By Ben Macintosh
On Sunday UPEISU Student Council voted to explore the feasibility of the wellness officer position (photo from a previous council meeting. Credits: Ben Macintosh)
The UPEISU will explore a potential “Wellness Officer†position after strong support from councillors on Sunday.
President Drake presented a draft for a potential new position within the UPEISU focusing on mental health to council on February 9.
Drake said the officer would work with mental health groups both on and off campus, helping to organize events and raise awareness for mental health services.
“They would really be a facilitator of all things mental health and opportunities that way,†she said.
The potential position was met with a lot of support from councillors on Sunday. One issue brought forward by Drake and other UPEISU councillors was ensuring that the wellness officer would not be treated like a mental health counselor.
“This role themselves needs to be cognizant that they themselves are not a support person for students who need to access mental health supports,†Drake told council on Sunday.
“We don’t want to put that burden on one individual student. It will largely be a facilitator of what is available on-campus, what is available off-campus.â€
The presentation was to gauge interest for the position. Due to the strong support from attendees council voted unanimously to explore the feasibility of the wellness officer.
A large section of Sunday’s meeting was spent reviewing changes to update and clarify the policies.
The Employee Training and Disciplinary Procedures, Student Centre Keys Policy, The Fox and Crow Policy, Ticket Policy, and the Student Union Coat Check Policy all received some minor changes.
The Student Union Elections Policy received changes to reflect UPEISU’s earlier changes to the elections bylaw. This includes the elimination of the winter executive election.
Council also reviewed the Hiring Board Procedures which had undergone extensive rewriting to improve the shorten and improve the policy.
The by-law for a proposed UPEISU Appeal Board had its first reading on Sunday; council will vote on that policy next meeting.
The Mathematics and Computational Science Rep. position is now vacant following the resignation of Hassan Itani.
Three new societies also became officially recognized Sunday. The Competitive Coding Club, UPEI Under-Grad Journal Club, and the UPEI Young Liberals were all ratified unanimously.
Council will be back on March 1, at 6 P.M. in room 328 of McDougall Hall.
