietto’s platform lists very few of these initiatives. While the goal of his Mac Flow initiative is to improve this communication, the tuition freeze is mentioned once at the end of his manifesto. In his interview with The Silhouette, Tonietto stated that he had met with five of the six previous MSU presidents, including current President Ehima Osazuwa, whose most buzz-worthy platform point was his commitment to discussing Ontario’s tuition framework. Despite all that research, Tonietto’s inability to conceive of future plans about tuition advocacy leaves a major gap in his platform that speaks to his priorities as a candidate.
Tonietto’s approach to the presidential campaign has been honest, but perhaps to a fault. While it is refreshing to read, and for that matter write about a politician who is not afraid to admit their lack of insight on a topic, Tonietto’s shrug of a response to the ongoing lobbying for lower tuition is one of multiple points he has maintained a neutral position on. He is the only candidate still neutral on the question of electing VPs at large, an issue he says students should be able to make themselves.
Tonietto promises to bring change to the MSU if elected its president and CEO. He claims his perspective, as someone outside the “MSU bubble,” is advantageous to the portfolio he is proposing for the upcoming year. However, it remains to be seen whether he has the expertise on current MSU initiatives to bring the change he wants to see within the Union.
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There's a lot to unpack when examining Mike Gill’s plan to "Build our McMaster" in both scope and depth of research, and it's fair to say that it's by far the most comprehensive plan in this year’s presidential election.
As a short recap for the unfamiliar, Gill's biggest platform point is a $75 million plan that extends over the next 30 years. He's hoping to allocate about $60 million of that towards a brand new building akin to a second student centre, and the other $15 million toward Athletics & Recreation initiatives including a Pulse expansion and a roof for an outdoor field.
Now, with such a detailed financial plan, Gill makes some necessary assumptions.
The first is that the full-time undergraduate student population will grow by one percent each year. Since the number of students directly informs how much the MSU accumulates in student fees, it's an important quantity to be aware of.
Based on enrolment statistics provided by the university over the past decade, while the exact growth of the student population fluctuates from year to year, one percent is a fair estimate for student growth. Although VP (Finance) Daniel D'Angela did note that post-secondary enrolment over the next several years is expected to slow, a flat student population growth would at most leave a gap of about $4 million.
It's certainly not pennies, but it's not a ruinous amount either; tacking on a couple of extra years would solve this as a potential issue.
A second assumption is the inflation rate. Gill applies a two percent inflation rate to the fees collected from students year to year, which is a slight overestimate of the current Canadian inflation rate according to tradingeconomics.com, but is still a reasonable approximation of overall trends.
However, an important, accompanying assumption isn't detailed in Gill's financial breakdown: the interest rate collected by the banks through the mortgage made on any kind of building plan.
Gill has noted this in conversation with The Silhouette, explaining that the university "can take out loans at a very low rate, and right now interest rates are really low to begin with, so it's a good time to do that sort of thing."
But the $75 million or so that Gill is proposing to use is misleading in terms of today's real dollars.
As Gina Robinson, Assistant Dean at Student Affairs and Director of the Student Success Centre, puts it in an email, "In borrowing we must pay interest to compensate the lender for the time it will take to pay back the loan. Essentially the amount of money that you have today is worth more than the same money that you are promised at some future date."
Ultimately, what this means is that while $75 million in capital funding will be accumulated over the life of the plan, if one assumes the mortgage is made in 2020 at a 2.7 percent interest rate, this actually only amounts to about $47 million in today's real dollars.
Even if one applies a more modest 2 percent interest rate, approximately only $51 million will be available with the proposed funding model to cover both the Student Life Centre as well as Ath&Rec upgrades.
All of this is said with the understanding that the provided financial breakdown is not meant as a final plan, nor does it ask for students to commit to spending any more than they currently do.
But these rough calculations do raise questions as to whether or not an efficient budget exists for a functional building to be built, and in a good and useful location. While Gill pointed to T-13 as his favourite spot for the new building, D'Angela noted that T-13's location is not ideal and would need further consideration.
While it might be a bit alarming to see student fees covering costs until 2047, it's worth noting that this is neither unusual nor irresponsible, according to both D'Angela and Robinson. In fact, Robinson still expressed an enthusiasm for a Student Life Centre based on the proposed budget, and the Living and Learning Centre planned for 2019 will also be using this type of funding model.
But along with the various proposed Ath&Rec upgrades, it's implausible for all of the various proposals to be implemented; with the current budget, the building won't nearly match up to the grand expectations it inspires. Based on what students vote for, it remains to be seen if a new Student Life Centre is a building worth building.
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About an hour and a half into this year’s MSU Presidential Debate, candidates were asked about the dissolving of MacGreen and how candidates would continue to focus on sustainability on campus. Sustainability is nowhere to be found on candidate Devante Mowatt’s platform, and so he replied with the following: “In order to get more information on the subject, I’d like to look to the students that are surrounding me right now. I’d like to host campus talks alongside representatives that know a bit more about sustainability than I do. I want to make sure you guys can tell me what you want to see in terms of sustainability.”
Although a bit a sidestep, Mowatt’s answer was really the best he could do given the lack of a direct strategy or platform point. Nonetheless, public campus talks and open MSU office hours are not going to properly address issues that are otherwise left out of his platform.
Mowatt’s platform seems to include the bare minimum platform points needed to address fundamental student issues such as sustainability, student and university finances, equity and accessibility. As much as these can be thrown around as buzzwords during the leadership race, they should be present in everyone’s platform because they represent the wide-ranging concerns of the student constituency.
Mowatt defends the limited scope of his platform by stressing its feasibility. It is relatively easy to implement, and he is committed to asking the students how they want to address some of the larger issues through a reimagining of MSU office hours. These public hours will be hosted as town hall style forums in a variety of open spaces around campus. According to Mowatt’s website:
“Unless they actively seek out opportunities to do so, students often do not have a forum to make their beliefs heard. To change this, I would like to revitalize the idea of Presidential Office Hours to allow students to talk to the President about pressing issues on campus, in a way that is easy and accessible for them. I would like to hold bi-weekly sessions in different buildings on campus, prepared with topics of discussion that are of crucial importance to the student body (mental health, financial accessibility, etc.).”
The platform point is in all likelihood, completely feasible (barring the bi-weekly frequency). Town hall style meetings were a component of last year’s second place candidate Tristan Paul, and while both critics and fellow candidates questioned student interest and participation, the need to pursue more face-to-face student engagement with the MSU is still a problem that the Union has to address.
The issue lies in his attempt to use this point as a sort of buffer for the lack of focused initiatives to try and address the different areas of student issues. There is simply not enough time for a president to hold an appropriate number of meetings to formulate specific strategies for the organization and then implement them. Platforms are already supposed to be developed in collaboration with students and administration, and are meant to represent a potential yearlong strategy for the Board of Directors. Students deserve a candidate that is prepared to maximize their short-term, and using a well prepared, researched platform is the best way to do so in the current system.
While campaign season should not be the only time that students feel that their voices are actively being listened to, the reality is that this is one of the few times where the constituency is this widely engaged. Turning over feedback, while balancing a directed, personal set of goals for the Union is no easy task, but it is necessary for students to understand how their candidate will run the MSU, and it is important to go into the position with a relatively determined strategy for a one-year timeframe.
Chalking up the most important goals to “letting the students decide” does not give voters any reason to believe that Mowatt will actually successfully address their concerns if voted in, and if he would have time to provide results. Mowatt is a candidate of small-scale improvements for your McMaster mobile, Frost Week and washroom experience, and his plan to introduce another avenue of voicing your complaints is unlikely to address those issues in any substantial way.
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Sarah Jama's entire platform is arguably centered on accessibility, whether through MSU services, food and living accommodations or improved financial accessibility.
However, there are a couple of key concerns that are embedded in Jama's platforms on improving food and healthy living.
With Jama's Emergency Meal Plan, the basic premise of her idea is to create an emergency meal card for students that will be provided on a first-come, first-serve needs basis.
But immediately, the explanation provided for this platform is questionable, as Jama’s website states:
"The cost of food is expected to rise in Hamilton up to three hundred percent within the next two years (source)."
With no actual source provided, it's troubling to see this cited as a real statistic when it falls apart under a simple application of logic. If a basic meal at Centro costs $8, conservatively, it seems ludicrous to imagine it costing anywhere near $32 in two years.
Now, it's worth noting that regardless of whether or not the statistic is true, it does not invalidate the desire for an emergency meal plan fund. Jama pointed to the massive demand for the MSU Emergency Bursary as tangible evidence of students' needs on campus.
But a number of logistical issues remain unanswered and the flimsy statistic does nothing to help the seemingly shallow research.
For example, it's unclear how exactly such a plan would be implemented; in particular, what an individual needs to reveal about their financial situation in order to be eligible.
It seems both necessary and yet onerous to ask an individual to divulge their financial standing to be eligible, but it's an inevitable problem that as of yet has no tangible solution.
For now, Jama explained that she plans to work with both Hospitality Services and the Faculty of Social Work to develop a solution.
There are also a number of potential issues with a first-come, first-serve distribution. An individual who is in need of funding in April has a disadvantage to receive funding compared to an individual in need in November, even if the financial need is equal.
In addition, both Gina Robinson (Assistant Dean at Student Affairs and Director of the Student Success Centre) and VP (Finance) Daniel D'Angela confirmed that for students in need, the Financial Aid Office can provide assistance in a number of ways including a week-long loaded meal card. However, Jama explained that she wants to expand that aid for students who might need assistance for longer than a week, and D’Angela indicated that these options for students could certainly be advertised more effectively.
It's a nuanced issue, but with a month-long meal card being worth somewhere around $400-500, Jama must present a plan with a better balance between addressing a need and implementing a responsible system.
Jama's platform on a $5 meal plan also seems like a challenging issue to push through, although it's worth noting that a similar plan is currently being implemented at Ryerson University. But when the plan involves hiring students to cook meals for students, as both a cheap and healthy option, it seems like the combination of one too many ideas to be feasible.
Ultimately, providing affordable food options to students is an admirable goal to have in mind, and the same goes for a plan to provide financial aid for students in need.
But Jama's platform does not adequately address how these programs can actually be implemented, and the research behind them feel somewhat flimsy upon close examination.
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By: Gabi Herman
This election, there has been a lot of thinking about mental health. Why is it such a huge issue, and what does each candidate have to say about it?
The problem:
According to the Canadian Association of Colleges and University Student Services, more students with mental health issues are pursuing post-secondary education than ever before. In addition, students say mental health issues have the greatest impact on their academic success. 57.9 percent of students feel overwhelming anxiety, and 40 percent have felt too depressed to function.
MSU initiatives, clubs and the university all have services in place to address mental health issues. The MSU has a number of peer support services, where student volunteers go through training to actively listen, provide advice and sometimes refer students to applicable professionals. A number of clubs also advocate for mental health. COPE, a student mental health initiative club, held their annual “Elephant in the Room” campaign last week, in efforts to reduce mental health stigma. Finally, the University’s Student Wellness Centre has one psychiatrist and a psychiatry resident, a number of counsellors and social workers and group counselling resources.
However, these services still do not meet students’ needs on campus. Many peer support services are notoriously underutilized. Some are difficult to find, and no directory exists with a listing of all peer support services. Student clubs can work to create community, but do not have the ability to directly help those who need trained professionals. The Student Wellness Centre has extremely long wait times for appointments, and students who cannot afford to see a private counsellor are often left without options.
Candidates have different ideas of how to address these problems.
Devante Mowatt
Mowatt hopes to address mental health issues by discussing them with students first. His Campus Chats initiative will bring presidential office hours to discuss issues like mental health and accessibility. He will also use MacTV, an MSU television initiative, to advertise mental health services.
Jonathon Tonietto:
Tonietto hopes to strengthen current initiatives by consulting with managers of peer support services, and says that talking about mental health is important. He wants to give peer support volunteers more training, give peer support more funding, and create a McMaster community that is a safe space for those with mental health issues. He has consulted with Student Accessibility Services.
Justin Monaco-Barnes
Monaco-Barnes hopes to reduce wait times at the student centre by hiring another psychiatrist. He also wants to build a McMaster community that is supportive of those with mental health issues through awareness initiatives and training. He consulted with SAS.
Mike Gill
Gill wants to be a part of re-writing the SAS policy. He hopes to allow students the option not to disclose a mental health diagnosis. He wants SAS to be responsible for communicating with students’ professors, and he would like to get rid of yearly intake appointments for those registered with SAS. He has discussed this point with multiple people, including MSU Maccess coordinator Alex Wilson and Tim Nolan, the SAS director. He wants to introduce a formal policy on academic leave for mental health concerns, create a minimum counsellor-to-student ratio, and put all peer support services in one location, a point he has consulted with several parties on, including Associate Vice-President and Dean of Students Sean Van Koughnett.
Sarah Jama
Jama has a short term and a long-term plan. Short term, she hopes to hire one counsellor for the North Quad, and one for the West Quad. She would like them to interact with students in residence. Long term, she hopes to hire counsellors for each faculty, a system she says is already in place at Waterloo. She also wants to create a peer support centre with centralized training and services. She has consulted with SAS, the Student Wellness Centre, and a number of initiatives.
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Ethan D’Mello
Mechatronics, Engineering and Management III
Did you feel like it changed your opinion?
Yes, it definitely did. I got to see who the candidates were in terms of personality, I got to see how they act under pressure. It was good to see how they interact with other candidates. I got more informed about their ideas. Before, they would tell me about their ideas and I was like “oh that’s good” but now after seeing rebuttals from everybody I have more of an idea of what’s feasible, and that’s really going to affect my decision.
Favourite?
I’m a strong supporter of Jama, right now. I could see the passion in her answers, and that’s what I want in a leader. They’ll do what it takes to get it done.
Did you come in with someone in mind?
I had nobody until now. Before the week I just met everybody and got to know their ideas.
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Daniel Tuba D’Souza
Biochemistry III
Personally I prefer to read platforms and see on paper what the individuals have thought out and their plans. I think debates are good because you really get to see the individuals on their feet and how they respond to each other, but at the same time, there are some individuals who may not be as good at public speaking and because of that some of their platform points, or their ideas and their ambition or the things they can accomplish for the school do get drowned out. I think that’s a little bit sad to see. But I think that it is good to have this visual out here, it draws people out, it gets their attention, especially the main points. Students should go further and research platform points to see if some of the statements candidates are making are backed up and if the are valid and what they really connect to on that level.
I base my own voting on the platforms themselves… It was more entertaining to see them fire at each other.
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Brian Zheng
Kinesiology II
Not really. I think generally with debates like this, often times depending on the popularity of yourself and your public speaking skills it heavily influences how people respond to your arguments and debates. Oftentimes people just come up with buzzwords and end off with a really strong tone and attempt to get people really rallied up and none of their points are really backed up. I think everyone covers it up with really fuzzy words and it’s not backed up… it’s unfortunate that some, like Justin, his points were really good but he’s not as good a public speaker as others, and some of his points get covered up. Some people are just louder than others; some just have bigger teams than others.
I don’t really have a favourite. I think there are obvious leads… but I don’t really have a favourite at all.
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Labika Ghani
Commerce I
After watching the debate I really got to understand the candidates and what they believe and their stance and everything, and I feel that I’m more informed about their candidates and their platforms. I know who I’m voting for: Mike Gill.
I think he did a really good job at explaining why he was running for MSU president and what he can accomplish and help students with.
I know all of them, besides Toni and Devante, so I did have a pretty un-bias perspective before coming in. Sarah, Justin and Mike, I know all of them, so I wanted to make sure I had an unbiased perspective and get to see their platforms. But I did read their platforms before coming to the debate.
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Nada El Naiem
CSMM II
I didn’t watch the full debate because I had class for an hour.
I found the debate was very informative. There was one question that asked about their views on other peoples platform points, which was good, because you got to see if they actually know about other platform points and if they did their research. Because were supposed to be informed as voters, and I believe that they should also be informed, so it’s nice to know that they also asked questions apart from their own platform points so we can see how they view other points that they might not mention.
I don’t think I have a favourite. I still want to read more about their platform points and visit each table. Also I’m a community advisor, so I’m not allowed to endorse a certain person.
When Mike Gill got rallied up, I’m not sure how he meant to come across, but I know the audience was taken aback. He was defending his 38 platform points, because that was attacked, and he said “I think you should have big goals as MSU president, and if you want to aim low,” not quite sure what the exact quote was, “if you don’t really want much of a change, re-elect Ehima,” I think that was really unprofessional and made a lot of people feel uncomfortable.
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Photos taken by: Jon White/Photo Editor
Photo Credit: Jon White/Photo Editor
This logo and visual identity analysis will focus on the analysis of campaign colours, logo shape and design, layout and use of photography. To keep the analyses fair, the cover photo from each candidate’s Facebook page is being used as the central design feature, with some mention of other elements in their physical branding.
Sarah Jama
Colour: Orange
While colours can have many meanings, in North American society, certain colours have grown to have more associated meanings than others. Orange is often linked to freshness — think of the actual citrus fruit and its refreshing connotation. Jama’s choice to use orange is reflective of her emphasis on innovation and bringing new, inclusive ideas to campus. In Canadian society, orange is also tied to another association: socialism. Jama’s shade of orange is the same as that of the New Democratic Party, an unsurprising choice given her emphasis on equity and her slogan, “Students united; a place for everyone.”
Logo: Unity Triangle
Jama’s logo has two main elements, shape and content. The logo itself is a triangle, the strongest shape used in design. Its strength comes from the fact that any pressure placed on the shape will be evenly distributed across all three sides. The content of the logo is three ambiguously diverse arms and hands, united. Together these two elements create the image of strength in unity.
Layout: A hint of MSU familiarity
If you’ve ever seen a promotional cover photo for an MSU service or event, this layout is probably very familiar to you. The central call to action in the larger right-most rectangle, and supplementary contact information in a left-hand, narrow rectangle are two staples for MSU promotional branding. Jama’s branding isn’t the only one reminiscent of MSU materials, and it definitely isn’t the most similar one.
Jonathon Tonietto
Colours: Yellow, purple
Tonietto has an unexpected colour palette compared to most of his competitors, who are sticking to conventionally popular darker tones and minimal colour mixing. Yellow, often associated with sunshine and summer, gives off a youthful, friendly vibe, which works well given Tonietto’s outgoing personality. The yellow also matches one of the symbols of his campaign, the “this is a good sign” sign that has been on his person at all times and used as his hashtag. Purple on the other hand gives off the opposite association, one of age and wisdom. It’s a more regal colour that is a technical compliment to yellow, and tones down the vivid nature of the rest of his campaign theme.
Logo: The Toni vector
The strongest element of Tonietto’s logo isn’t the graphics; rather, it is the actual tag that is attached to it, “TONI16.” Whether it was intentionally a play on “KONY2012” or not, it still rolls off the tongue nicely and feels simple and familiar. The logo itself uses an easy sans serif font that lets the focus fall on the vector cut-out of Toni’s face. It isn’t complicated, but it ties in Tonietto’s appearance without an obvious photo.
Layout: Kept to a minimum
Much like his colour scheme, Tonietto’s layout is different from most. It does not have any contact information, which is a bit of a letdown, but it is eye-catching at the least. It is much simpler than that of other candidate’s, but it still gets the point across.
Devante Mowatt
Colours: Tie-Dye
Mowatt’s colour scheme is one of a kind. Looking back on previous presidential campaigns, there have been a few candidates who worked with a rainbow or tie-dye colour palette, but Mowatt is the first in a while. Tie-dye is fun and funky and relates back to an era in time that led to open-mindedness and social change and progress. According to details on his website, the tie-dye was inspired by the university’s previous “colour”— multi-coloured plaid. Overall the tie-dye gives off a relaxed vibe in an otherwise buttoned-up race.
Logo: Balloons and stars
Mowatt’s logo is hard to notice at first, as it isn’t quite front and centre on his posters or other promotions, but it is there. It is a little yellow star attached to a tie-dye balloon. It includes the obvious colour element of his campaign, but other than that, the symbolism isn’t too clear. Balloons in general have an element of freedom, so for those who have seen his logo, this could be an associated meaning.
Layout: Familiar places
His promotions don’t seem to follow an obvious theme in terms of layout, but the use of photography of iconic McMaster locations is consistent. It seems to be trying to create a familiarity without using direct styles from pre-existing university branding.
Mike Gill
Colours: Green, black
Every year will have at least one MSU presidential candidate dawning the tried and true combination of green and black. Green has two iconic associations, sustainability and money. They’re both great things to subtly promote to the student body, so it’s no wonder it keeps being used. Gill’s branding is particularly reminiscent of Jacob Brodka’s 2014 campaign for MSU president. The use of black is associated with power and mystery à la business suits and covert operations. They are two meanings that could also work in Gill’s favour, whether intentional or not.
Logo: Layered triangles
Going back to comments made in Jama’s logo analysis, Gill also makes use of design’s strongest shape, the triangle. It’s unclear what the shape is supposed to represent other than strength, but for the most part it is quite chic and on most of his visuals, it doesn’t come across as distracting or unnecessary.
Layout: That beloved MSU touch
Brodka’s 2014 campaign isn’t the only thing Gill seems to be borrowing from. Like Jama, his cover photo design is very reminiscent of typical MSU layouts. It’s unsurprising for both of them, as they have both been involved in multiple MSU services, but Gill borrows more from MSU branding than Jama. The primary font, Gotham, is also the MSU’s official font. He features the acronym “MSU” in its official font, which doesn’t technically break rule 4.23 of presidential campaigning (“Material may not possess any logo(s) of the MSU”). Overall it is a strong design, but its MSU-esque qualities could provide students with a certain sense of trust and give him an advantage over his peers who are following less familiar layouts.
Justin Monaco-Barnes
Colours: Navy, grey
Monaco-Barnes is sticking to a known-to-win colour scheme among presidential candidates, a combination also used by Ehima Osazuwa’s winning 2015 campaign. When thinking of blue, images of the sea and sky often come to mind, leading to an association of calmness and tranquility — two fair associations with Monaco-Barnes’ stoic personality. It’s popular use in political campaigns around the country, and the globe, also hint to confidence and professionalism.
Logo: Stand-alone name and slogan
His logo isn’t so much a logo as it is a slogan. His “#bethechange” quotes Ghandi, which for most people, brings to mind a positive association. His choice to use his name and slogan as his logo is a smart decision instead of trying to create a visual logo that could be lacking in substance. Like Gill, Monaco-Barnes is also using Gotham, the MSU’s favourite sans serif, as his campaign’s primary font. It’s hard to blame either of them for this choice, since it is a nice font, but like the comments made in Gill’s layout analysis, seeing “MSU” written in its typical font can be misleading to students, but can give Monaco-Barnes added support.
Layout: Simple but strong
The layout used in Monaco-Barnes’ campaign is probably the strongest from a design standpoint. It has a clear visual hierarchy and includes important details without being too heavy on content. His visual identity works well to tie together photos and text, having his name and face front and centre will work well in getting passers-by to notice his promotions. It has a strong association with other MSU promotions without using direct logos from their previous campaigns.
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On Jan. 14, the McMaster Students Union held its annual State of the Union in the student centre.
The State of the Union is held every year for the Board of Directors to update and inform both the full-time, undergraduate students that make up the MSU as well as the general population at McMaster.
"Our mission statement is to draw into a true society, all undergrad students here at McMaster; so basically our job is to enhance the student experience at Mac," outlined MSU President Ehima Osazuwa in his opening comments.
In a way, the State of the Union is an avenue for the Board of Directors to highlight some of the key successes of the MSU over the past year. A few of the highlights noted by the BoD include an emergency bursary fund at $500 for any student, up to $12,000 in total, as well as several expansions to the management of the clubs system, including the addition of a second Clubs Assistant Administrator and the movement to an online booking format for rooms in Clubspace.
VP (Administration) Giuliana Guarna highlighted some of the important updates to MSU services during the past year as well, including the creation of new MSU service Maccess and the closure of MacGreen following the 2015-16 academic year.
Despite this, while the BoD have been successful in a number of initiatives, it's worth noting that some projects, including the Light-Rail Transit system announced for Hamilton, have been in progress for years.
The MSU Course Wiki is another project that has been in the works for several years and has experienced some delays in taking off, but VP (Education) Spencer Nestico-Semianiw noted that it is expected to launch over the next couple of months.
The MSU also remains financially healthy, generating over $13 million in revenue in 2014-15. From its day-to-day operations, the MSU continues to operate on a slight surplus of $60,000, and D'Angela emphasized the efficiency at which student dollars were being utilized.
"From our operations, we collect about $2.6 million in fees, but spend around $9.6 million in supporting student life through advocacy, programming, services, etcetera," explained D'Angela.
D'Angela also noted that a second Budget Town Hall would be held by the MSU during February. The Budget Town Hall is one of several platform points that D'Angela promised to introduce during his term as VP (Finance), and the upcoming Town Hall will be focused on gathering student feedback on the focus of future MSU budgets.
You can download a copy of the 2016 State of the Union here or view the Prezi below.
In-article Photo Credit: 93.3 CFMU
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Devante Mowatt
Life Sciences (Honours)
Level IV
"This may be a little selfish, but I want to see the school from a different perspective. I want to be able to change something in my school. I feel like a lot of universities, changing your own grades is about you, it's very personal. And I want to be able to provide for other people. I want to be able to say "I have an idea" or "you guys have an idea", "let me know, let me get your voice and then I want to change it for you guys" Seeing the university in a different perspective can change how you feel about school entirely, because everyone is always in the same: I am a student. I am a student. I am a student. And some people are going to be students for the rest of their lives; and that is totally fine, but I feel that if I have the chance to be something different than a student, I am going to take it."
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Jonathon Tonietto
Materials Science and Engineering with Society and Co-op
Level VI
"I have been at this school for six years, which is now a quarter of my life. A lot of people feel that university take from them, I feel like this university has only given to me and I think that in this position, I would be able to give back to this school the way it has given to me."
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Justin Monaco-Barnes
English and Cultural Studies
Level IV
"The main reason why I am running for MSU president is that I have been very involved from both an MSU standpoint as well as a student standpoint. I have gotten to work with a lot of passionate people who are very passionate about their own projects, whether they are part-time or full-time, or just general students. I would love to work with them more at a different kind of level. And to bring in certain ideas that can really impact everyone. It is kind of the idea of being a leader and working with these people that are so passionate with the student life."
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Mike Gill
Integrated Sciences concentrating in Mathematics
Level IV
"I'm running for MSU President because I believe that our campus and students are capable of really big exciting change and I think that it is time we start addressing the largest problems facing us as students here at Mac. Personally, I have benefited a ton from my time during the MSU. I have grown so much, I have met so many great people, but I know that a lot of people don't have that experience. So I am excited to see our organization do more, especially for those students who aren't involved and don't want to be involved. I think that together we can do a whole lot more to prioritize academics, employment, all sorts of things that extend beyond this MSU organization."
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Sarah Jama
Social Psychology
Level IV
"I am running for MSU President because I really want to make sure that student voices are being brought to the table that aren't being listened to during the conversations of student leadership and student government. I want to make sure that we are bringing as many voices to the table as possible."
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The campaign will officially begin Sunday, Jan. 17 at 12 p.m. Stay tuned at thesil.ca/category/msu2016 for ongoing coverage of the election.
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