Thursday, November 22, 2012
Friday, November 16, 2012
What if the Library were open till 3am during exams?
Hello blog world,
It’s been awhile.... But I’m back and ready to go!!! Lots to update on for sure. Well the school year is already in full swing, and by that I mean first semester is quickly reaching an end. Before we know it there will be shiny new xrings all around campus, and the start of exam season will be upon us. With the exam season comes a major concern and that would be STUDY SPACE!
The Student Senators have been out and about asking students what some of their concerns are related to academics. One of the most common responses was study space, and let me assure you it is at the top of my agenda! I am currently exploring the option of extending library hours for the December Exam period. I would like to know your thoughts on this. Is having the library open till 3am something of interest to you or your friends? Would you stay at the library past midnight? Would you rather have the library open late or the SUB? All very important questions that I would love/need to hear feedback on. I will be sure to keep everyone informed as this process continues, and I further embark on the journey of bringing late night study space to StFX. I am meeting regularly with Lynne Murphy the University Librarian and her staff, as well as Dave MacNeil the Interim Director of Safety and Security, and Leon MacLellan the Director of Facilities Management.
Please let me know your thoughts by answering this question on The U Facebook or email me at su_vp@stfx.ca. The more I can show the Library and Administration that this is a top priority for us students, the greater the possibility of extended hours.
http://www.facebook.com/theu.stfx.students.union <- Please answer the question at this link
The current discussions in regards to extended hours concern security of students and the building. I remain optimistic that we can find a solution that all can agree on. Again though any feedback is greatly appreciated.
In other news the Antigonish Womens Resource Centre and The Students' Union joint project on Engaging Youth and Preventing Violence Against Women at StFX was recently made public. Check out the link below.
Please stay tuned for more information on STUDY SPACES and the potential for a FALL READING DAY BREAK.
More to report in the coming week or so. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.
Be kind to one another and ask your friends if they would study late at the lib in December!
Rachel Mitchell
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
comm update!
Hello everyone!
Hope you are all enjoying this lovely month of Movember and the wonderful staches that are a-growin'! Here is a little update from the Communications office!
This weekend Wylder and I attended COCA East and Nova Scotia Music Week (NSMW) in Liverpool, NS. For those of you who missed my post about COCA in the summer, COCA stands for the Canadian Organization of Campus Activities. It is an organization that The U is a member of, and it provides opportunities for collaboration, block-booking and professional development for its members. We attended COCA National in Montreal in June, and this weekend at COCA East we were able to meet with all the Atlantic member schools. We paired these meetings with Nova Scotia Music Week where we attended as Buyers so that we could have the added value of attending showcases and developing relationships with artists and managers!
The weekend was great - on Friday and Saturday we attended "5-minute pitch sessions" in which artists had 5 mins to pitch why we should book them for shows. This was great because we were able to see a lot of artists in a short-period of time. Following these sessions we moved into meetings with COCA East. We touched on a lot of topics including recaps of our respective Frosh Weeks (what worked, what didn't work), year-long communication strategy, upcoming small-scale programming, Frost Week plans and block-booking opportunities for second semester. Talking with the others schools is what is most beneficial about these conferences - the discussions we have about what worked and didn't work is a great learning experience and something we can take back to our schools. As well, block-booking can greatly reduce our costs when it comes to bringing in artists for away as we usually get a deal on travel costs. Overall, lots of great discussions were had and I learned a lot!
In the evenings we attended showcases of different artists. I was very excited to see Willie Stratton showcase which gave us a taste for his show this Saturday at The Inn - let me tell you, HE IS UNREAL. You do not want to miss this show! We also attended a songwriters circle and are currently working with a few other East Coast schools to coordinate a songwriter circle for second semester! We'll update you on this project as it progresses! There is a lot of amazing talent in Nova Scotia, and it was great to be a part of the weekend!
Other projects I've been working on have been updates to theu.ca - over the summer we upgraded from Drupal 6 to Drupal 7 with the new design of the website. Unfortunately during this upgrade a few glitches have occurred with the site. It has been a long process but I FINALLY have almost all executive and sub-executives, councillors and senators up in the people section of theu.ca. There is still a few adjustments and updates to be made, but hopefully this will help a bit with people trying to find contact information. As well, the fall office hours for the executive have been posted in their profiles! I will be working over the next two weeks to get the office hours for all councillors and sub-executive posted as well, so that this information is easier for students to find!
This post is already quite lengthy so I'll save the discussion of Movember for another day. For now, be sure to like our Facebook page to stay up to date on the campaign! See you all The Inn this Friday for Vilify (GOING TO BE SO GOOD - she's the coolest person I've ever met)
To Infinity and Beyond,
Kaleigh
Hope you are all enjoying this lovely month of Movember and the wonderful staches that are a-growin'! Here is a little update from the Communications office!
This weekend Wylder and I attended COCA East and Nova Scotia Music Week (NSMW) in Liverpool, NS. For those of you who missed my post about COCA in the summer, COCA stands for the Canadian Organization of Campus Activities. It is an organization that The U is a member of, and it provides opportunities for collaboration, block-booking and professional development for its members. We attended COCA National in Montreal in June, and this weekend at COCA East we were able to meet with all the Atlantic member schools. We paired these meetings with Nova Scotia Music Week where we attended as Buyers so that we could have the added value of attending showcases and developing relationships with artists and managers!
The weekend was great - on Friday and Saturday we attended "5-minute pitch sessions" in which artists had 5 mins to pitch why we should book them for shows. This was great because we were able to see a lot of artists in a short-period of time. Following these sessions we moved into meetings with COCA East. We touched on a lot of topics including recaps of our respective Frosh Weeks (what worked, what didn't work), year-long communication strategy, upcoming small-scale programming, Frost Week plans and block-booking opportunities for second semester. Talking with the others schools is what is most beneficial about these conferences - the discussions we have about what worked and didn't work is a great learning experience and something we can take back to our schools. As well, block-booking can greatly reduce our costs when it comes to bringing in artists for away as we usually get a deal on travel costs. Overall, lots of great discussions were had and I learned a lot!
Other projects I've been working on have been updates to theu.ca - over the summer we upgraded from Drupal 6 to Drupal 7 with the new design of the website. Unfortunately during this upgrade a few glitches have occurred with the site. It has been a long process but I FINALLY have almost all executive and sub-executives, councillors and senators up in the people section of theu.ca. There is still a few adjustments and updates to be made, but hopefully this will help a bit with people trying to find contact information. As well, the fall office hours for the executive have been posted in their profiles! I will be working over the next two weeks to get the office hours for all councillors and sub-executive posted as well, so that this information is easier for students to find!
This post is already quite lengthy so I'll save the discussion of Movember for another day. For now, be sure to like our Facebook page to stay up to date on the campaign! See you all The Inn this Friday for Vilify (GOING TO BE SO GOOD - she's the coolest person I've ever met)
To Infinity and Beyond,
Kaleigh
Update on a number of things!
Hello Xaverians!
It has been a while since I have blogged and I will not be
able to share everything in this post today. I want to discuss three things
though: collective bargaining, and our upcoming lobby conference, and Students
Nova Scotia’s first position paper.
The Students’ Union release its first briefing note on the
current Collective Bargaining Negotiations which are being held between the St
FX Association of University Teachers and the university Administration on
Friday. This document can be found here: http://theu.ca/?q=node/298.
The Students’ Union is committed to updating this information as often as
needed so that all members are informed. Please check theu.ca often for
updates.
Secondly, I wanted to discuss the lobbying conference that
Patrick Carruthers, VP Finance and I will be attending next week. This is a
week long Advocacy Week which the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations
(CASA), organizes. Pat and I will have meetings with MPs, senators, and others
who work on Parliament Hill to discuss Post-Secondary Education in Canada.
In the lobbying document which we will be using this year
the topics covered are: better funding grants, in-study income exemption,
exempting one vehicle, open access, protecting student intellectual property,
and the student voice in Canadian research. These six topics will form the
framework around which we have discussions with those on Parliament Hill. If
you have any questions about these topics, or the conference, please don’t
hesitate to contact me (su_pres@stfx.ca)
or Pat (su_tres@stfx.ca).
Finally, Students Nova Scotia is about to release is first
position paper. This has been apriority of Students Nova Scotia since the
rebranding I spoke about in the summer. Position papers allow for our group to
take a stance on certain issues affecting students in Nova Scotia. The first
paper is a position paper on Funding and Accountability. Pat and I will be
hosting a discussion period this Friday at 4:30 PM during which we will present
a briefing on the paper followed by discussion about the content. After the
meeting, we will be submitting St. FX’s thoughts to Students Nova Scotia so that
they can make any changes before the Board approves the paper later this month.
If you are interested in participating in this discussion, please email Pat or
I and we will send you the full paper.
That is all for now, as always, if there is anything that
you have a question about or want to discuss further please let me know!
Cheers,
Nick
Friday, October 26, 2012
Services Update
Hey everyone!
It's been such a pleasure finally working on campus with all of you back! How is it already October 26th?! That is crazy. Lots have been going on in my office since the summer time so I thought I would give you all an update to remind you of some of the services that are provided for YOU! I will discuss those that are not included in this post, in my next blog update, but please feel free to check them all out online NOW at http://theu.ca/services. I am also starting to look at all of our services and beginning to prepare an evaluation to present next semester. If you have any interest I would love to hear some feedback from you! Send me an e-mail with any positive or negative experiences you've had, things you want to see change within your services or even services you love/utilize the most! As the year goes on there will be lots of ways for you to generate feedback but as for now, I would still love to hear from you :)
On the Health and Wellness front, I have some good news! We all remember my post earlier in the summer about my search for condoms, well low and behold, Trojan has generously donated our student body 5000 condoms. You can e-mail me or come into my office at anytime if you want some. And if you'd rather not ask, I always have a bucket full on my door.
As a reminder for students who are on campus in the evening, visiting friends or working on school work in the library or SUB... we have Drive U available for YOU to drive you home safely and for free. We are always parked outside of the SUB from Sundays-Tuesdays 8PM-12AM, Wednesdays & Thursdays 8PM-1:30AM, and Fridays 9PM-1:30AM. It's getting chilly!
Our Student Food Resource Centre has been handing out recipes for Warm Autumn Apple Crisp, along with their contact information. Sometimes being a student means living off a tight budget. The Student Food Resource Centre offers temporary food relief to ensure that every student at St. FX has access to the food they need to stay happy and healthy. For those of you who do not know, it is located in the Municipal Building located on 42 West Street. It is open Monday to Friday from 9:15-5:30, if you have any questions or concerns please contact our coordinator Amy Brierley at su_food@stfx.ca. As for the recipe for Warm Autumn Apple Crisp:
Ingrediants:
1 or 2 apples (depending on the size), peeled and sliced
3 Tbsp. rolled oats (not instant)
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. whole wheat flower
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. melted butter
Preparation:
Place fruit in a small microwave safe bowl. Combine dry ingredients and stir in melted butter. Sprinkle topping over fruit. Then you microwave on high for 2 1/2 minutes or until apples are tender.
:)
Last but not least, if you are looking for OFF CAMPUS HOUSING for the 2013-2014 YEAR, please visit our awesome and helpful website: THEUHOUSING.CA. Once you are into the website, click on the search tab at the top and begin to browse through the many homes available in the 'nish! We have an Off Campus Housing Officer, Ciara Yorston, hired to check out the homes and visit landlords to then broadcast them on our website for you. Best of luck in your house hunting! If you have any questions or would like her help with anything, please feel free to e-mail her at su_oco@stfx.ca! Keep your eyes peeled for a fresh new look on our off campus housing website.
I hope you all have a very fun and safe weekend, see you all at the Inn for Oktoberfest and TIM CHAISSON!
Tessa
It's been such a pleasure finally working on campus with all of you back! How is it already October 26th?! That is crazy. Lots have been going on in my office since the summer time so I thought I would give you all an update to remind you of some of the services that are provided for YOU! I will discuss those that are not included in this post, in my next blog update, but please feel free to check them all out online NOW at http://theu.ca/services. I am also starting to look at all of our services and beginning to prepare an evaluation to present next semester. If you have any interest I would love to hear some feedback from you! Send me an e-mail with any positive or negative experiences you've had, things you want to see change within your services or even services you love/utilize the most! As the year goes on there will be lots of ways for you to generate feedback but as for now, I would still love to hear from you :)
Before I do update, there is one apology I owe you. I acknowledge that the Tutor-Database from our X-Tutoring service has been down since you have been back, it was a technical difficulty but I assure you it will be up ASAP. We have figured out some of the loopholes and you will be able to access the database in no-time, I will keep you updated! I am truly sorry if you have experienced any inconvenience but as I have done and will continue to do: please send me an e-mail if you need a tutor and I will manually try to connect you with someone on our list. Also, if anyone is reading right now who wants to BE a tutor, we need lots of them! From science, to engineering, to business to arts. All you need is a 75% or higher in the course you wish to tutor and your contact information can be registered in our database for students to contact you if they need. Please send me an e-mail at su_userv@stfx.ca. Thanks :)
On the Health and Wellness front, I have some good news! We all remember my post earlier in the summer about my search for condoms, well low and behold, Trojan has generously donated our student body 5000 condoms. You can e-mail me or come into my office at anytime if you want some. And if you'd rather not ask, I always have a bucket full on my door.
As a reminder for students who are on campus in the evening, visiting friends or working on school work in the library or SUB... we have Drive U available for YOU to drive you home safely and for free. We are always parked outside of the SUB from Sundays-Tuesdays 8PM-12AM, Wednesdays & Thursdays 8PM-1:30AM, and Fridays 9PM-1:30AM. It's getting chilly!
Our Student Food Resource Centre has been handing out recipes for Warm Autumn Apple Crisp, along with their contact information. Sometimes being a student means living off a tight budget. The Student Food Resource Centre offers temporary food relief to ensure that every student at St. FX has access to the food they need to stay happy and healthy. For those of you who do not know, it is located in the Municipal Building located on 42 West Street. It is open Monday to Friday from 9:15-5:30, if you have any questions or concerns please contact our coordinator Amy Brierley at su_food@stfx.ca. As for the recipe for Warm Autumn Apple Crisp:
Ingrediants:1 or 2 apples (depending on the size), peeled and sliced
3 Tbsp. rolled oats (not instant)
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. whole wheat flower
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. melted butter
Preparation:
Place fruit in a small microwave safe bowl. Combine dry ingredients and stir in melted butter. Sprinkle topping over fruit. Then you microwave on high for 2 1/2 minutes or until apples are tender.
:)
Last but not least, if you are looking for OFF CAMPUS HOUSING for the 2013-2014 YEAR, please visit our awesome and helpful website: THEUHOUSING.CA. Once you are into the website, click on the search tab at the top and begin to browse through the many homes available in the 'nish! We have an Off Campus Housing Officer, Ciara Yorston, hired to check out the homes and visit landlords to then broadcast them on our website for you. Best of luck in your house hunting! If you have any questions or would like her help with anything, please feel free to e-mail her at su_oco@stfx.ca! Keep your eyes peeled for a fresh new look on our off campus housing website.I hope you all have a very fun and safe weekend, see you all at the Inn for Oktoberfest and TIM CHAISSON!
Tessa
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
THE BLOG IS BACK!
Greetings everyone! So after seeing the success of the summer blog this year, and the positive response we got from students, we decided we will continue the blog throughout the school year. We did kind of miss out on about 2 months worth of updates in our hiatus, but hopefully we can bring you guys back to speed as quickly as possible with what we've been up to! Unfortunately I didn't really think that far ahead when coming up with the domain name, so the url is going to have to stay at theusummer, but hopefully people are used to it by now! Annd of course, we all wish it was always summer!
Soooo... since August? Well Frosh Week was a huge success and feels like a billion years ago. I had so much fun and it was amazing to see the Frosh having such a great time, huge thanks to everyone who made the week so successful (o-crew, security, student services, etc etc). After Frosh Week, I'm pretty sure September didn't exist. It felt like I closed my eyes for two seconds and it was already Homecoming. We did have great success with the September Sidewalk Fest on September 14th - it was great to see so many students out in the town. We are hoping this event will be an annual one and I'll be adding info about it in my transition report. It is great to have such a positive relationship with our town. We also ran the Football campaign for Sexual Assault Awareness Week in September, which garnered lots of attention and I think the campaign was very powerful and effective in shedding light on this important issue. You can check out the campaign's website at takethepledge.tumblr.com.
This week my #1 focus is pulling together and solidifying the plan for the Movember campaign. Last week I met with Colin Brennan and Leo Macpherson from Athletics, and they are completely on board for partnering with the campaign. The Men's Hockey team is going to be doing some great events throughout the month to help out. As well, I've reached out to faculty and staff... the main goal is to make this a campus wide campaign! We are going to have a great kick-off party on November 2nd at The Inn so watch out for info on that ... for now be sure to head to The Official FB Page and like the page to stay up to date on the campus campaign. I AM SO EXCITED I LOVE MOVEMBER ... more info to follow!
Also this Saturday is our first concert at The Inn feat. Tim Chaisson and Poor Young Things. Wylder and I saw Poor Young Things perform in Montreal this summer and they were unreal, and of coure... Tim. Need I say more? I actually cannot explain how much I love him. I mean, watch this video and look at his eyes. HIS EYES! He has a new album out and the show is going to be amazing, and tickets are only $5!! That's crazy! Get your tickets now at the Info Desk!
That's all for now, I will be posting again soon because there is much more to update you on! Good luck to everyone who is still writing exams, and see you all at WING NIGHT
- Kaleigh, VP Comm
Friday, August 24, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
friday friday
Wow I can't believe we're more than half-way through August. This summer went by waaaay too fast, but I am SO EXCITED for everyone to arrive!! I can't wait for the rest of my roomies to move back in, for campus to be full of students and most importantly FROSH! We're less than 3 weeks away from Welcome Day and it's just crazy - I can't wait to experience Frosh Week all over again. This week has been so crazy busy because there are so many things to finish up for Frosh Week, but also for the launch of The Inn and for planning for the rest of the year. My office kind of dabbles in everything and it's all kind of happening at once, so it's been pretty crazy.
Speaking of events, our Grand Re-Opening Party will be on September 14th feat. WRISTPECT and Sir Lancelot! Wristpect put on the biggest party of the year last November, and this is what Wristpect has to say about X "I don’t know what was up with these kids but this was definitely one of the wildest campuses we’ve ever played in Canada.. Hats off to the students at St. Francis Xavier University (your school sounds like it is a secret institution for X-men by the way), they party their asses off.." The Grand Re-Opening is going to be unreal, and I CAN'T WAIT!
I am working on getting the Wall Calendar proofs together to send to our printer next week - working with Wylder, we've tried to solidify as many events as possible for the year so that the calendar includes as many dates as possible. We also have all the home varsity games listed and other important University dates on there, so it will be a one-stop shop for dates. These Wall Calendars will be available on Welcome Day and on Society Night (September 10th) for free!
We had some pretty exciting developments with the Inn this week, especially with the announcement of our extended food service hours. We will be open Wednesday through Friday from 4pm-8pm for dinner! We've also added some new menu items (ahem, SPINACH DIP, BUFFALO CHICKEN BACON WRAP, YUPP). Be sure to like our official page, and check out the menu and events.
Speaking of events, our Grand Re-Opening Party will be on September 14th feat. WRISTPECT and Sir Lancelot! Wristpect put on the biggest party of the year last November, and this is what Wristpect has to say about X "I don’t know what was up with these kids but this was definitely one of the wildest campuses we’ve ever played in Canada.. Hats off to the students at St. Francis Xavier University (your school sounds like it is a secret institution for X-men by the way), they party their asses off.." The Grand Re-Opening is going to be unreal, and I CAN'T WAIT!
I've been working on and off to develop the preliminary stages of our Movember campaign. This year is going to be one for the books for Movember on campus! I've been in contact with Jesse from Movember Canada as well as Sheridan College who ran a great campaign last year. We've got some great events in the work for the month, some awesome awareness pieces, t-shirts designs going on, etc. It's going to be unreal, so stay tuned for more on that! MO LOVE
If you haven't seen, there have been some great new additions to our clothing store, now rebranded as The Shop! Be sure to follow The Shop on Twitter (@u_theshop) to keep up to date on new inventory (be sure to check out those NEON SNAPBACKS)!
Today I finished up the designs for the X-Ring Eligibility forms ahhh, so terrifying that it's only 107 days until that golden ring will be on our fingers! Other projects on the go include updates to theu.ca, development of a Social Media Policy for the Students' Union, and listening to as much DOWN WITH WEBSTER as possible!
That's all for now, have a great weekend folks!
Kaleigh
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Acadian Coach Lines Closure
As many of you have heard, Acadian Coach Lines has announced that
they will be stopping operations on November 30th of this year.
Below is the article from the Chronicle Herald to that affect:
There have been many responses to this closure and below is
the Alliance of Nova Scotia Students Association (The name of this organization
will soon to be changed, stay tuned!) response to the closure:
And finally, I had the opportunity to speak on Maritime Morning
Weekend Edition with Erin Trafford on 95.7 yesterday morning. Here is
that segment. Have a listen:
We want to know your thoughts and feelings about this!
Please email me (su_pres@stfx.ca) and tell
me what you are feeling. As well, there is a discussion posted on the Social Network,
so that you can voice your concerns.
In other news, the countdown is on: 21 days until…
If you haven’t bought your Frosh Kit yet, do it today! They
are selling fast!! Do that at:
That is all for now!
All the Best,
Nick
Friday, August 10, 2012
Update from Union Services Office
Hello all!
It has been awhile since my last blog post, I apologize. A lot has been going on in office and the summer is flying by, I have no idea when it became August. 23 DAYS UNTIL FROSH WEEK?! Wow. I hope you are all as excited as we are!
If you are arriving on campus that week, please feel free to call the Frosh Week Info Line at 867-4111 brought to you by your Students' Union and Peer Mentors. Call the line for any inquiry you may have, tall or small. Whether it be what building "NH" stands for, where the night's event is located, or if you just want someone to chat to, the Peer Mentors on the other end will be happy to give you some answers and resources!
Wednesday and Thursday of this week, alongside the Student Life team, Nick, Rachel, Jessie and I all took part and completed the Mental Health First Aid training. It was an extremely informative few days! The Students' Union understands that the Mental Health of our students a priority on campus. This training allowed us to understand the importance of minimizing the stigma of mental health and gather more awareness on various disorders and conditions, also gaining the confidence to spread that awareness as well. When I was at The Campus Trust conference in Toronto earlier in the summer, we talked about how important it is for campuses to have resources for student's mental health and we are trying to work towards that goal.
Speaking of The Campus Trust, just a reminder to all you folks out there that already have insurance coverage you HAVE TO OPT OUT OF YOUR HEALTH AND DENTAL PLAN beginning SEPT 1ST - SEPT 30TH 2012! We will have stations set up in the KMC on Welcome Day, and for the remainder of September at the Info Desk of the SUB in the Bloomfield centre, you will need to have proof of coverage with you. You can also opt out online at: www.studentbenefits.ca! (Sorry for yelling...)
Lastly, I wanted to put it out there that we are looking to hire more DriveU Drivers come September and will be putting up the application on our website *theu.ca* the week before Frosh Week, so please if you are interested, keep your eyes open for the application!
Hope everyone is enjoying the sun and has a very lovely weekend :)
Tessa
If you are arriving on campus that week, please feel free to call the Frosh Week Info Line at 867-4111 brought to you by your Students' Union and Peer Mentors. Call the line for any inquiry you may have, tall or small. Whether it be what building "NH" stands for, where the night's event is located, or if you just want someone to chat to, the Peer Mentors on the other end will be happy to give you some answers and resources!
Wednesday and Thursday of this week, alongside the Student Life team, Nick, Rachel, Jessie and I all took part and completed the Mental Health First Aid training. It was an extremely informative few days! The Students' Union understands that the Mental Health of our students a priority on campus. This training allowed us to understand the importance of minimizing the stigma of mental health and gather more awareness on various disorders and conditions, also gaining the confidence to spread that awareness as well. When I was at The Campus Trust conference in Toronto earlier in the summer, we talked about how important it is for campuses to have resources for student's mental health and we are trying to work towards that goal.
Speaking of The Campus Trust, just a reminder to all you folks out there that already have insurance coverage you HAVE TO OPT OUT OF YOUR HEALTH AND DENTAL PLAN beginning SEPT 1ST - SEPT 30TH 2012! We will have stations set up in the KMC on Welcome Day, and for the remainder of September at the Info Desk of the SUB in the Bloomfield centre, you will need to have proof of coverage with you. You can also opt out online at: www.studentbenefits.ca! (Sorry for yelling...) Lastly, I wanted to put it out there that we are looking to hire more DriveU Drivers come September and will be putting up the application on our website *theu.ca* the week before Frosh Week, so please if you are interested, keep your eyes open for the application!
Hope everyone is enjoying the sun and has a very lovely weekend :)
Tessa
Thursday, August 2, 2012
^.^
Hey Everyone!
I was on vacation for the majority of July so there isn't too much to update but I wanted to post a few things today as we countdown the days until everyone is back on campus! As I'm sure you've all been dying to see.. I snapped a few shots of the new Mini Moes set up to add to the reno pictures in my last post.
As you can see in Kaleigh's post below we have some awesome events to look forward to during Frosh Week, if you haven't checked out the events here are the facebook links:
I was on vacation for the majority of July so there isn't too much to update but I wanted to post a few things today as we countdown the days until everyone is back on campus! As I'm sure you've all been dying to see.. I snapped a few shots of the new Mini Moes set up to add to the reno pictures in my last post.
Anyways, besides campus muploads I have been keeping busy in the office since my return from vacation. Besides planning for training week I have started working on a House Council Handbook. This will be available online for all students who are interested in getting more involved within their residences for the coming year.
Next week I will be participating in Mental Health First Aid Training with Nick, Rachel, and Tessa. Mental Health is a growing concern on campuses nationwide and we hope to take a lot away from this training to benefit students.
I will also be doing Risk Management and Event Planning training next week which will be relayed back to the House Presidents and Residence Staff.
For tickets to all of these events and sweet frosh week swag don't forget to order your Frosh Kit! Tickets to most events will also be available at the Info Desk during the first week of school.
That's all for now - see you soon!
Jessie
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
august?! august!
Wowzaas, it's already August! I can't believe how fast this summer has gone by! It's only 32 days until Frosh Week but more terrifying only 124 days until X-RING ahhh
This week has been so busy, and it's only Wednesday (5 weeks til FIRST WING NIGHT BACK) with September creeping up quickly!
On Monday we announced our headline band for the Frosh Week concert is Down With Webster! The response so far has been great, and I am super excited to see these guys live... been watching their videos a lot over the past few months it should be an unreal show!
One of my favourite aspects of my position is putting together the artwork for events. It's a fun creative outlet, and the past few weeks has been very busy creating artwork for events, the Glow t-shirts, Frosh Kits and other promotional material.
Today we also announced the event for the Thursday of Frosh Week which is Yuk Yuk's On Tour Comedy Showcase with Graham Kay, Bryant Thomson and Paul Warford. Wylder and I saw Graham perform at COCA and he was hilarious. This guy has performed on MuchMusic's Video on Trial and on shows with Dave Chappelle and Sarah Silverman - guaranteed to make you giggle. You can find the event page here!
This week has been so busy, and it's only Wednesday (5 weeks til FIRST WING NIGHT BACK) with September creeping up quickly!
On Monday we announced our headline band for the Frosh Week concert is Down With Webster! The response so far has been great, and I am super excited to see these guys live... been watching their videos a lot over the past few months it should be an unreal show!
One of my favourite aspects of my position is putting together the artwork for events. It's a fun creative outlet, and the past few weeks has been very busy creating artwork for events, the Glow t-shirts, Frosh Kits and other promotional material.
Today we also announced the event for the Thursday of Frosh Week which is Yuk Yuk's On Tour Comedy Showcase with Graham Kay, Bryant Thomson and Paul Warford. Wylder and I saw Graham perform at COCA and he was hilarious. This guy has performed on MuchMusic's Video on Trial and on shows with Dave Chappelle and Sarah Silverman - guaranteed to make you giggle. You can find the event page here!
Besides Frosh Week I have also been working on The U Wall Calendar. This project is pretty big as it involves adding in every event on campus for the entire year with sponsorship, graphics, etc - but it's starting to come together! We will be distributing the calendars (for free) on Welcome Day and at Society Night, so be sure to stop by and pick yours up!
One exciting addition to the wall calendar this year is that dates to order your Local Food Box from Voices Antigonish. Voices Antigonish is a "volunteer community group working to bring about local, healthy, and sustainable food options for residents, particularly in the downtown core, of Antigonish". They offer a local food box program where you order a box of locally grown produce - an awesome opportunity for students living Off-Campus or in Apartment Style or Govs to support local food and get some lovely produce for cheap! You can find out more info about this program at their site. I ordered mine today and I'm excited for it arrive in August (nom nom).
One exciting addition to the wall calendar this year is that dates to order your Local Food Box from Voices Antigonish. Voices Antigonish is a "volunteer community group working to bring about local, healthy, and sustainable food options for residents, particularly in the downtown core, of Antigonish". They offer a local food box program where you order a box of locally grown produce - an awesome opportunity for students living Off-Campus or in Apartment Style or Govs to support local food and get some lovely produce for cheap! You can find out more info about this program at their site. I ordered mine today and I'm excited for it arrive in August (nom nom).
Also today I heard from out contact at the Student Life Network that they have done an upgrade to the design of their Networks. This means that our Social Network has a new streamlined look which I am pretty excited about. It is easier to locate discussions, to filter the marketplace for exactly what you're looking for and all the features are a bit more accessible. For those of you who haven't checked out the Social Network, it is StFX's exclusive social network for X students. It has some unique aspects such as The Marketplace - a perfect place to buy and sell textbooks, coordinate drives to Hali, and more; and Discussions - a place for students to discuss hot topics on campus, seek advice from fellow Xaverians and more. Be sure to check it out at http://social.theu.ca!
Other things I've been working on are putting together out Ad Package for the year, working with the Marketing Team to get them ready for the school year, putting together some training documents for HP/VPs and Society Presidents as they relate to the Comm Office, working through a few more updates to theu.ca and a re-branding strategy for our clothing store! There will be more updates coming from me soon related to The Inn and more, we'll keep you posted!
Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday,
Monday, July 30, 2012
My Generation Concert Headline Announcement & Update
Order your Frosh Kits at frosh.theu.ca!
Official Frosh Week Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/MyGeneration2012
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Finance Update
Finance Update!
Good day folks – I thought I’d give you an update from the
finance office; it has been a busy month! Nick and I just returned from a
conference in Mount Allison with CASA, our Federal lobbying group. It was very
informative, and we picked 24 policies that as an organization we would like to
focus on. Some that we fixated on were improving access to the Canada Student
Loans Program, promoting the development of programs concentrated on mental
health issues on university campuses and advocating for the removal of GST on
textbooks/less restrictions on the importation of academic materials. Since the
Federal Government has been playing the austerity card, we may have success on
the textbook front.
I have also met with our newly named Provincial lobbying
organization, Students Nova Scotia, and have completed an internal governance
review – which sets up SNS with awesome policies and by-laws that toe the line of
the law. As of today the organization will be building a new website and going
through a rebranding process, I am extremely excited to see the final project. The
intention of the website is to encourage students’ to become more informed of
Post-Secondary issues at the Provincial level and become a one stop shop for
all student related information in Nova Scotia.
Nick and I met with Maurice Smith, the NDP MLA for Antigonish earlier in July - it was a meeting to see where the current Government stands on PSE and the NDP's approach to StFX as an economic engine. I look forward to seeing what their election platform includes on PSE in Nova Scotia and if any infrastructural or research support is promised.
Sean, Kaleigh, Mitch (Sponsorship Coordinator) and I have
been working diligently to secure sponsorship for Frosh Week – with my
estimation we are well above our budgeted amount. It should make for an amazing
Frosh Week with lots of cool prizes, events and great sponsors who support
students!
Sean, Kris and I are also working towards improving the food
options at the Inn – we are currently at the menu development stage with
Sodexo. Our hope is that the Inn will become a great place to stop for supper
and apps.
Facilities Management has just completed the electric portion of our audio upgrades and the majority of our audio equipment has arrived, my bet is that Impact will have the sound system up by August 15th! Kaleigh mentioned the new shooter bar in an earlier post, it should make for a better experience for the bartenders and hopefully improve our serving efficiency.
Facilities Management has just completed the electric portion of our audio upgrades and the majority of our audio equipment has arrived, my bet is that Impact will have the sound system up by August 15th! Kaleigh mentioned the new shooter bar in an earlier post, it should make for a better experience for the bartenders and hopefully improve our serving efficiency.
On a financial perspective, the Students’ Union fared quite
well and Greg Coulas’ budget was on par in the majority of places– which means that we can continue to provide great services to the
Students’ of StFX without financial worry.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer, and if you have
any questions feel free to email me at su_treas@stfx.ca
Cheers,
PC
Friday, July 20, 2012
Video Blog brought to you by Tessa and Rach
Video blog with some information on upcoming events and initiatives including a Sexual Assault Awareness Week and Antigoclean!
To all FIRST YEAR STUDENTS don't forget to buy your Frosh Kits and Register for Classes.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
frosh kits and frosh kits and shooter bars
Greetings!
Early today Wylder and I met with Kris (The Inn bar manager) to solidify a few more dates for the year and talk about themes, etc. The year is looking like it is going to be amazing, lots of variety, the staple clubINN Friday nights, lots of society involvement, etc. There have also been some great changes to the bar for the upcoming year including a new sound system which Pat talked about in an earlier post, and also the renovations to the shooter bar! The old DJ booth has been moved to the other corner and altered a bit to make a new shooter bar. This clears up some space where the booth used to be to open a new door to the girl's washroom which will clear up congestion in the entrance of The Inn! Lots of great changes happening, I just can't wait for it to be September.
So many exciting updates for this blog post! Most importantly, the Frosh Week Website is finally live! It has been a long process first of all locating the site, then working on updating the theme etc and getting the online store working ... but it's working now so that's very exciting! And a functional Frosh Week website means one important thing - FROSH KITS! Frosh Kits are now available to order at http://frosh.theu.ca ... if you are an incoming first year student make sure you order your kit soon! These kits are your survival pack for the week and include all the necessities including tickets to all events!
Also this week came the announcement of the headline DJ for GLOW - Grandtheft from Team Canada DJs. Wylder and I saw him perform his new video show when we were at COCA in Montreal and he'll be bringing his show out here for Frosh Week, it's going to be an unreal time! Glow is the next generation of the annual tent party which has been rated #1 by Frosh for events during Frosh Week. With that history and this amazing DJ lined up it is for sure going to be the biggest party of the year!
Early today Wylder and I met with Kris (The Inn bar manager) to solidify a few more dates for the year and talk about themes, etc. The year is looking like it is going to be amazing, lots of variety, the staple clubINN Friday nights, lots of society involvement, etc. There have also been some great changes to the bar for the upcoming year including a new sound system which Pat talked about in an earlier post, and also the renovations to the shooter bar! The old DJ booth has been moved to the other corner and altered a bit to make a new shooter bar. This clears up some space where the booth used to be to open a new door to the girl's washroom which will clear up congestion in the entrance of The Inn! Lots of great changes happening, I just can't wait for it to be September.
That's all I have for now, the next few weeks are going to be jam packed trying to finish up everything for Frosh Week. This summer has flown by ridiculously fast, I can't believe that it's only 7 weeks until FIRST WING NIGHT BACK!
Have a happy Wingsday!
Kaleigh
Monday, July 16, 2012
Guess Who's Back?
G'day G'day
Just a little update on what it is I have been Do'n lately
COCA
Last Week was my first week back in the office since before COCA. Since my last video post I've visited Montreal for the Canadian Organization of Campus Activities National Conference to watch various Show Case's of artists from around the world. There were a multitude of great musicians and DJ's that I hope to bring to StFX and The Golden X Inn. The highlight of the weekend was probably a Video Show put on by Skratch Bastid that I intend to share with all of you by bringing it here at some point this year. Along side great music were a variety of moving speakers, comedians, promotional companies, bright minds and sunshine!
OTHER STUFF
Societies
I have already begun working with number of societies on some great events to hold at The Inn this year. When packing for X be sure to bring your bathing suit and some groovy shades for the SIFE Society's Beach night! If Country is more your thing stop by The Inn for a bull ride and some good tunes with DJ OuZo and the Equestrian Society.
Frosh Week
The schedule for this week is all finished and confirmed just waiting on the Big Concert Act to be released later this month. I am excited to announce that DJ Grand Theft from Team Canada DJ's will be headlining GLOW, an event to replace Rain this year.
ByLaws
We will see some of the out door events in different locations this September due to some new By-Law restrictions that are in place this year. I am attending the Town Council Meeting tonight to present my proposed locations for frosh week events. Wish me luck!
I will follow up this post with a good old fashioned Vlog shortly.
Stay Tuned for more updates from the Activities end of the Union Arena.
Over n Out.
Wylder OuZo Hatte
VP Activities & Events
Just a little update on what it is I have been Do'n lately
COCA
Last Week was my first week back in the office since before COCA. Since my last video post I've visited Montreal for the Canadian Organization of Campus Activities National Conference to watch various Show Case's of artists from around the world. There were a multitude of great musicians and DJ's that I hope to bring to StFX and The Golden X Inn. The highlight of the weekend was probably a Video Show put on by Skratch Bastid that I intend to share with all of you by bringing it here at some point this year. Along side great music were a variety of moving speakers, comedians, promotional companies, bright minds and sunshine!
OTHER STUFF
Societies
I have already begun working with number of societies on some great events to hold at The Inn this year. When packing for X be sure to bring your bathing suit and some groovy shades for the SIFE Society's Beach night! If Country is more your thing stop by The Inn for a bull ride and some good tunes with DJ OuZo and the Equestrian Society.
Frosh Week
The schedule for this week is all finished and confirmed just waiting on the Big Concert Act to be released later this month. I am excited to announce that DJ Grand Theft from Team Canada DJ's will be headlining GLOW, an event to replace Rain this year.
ByLaws
We will see some of the out door events in different locations this September due to some new By-Law restrictions that are in place this year. I am attending the Town Council Meeting tonight to present my proposed locations for frosh week events. Wish me luck!
I will follow up this post with a good old fashioned Vlog shortly.
Stay Tuned for more updates from the Activities end of the Union Arena.
Over n Out.
Wylder OuZo Hatte
VP Activities & Events
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
It is already July!
Afternoon All,
As I sit here writing this, I am blown away about how quickly
the past two months have gone. So much has happened and yet, there is still so
much to do before the great day of Septmenber 2, 2012! With the Frosh Week
theme announced (http://www.facebook.com/MyGeneration2012),
we are working to make this the best week yet!
Since my last post, I have attended a Board of Governors
meeting with Conor Kyte. Conor is one of our elected Board members. Olwyn
Foley, the other elected Board member was unable to join us for this meeting.
It was a good meeting and we were able to share our voice in a number of
discussions.
I have also been working with Michael Overmars, who works
with the Antigonish Food Security Collation, in regards to food on campus. We
hope we will be able to host a number of local food events this coming year in
conjunction with Sodexo.
Exciting news for the X-Ring recipients of 2013: the
planning for the ceremony has begun!! Your Senior Class President, Matt
LeMoine, Vice-President, Kathleen Johnston, and I met earlier this month and
began to discuss the plans for the after party and a number of other events.
Julieanne Mattie, the Students’ Union Account Coordinator and X-Ring guru, was
also able to join us and added a bunch of helpful hints to aid in our planning.
X-Ring recipients you will want to get to know these three well!!
Our Off-Campus Community Relations Board is off and running.
The mandate for this board as
represented in our Student Union By-Laws is as follows:
1. The mandate of
Community Relations Committee is to enhance communications and relationships
between the University, the Students’ Union and the Town of Antigonish.
2. The Committee shall
undertake activities or projects to address issues of concern in, but not
limited to, community development relations, housing, environmental sustainability, economic activities,
recreation, health and safety and volunteer outreach.
This year we are hoping to address issues surrounding house,
the municipal election, and town relations. We are planning an event to launch
to Board and introduce students to the town in September. Stay tuned for more
news!
Pat and I have a meeting with Hon. Maurice Smith, MLA for
Antigonish, on Friday. We will be discussing the Government’s plans for St. FX,
Tuition, and the social and economic impacts of post-secondary education to St.
FX students. A blog post will follow with an update from that meeting.
It really has been a busy time, but we are still finding
some time to have some fun. Rachel and I went to Canvendish this past weekend.
It was so much fun! (There were just a few people there).
Many of us are heading home for some vacation soon. As
always, feel free to contact me anytime with questions, concerns, comments, or
anything else you would like to chat about!
This is where I will
be for my vacation!
Enjoy the long days of summer,
Nick
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Hey Folks,
Here with some updates out of the Student Relations Office and 'nish life in general. Lately I have been finalizing the Training Week schedule for house presidents and other student leaders. As I have mentioned before, this week includes sessions on event planning, risk management, team building, selecting and working with house council, leadership development, and diversity training. The week is coming together well and I am looking forward to the return of house presidents, vice presidents, and off-campus leaders!
All frosh letters have been confirmed, which will be e-mailed this year. The way we see it is that they will still receive the warm welcome from their house leaders but we will also be saving about 1200 letters, envelopes, and the travel associated with getting them to their respective destinations. This decision is in line with our Core Value of Sustainable, Innovative Practices.
The new residences by Mac are coming along.. and by coming along I mean we almost have a hole in the ground! The biggest renovation news on campus though is the new Mini Moes patio (sorry I didn't Instagram the pics.. I'm new to this). There is a little patio by the front door and one that spans the length of the building across from the library.
That's all for now, talk soon!
Here with some updates out of the Student Relations Office and 'nish life in general. Lately I have been finalizing the Training Week schedule for house presidents and other student leaders. As I have mentioned before, this week includes sessions on event planning, risk management, team building, selecting and working with house council, leadership development, and diversity training. The week is coming together well and I am looking forward to the return of house presidents, vice presidents, and off-campus leaders!
All frosh letters have been confirmed, which will be e-mailed this year. The way we see it is that they will still receive the warm welcome from their house leaders but we will also be saving about 1200 letters, envelopes, and the travel associated with getting them to their respective destinations. This decision is in line with our Core Value of Sustainable, Innovative Practices.
On the topic of sustainable practices I had a great meeting with the Director of Ancillary Services recently to discuss a new recycling initiative to be put into place for September. The plan for this initiative is to reward individual residences who choose to consciously collect and properly sort their refundables. This will be facilitated by the Enviro Reps on each house council and more updates will follow in September. During this meeting, another concern was brought to my attention and that is the use of black garbage bags in Apartment Style. We will put out reminders throughout the year but if you are living there next year remember - clear bags only!
The new residences by Mac are coming along.. and by coming along I mean we almost have a hole in the ground! The biggest renovation news on campus though is the new Mini Moes patio (sorry I didn't Instagram the pics.. I'm new to this). There is a little patio by the front door and one that spans the length of the building across from the library. That's all for now, talk soon!
-- Jessie
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
east coast is the best
Well despite a 7 hour delayed flight, Wylder and I have made it to and back from Montreal all in one piece. We left last Friday to head to the COCA National Conference. COCA stands for the Canadian Organization of Campus Activities and it "represents more than 65 member post-secondary institutions across Canada". 
The conference was essentially a combination between Education Sessions tailored to each of our positions and Showcases. Over the four day conference we each attended six education sessions. I attended Marketing 101, Marketing 102, Mobile Marketing, New Media Movement and Video Marketing. I found each of these sessions extremely informative, I even found my heart beating a little bit faster after each session. I learned a lot and have so many new ideas for the year that I can't wait to put into action. The best thing about these conferences is the opportunity to interact with and speak with other organizations across Canada. For example, I spent some time speaking with a representative from Sheridan College who ran an amazing Movember campaign last year. I will be collaborating with him to bring some of those initiatives to the X campus for the year. It is great to hear the ideas of other schools, and bounce ideas off of each other. We even attended a session called "Steal this Idea" where people talked about successful campaigns at their school that we can essential "steal". This information sharing or "stealing" is what makes these conferences most worthwhile! (above is a picture of Jessie Cruikshank from her Keynote Speech during a brunch)
The second major portion of the COCA Conference is the showcases. Each night there was a different showcase, from bands to singer-songwriters, to comedians, to mentalists. SO many exciting and extremely talented acts! The idea behind these showcases are for artists to show us their stuff in hopes that we will book them for our campus. I was blown away by the talent and there were some really amazing acts that we are hoping to bring to X this year. Below are some pictures from a few of the showcases!
The Elwins
Midnight Romeo
Skratch Bastid Video Show
We will be attending the COCA Regional Conference in the fall with the East Coast COCA Members, it is planned to coincide with Nova Scotia Music Week which will be great for showcases. It was really beneficial to meet with other East Coast COCA members as these connections are helpful for reducing costs through block booking throughout the year. I am so excited about everything we learned and saw in Montreal, and can't wait to continue this work throughout the year!
In other news from the Comm office, this week is another busy one for me. We're having some difficulties with the printing of the Frosh Week Mail-Out so hopefully that will all be solved and ready to go by the end of this week. As well I am working closely with Han our Web Developer to launch to the Frosh Week website (fingers crossed!) by Monday. Other projects on the go include finishing up the artwork for the Frosh Kits, and finishing up the Ad Package for the school year. Next on the docket is everyone's favourite wall calendar!
That's all for now, hope everyone had a great long weekend!
Kaleigh
VP Comm
(shout out to Jessie on her BIRTHDAY!)
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