Suvarna Garge (Editor)

University of Alberta Students' Union

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Institution
  
University of Alberta

Established
  
1909

Members
  
30,000

Location
  
Edmonton, Alberta

President
  
Fahim Rahman

University of Alberta Students' Union

Motto
  
To serve, represent, and engage students.

The University of Alberta Students' Union is the student society that represents undergraduate students at the University of Alberta. Originally established in 1909, it is a non-profit corporation that operates under the authority of the Post-Secondary Learning Act (Alberta). Its membership consists of the roughly 30,000 undergraduate students enrolled at the university.

Contents

With an annual budget of approximately $10,000,000 and hundreds of paid and volunteer staff, the Students' Union serves as an advocate for students and provides a variety of services to its members. The Students' Union also operates a number of businesses, manages various targeted trust funds, hosts a wide variety of entertainment and educational events, and runs the Students' Union Building.

Council

Students' Council is the ultimate decision-making body of the Students' Union and is composed of representatives elected from each faculty (32), five executive members elected in a campus-wide general election each March, and one undergraduate student elected in the same election to serve on the University's Board of Governors.

Representation

Provincially, the Students' Union participates in the Council of Alberta University Students. The Students' Union was a founding member of the Canadian Alliance of Students Associations. While it took a brief hiatus on its membership, having pulled out in 2003, the Students' Union moved to rejoin CASA in March 2008.

In the fall of 2016, the Students' Union expanded the U-Pass program to Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc and Spruce Grove.

Services

The Students' Union provides a number of services to assist students in their academic careers. These services include:

  • Access Fund
  • Campus Food Bank
  • Centre for Student Development
  • ECOS Sustainability Office
  • Health and Dental plan
  • InfoLink
  • Ombudservice
  • Peer Support Centre
  • Safewalk
  • Student Financial Aid Centre
  • Student Group Services
  • Student Job Registry

    • The Students' Union also runs several businesses, which offer discounts to Students' Union staff and volunteers.

    Students' Union Building

    Built in 1967, the Students' Union Building (SUB) is the headquarters of the Student's Union. It contains the Horowitz Theatre.

    Myer Horowitz Theatre

    The Myer Horowtiz Theatre is a 720-seat concert hall used a venue for a variety of music, dance and lectures. The theatre hosts no regular season, and is rented by various student and community groups. They also regularly host shows organized by local promoters looking for a smaller intimate venue in Edmonton.

    Built in 1967 during the building of the Students' Union Building, the theatre was originally called SUB Theatre. The theatre has been through two renovations since opening, a major overall in 1983 and a technical update in 1988. The theatre was renamed in 1989 to honour the outgoing university president at the time, Dr. Myer Horowitz.

    Notable past presidents

    Several people who have served as president of the University of Alberta Students' Union have gone on to achieve some level of fame.

  • James Harwood Ogilvie, who served as president in 1917-1918, went on to become a long time alderman on Edmonton City Council and an unsuccessful candidate for the Conservative Party in the 1935 and 1940 federal elections in Edmonton West.
  • Percy Griffith Davies was president in 1925-1926 and later served as a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1932 until 1935.
  • Gerard Amerongen, president in 1943-1944, became a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (and later its Speaker), representing Edmonton Meadowlark from 1971 until 1986.
  • Peter Lougheed, president in 1951-1952, was Premier of Alberta from 1971 until 1985.
  • Lou Hyndman, president in 1958-1959, was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (representing Edmonton West from 1967 until 1971 and Edmonton-Glenora from 1971 until 1986) and provincial treasurer.
  • Marilyn Pilkington, president in 1968-1969, was the first female Dean of Osgoode Hall in 1983.
  • David Leadbeater, president in 1969-1970, became the youngest alderman in the history of the Edmonton City Council, elected at the age of 27 and serving from 1974 until 1977.
  • Mike Nickel, president in 1985-1986, became an alderman (2004–2007), two-time mayoral candidate, and prominent conservative in Edmonton.
  • Mike Hudema, president in 2002-2003, is a prominent activist.

    • References

    University of Alberta Students' Union Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA