By Ben Macintosh
On Sunday, UPEISU Student Council had their bi-monthly meeting via Zoom. The executives gave reports on what they have been doing since the coronavirus pandemic began. (photo credits: Ben Macintosh)
One of the last UPEISU council meetings of the school year highlighted how the executives are adapting to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused many changes. The changes made by UPEISU were apparent at the council meeting on March 29.
UPEISU president Emma Drake shared with the council how she has been adapting to the changes so far.
“The last two weeks, oddly enough, has been just as busy if not busier on the Student Union end of things,†Drake said in her report to council.
Drake talked about the $16,000 UPEISU COVID-19 Support Fund which was passed by Council earlier via an electronic voting. The deadline to apply for grants from this fund is April 3.
She said that she has been having daily conversations with the UPEI administration through UPEI president Alaa Abd-El-Aziz and Vice President Academic and Research Katherine Gottschall-Pass.
“Whatever the discussions have been I can honestly say UPEI has had students and their needs right now under this high-stress environment as a major emphasis.â€
Drake also highlighted the information videos the UPEISU has published to inform students of how the coronavirus is impacting UPEI.
VPAX Sweta Daboo spoke about some of the recent advocating she has done, including a letter she and Drake wrote to the Brad Trivers, Minister of Education and Lifelong learning. Daboo and Drake were advocating for a moratorium on provincial student loan payments during the pandemic.
Since then, PEI and Federal students loans repayments have both been paused for six months.
“This is gonna be a really good thing for students, especially young people and young graduates who are really still struggling in order to get back their footing,†Daboo said in her report to the council.
VPSL Tessa Rogers said in her report that a lot of her work is preparing documents for the next VPSL and for incoming clubs and society executives.
VPFA Keesha Ryan highlighted SUpplies and the food hampers as one of her major ongoing projects in her council report. She said she is looking for funding opportunities to keep the program running throughout the year.
The council meeting also included two in-camera parts, one was the hiring board recommendations for the next VPFA and the policy and research coordinator. The other in-camera part was concerning the executive evaluations.
The next council meeting is scheduled for April 5, at 6 P.M.