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Get to know your Douglas Students Union representatives

Jillian Griffin is your voice
to the outside world

Julia
t Siedlanowska
+ Staff Writer

illian Griffin is the External
Jretations Coordinator at the

ouglas Students’ Union. In her
interview with the Other Press,
Griffin discusses how she got
involved in student politics,
and the issues she’s passionate
about.

Could you explain for us your
role as External Relations
Coordinator with the Douglas
Students’ Union (DSU)? What
duties does this include?

As the External Relations
Coordinator, my portfolio
consists mostly of working
mostly external. For example,
the primary task I have been
working on for the past two
years has been the U-Pass
BC program. This gives me
the opportunity to work
collaboratively with all the
student unions and post-
secondary institutions in the
Lower Mainland, as well as
TransLink and the Ministry of

Transportation. I also do a lot of
work connecting with students
on campus through various
events and social activism
campaigns, such as free food
events, Sisters in Spirit, and our
upcoming re-launch of the “No
Means No” campaign.

When did you start being
interested in external relations?
Is this how your involvement
with the DSU began?

I originally got involved
with the DSU by being a
volunteer. My roommate at
the time was the External
Relations Coordinator and she
was looking for volunteers to
help with the OnePassNow
campaign. After volunteering
for a year J ran as Member-at-
large and then ran as External
Relations Coordinator the
following year.

How has working with the
DSU affected your life? Have
you found it helpful in other
aspects of your daily life?

Being an elected
representative for students
at Douglas College has had a
profound impact on my life. It
has given me the opportunity to
work with incredible people and
to really connect with Douglas

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College as a community.

Being involved in the DSU
has helped me in my daily life
by helping to develop things
like time management and
organizational skills, but most
importantly it has helped to
connect me with my passion.

If you could change one thing
at Douglas College, what
would it be?

If I could change one thing
I would continue to build the
DSU to a hub where all students
could go to explore their
passions and receive the support
they need to be successful
during their time at Douglas
College. The DSU has grown
a lot over the years, but there
is still more room to grow to
achieve this.

What advice would you give
someone wanting to get
involved with the DSU?

Volunteering is a great way
to start! The students’ union has
a wide range of events from pub
nights and free food events to
social activism and awareness
campaigns and events.
Volunteers get the opportunity
to explore what aspects of the
DSU they are most passionate
about.

 

Jillian Griffin | Photo courtesy of DSU

DSU special meeting fails to meet quorum

Vote on critical staffing
resolution on hold

administrative policy were
put forward as due toa
“significant increase” in the
DSU’‘s operations, events,
and committee work. Under
current policy, constituency

changes in the past to its
governance structure.

“At one point, many
years ago, the Representative
Committee structure changed
from a top-down structure

DSU representatives were
adamant that the costs of
this amendment are already
budgeted for and will not
result in a discussion about
raising, student fees.

quorum was almost reached,
but students started filing out
of the meeting around 1 p.m.
as their classes were set to
start.

DSU officials told the

Patrick
ie Vailancourt
©) News Editor
Panes news@ theotherpress.ca

special meeting of the
ouglas Students’ Union

(DSU) membership, which
convened on October 17
to deliberate and approve
an increase in work hours
and compensation for DSU
constituency liaisons, has been
put on hold as the quorum was
not met.

The resolution, which
proposed an amendment to the
DSU’s administrative policy,
would have seen constituency
liaisons (Women, Aboriginal,
Pride, and Disabilities liaisons)
receive a bump in pay and a
mandate to work more hours
ina week.

The changes to the DSU

liaisons are mandated to work
five hours per week—less than
half as much as members-
at-large. The amendment,

if passed, would mandate
constituency liaisons to work
12.5 hours per week, the
amount currently mandated
for members-at-large. The
change in work hours would
also result in an increase in
pay, given that there has been
a discrepancy in how much
constituency liaisons earn

compared to members-at-large.

DSU Internal Relations
Coordinator Jesse Stamberg
indicated that while there was
no historical record to explain
why constituency liaisons
work less than members-at-
large, he explained that the
DSU underwent significant

with a president to the more
egalitarian structure we have
today,” said Stamberg. “We
have no history on why the
decision was made to pay
members-at-large more than
constituency liaisons.”

Stamberg stressed that
it was important for this
resolution to pass, even if it
was a simple issue of DSU
governance.

“Constituency liaisons are
obligated to bring forward the
needs, concerns, and issues
of their constituency as well
as facilitating the events and
campaigns relevant to their
constituency. This can be quite
a workload. Therefore it is
high time that the inequity in
remuneration be corrected,”
said Stamberg.

“Let me reassure
students that their fees will
not be increased. Other than
the annual CPI increase
(Consumer Price Index) tied to
the student fees, the fees can
only increase by a referendum
of the membership. The
Representative Committee has
not even contemplated such a
referendum,” said Stamberg.

The inability to meet
quorum means that the
resolution could not come to
a vote. Despite efforts to draw
students to the meeting with
hot chocolate, pumpkin pie,
and a draw for Vancouver
Canucks tickets, DSU officials
said that it was difficult to
reach the quorum because
of students’ busy classroom
schedules. At one point, the

Other Press that a number of
options to hold the meeting
could be contemplated,
including trying to hold
another special meeting

or waiting for the DSU
Annual General Meeting
which usually takes place in
February.

“This is a budget priority
to ensure we have the human
resources to facilitate all
the committees, services,
and events that the DSU is
involved in and projects we are
committed to,” said Stamberg.

More information on the
proposed administrative policy
amendment could be found
on the DSU’s Special General
Meeting event on Facebook
at www.facebook.com/
events /519272861499653 /