Board Shorts

Written by: Michelle Gomez and Henry Tran

Shared space and hybrid model proposed for Student Union Building

At the latest Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) board of directors’ meeting held on January 18, the SFSS directors discussed how to divide the suites and offices in the new Student Union Building (SUB).

According to a document sent to The Peak by the SFSS, four out of the seven suites in the SUB have been assigned to the First Nations Student Association, Out on Campus, the Women’s Centre, and an SFSS “diversity and wellness-focused” centre.  

As a result, only three suites remain in the SUB for clubs and student unions to utilize. Each of these suites possess two to three interior offices as well as a large room, according to the SFSS document.

The SFSS directors discussed whether a shared-space model and a hybrid model should be used to divide the remaining 11 offices and three large rooms in the SUB for use by its membership. According to Samer Rihani, acting president of the SFSS, the three large rooms will be definitely allocated to student clubs and unions. The usage of an additional fourth large room is currently being discussed by the board.

Jackson Freedman, vice-president university relations, suggested that the offices should be allocated to student clubs on a semesterly basis because doing so “will give us a more frequent opportunity to examine the club or student union using that space.”

In addition, allocating the office spaces on a semesterly basis will enable the student society to more frequently evaluate whether “the offices are being used effectively and to re-allocate office spaces to other clubs/SUs,” according to the document provided by the SFSS.

Freedman also recommended that the offices be distributed under a shared-space model where two clubs or student unions will share one office.

In terms of the large rooms, Freedman proposed that a hybrid model should be used. Under this model, the large rooms would be accessible by the general student body during daytime hours, where students can drop-in and study or perform other activities.

However, the student clubs that have ownership of the interior offices behind those large rooms will be able to book these spaces off in advance and the general student body won’t have access to those spaces for the requested time slot.

The board will vote on whether to implement the shared space and hybrid model in a future board meeting.

SFU’s Got Talent

SFU’s Got Talent will be held for the second time in March 2019. This collaboration between Peak Frequency and the SFSS attempts “to showcase cultural, artistic, and musical talent by SFU students for SFU students,” according to Jeffrey Leung, president of Peak Frequency.

According to Leung, last year there were 300 people in attendance, and this year they are expecting a turnout of 400-420 people. Jackson Freedman, vice-president university relations, noted that it was the best event he has attended as a student.

The board passed the motion to approve up to $3,830 for the event, the increase from last year being due to a number of factors, including a higher turnout expectation and increased budget for photographers and videographers.

It was also clarified that candidates for the upcoming SFSS election will be permitted to audition and perform “as long as nothing happens in a political nature, they’re not there to promote themselves as candidates, they’re there to promote themselves as musicians, artists, etc.”