Events & Announcements: June 6-14th, 2024
Dear Board of Directors:
These are the events and news that have been logged from June 6th to June 14th, 2024. Apologies for the odd timespan; hopefully I can get this out weekly so you are well-informed of all happenings at the FMUA.
Music Cafe Updates
I have been in contact with our Admin regarding the state of the Music Cafe. From what we know, the Music Cafe is owned by the Faculty of Music and therefore there is one less roadblock to overcome in our push to get it re-opened. I would like to thank the BOD again for voting to pass the Music Cafe budget. However, it seems that we need to get past Food Services in opening the cafe, for they manage all vendors on campus. We are slowly getting there!
Jazz Updates (Omar)
Thank you to Omar for his Town Hall last year regarding fixes to the Jazz Building. Dean Ryan will have a meeting with Jazz Admin in fixing many issues that are present on the jazz side. A follow up will be provided later.
Website & Social Media (Elyssa)
Thank you to Elyssa and the Social Media committee for the massive improvement in the website and our current Instagram page! If you haven’t seen it yet, you should probably take a peek…
Elyssa is furthermore preparing a welcome email to the incoming students and a summer update email to the current student body, to come out nearer to the end of the month.
Summer IGAs (Niki)
Thank you to Niki for getting the Summer IGAs out! Deadline is the end of this week. Since the BoD has passed a summer IGA budget, I am sure this will be successful and helpful to the student body. The BGA (Budget, Grants, and Awards) committee needs to be formed to allocate IGA funds; if you want to be a part of this, message in the Slack!
EDI Updates (Jay)
Thank you to Jay for working so closely with the EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) Office and Reshma. We are looking forward to many EDI x FMUA events next year, including orange shirt day, trans day of visibility, etc, as our VP Student Life sees fit.
Office Clean Out
Our FMUA Office has been cleared of boxes (thank you Chloe) and trash, and organized back to what previous teams have designed it to be. Certain comforts have been returned to normal and others acquired for the office.
Slack Security Issues
Sebastian in our FoM Information Services office has informed us that Slack is selling our data and advises us to switch to MS Teams. I have sent an email to Slack to opt-out. After contacting the main UofT Information Services, they would have to monitor our MS Teams and thus impact our privacy as an independent organization. Slack stays for now.
90W Updates (Jay)
Thank you to Jay for pushing for 90W revival. Jay is pushing further still in filtered water fountains in 90W and managing pests. It is his hope that these will be fixed by the start of the school year, but work seems to be slow on Central’s end.
The Newsroom (Hirad)
Thank you Hirad for getting started on the Newsroom. A plan is currently underway to see what the Newsroom might look like to achieve the goal of reaching students outside of the Faculty. He is currently away; the timeline is to get the account up and running by August.
Referendum Year
This school year 2024-2025 is a referendum year for the FMUA. This means that we will have to hold a vote with the entire student body on the state of our fees collected. The election and referendum committee needs to be stuck sometime in the future. If you would like to be a part of this, please send a message in Slack.
Incorporation as a Non-Profit under the Corporations Act
I am looking towards avenues to finally incorporate the FMUA as a non-profit. This will protect us (the members) from litigation by allowing the FMUA to exist as a separate entity. Discussion on this should be a priority at the next BOD meeting.
Bylaws and Policy Update
We need to update our bylaws and policy. This will first need to be voted on by the BOD in the next meeting, and if that passes, the policy and procedures committee struck to discuss what needs to be updated. Our bylaws have not been changed since 2016, and many items no longer apply to our modern organization.
Finances and Audits (Niki)
A big thank you to Niki for managing our audit process. The audit package has been sent to the auditors and we are just waiting for them to get it back to us. Aiming for the backlogged money to reach our pockets by the start of term.
Our endowment fund is currently being looked at to be invested further. If you have any concerns about investing the endowment, please ask Niki. She is meeting with the bank at the end of this week.
Sitting on UTSU (Hirad)
We no longer sit on UTSU. Maybe we should stop paying fees to them…
Refilling our Third Floor
We have ordered a bulk amount of condoms, pads, tampons, and others for the third floor boxes. They have been refilled! Thank you to the SEC for fulfilling our order for free!
Furthermore, sporks have returned to the third floor. They are beside the microwaves and extra sporks are underneath in the cabinets. I will have to leave the cabinet key somewhere so BoD can refill as needed.
Mugs, Dish Soap, Sponges have also been refilled. Extras are in our sink room in the office.
Merch Website (Jay)
Jay is in the process of making the merch website operational, thus allowing students to order merch online and delivered to their homes, without ordering periods or our interference in handing merch out! Thank you Jay & to those that filled out the form for the new merch designs!
The Varsity Newspaper
The Varsity will not support us in running a bulletin in their weekly publication. However, they will support a Faculty of Music column, as an “explainer for classical music”. As much as I hate that idea of classical music, it is a good opportunity to write for the general public. Most likely this will turn into a public call for essays to be submitted to The Varsity.
Yours faithfully,
Eric