Riley McCullough is the new University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) vice president, university affairs (VPUA). McCullough was one of two shortlisted candidates chosen from a total of six applications.

Pierre Harfouche, who held the office for five months, resigned at the end of last semester. He was the first candidate from a non-incumbent slate to win a UTSU election in close to a decade.

McCullough and fellow candidate Yadesha Satheaswaran, former president of the Equity Studies Students’ Union, presented their platforms to the Board of Directors last Friday. Afterwards, each presenter answered questions from the floor.

Following an in-camera deliberation and a vote by secret ballot, McCullough was declared the winner and a motion in favour of her appointment was passed.

From Sustainability Commissioner to VPUA

Yolen Bollo-Kamara, president of the UTSU, said that she is looking forward to working with McCullough and praised both candidates as “fantastic.”

McCullough was the UTSU’s sustainability commissioner before she applied for the VPUA position. She says that sustainability falls under the purview of the VPUA, so she is excited to continue the work she accomplished. “I’m looking forward to working with the board and fellow students on the important issues that play a direct role in their lives as students,” McCullough says.

McCullough highlighted lobbying the university to divest from fossil fuels as a key priority.

McCullough also says she wants to advocate for greater student involvement in developing and rolling out the Student Mental Health Strategy, and to work with students in each faculty to explore potential options for a fall reading week or break.

“I also hope to help ensure the approval of the student commons project… [and] to begin work with the administration on the new food services contract, ensuring that students’ voices are taken into account in this process,” she says.
Aware of her shortened term in office, McCullough says she aims to communicate with students to see what they want addressed. “Through increased outreach and consultation with our members, I will be able to gain further insight into the issues most important to students at each college, faculty and campus, and find opportunities to strengthen relationships and collaborate with their respective student societies or unions,” she says.

“At minimum, I will be able to compile information to effectively lobby the administration and lay groundwork that can be built upon by future executives,” she adds.

Other Agenda Items

In addition to choosing the new VPUA, the Board of Directors also passed a motion to file revised Articles of Continuance. The union needs the articles to transition from the Canada Corporations Act to the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act.

The articles were revised following a Notice of Deficiency issued to the union on December 1, 2014.

The UTSU received a Notice of Deficiency because the minimum number of directors on the board did not match Corporations Canada’s records, and the UTSU did not file the description of its classes of membership properly.
According to Sandra Hudson, UTSU executive director, 40 per cent of organizations that submit a transition request receive a Notice of Deficiency.

Bollo-Kamara says that the Articles of Continuance have been revised to state that the minimum number of directors is 35, and to clarify that the UTSU has one class of membership consisting of all UTSU members, as per the UTSU bylaws.
Also discussed at the Board of Directors meeting was the What’s Missing? campaign launched by the UTSU last Wednesday. The campaign kicked off with a townhall meeting in which students were invited to suggest ways in which the UTSU could improve as a union.

The townhall did not include discussion of the UTSU Board of Directors restructuring, an issue that continues to garner attention since the controversial proposal put forward by the UTSU was defeated at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in October. Bollo-Kamara says that the What’s Missing? initiative is related to the conversations surrounding the Board of Directors structure.

“We want to hear feedback from students at-large and from current Board members about how best we can serve and represent them. We hope this will inform policy discussions and allow more students to be involved in creating a representative structure for the Board of Directors and shaping the direction of their students’ union,” Bollo-Kamara says.

Motions on the move

The Board of Directors considered several motions tabled from the last Board of Directors meeting, which were in turn set to be discussed at the AGM, which was abruptly adjourned.

Five motions moved by Zach Morgenstern, one of two Victoria College directors, were passed. These included motions to mobilize the anti-war coalition, to hold a Drop Fees Day of Action, to monitor “weed-out” courses, to research a campaign for more accessible on-campus housing, and to improve communication.

Cameron Wathey, UTSU vice-president, internal and services, moved a motion to support international students, which also passed.

Motions that appeared on the order of business at the AGM but have yet to be discussed at a Board of Directors meeting have done so because all motions died on the floor at the adjournment of the AGM.

Bollo-Kamara says that such motions can be served or resubmitted at any time to the Board of Directors or to be voted on by the membership at the next AGM.