August Board Meeting Recap

WUSA’s monthly Board meeting was held on August 12. Here’s what happened:

• There was a presentation from Capacity Canada on effective meetings, after which it was agreed that moving forward, the Board will complete a meeting survey in order to assess how the meeting went and what can be improved.  

• The Board approved that ongoing follow-up on the University’s investment and partnership activities, including any updates or changes arising from the referendum, be established as a standing agenda item in meetings between the University President and WUSA’s Officers and Executive Director. 

• The Board requested that the Executive Director brings a report to the November Board meeting outlining the cost, demand, and feasibility of extending lounge and room bookings to 24 hours.  

• The Board adopted online director boothing by establishing directors’ office hours to ensure directors on coop or outside of the Waterloo region are still able to engage with students. 

• The Board approved increasing club funding from $75 to $200, allocating $90,000 from WUSA’s general reserves. The increase was structured as a pilot program to test the impact of the increased funding, with students’ approval at the 2026 AMM required to continue the funding.  

• The motion to address the issue of satellite campus students paying for services they might not access was approved. The motion included tasks for the President to contact satellite campus societies and for WUSA to advocate for changes at the Student Services Advisory Committee if the findings support making a change. 

• The updated SLEF bylaws, which aimed to move responsibilities from the WUSA Board of Directors to the SLEF Board of Directors was approved.  

• The President reported on the roundtable with the Ontario official opposition, the press conference on Bill 33, and the decision to facilitate termly sports tournaments between societies, starting with a dodgeball tournament in the fall. 

• The Vice President reported on their meetings with the interim Provost who expressed excitement about the Bomber project, while the Mayor of Waterloo, and the Chair of Waterloo Region both mentioned that WUSA may need to advocate for transit if we want it in the budget. The Vice President also provided updates on CASA’s advocacy priorities, the National Indigenous Advocacy Committee, and the advocacy positions committee.