Brock University Students' Union

Brock University Students' Union
Institution Brock University
Location St. Catharines, Ontario
Established 1970
President Kyle Rose [1]
Vice presidents Brian Horvath, Spencer Dawson, and Antonio Sergi[1]
Affiliations OUSA, CASA
Website www.busu.net

The Brock University Students' Union (BUSU) is the students' union representing the over 17,000 undergraduate students of Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.[2] BUSU is a member of the Canadian Alliance of Students Associations and a founding member of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance.

Governance

Executive

The Brock University Students' Union executive is made up of four popularly elected students: the President, the Vice President Student Services, the Vice President University Affairs and the Vice President Finance and Administration. The executive is responsible for the day-to-day operations of BUSU as well as for developing strategies to implement policy set by the board of directors and BUSAC (see below) and collectively providing leadership and direction for the organization via the executive committee.

Administrative Council

The Brock University Students Administrative Council (BUSAC) is a popularly elected legislative body composed of representatives from all academic faculties of the university as well as representatives for Residence, Off-Campus, and International students. Constitutionally, BUSAC serves as an "Executive Advisory Committee" of the Board of Directors, in practice BUSAC is responsible for legislative oversight and the political representation of students to the Students' Union, through full council meetings as well as a variety of standing committees. Furthermore, the activities and operations of the Brock University Students' Union are reported to BUSAC by the BUSU executive.

Board of Directors

The Brock University Students' Union Board of Directors comprises seven members, the president and one other executive member, two members of BUSAC as appointed by BUSAC, as well as three student at large members elected in general elections. The Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing the human resources of the students' union, as well as having a fiduciary relationship with the organization, particularly in regard to its corporate and legal responsibilities. The Board also serves a quasi-judicial function as the highest level of appeal for all redresses of grievance with, or within BUSU.

Services

BUSU operates many student services that have the goal to improve the quality of students on campus experience at Brock.

BUSU is responsible for running the O-Week in conjunction with Brock University during the first week of the school year, putting on all-ages events and information fairs for first-year students at Brock as well as returning students.[3][4]

BUSU provides extended health and accident insurance program for Brock students through their health and dental plan. The goal is to provide peace of mind through insurance and to offset costs associated with their health needs. Coverage includes prescription drug coverage, accidental travel insurance, emergency dental coverage and optical coverage.[5]

BUSU oversees Brock Off-Campus (BOC), which allows students living off-campus the full university experience. BOC organizes and runs various events and social activities for its members throughout the year. Various trips, events and social activities throughout the year help off-campus students stay connected. Past BOC events and activities include semi-formals, camping, BBQs, and sporting events. BOC facilitates students' involvement in all levels of the university and promotes the full university experience. Students are divided geographically into six teams, each run by a coordinator. BOC helps with the transition into university life for first-year students and adds variety to university life for those returning students.[6]

BUSU provides every Brock student taking 1.5 credits or more with unlimited use of St. Catharines, Welland, and Niagara Falls Transit. This service is paid for by an ancillary fee collected with student tuition. The U-Pass was first implemented after a student referendum in 2003.[7]

Every year during O-Week, BUSU takes part in Shinerama, which is a national campaign held on over 60 university and college campuses. The goal of Shinerama is to help raise money for cystic fibrosis research. The flagship event of Shinerams is shine day, where students spread out across St. Catahrines and hold various car washes, BBQs and various other events to help raise money. In 2008, BUSU raised over $25,000 for Shinerama, almost doubling the money raised the year before. Brock has participated in Shinermana since 2004.[8][9]

BUSU operates two student safety programs on campus. Foot Patrol, which is a free volunteer service that provides students, staff and visitors with a safe escort on and around campus at night, is operated by BUSU and staffed by student volunteers.[10] BUSU also operates Brock Aid, which is a first aid responders team that provides emergency medical response during BUSU events.[11]

BUSU also oversees BrockTV, the online campus television network.[12] BrockTV provides all facets of student-made content from news briefs and guest lectures, to varsity highlights, musician interviews and entertainment parodies.[13]

Clubs

The Brock University Students' Union ratifies student clubs and provides them with funding and organizational assistance. BUSU provides clubs with room bookings, BUSU.net e-mail addresses, postings on the BUSU bulletin boards and advertising in the Brock Press. BUSU clubs are overseen by the BUSU Vice President Student Services.[14][15]

Businesses

The Brock University Students' Union operates several businesses on campus, including the campus bar, Isaac's; the Students' Centre cafeteria, Union Station; and the on-campus convenience stores, Subcetera and General Brock. BUSU also owns ADs, a design and print company, as well as Brock Crest, a catering company. BUSU is unique to many other students unions in relation to their campus bar as they are one of the few student unions that hold their own liquor license, as opposed to the university holding it.

Alumni Student Centre

The Alumni Student Centre is the head office of BUSU and is owned and operated by BUSU. All BUSU offices are housed in the Alumni Student Centre. The Alumni Student Centre contains a lounge for off-campus students, discount photocopiers for student use, and a coffee shop. The offices of the Brock Press and OPIRG are also in the Student Centre. The campus bar, Isaac's, Skybar Lounge, and the Union Station food court also occupy the Alumni Student Centre. The Student Centre is connected to the Plaza building, as well the Canadian Tire Bridge, which connects the Student Centre to Taro Hall.

Representation

The Brock University Students' Union was a founding member of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance.[16][17][18] The Brock University Students' Union is also a member of the Canadian Alliance of Students Associations.[19] OUSA and CASA are Brock's provincial and federal lobby groups.

Controversies

Black face incident

BUSU gained attention for allowing a group of students who were dressed as the Jamaican bobsled team into their bar for a Halloween night. Some students in the costume were found to have put on black faces, prompting controversy. BUSU has since begun monitoring costumes entering their bar as a result.[20][21] This was the third time a black face incident had happened on campus, as former students also won for the bobsled team costume, and one in 2009 won the contest for dressing up as Lil' Wayne.[22]

Racist and homophobic remarks

Spencer Dawson, VP of Finance, also dealt with controversy when it was shown that his personal Twitter account was found to have made racist and homophobic remarks. The remarks in question were leaked during his first election by a tipster.[23]

Anonymous video

Spencer Dawson, Antonio Sergi, and Kyle Rose were all alleged to have covered up inappropriately spent funds, and failed to be at Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) conferences. The allegations claim that Dawson and Sergi were found to be at a strip club during a CASA meeting, while Rose allegedly also failed to show up to meetings, because he was smoking weed in his room, getting drunk, and playing video games.[24] The video claims that some meetings were missed, while other meetings were attended while the people in question were hungover. The video was circulated via email, and the allegations are currently under investigation.[25] All of the executives, and one alleged witness by the name of Alex Hobbs, have denied the allegations.[25]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Executive - BUSU.net". Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  2. ↑ Brock University Students' Union Constitution: "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
  3. ↑ Brock University - O-Week 2009:http://www.brocku.ca/orientation/
  4. ↑ Niagara, Brock welcome more than 24,000 students: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=1727023
  5. ↑ "StudentWise Brock Health & Dental Plan". Archived from the original on 28 January 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  6. ↑ Brock Off-Campus Archived July 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Brock U-Pass FAQ: "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-12-15. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  8. ↑ Shinerama BUSU: http://shinerama.busu.net/
  9. ↑ Who ya gonna call for a haircut? Not the Ghostbuster: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=1204067
  10. ↑ "Services - Brock University". Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  11. ↑ Brock Aid Home Archived August 6, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-01-28. Retrieved 2010-08-12.
  13. ↑ "BrockTV.ca". Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  14. ↑ BUSU Clubs: "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-10-12.
  15. ↑ Bylaw 2550, the Clubs Bylaw
  16. ↑ "Members & Partners OUSA: Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance - Educated Solutions". 11 August 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  17. ↑ "AMS Home". Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  18. ↑ http://www.ousa.ca/uploaded_files/pdf_files/Undercurrent/the_undercurrent_vol_5b%281%29.pdf
  19. ↑ "Home - CASA - ACAE". Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  20. ↑ "'Donning blackface for Halloween is never OK': Outcry over students' Jamaican bobsled costumes". Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  21. ↑ nurun.com. "BUSU accepts responsibility for blackface incident". Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  22. ↑ (PDF) http://4207.cupe.ca/files/2015/10/Open-letter-to-BUSU-re-Blackface-at-Isaacs.pdf. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. ↑ "brockbug.com". Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  24. ↑ Insanedrummer18 (9 December 2015). "Anonymous: BUSU executive misappropriated funds". Retrieved 12 August 2016 – via YouTube.
  25. 1 2 "Anonymous-style video claims BUSU executives misappropriated student funds • The Brock Press". 8 December 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
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