The UMSU board of directors meeting on Feb. 26 included updates on federal advocacy such as the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) town hall that was hosted on Feb. 5. The town hall covered discussions regarding student housing concerns and engagement with CASA’s Education Builds a Nation petition.

Prabhnoor Singh, UMSU president, shared that UMSU’s Black Students’ Community Centre was recognized by Terry Duguid, MP for Winnipeg South, with a Canada Post stamp dedicated to Marie-Joseph Angélique in honour of Black History Month.

At the municipal level, advocacy has been ongoing with Winnipeg Transit and the City of Winnipeg to discuss the U-Pass agreement and future considerations. Discussions regarding improvements are still ongoing.

UMSU recently met with Laurie Schnarr, U of M vice-provost (students), and Mark Torchia, U of M vice-provost (learning, analytics, and academic infrastructure), to discuss the creation of a centralized webpage where course syllabi would be publicly accessible to students, alumni and the wider community.

UMSU also met with members of the U of M Campus Planning Office to discuss opening a GPA’s convenience store on the Bannatyne campus.

Carolyn Wang, VP finance and operations, shared that UMSU will be providing free tax filings for students, given criteria apply. The tax clinic will operate March 17 to April 2 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students need to bring their student ID as well as any needed documents.

Activities for the UMSU General Elections are ongoing.  Voting is scheduled to take place on March 5 and 6.

Candidates are tabling across the university and sharing their policies on their social media.