Archive for category: UVSS Statements

UVSS Monthly Update – Finance & Operations Edition

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Woah, is it July already? I can’t tell from my windowless office…

 

What’s the Board of Directors been up to this month? Well, even with a few board members on vacation, I’ve been hard at work on two important projects during the summer: strategic planning and annual budgeting.

In early June, the board went off-campus to brainstorm new initiatives for this upcoming board year and our multi-year plans. We’ve divided our strategic plan into eight sections: Communications & Marketing, Student Engagement, Campaigns, Events, Board Governance & Elections, Finance & Operations, SUB Business Development, and Human Resources. Our first draft is over 30-pages, so this is a comprehensive deep dive into our goals for the next year and we hope to achieve as many of them as possible.

This document will be available online starting in August, and we’re considering designing a shorter, reader-friendly version as well!

Budgeting for the next year has just started. Our accounting department, which was short-staffed for a few months, has caught up, so we now have a clearer picture of our spending from last year. I’m happy to say that we exceeded expectations and will end the year with a slightly larger surplus than we budgeted for. Over the next month, while our yearly audit is going on, I’ll be working with the other Lead Directors and our excluded managers to put together the budget for the next fiscal year. Our goal will be an even larger surplus so we can continue paying down our existing accumulated debts.

Finally, keep your eyes open for information on our new Health & Dental Plan which starts on September 1st. Beginning this year, students will be automatically enrolled in our Enhanced Health & Dental Plan and will have the option of opting down to the Basic Health & Dental Plan during the Change-of-Coverage Period from August 22nd to September 22nd.

The Enhanced Plan offers higher coverage at a higher cost ($360) while the Basic Plan offers lower coverage at a lower cost ($290). Students also have the option to mix and match plans, or opt out if they have proof of alternate coverage. For more details check out our website, or head over to studentcare.ca.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send me an email at finance@uvss.ca or drop by my office in the SUB (B103g, opposite Munchie Bar). I don’t see the sun all day, but visits from our members are the next closest thing!

Have an awesome summer, and I look forward to seeing everyone next year!

Sincerely,
Curtis Whittla
UVSS Director of Finance and Operations
finance@uvss.ca

 

Announcing Monthly UVSS Updates!

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Allo UVic!

Welcome to a new board term, complete with new goals!

Starting this month, we’re launching monthly updates from the Board of Directors, straight to your screen! We have an incredibly exciting year ahead of us, as we’ll be launching plenty of new initiatives such as a Student Advocate position, as well as revitalizing old initiatives like Clash of Clubs (a debate among campus political clubs).

Before the UVSS is able to run all of our campaigns, events, and other fun stuff, we have to get down to the nitty gritty of training and planning. Currently the board is working on our strategic plan for the next two years of the society. Without a plan, we would have no direction, and most importantly, we’d have nothing to hold ourselves accountable to. Expect to see a neat document coming out soon outlining operational priorities for the society as well as the fun little bits everyone expects!

As an incumbent (last year’s Director of Outreach and University Relations), I don’t need as much training; this means I’m already hard at work. For me this has meant: spreadsheets upon spreadsheets, tracking and outlining goals for everyone, doing research on Student Advocate positions, selecting (and eventually ordering) all of our swag for this year, as well as working together with our board, businesses, and graphics team on creating the handbook cover for this year.

If you want to get involved with any of these initiatives, just shoot me an email! I would love to hear from you.

Now that’s just small recap of what’s happened and what’s to come, I’ve been Pierre-Paul Angelblazer your Director of Outreach and University Relations, signing off.

If you’ve got any questions do not hesitate to send them right to me at outreach@uvss.ca.

Have a good summer!

Pierre-Paul

January Campaigns Update

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Happy new year! I know, a little late. The start of 2017 has been awesome for UVSS campaigns, and we are excited to let you know what we have been up to!

TextbookBroke Semester 2!

This year we ran the #TextbookBroke campaign for the second time, and although we got less entries, the reach was still amazing. The campaign reached over 40,000 people on social media with over 2000 likes on posts and over 300 shares! Our efforts were featured on the front page of the Saanich News receiving widespread community awareness – even UVic showed us some love with a share on their Facebook page!

The winner of this year’s contest was Cayra Tansey who spent $500 towards her textbooks. Cayra received 231 likes and 80 shares on her entry.

For those hearing about the TextbookBroke campaign for the first time, the campaigns purpose is to bring awareness to the problems in the publishing industry, where students are captive consumers and there is little correlation between product value and price. In addition, the campaign promotes innovative alternatives to expensive publishing resources, such as Open Educational Resources. OER’s, which are produced with government grant funding and open for students online, are set to save students over $100,000 at UVic alone in 2017!

The 3rd Annual Mental Health Awareness Event ft. Kevin Breel

This week the UVSS partnered with Student Life to make the Annual Mental Health Awareness Event the biggest to date! Over 450 students, faculty, staff and community members came out to engage with community groups, hear from the amazing keynote Kevin Breel, and engage is discussion. My favorite part of the event was the student story performance; before Kevin spoke five students got up on stage to bravely share their story, their hardship, and their continued struggle with mental health. This event left me energized to continue our work with the ReThink Mental Health campaign, spreading positive messages and raising awareness of campus resources.

What’s Next?

In addition to continued outreach for ReThink Mental Health and Let’s Get Consensual,, the UVSS is gearing up to run an exciting new campaign “Count on Our Vote.” This campaign’s purpose is to encourage informed student voting. We are excited to be working in partnership with the Alliance of BC Students, a provincial organization representing over 60,000 post-secondary students. Stay tuned for more info!