Fourth-year student discusses URSU failings and possible future student union.
With the alleged dissolution of the former student’s union (URSU), Matthew McStravik shares how a collective of students, including himself, are seeking to form a new student’s union. McStravik – who is a Fourth-year student majoring in Political Science – said student groups are actively working to ensuring student voices are being heard.
When discussing the possibilities of a new union being created, McStravik said they want to make sure they’re not repeating the mistakes of the past.
“A new student government will need to be focused on accountability, on transparency, (and) on accessibility for members to engage with that process,” he said.
He further adds how representing the entire campus should also be on the list of top priorities.
McStravik said he believes where URSU went wrong was not having a strong foundation to build from and not having a system in place that demanded that members answer to the public when need be.
Because of URSU’s failings, McStravik said not only does he acknowledges the student’s needs, but also what needs to be done to build a stronger union.
“I think the core to all of (this) is going to be a well-structured constitution, that functions on the basis of a skeleton that bakes in measures of transparency demands, requirements for public disclosure, accountability etc.” he said.
While discussing the previous student’s union, McStravik added by saying URSU failed due to not having a diversified set of voices, and states that in order for a new union to be successful, the number of people and voice being involved needs to be broaden.
“It’s going to be about having a much larger group of students involved in student government, who can hold that smaller group of executives (to account) at all times,” he said.
McStravik said in the wake of the former student’s union being tainted, that conversations with student’s groups have been going on for some time.
He adds how there was some uncertainty about what the next steps were after the University took over from URSU but followed up by saying student’s groups are working with the institution.
“The student groups were collectively engaging with the university and articulating student needs and concerns to them, and they’ve been quite receptive,” said McStravik.
McStravik added how after talking with the university as a collective, student groups started to ask themselves whether they can build something new and what that would look like.
“The hope is to get something well structured, that we can present to the student body and to try and win that trust,” McStravik said
“I think that process is moving along and there will probably be more to say in a few weeks.”
McStravik alongside the collectivity amongst the student’s groups, said receiving feedback and hearing from student’s is going to be crucially important in building a stronger union.
“It’s about rebuilding trust, trust with the students, trust with the University, (and) trust with the community,” he said.
