Screenshot from SMUSA’s November 2020 BOD meeting

Written by Bethany Leal-Iyoupe

Header photo courtesy of SMUSA

The Saint Mary’s University Student Association (SMUSA) is our campus’ student union, run by a team of folks. The Association has been dedicated to providing services, support, advocacy, and representation since 1966. In March, elections were held to replace members of the student government who are graduating or stepping down from their positions. The focus of this article is to get the inside scoop on what it takes to be a SMUSA member. I asked the current leaders of this student government to reflect on their experiences in SMUSA and what advice they have for incoming executives.

The Board of Directors is the highest governing body of SMUSA. They are responsible for improving the quality of life and academic experience of students. According to the SMUSA website, nine students are responsible for setting the Association's direction, creating and amending policies, and holding the Chief Executive Officer, also known as President Bryn de Chastelain, accountable for fulfilling this vision.

I recently had the chance to interview Rami Zokari, Chief Governance Officer (CGO), to reflect upon his time chairing the Board. During this period, he has also served as a representative on the University Board of Governors and the University Academic Senate Committee with non-voting membership on the HR & Governance Committee, Finance Committee, and Society Committee. Zokari stated that he regards his governing title more as a service position and that he holds himself and his team to a high standard. "Once I pledged to serve SMUSA's best interests ahead of even my own, I came to understand how challenging and thankless that can be at times. [...][this] year required resiliency, dedication, and motivation to keep going." It was clear from our interview that the board, like everyone else, faced challenges posed by the global pandemic.

In his time of governance, Zokari hopes their impact will be positive and sustainable. Therefore, he explained that the Board has been improving the Association through new policies and preparing for the lift of COVID restriction. He describes SMUSA’s fiscal position as an advantage since they made the switch from annual to quarterly budgeting-- this helps the Board to better understand their financial position when making decisions. Zokari is proud of the Board's ability to improve existing policies and develop new policies that focus on the needs of students. Zokari is most proud of the Conflict Resolution Policy and the brand new Human Resource, and Finance, and Code of Conduct policies that will be debuting in May 2021 after their final set of approvals. During the current student government's reign, the President's Role & Responsibilities Policy, Society Policy, and Elections Policy have also been amended.

One of the things Zokari reflected on is that "diversity is a core strength" of the Board that can deliberate in the strong performance of the team. Moreover, he added, "These diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills supported more vigorous debates that resulted in much better results [when handling] the plethora of inputs." He claims the Board is extremely lucky to have this unique experience.

I asked the CGO if there was anything else he wishes he could have done or any particular factors that held the Board back. Zokari listed nothing in particular. Instead, he comments that "There will always be things I wish we could have done, but I also accept that the position we're leaving SMUSA in for the next team is enough." He goes on to call this a remarkable year for stewardship. Rami Zokari leaves this message off to the successor of the Chief Governance Officer position:

"It's not about you. It's never about you. Listen to everyone but always make your decisions and take actions based on what you think will benefit the students that arrive at SMU in about five years [from now]. Pick only one or two focal points and work at those. Try to make those something no one has looked at for ten years. Put the time in, and you'll learn more in this position in one year [than] you will get from your formal education over the course of your degree."

Next, I interviewed the Executive Committee's President and CEO and fourth-year Political Science Honours student, Bryn de Chastelain, who acts as the official representative of the student body. In his role as President and CEO, De Chastelain was primarily responsible for advancing the best interests and objectives of the student government. Like Zokari, de Chastelain is involved with the Academic Senate, University Board of Governors, the Budget Advisory Committee, and has a history of extracurricular involvement with student groups like Model UN. However, the duties of the Executive Committee are rooted in the delegation of activities and student outreach while their higher counterpart, the Board of Members, focuses on accountability and oversight of SMUSA’s Executive Committee.

In our interview, he stated that his proudest accomplishment in his time with SMUSA would have to be working with an incredible team that, in twelve months, has started and completed several important projects with solid foundations for future governments to build on. The President did not make any further comments on these projects.

De Chastelain reflected on SMU and SMUSA’s inability to facilitate in-person programming due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the public health restrictions. He hopes that SMU will offer in-person programming for future events, such as Welcome Weeks, and students will be brought together again in new ways. The President made a note of the challenges posed by the global pandemic: "supporting students online was brand new to many of us, so it took some getting used to in order to be able to be as helpful as possible." For the first six to eight months, the team was barely able to get together in person. On the other hand, de Chastelain is satisfied with the diversity of the student government but feels that there needs to be more work done. He stated:

"[SMUSA] had a very diverse group of students on the Executive and Board this year, and this has allowed SMUSA to bring together a wide variety of opinions and experiences into our work. Going forward, there is still work to be done to reduce barriers to engagement and it's my hope that SMUSA will continue to make changes in order to ensure that all students feel comfortable and able to run and apply for SMUSA roles."

Finally, the President hopes that his successor, Franklyn Southwell, will be eager to work with students and tackle significant issues within our university community. These issues might include graduate student representation, reducing barriers to engagement, or the eventual reopening of campus operations. He briefly mentioned how much he has learned from other students and the absolute privileges of this position. Following Bryn's exit, Franklyn Southwell will take on the role of SMUSA President next fall. Find out more about Franklyn here.

For further information regarding the SMUSA Board of Directors, please contact bod.smusa@smu.ca. To get in touch with the Executive Committee, feel free to email president.smusa@smu.ca.

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