June Board Meeting Recap

⏱️ New Time Tracking System for Directors 

The Board approved a new system to track how many hours directors (the student leaders on the Board) are working each month. This change is meant to improve transparency and ensure that directors meet the expected 40 hours of work per month. The number of hours logged won’t affect their pay, but it will help hold directors accountable. All directors will be able to see each other’s logged hours, and if someone is doing too little or too much, the Board Chair will follow up with them privately. 

💬 Enhancing Committee Performance and Feedback Mechanisms 

WUSA President Damian Mikhail shared that a new feedback form is being created to evaluate how well Board committees are working and how engaged their members are. Students who aren’t part of the executive team (called at-large members) will help provide feedback on how committees are structured. Committee chairs will also assess how active their members are. The final version of the form is expected to roll out in the fall. The goal is to make sure committee work is fair, effective, and transparent. 

📢 Updates on Advocacy and Policy Work 

In Vice President Remington Zhi’s report, there were updates from two national student leadership events: Canadian Alliance of Student Foundations (CASA) Foundations and the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) Retreat. CASA focused on training, and advocacy priorities will be finalized in July. At OUSA, student leaders set their top issues, including a new campaign focused on housing and food affordability. 

Several policy papers are in the works. In the fall, topics will include support for Indigenous and mature students, system accountability, and a long-term vision for post-secondary education. In the winter, the focus will shift to tuition, credit transfer, and student mobility. WUSA’s Research Analyst also presented a report on international students at Waterloo. 

🥫 Food Support, Faith Spaces, and Policy 42 

The Food Support Service is working with WUSA staff to improve how it runs events, such as the campus farmers’ market. 

WUSA has also been meeting with different faith groups on campus to talk about shared multi-faith spaces. The feedback so far has been mixed, and there’s a clear need for better guidelines and more inclusive consultation. Staff are now looking into better signage and new ways to gather student feedback. 

A draft of a new sexual violence prevention and response policy, known as Policy 42, has been completed and will soon be reviewed by the Board.  

All students are invited to provide feedback to the University on the draft of Policy 42. You can find more info at Provide Your Feedback on Policy 42 – Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association.

💻 Making the Annual Members’ Meeting More Accessible 

WUSA is working on improving the Annual Members’ Meeting (AMM) by making it easier to attend both online and in person. The Governance Committee reviewed the proposed requirements for a hybrid format and had no concerns. WUSA staff are now approved to look into software options to support this. 

🤫 Confidential Session Decisions 

During the closed portion of the meeting, the Board approved the creation of a new committee (with one member choosing not to vote). Funding for an interim “Bomber” initiative — a short-term plan to bring back some kind of student social space — was also approved unanimously. 

Check out the full meeting minutes here.