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Connor Palindat for Students’ Council & GFC

My name is Connor Palindat and I am running to serve as one of the Students’
Councillors and GFC representatives for the Faculty of Business.
I am running for this position because I believe that I can and will ensure that the business faculty is
passionately and strongly advocated for in the Students' Union. 
These positions are an immense responsibility that I believe should be left to those passionate about
providing great representation for their facilities. I urge you to vote for me, as I can make a positive and
lasting impact on Students’ Council.
On March 22 and 23, vote Connor Palindat for Student Council and GFC!

About
I am currently a fourth year Accounting student as well as VP External and project member for
Enactus University of Alberta. I've served as a Student Ambassador for the Alberta School of Business
and have volunteered at several events over the past two years of my time at the school of business
dealing with external stakeholders. 

The Positions
Students' Council  consists of 32 Faculty Councillors elected from every faculty at the University of
Alberta. These councillors represent their faculty at council meetings and adhere to the Students'
Council oath. They serve to act as advocates for the students in their respective faculties and are
encouraged to get involved in the six committees. 
The General Faculties Council (GFC) is set out in the Alberta Post-Secondary Learning Act, and has
the power of granting degrees, approval of the University's Academic Plan, academic programs,
policies, awards, and the University Calendar. There are 158 members from students, professors,
Faculty deans, and the University Vice-Presidents.
More information can be found at the Students' Union website here.

Advocacy
Business students are arguably some of the most involved on campus. Many of us sit on executive
positions in the many student groups in our faculty, volunteer on the weekends with the charities and
organizations we want to support, attend competitions across the globe, and even work part time jobs
or struggle to create our own start-ups. This is one of the best things about our faculty: we aren’t afraid
to be busy. However, I believe that we can use all this extra involvement, and improve and make it even
stronger on a campus level. One area of extra involvement that needs particular attention is
interdisciplinary learning and experience.
As a member of the Students’ Council, it is critical that we increase the awareness and use of
interdisciplinary resources, classes and groups across campus. I believe that with an increased
promotion and advertisement of the many great opportunities across campus, we can take our
involvement to the next level. This benefits not only ourselves, but the faculty as a whole, showing the
critical advantage that business students bring to student groups across campus and the power and
excellence that each student exhibits.

Plan
1. Collaborate with other councillors to create a platform for advertising interdisciplinary
involvement and development opportunities.
2. Develop a strategy for creating and growing the number of interdisciplinary opportunities across
campus for business students.
3. Work with the many student groups in the Faculty of Business to incorporate interdisciplinary
aspects to their events.

Deliverable
Research and create a platform to grow and promote interdisciplinary involvement opportunities on
campus.

Awareness
As a student, I have always found it difficult to learn about the Students’ Union, the executives, and
Students’ Council. I believe that there needs to be better disclosure and learning opportunities as to
how the SU operates and how each student can get involved through running for elections, speaking
with their councillor, and getting their opinion heard.
Tuition is a major part of being a student; there’s no getting around paying it, even if we don’t agree with
how we should be paying. The amount of tuition is quite clear as we see directly how much we are
paying. However, the breakdown of these fees is quite complex and a document clearly outlining the
amount of each fee, its value, what it is used for, and who it goes to, is not readily available. If you ask a
typical student what the difference between tuition, mandatory non-instruction fees (MNIFs), market
modifiers, international differentials are, most likely they wouldn’t be able to clearly explain it.
I believe that there should be ready access to a document outlining the differences between all fees,
which ones you can opt-out of and the value of each.

Plan
1. Function as a voice for all business students on the Students’ Council through constant
engagement on social media platforms and email.
2. Sit on several committees to ensure that the daily events and agenda items are made clear and
readily available.
3. Collaborate with other councillors to create a disclosure document that will serve as an
educative material regarding tuition, fees, and value of each aspect of the tuition we pay.
4. Collaborate with the Business Students’ Association to bring the voice of business students to
unclear items on the Students Council agenda.

Deliverable
Create a disclosure document that will serve as an educative material regarding tuition, fees, and value
of each aspect of the tuition we pay.

Health
Mental health is a key issue that is becoming increasingly prominent. As university students, we are
incredibly busy and with this comes an unhealthy amount of stress. This is something that requires
increased attention; every single student should be ensured adequate access to the many mental health
resources on campus.
One critical area that I believe needs improvement is the amount of drop-in resources available to
students. Many student groups in the university help to provide resources and opportunities to help
students relieve stress and bring mental health to the forefront of their minds, however, these are not
still not taken advantage of by a large portion of students. Due to our dense schedules and heavy
workloads, it is hard to work around these appointment based resources. Furthermore, these resources
need the manpower behind them to ensure that they are constantly updated and stay relevant to the
large majority of the student populace.

Plan
1. Work with the many student groups as well as the Business Students’ Association to ensure that
these resources are brought to the attention of the students’ who need them the most, and
information regarding these resources can be attained in an easy and stress free way.
2. Advocate on Students’ Council for the increased use of drop-in programs and a reduced reliance
on appointment based resources.
3. Work collaboratively with both the VP Student Life and the other councillors to increase the
relevance of the mental health programs and continue to increase the availability and knowledge
of these programs.

Deliverable
An increased percentage of drop-in programs available to all students.