At the Associated Students Board meeting Thursday, April 27, the Student Enhancement Fund was explained and broken down into its logistics, revision of the Health and Safety Assessment was discussed, a resolution outline for Sustainable Investing was introduced and a proposal for the Representation and Advocacy Initiative was passed. Below are highlights from the meeting. Student Enhancement Fund
- Tiffany Ng, SEF Facilitator, gave a presentation outlining the types of funding SEF provides, types of events SEF funding covers, student application process and recipients of SEF funding.
- SEF’s mission is “to provide funding to students in need if they are participating in special opportunities.”
- SEF provides funding for registration, travel, hotel, lodging and daily expenses.
- Events that SEF covers include academic conferences, professional development workshops, cultural awareness and development retreats, intercollegiate competitions and career fairs.
- Fund is accessible to all full-time students.
- Evaluation of applications includes a rubric including academic or education value or impact, positive change to student communities, visible impact to Western and personal and professional development.
- Eight individual students and 2 student groups have been awarded funds so far.
- Students and resident advisers have expressed displeasure with the Health and Safety Assessment that Western uses when they identify a “student of concern.”
- Director of University Residence Leonard Jones and Director of the Counseling Center Shari Robinson joined this discussion.
- “It puts residents as risk. It makes them not want to come out or be honest about their mental health issues,” AS Vice President for Student Life Wayne Rocque said.
- Jones made an executive decision to cancel the assessment.
- “It needs to be evaluated and reviewed by professionals in mental health,” Jones said.
- Jones plans to create another assignment that is “much more refined.”
- AS would like to see student input incorporated into the process of the new assessment.
- A rough outline of the resolution for the Western Foundation was presented to the AS board by Rocque.
- The resolutions goal is to “get the university to engage in divestment and sustainable investment.”
- Rocque is planning to bring the revised resolution as an action next week.
- According to the proposal, the program promotes student and worker development through implementation of practices that provide worker and students in University Residence with development opportunities.
- AS VP for Academic Affairs Erick Yanzon presented a proposal for $15,000 over the course of two years for the Representation and Advocacy Initiative.
- Motion was passed 6-0.
