KSA Spotlight: Murdoch de Mooy

There are some pretty amazing people that work to support students at the KSA. Every month we'll feature a staff member (and occasionally Council member) so you can actually put a face to the name/event/project. This month, I invite you to meet Council Member Murdoch!

Here are a few things about Murdoch...

How did you come to get involved/run for the KSA council?
I more or less stumbled into it. I was looking for some way to learn more about the school and kinda be more involved and someone that was on the KSA Council recommended I try out a committee. Tried it, loved it, and now I've been here for 2 years already.

What is your current position and can you provide a brief summary of what you do?
My current position is Arts Representative. It's my job to bring the Arts student mindset to council. What it really works out into is, I'm supposed to see things I think would be good for students, and to try and figure out how to make them happen.

What is your favourite thing about working as a councillor with the KSA?
My favourite thing, I know so much more about the University, Non-Profit Societies, and basically everything than I ever did in my many years just attending a university before. You can get exactly what you work for in the KSA, and if you want experiences, you'll get them in spades.

Best activity to do on the weekend?
Sleep! Normally my weekends are filled with work, or homework, but on the super special days I get to sleep in, play some games, and maybe work on some animation work.

What is something that makes you unique?
I'm a super geek and nerd for technical details. I'm one of those lame people that pours over stats and details in games that I play and try to figure out the best way to do something. I'm not necessarily great at it, but it is definitely a unique person to find an afternoon of that kinda stuff fun lol.

What is your favourite food?
Sushi. Once a month I go to a new sushi restaurant. Some places are horrible, but every so often you find some amazing gems.

What is one of your best memories at the KSA?
I think my best memory was at the start of my first term on council. I had just met new great new people on council that I thought were amazing. Two of us were laying on the grass outside that first night and just talking about all the small and big projects we wanted to work on. Laying there discussing all the potentials will be my best memory.

Don't get me wrong, there were lots of good, and a couple bad, but it was a great experience. Projects take a long time to actually come into affect, and I may not even see one of my favourite proposals come into affect during my term. But if you keep going, and keep marching forward, you can get some of your stuff you want, and hopefully it makes a difference.

Want to do more with the KSA? Volunteer with our START Program, Peer Support or the KSA Street Team. Looking to do more as a student? Consider attending a committee meeting or running in election next Spring. Want to work for us? Check out our job postings here.

Club of the Month: KPU Anime Club

Every month we (try to, yes sometimes it just doesn’t end up happening, we’re sorry, please forgive us) feature a KSA club and highlight the fun/cool things that make their club different from the others. It’s a chance to get a little inside information, and see what events and meetings they have coming up.

Our March Club of the Month is the Anime Club!

“We had all been wanting to hang out with others and discuss the geekiest but greatest thing we knew, anime. We had heard from others that it was something that was (very quietly) called for, so we did the thing, and made it a reality!”

“There are so many clubs at KPU, I don’t think we are particularly, unique. We definitely are filled with some of the most introverted people on campus, but we all share the common interest of loving Anime, so like all the clubs we are just a bunch of like-minded students trying to sound professional.”

“Our inception was sparked by an effort to create a massive multi-institutional club event. We had the anime clubs from SFU, UBC, BCIT, Cap, and Langara all meet up and have an amazing time. We all had a great time, and are already working to make it a semi-annual event. But then to counteract the cold long months between these big events, we hang out weekly to watch anime, and chat about our new and old favorites to try and entice others to join in our fandoms.”

“Every Friday we meet from 2 - 4 pm, but we alternate between Richmond (The KSA Lounge) and Surrey (Birch 206) so we can involve as many people as possible. Check out our Facebook page for info on which campus we are on that week!”

Learn more about the KPU Anime Club at https://www.facebook.com/KPUAnimeClub/

Council Recap: March 2, 2018

The last meeting of the Kwantlen Student Association was held on the Surrey campus, in the recently renovated Birch space. Did you know that the KSA has a lounge, two meeting rooms, and rooms for the collective groups on the second floor of Birch? Turn right at the cafeteria to find them.

Here are the FIVE things you NEED to know from this week's’ Council:

#5

A motion was moved to consider the Bylaw revisions “in seriatim”. Seriatim is a Latin word that means “taking one subject after another in regular order; point by point”. In this case, we considered the Bylaws article by article, and we used the Latin just to sound fancy.

 

#4

Over $220,000 dollars was moved out of reserves to endow awards for students. Presently, the KSA awards a number of awards through the KPU Foundation. These endowments will be invested to support those awards, and help create new ones moving forward!

#3

The results from the recent election were presented to Council at this meeting. This means that they are now officially official! Congratulations to all the successful candidates, both new and returning.

#2

VP Finance & Operations Rawan Ramini moved a motion to approve the sponsorship of a refugee student through the World University Service of Canada (WUSC). Ramini has been working on developing this proposal for some time, and has attended a number of training and information sessions with WUSC, as well as many meetings with the University to arrange this sponsorship. It will allow a refugee student to attend KPU for a year.

#1

Revisions to the Bylaws were recommend for approval at the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM). Some of the revisions are necessary to bring the Bylaws in alignment with the Societies Act of BC, which governs non-profits like the KSA, some of them are to update the Bylaws to match changes that have been made to the Regulations over the years, and some of them are new and (sort of) exciting changes! To review the proposed changes, visit www.kusa.ca/agm, and attend the Annual General Meeting on all four campuses on Tuesday, March 27! All KPU students are members of the KSA, and have a vote at the AGM.

The full minutes of this meeting, and all other KSA Council and Committee meetings, are available after approval on kusa.ca/committees.

-- Kelsey

Spring 2018 Bucket List

It may not totally feel like Spring yet, but we’re getting closer each and everyday. Now that we’re officially in the ‘Spring’ semester, I thought it would be useful to write a Spring Bucket List for Kwantlen Students a.k.a Things you totally shouldn’t miss out on in the next couple months!

Without further ado…

KSA’S SPRING 2018 BUCKET LIST

1.   Complete in The Amazing Race: KPU Edition

It happen once a year, so don’t miss out on this killer event. Have you seen The Amazing Race on TV? It’s a reality race/challenge TV show were teams of 2 compete to win a grand prize. Our Active KSA department is hosting The Amazing Race: KPU Edition on March 16th from 11am - 1pm. It’s a team race, with both physical and mental challenges, across the KPU Surrey Campus. It’s completely free to register a team and participate, and the grand prize is $300 -- you read that right THREE. HUNDRED. DOLLARS. More information on the event at amazingracekpu.eventbrite.ca

2.   Attend a Career/Professional Development Workshop

After setting those yearly goals and resolutions in January, Spring is a great time to revisit your professional goals and refresh that resume. KPU Career Services is offering a number of resume, job search and career focused workshops and events this entire month to help you get ahead and get hired -- whether it be in preparation for a summer job, graduation or just to stay on track professionally. If you can’t make it to a KPU Career event, there are other resources on campus you can access that will give you an extra boost in the resume department. Not ready for that yet? Do some research on volunteer opportunities (on or off campus). RSVP for KPU Career Services events and workshops here.

3.   Get Involved, Politically

Everyday there is a new political story plastered all over the internet. Yesterday maybe it was about Trudeau, today maybe it’s about Trump and tomorrow it could be about Putin. Knowing what is going on in the world is incredibly important, but have you ever thought about what is going on with your student government? In case you’re confused, yeah, hi, that’s us (raising hand emoji here). We’re having our 2018 Annual General Meeting March 27th @ 1pm and I want to challenge you to get involved in your student government and attend. This challenge isn’t asking you to run for anything, I’m not asking you to sit on a committee...

I am challenging you to hang out for 1 hour, eat free food, raise your hand when you agree with things, ask questions if you’re confused and let us know if you’re not a fan of something.

Helping to pass bylaws and regulations may not sound like the sexiest thing, but this is your student government, and we need you.


4.   Celebrate International Women’s Day!

Whether you self-identify as a female or not, International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate. There are all kinds of events happening across the lower mainland from run clubs to yoga classes to workshops to conferences all focusing on International Women’s Day (Events happening all month long, before and after the actual IWD on March 8th). We’re hosting a number of events on March 12th at the KPU Surrey Campus.

5.   Try: Archery

Try something new this spring! May we recommend Archery on March 23rd with Active KSA!

6.   Get Festive on St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patricks Day is March 17th and as with every year, there are lots of different events you can attend to celebrate the day. If you’re busy studying for midterms, or completing assignments in the library, wearing green is an easy and fun was to participate in the day. On campus the KSA GrassRoots Cafe serves green beer, if you’re looking to take a break.

7.   Do: Spring Cleaning

Spring is a time to reorganize and refresh. Go through some clothes that you don’t wear(drop them off at the donation bins at the KSA Member Services in Richmond or Surrey), or finally recycle those old electronics you have lying around (our REBOOT program can recycle them for you).

8.   Take time for yourself

Last but not least, take time for yourself this spring and practice self care. Listen to that podcast you’ve been dying to listen to, book that massage (covered through your Health & Dental plan), or make an appointment through the Peer Support program and talk with someone about the struggle you’re going through -- take time for yourself, however you need to.

Until next time,

Kendell

Advocacy Advice: Complaints

There’s a whole host of things that people come to the Student Rights Centre for. Some of them have specific processes, and are attached to particular outcomes (grade appeals, re-entry to a professional program, etc), but there’s one that’s always a little more free-form, and that’s complaints.

KPU has a complaint policy, but it doesn’t really tell you very much other than that you have the right to complain about things, and to go up the chain of command if you’re still unsatisfied. The most important thing you’ll learn from it is that if you go straight to the president of the university, you’ll likely get a response sending you back to the supervisor of whoever you’re complaining about.

There are a bunch of things that can help you decide whether to write a complaint or use some other procedure, how to write an effective complaint, and to make sense of what’s going on after you send it in.

WHAT'S A COMPLAINT

There’s a deceptively tricky answer to this question, sometimes. Most of the time, a complaint is the thing to do if someone who works for KPU has treated you disrespectfully, seriously wronged you in some way, or done their job poorly. A complaint is a written explanation of what someone did that was wrong, which you send to their superior at the university.

For faculty, this is usually the dean of their faculty, for other departments it’ll vary. You might be asked to come in and talk to the person receiving the complaint to go over the details. They might also bring someone from KPU HR. We can also come with you for support - this usually involves taking notes, coaching, debriefing, and talking about your next steps.

The tricky stuff starts when you look at the exceptions. If you feel like you’ve been wronged by unfairly marking an assignment, or another kind of academic decision, you’re looking for a grade appeal, not a complaint (a future blog post on this soon). If you just don’t like someone or their style, that isn’t worth writing up as a formal complaint, but we can help you to find ways to mediate or to work through a rough relationship.

FACULTY ASSESSMENTS

Folks, I hate to be the one to say it, but RateMyProfessor ain’t that good. You never really know if you’re seeing bitter low ratings from bad students, or creepy high ratings from horny students, or what. Personally, the one time I personally found RMP really useful in picking a class, I was choosing between a few English classes and took the one whose negative reviews were all spelled wrong - Al Valleau was great, and I learned a lot about close reading and grammar on the side. And frankly, if your goal is to take only “easy” instructors, I’m not sure if you’re taking advantage of your time in university.

There’s a bunch of reasons why KPU does faculty assessments, and you should take advantage of those to give the most complete feedback you can. Thoughtful and detailed feedback should help KPU keep things on track. It’s also helpful to tell us or your elected KSA representative if there’s long-term problems that don’t get fixed even though there’s been feedback over time, so we can work on it.

COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS

Faculty and most other staff at KPU are represented by labour unions, who have negotiated collective agreements that cover the terms of their employment. The details there may lead to some particular quirks in how a complaint gets handled once the university has it, but it probably shouldn’t affect you too much. Sometimes, the person you’re complaining to will hint that something you’re asking for is impossible because of a collective agreement. Sometimes they’ll just say that as a cop-out, though, so keep on your toes. People should explain in more detail what’s going on. And just because someone brings up a collective agreement doesn’t mean you still can’t lodge the complaint, come talk to us if this happens.

PRIVACY

Complaints are a tricky place for everyone’s privacy rights. On the one hand, students are often hesitant to come forward and attach a particular beef to their own names. Especially in small programs, there’s a reasonable fear that other students and instructors will find out what you’ve said, and no one wants their problems to be the subject of gossip. On the other side, there could be all kinds of things going on for an individual instructor that students don’t need to know about - maybe they’re disorganized in class because they’re getting divorced or a family member just died. Who knows? You also don’t have a right to know the details of what KPU has done HR-wise about a complaint.

It’s in everyone’s best interest to respect each other’s privacy as much as possible, but I think you still have a right to know a few important things about your complaint. For instance, does the person you are complaining to believe you or not? Is what you’ve said happened a problem or not, even if they don’t believe it did happen? Those are important parts of proving that your complaint has been taken seriously. Whether someone believes you is actually information more about you and your complaint than about the KPU employee you’re complaining about, and whether it’s considered okay or problematic is information about KPU itself and what kind of experience it wants to provide.

COMPLAINTS

A lot of the time, you’ll be asked what outcome you would like out of your complaint. This is something to think about. Most of the time, in my experience, what people want is to either undo something that was done to them or to be assured that it won’t happen again. Unfortunately, a lot of the time the damage can’t be undone, and KPU hates to give people their money back. It can take some time to process what’s happened, or to try to resolve things informally, and that time can also make it harder to fix things afterwards. I strongly encourage anyone who’s thinking of writing a complaint, or pursuing something informally, to talk to us and/or a KPU counselor sooner rather than later. Even if you just talk it out and go over your specific situation and options, that can help you to handle a difficult solution before it gets worse.

-- John (KSA Advocacy Coordinator)

Information on the KSA's Student Rights Centre, and contact details for our Advocacy Coordinator, John, can be found at http://www.kusa.ca/studentrights/.