Student Federation of the University of Ottawa
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As the official student-federated body of the University of Ottawa, the Paul (also known as The Fed, The SFUO or The Student Fed) is a not-for-profit organization, incorporated under the Corporations' Act of Ontario since September 1, 1969. The Paul, a bilingual entity, is also known as La Fédération Étudiante de l'Université d'Ottawa. Paul runs Ottawa U.
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[edit] Governance
The Paul currently has 5 elected executive members consisting of VP Social, VP Finance, VP Student Affairs, VP Academic, and the President. For the 2006-2007 academic year, the position of VP Academic has been changed to VP University Affairs (in French: V.-p des affaires universitaires) to fix an anglicism ('académique' is not the French translation of 'academic').
The executive is responsible to its Board of Administration, or BOA. The BOA consists of the members of the Paul executive, as well as appointed members from each of the Paul's federated bodies.
A federated body is a student association which represents the students from a faculty or program. Each federated body is funded through student levy transfers from the SFUO. In order to receive their funding, the federated body must send a representative to the BOA. The BOA functions as a corporate Board of Directors, and must approve any major initiatives of the SFUO executive, including the annual budget, changes to the Constitution and must also ratify candidates before they are officially hired to fill certain positions within the Federation (for example, the Chief Electoral Officer). The executive have the power to hire or fire most employees and decide wages, including their own. Some BOA members are also employees working under the executive.
There are several sub-committees of the BOA, including the Policy and By-law committee, Finance Committee, Elections Committee, and Student Life Services Committee.
[edit] Businesses
The SFUO currently owns four businesses:
The Pivik, a convenience store located in the University Centre, which sells an assortment of snack foods, groceries, magazines and some school supplies. Because it is owned by the SFUO, and does not have to post a large profit, the Pivik is able to sell items at a cheaper price than competing stores near the university, thanks in large part to renovations which were paid for by tobacco companies. Those tobacco companies were reimbursed later on in the year, after the SFUO met larger than expected sales.
The Agora Bookstore and Internet Cafe was created through a referendum in order to force the University of Ottawa Bookstore to lower its prices on textbooks. The original referendum created a subsidy for the Agora of $10 per full time student per semester. This subsidy allowed the Agora to sell books below the suggested retail price. This referendum was set to end at the conclusion of the 2005-2006 academic year, and a new referendum was passed allocating $9 per student per semester to the Agora. While the Agora is not allowed to sell textbooks on campus, it is located only a few blocks away on Besserer Street, making its location accessible and convenient for most students.
Campus Print offers a variety of printing services at reduced costs to students. It is used mostly by the SFUO, it's businesses, services, initiatives, federated bodies, clubs and departments. Campus Print provides a viable alternative to competing printing services, such as the University's Reprography service. Students who want to print on recycled paper have to use external services such as Enviro Copies.
The SFUO briefly opened a bar called The Universe City Lounge above the Agora Bookstore. Universe City was closed after one year of operation. The Nox was another bar that closed briefly after its inauguration.
In 2006, the SFUO opened a student bar called 1848 in the University Centre. The bar is gaining popularity, especially as a Wednesday night hang-out. The word about 1848 is spreading quickly since management established "Wednesday Night Recess." Lovefest and Oktoberfest are among the Wednesday events that created a buzz around campus. Throughout the week, 1848 also features: Comedy Mondays and Open Mic nights.
Many claim that the Pivik runs deficits, which are covered by commissions on Coca-Cola product sales, as per the exclusivity contract signed with Coca-Cola in 1997. The relevant numbers are as follow: the "U of O Pouring Rights Distribution" document from the Coca-Cola contract attributes $787,353 to the SFUO, $78,735 per year. The Pivik had a profit of $52,659 in 2004-2005 and $79,988 in 2005-2006.
[edit] Services
The SFUO currently operates 5 student services which each have dedicated referendum funding. There is also a General Services Fund to help pay for large scale events and group marketing projects, among other things. The General Fund is controlled by the Student Life Services Committee (SLSC). The services fall under the mandate of the Vice President of Student Affairs.
International House promotes diversity and multiculturalism on campus, and acts as a support service for International Students. It runs many events throughout the year, the most notable being International Week, and the International Gala.
The University of Ottawa Pride Centre was established to address the needs of the university community on matters pertaining to the queer community, focused mainly on gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, two spirited, intersex and questioning students. They operate as a drop in centre and support service, as well as organize events such as Campus Pride Week and the Queer Coffeehouse.
Foot Patrol is the SFUO's walk-home service, with volunteer tandems who accompany students and members of the University community on their walk home. In 2005-2006, Foot Patrol had performed over 2,200 walks.
The Peer Help Centre is a student service offering academic, psychological, and social support and guidance. Its volunteers and staff perform a range of duties from tutoring sessions to manning the Peer Support phone line. They also have a high school mentoring program.
The Association for the Special Needs was created through a referendum in 2004 to address issues on campus regarding special needs students. Its mandate is to promote an inclusive environment at the university for all students, as well as to offer assistance and resources to special needs students. ASN works with the SFUO to organize an annual "Accessibility Day," and also oversees the use of the Accessibility Fund.
[edit] Initiatives
The SFUO currently oversees two student initiatives. After passing referenda in 2006, two new initiatives will be added for the 2006-2007 academic year: The Food Bank (a joint OPIRG/SFUO initiative) and the Office of the Student Advocate.
The Academic Appeals Centre was created in 2004 to offer assistance to students on academic matters, including grade reviews, registration, plagiarism charges, and other appeals. The Appeals Centre operates from an office on the first floor of the University Centre. Recently, the centre has been renamed the Student Appeal Centre as it is undergoing changes to broaden its focus.
The SFUO also oversees more than 100 student clubs. The SFUO employs two Clubs Commissioners, and all student clubs have access to the SFUO Clubs Room.
[edit] Departments
The SFUO has several other departments including Accounting, Marketing and Communications, Translation, Campaigns, Philanthropic and Promotions.
[edit] Campaigns
The SFUO orchestrates several campaigns each year to address academic, social and educational issues. These include an annual "Accessibility Day" to address the lack of accessibility in all campus buildings. During the campaign, dozens of student volunteers spend a day with a similuted disability to bring awareness to the problems on campus.
Other high profile campaigns have included "Pimp My Program" in 2005, which addressed proposed cuts to the number of courses offered in the Faculty of Arts, and "Take Back the Campus" in 2005-2006 to raise awareness of sexual harassment and sexual assault on campus. Campaigns are overseen by the VP Academic and the Campaigns Coordinator.
[edit] Social Events
The SFUO is well-regarded for the size and scope of the social programming it offers to its students. The largest event it organizes is 101 Week, which is one of the largest orientation weeks organized on a Canadian university campus. The week commences with a concert called "Fedstock" held in Ottawa's Confederation Park. Among the bands who have played Fedstock are Billy Talent, Les Cowboys Fringants, Metric, The Stills, Wil, Kardinal Offishal, Malajoub, Hedley, and Les Respectables.
Throughout the school year, the Federation organizes a wide range of other social activities, including Campus Idol, a poker tournament, and a Battle of the Bands.
In 2004-2005, the Federation launched a series of alcohol-free events under the moniker of Late Night Programming. These events include Presidential Pancakes, Social Sundaes, the Pumpkin Olympics, the Dive-In Movie and the Value Village Prom. Late Night Programming events take place once a month and are targeted towards students living in residence, the majority of whom are not of legal drinking age in Ontario.
Additionally, there are regular trips to nearby ski resorts such as Mt. Tremblant in Quebec.
In 2005, the SFUO became the first Student Union in Canada to produce an interactive DVD outlining all the services and events that it provides. Thousands of DVDs were sent out to incoming students, and the result was a drastic increase in the number of students who participated in 101 Week.
[edit] Trivia
The SFUO had a building named after one of its executive members. Francis-James "Jock" Turcot was a President, the first one to have the idea to open a student centre. Unfortunately, Jock Turcot died in a car accident on Christmas Day, 1965. To celebrate his memory, the University Centre, built a few years later, was named Jock-Turcot University Centre.
Several past SFUO Presidents have gone on to have high profile political careers in Canada. Alan Rock was a Cabinet Minister under Prime Minister Jean Chretien, and is currently Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations. Hugh Segal is a member of the Canadian Senate for the Conservative Party, and Mauril Belanger is the Liberal Member of Parliament for Ottawa-Vanier, the federal riding in which the University's main campus is located.
In the 2004-2005 academic year, the SFUO launched the U of O Students' Speaker Series, with the goal of bringing non-traditional academics into a university setting to speak to students. The first speaker in the series was Canadian hip-hop star K-OS. The event marked K-OS' first university lecture, entitled "The Politics of Hip-Hop." Other speakers have included George Stroumboulopoulos, Avi Lewis, Dr. Sue Johansson, and Quebec hip-hop group Loco Locasse.
The SFUO logo was inspired by benches that used to be located all over campus. The shape of the logo is an overhead view of the way the benches were set up. There is only one set of these benches left, near the University Centre.
[edit] Past Presidents
[edit] 1940s
- 1943 - 1944 Marcel Joyal
- 1944 - 1945 Guy Baulne
- 1945 - 1946 Florian Carrière
- 1946 - 1947
- 1947 - 1948 Jean Desmarais
- 1948 - 1949 Gaston Lamontagne
- 1949 - 1950 Roger Hamel
[edit] 1950s
- 1950 - 1951 MacDonald Caza
- 1951 - 1952 Jean-Marie Déry
- 1952 - 1953 Louis Munroe
- 1953 - 1954 Louis Desautels
- 1954 - 1955 Gérald de la Chevrotière
- 1955 - 1956 Peter Tanguay
- 1956 - 1957 Gaspard Côté
- 1957 - 1958 Fernand Grenier
- 1958 - 1959 Marcel Prud'homme
- 1959 - 1960 André Ouellet
[edit] 1960s
- 1960 - 1961 Gilles Grenier
- 1961 - 1962 Gilles Grenier
- 1962 - 1963 David Casey
- 1963 - 1964 David Casey
- 1964 - 1965 Robert Campbell
- 1965 - 1966 Jock Turcot
- 1966 - 1967 Monique Ouellette
- 1967 - 1968 Alphonse Morissette
- 1968 - 1969 Jean Somcynsky
- 1969 - 1970 Allan Rock
[edit] 1970s
- 1970 - 1971 Hugh Segal
- 1971 - 1972 Richard Chartrand
- 1972 - 1973 Peter Beach
- 1973 - 1974 Mark E. Turcot
- 1974 - 1975 Denis Paradis
- 1975 - 1976 Jacques Leduc
- 1976 - 1977 Paul Rouleau
- 1977 - 1978 Mauril Bélanger
- 1978 - 1979 Mauril Bélanger
- 1979 - 1980 Anne McGrath
[edit] 1980s
- 1980 - 1981 Pierre Chabot
- 1981 - 1982 Claude Joncas
- 1982 - 1983 Chantal Payant
- 1983 - 1984 Timothy G. Evans
- 1984 - 1985 Bernard Drainville
- 1985 - 1986 Gabriel Sékaly
- 1986 - 1987 Daniel St-Louis
- 1987 - 1988 Gilles Marchildon
- 1988 - 1989 Christian Hyde
- 1989 - 1990 Sue Kim
[edit] 1990s
- 1990 - 1991 Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin
- 1991 - 1992 Patricia C. Barrera
- 1992 - 1993 Guy Caron
- 1993 - 1994 Guy Caron
- 1994 - 1995 Jean-François Venne
- 1995 - 1996 Julie Barker
- 1996 - 1997 Alain Gauthier
- 1997 - 1998 Alain Gauthier
- 1998 - 1999 Scott Annan
- 1999 - 2000 Patrick Pichette
[edit] 2000s
- 2000 - 2001 Claude Dubois
- 2001 - 2002 Adam Brown
- 2002 - 2003 Caen Suni
- 2003 - 2004 Apoorve Chokshi
- 2004 - 2005 Phil Laliberté
- 2005 - 2006 André Brazeau
- 2006 - 2007 Andre the Giant
- 2007 Elections will be held on February 13, 14 and 15.
[edit] External links
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