1998-1999 annual report cards: WLUSU/SP put in perspective

Patricia Lancia
Katherine Harding
Asad Kiyani
Ben Harris

In the tradition of watchdog journalism the Cord presents its annual review of the people running Laurier's student corporations.

This review was originally meant to guage the performance of administrators applying for re-election. In recent years almost none of the directors or vice-presidents have run for re-election (only Devin Grady ran for re-election this year and he was acclaimed as Students' Union President), making the printing of evaluations in February a little unnecessary.

While we realize the term is not yet over and a lot of work has yet to be completed, for the sake of continuity and tradition the Cord will continue to print evaluations at this time.

This review is based on:
1. Interviews with the directors, vice-presidents, and presidents of both the Students' Union (WLUSU) and Student Publications (WLUSP);
2. Interviews with internal department coordinators and volunteers;
3. Observations of Cord reporters in attendance at WLUSU and WLUSP
board meetings;
4. Attendance at meetings;
5. Participation on committees;
6. Quality, success, and number of new intiatives;
7. Performance of departments;
8. Fulfillment of job description;
9. Quality of participation at meetings;
10. Behind-the-scenes work.
Standards of evaluation were raised as authority, responsibility, and pay increased.

Students' Union

Operations Management Board

Gareth Cunningham, President: B+

As president of the Students' Union, Gareth pretty much maintained the status quo. He was a people's president and expected a lot from the people he worked with.

The behind the scenes work has been a dominant part of Gareth's term. He continued the renegotiations of the Operating Agreement among the university, the Students' Union, and Student Publications.

He was also responsible for handling the Compulsory Student Services Fee and establishing an Operating Agreement with the fee. This OPA will give the students an unprecedented 50 per cent stake in all services currently in the university's student services portfolio.

Gareth was very approachable and accessible as a president. He strived to make connections with groups outside of the Union.

Scott Harris, VP: University Affairs: A-

Scott was one of the better VP: UAs in recent years. He was a strong member of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance steering committee and began a number of new initiatives, including an open forum on student issues, a day of action, and the Canadian Heritage committee.

Scott reached out to the board and tried to bridge some of the gaps created by existing tensions. However, he could come across as self-righteous at the board level. His reports to the board were well-prepared and articulate and he often asked for other's opinions.

On the down side, it was felt that he favoured some committees in his department over others, creating internal departmental problems. Some of his coordinators were not impressed with the way he handled meetings and his organization.

His attendance at board meetings was spotty for such a high-ranking elected official and he seemed like all talk at times. However, he did follow through on a lot of the promises he made.

Chétan Bhanot, VP: Student Activities A-

Ché can only be described as excessively happy with unparalleled enthusiasm. His department had a very successful year. Orientation Week went incredibly well, Winter Carnival was the biggest ever, and the Boar's Head dinner and Homecoming were also successes. However, Ché could be disruptive in board meetings sometimes.

Anthony Del Col, VP: Marketing: C+

The marketing department has suffered from numerous problems, among them are: miscommunication with clients, internal problems with other sections of the Union, and staffing turmoil in the graphic design department.

The fact that the website was not up until February does not reflect well, despite problems with logistics.

Anthony was responsible for extensive market research into the cold beverage exclusivity.

Devin Grady, VP: Finance: B+

As Vice-President: Finance, Devin was always on top of his department. He had a lot of background knowledge, was up to date and well informed. He was open to questions and gave suggestions and advice. He had the proper people skills to deal with other people's demands.

Devin dropped the ball on the computer renewal project, neglecting to read the contract's buy-out clause, and did not always have the information people needed.

Bryan McCourt, VP: Student Services B+

Bryan is a good macro-level manager, responsible for hundreds of volunteers in his department. He handled the integration of the Emergency Response Team and reinstated Tutorial Services. Foot Patrol in particular has had an outstanding year, and Bryan has benefited from having strong coordinators in his department. He is there for the Union as a whole, not just for Student Services.

Board of Directors

General Comments:

It should be noted that with the exception of Will Chung, the entire board was new and inexperienced. After the resignation of Phil Triantifillou and the absence of Tim Kuhn, the board was working with only thirteen members.

The board as a whole often got caught up in trivial issues, such as pens and who eats with who, at the expense of larger representational issues. Their meetings were often of marathon length. They failed to set goals as a board.

Megan Atkinson: C+

Megan's work varied and she was often inconsistent in her performance and effort. As Vice-Chair of the Academic Affairs Board (AAB) she put in more work than the Chair and also worked on revising the elections policies

William Chung, Board Chair: B+

Will was the only returning board member and as such provided guidance and instruction. He puts a lot of time into less significant issues and is often nit-picky.

As Chair of the board his performance was inconsistent. He let non-issues drag on and did not help focus meetings on a larger scale. At times he was biased in conducting board debates and his personality was not always conducive to being an effective chair. Will would have been much more effective as a director than as chairperson.

Christopher Clemens: A-

Chris was highly respected by his fellow BOD members and VPs. He did his homework and knew the issues at hand. While he did not speak often, his questions were presented at the right time. He was a member of the Constitutional and Operations Develop-ment committee (COD) as well as the hiring policy subcommittee, and he put in over 97 hours of volunteer hiring.

Samantha Corbey: B-

Sam was Chair of the Communications Committee and put in a lot of time working on the Student Services Advisory Council. She never missed a meeting and was always supportive of social and administrative functions.

She had a tendency to focus on fluffy topics that did not always have an impact and monopolized board time with insignificant issues.

Rebecca Elmhirst: B-

Rebecca was spoken highly of by Finance and Building Committee (F&B) members and put in a lot of time with the board. She was not a very vocal director and did little above and beyond what was required of the position.

Wes Ferris: A

Always prepared, dedicated, and a hard worker, Wes did an outstanding job as Chair of the COD. Hiring and election policies were revised and a number of by-law revisions were made to make the policies more user-friendly.

While he flip-flopped on the computer renewal project, he put in a great deal of time and was not afraid to sacrifice his time to get the job done. He was very knowledgeable of board activities, always prepared for meetings, and wasn't afraid to correct other directors when it came to specific details.

Michael Fox: C+

Mike was an outspoken director who always did his homework. He attended all of the optional sessions and had a good attendance record. He was a member of the F&B and put in numerous hours of hiring. He put in his time, but did little else.

Tim Kuhn: F

Tim has been absent for much of the year. Considering his status, he should have done the noble thing and resigned when he got a job. He did not make any major contributions and was very passive - a chair warmer when he did attend meetings.

Leslie Ma: B

Leslie put in a lot of time as Vice-Chair of the board, Chair of the Priorities and Planning committee, and as a member of the COD. She was an enthusiastic director and well-respected by the board. She also put in a lot of time hiring volunteers.

Kevin Nasir: B-

Kevin often played the role of devil's advocate, but wasted time in meetings. He had good points on occasion, but could be nit-picky. While he is there for the right reasons, he was cast as an outsider from the start and became quickly disillusioned. He made an issue of off-campus dons and put his first-year contacts to good use. He spear-headed the idea of a referendum on the cold beverage exclusivity issue and resigned from the COD committee to focus on revising hiring policy.

Colleen Norman: C-

Colleen was involved with the C.Comm. She was just kind of there - a bit of a chair warmer.

Derek Simon: A-

Derek was an active and knowledgeable member of the board. He took his position seriously and had near perfect attendance. He used appropriate forms of information gathering to avoid wasting time in meetings and raised the proper questions.

As Chair of the Finance and Building committee, he reformed finance policy and simplified the board's involvement in minor expenditures. He took a proactive stance with volunteers and conducted information sessions on the budgets to assist the other directors. Unfortunately he could be a bit disruptive in meetings

Trevor Strassburger: D

Trevor monopolized the board's time with non-issues and often took an antagonistic role in meetings.

He voted against minor issues (such as adopting the agendas) and abstained from voting on many important issues. He did little as Chair of the AAB and often did not do his research.

Kent Williams: B+

The only board member not to sit on a committee, Kent raised questions at good times and did not dominate board discussions. He is described as the voice of realism on the board and he tells it like it is. Kent was involved with the hiring policy subcommittee.

Student Publications

Steve Metzger, President: B-

While Steve's heart is in the right place, and he has good intentions, he lacks the ability to delegate and ends up trying to do everything himself.

As a result, initiatives such as the open forum have not been followed through on and what work has been done could probably have been done better.

Steve routinely goes over the heads of the department managers. This, combined with a lack of communication, has created numerous problems with the Cord, the finance department, and the advertising department.

He wrote the base contract for the operating agreement with the university and the Students' Union and also initiated the strategic planning process.

While he tries to be fair and tries to put a good effort forward, the growth of the corporation has been hampered by his lack of leadership.

Mike Blake, VP: Finance: A-

As the VP: Finance, Mike has not been afraid to say no to capital expenditures. He is levelheaded and very responsible when it comes to finances and knows when money can be spent. He is very organized and has brought more control to the department.

He brought a sense of professionalism and responsibility to the corporation, and when he spoke at meetings, people listened. He had the respect of everyone on the board.

Board of Directors

General Comments:

The board of directors as a whole can best be described as mediocre. It is important to note that all of the directors were hired and given minimal training, however, little effort was put forth to spearhead new initiatives and not much was done beyond the basic requirements.

They lacked strong leadership and did not maintain office hours, contributing to a much lower profile and lack of communication with the WLUSP departments; abolishing the liaison positions did not help the situation. None of the directors stood out and little of lasting value has been accomplished.

Brian Carey, Board Chair: B

Brian was very active in the first term, working on new salaries for the President and VP: Finance, as well as reviewing and revising corporate by-laws. He was also responsible for initiating the relocation process. In the second term he has been working on rewriting the corporation's job descriptions.

As chair he has kept the meetings short and under control. He had insightful comments and his questions were well-directed and focussed. He did overstep his boundaries as Chair on occasion however, to offer his opinions and play devil's advocate.

Melissa Csikasz: D

Who is she? Melissa has had a less than low profile in Student Publications, especially since she never spoke at board meetings. She often comes across as disinterested and a bit of a chair warmer, and has contributed little aside from passing amendments. She was, however, on the human resources committee.

John Damanis: B-

John has played an integral role in the operations of Imaging Solutions, stepping up to a management position in the second term. He was a key player in the computer renewal project and brought up good points at meetings on occasion. His attendance at meetings has dropped off considerably in the second term.

Michelle MacDonald: C

Michelle was the only returning board member and took on the position of Operations Manager. Unfortunately she was rarely found in the WLUSP offices and very rarely spoke at meetings. She did, however, help with the strategic planning committee.

Sue Portelance: B

Sue was enthusiastic and very visible, in the offices the most out of any of the directors. She was an integral part of the Keystone team and frequently asked if she could help. She asked few questions in board meetings. She was on Elections Council and the relocation committee.

Holly Wagg: C

As a director, Holly is best characterized by her inappropriate comments and often unprofessional manner in board meetings.

She has also had a high absentee rate. Outside of meetings she has been involved with the relocation committee the public relations committee.