Life on Campus

The Provincial budget was presented on February 20th and it was a really exciting day for everyone at the KSA who works on campaigns. We have been pushing for more student housing since 2016 and this year the government announced $450 million for on campus housing in the province! This is huge, and it means that institutions across BC can now propose housing projects and borrow money directly from the government to build them.

This is really exciting, and we can’t wait to see where housing ends up being built. So, just in case we get housing here, here are some tips from the pros, or at least from some people I know who have lived on campus before:

1. Open your door. If you stay in your room with the door closed, you’ll miss out on the best part of residence, the lifelong friendships with all the people on your floor. Casual interactions with everyone wandering by are a great, no pressure, way to meet people, get invited to things, and signal that you want to chat.

2.  If you share a shower, bring flip-flops. Also if you have never had a roommate before, mentally prepare yourself for sharing a shower with a bunch of people.

3.  On the subject of roommates, set rules with roommates up front. It might seem weird to do at first, but if you never tell your roommates that you hate being the only person to take out the trash then you will resent them for months, and they will be surprised when you finally explode. It’s way easier to be able to say ‘Hey, I think it’s your turn this week’ because you already decided to share that task.

4. Bring a fan (and a space heater if you’re allowed). There is a very low chance that the temperature the building happens to be is the temperature that you want it to be.

5. Go to the orientation. You meet a whole bunch of people right at the beginning, and go into the year with so many new friends. Also you almost definitely get free food (to the right you will see me, eating all of the free food at our welcome week).

6. Staying on campus late and just hanging out without a set activity in mind is a super good way to get involved with things that are going on at your campus. Several people in our office said they entered campus life because they lived on campus, and described it as the best part of their university experience (pro tip, you don’t have to actually live on campus to do this).

7. Plan something for your first weekend. Lots of people visit home the first or second weekend, and if you stay on campus without any plans it can be quiet and feel a little lonely. Find some other people who are sticking around, or explore the neighbourhood around campus.

8.  Late night fire alarms. This is an experience that is pretty well universal, I have heard from people at UBC and Uvic where fire alarms get pulled as a practical joke (at 3am on a Wednesday… not cool) or SFU where the fire alarms get set off in old buildings because of the steam from showers (also at 3am..whyyy) and basically everywhere that there is residence because people think they can get away with smoking in their rooms. Because residence buildings are so densely filled, firefighters have to respond to a fire alarm immediately, even if they need to leave an actual fire to do this.

9. Expect some level of nonsense. One of our staff knows someone who lived on campus at Uvic, this was back when the campus was covered in bunnies. Her dorm was on the ground floor, and one night someone dropped a bunny into her window. Chaos ensued while the little bunny jumped around looking for an escape route, and the bunny, while alarmed, was fine. This exact thing will not happen to you, but you can probably expect to leave with at least one good story.

We don’t know if KPU will be one of the institutions that gets to build new housing, but just for fun, let us know what your ideal student housing situation would be in the comments.

Thanks for reading

Nicki

KSA Spotlight: Murdoch de Mooy

There are some pretty amazing people that work to support students at the KSA. Every month we'll feature a staff member (and occasionally Council member) so you can actually put a face to the name/event/project. This month, I invite you to meet Council Member Murdoch!

Here are a few things about Murdoch...

How did you come to get involved/run for the KSA council?
I more or less stumbled into it. I was looking for some way to learn more about the school and kinda be more involved and someone that was on the KSA Council recommended I try out a committee. Tried it, loved it, and now I've been here for 2 years already.

What is your current position and can you provide a brief summary of what you do?
My current position is Arts Representative. It's my job to bring the Arts student mindset to council. What it really works out into is, I'm supposed to see things I think would be good for students, and to try and figure out how to make them happen.

What is your favourite thing about working as a councillor with the KSA?
My favourite thing, I know so much more about the University, Non-Profit Societies, and basically everything than I ever did in my many years just attending a university before. You can get exactly what you work for in the KSA, and if you want experiences, you'll get them in spades.

Best activity to do on the weekend?
Sleep! Normally my weekends are filled with work, or homework, but on the super special days I get to sleep in, play some games, and maybe work on some animation work.

What is something that makes you unique?
I'm a super geek and nerd for technical details. I'm one of those lame people that pours over stats and details in games that I play and try to figure out the best way to do something. I'm not necessarily great at it, but it is definitely a unique person to find an afternoon of that kinda stuff fun lol.

What is your favourite food?
Sushi. Once a month I go to a new sushi restaurant. Some places are horrible, but every so often you find some amazing gems.

What is one of your best memories at the KSA?
I think my best memory was at the start of my first term on council. I had just met new great new people on council that I thought were amazing. Two of us were laying on the grass outside that first night and just talking about all the small and big projects we wanted to work on. Laying there discussing all the potentials will be my best memory.

Don't get me wrong, there were lots of good, and a couple bad, but it was a great experience. Projects take a long time to actually come into affect, and I may not even see one of my favourite proposals come into affect during my term. But if you keep going, and keep marching forward, you can get some of your stuff you want, and hopefully it makes a difference.

Want to do more with the KSA? Volunteer with our START Program, Peer Support or the KSA Street Team. Looking to do more as a student? Consider attending a committee meeting or running in election next Spring. Want to work for us? Check out our job postings here.

Club of the Month: KPU Anime Club

Every month we (try to, yes sometimes it just doesn’t end up happening, we’re sorry, please forgive us) feature a KSA club and highlight the fun/cool things that make their club different from the others. It’s a chance to get a little inside information, and see what events and meetings they have coming up.

Our March Club of the Month is the Anime Club!

“We had all been wanting to hang out with others and discuss the geekiest but greatest thing we knew, anime. We had heard from others that it was something that was (very quietly) called for, so we did the thing, and made it a reality!”

“There are so many clubs at KPU, I don’t think we are particularly, unique. We definitely are filled with some of the most introverted people on campus, but we all share the common interest of loving Anime, so like all the clubs we are just a bunch of like-minded students trying to sound professional.”

“Our inception was sparked by an effort to create a massive multi-institutional club event. We had the anime clubs from SFU, UBC, BCIT, Cap, and Langara all meet up and have an amazing time. We all had a great time, and are already working to make it a semi-annual event. But then to counteract the cold long months between these big events, we hang out weekly to watch anime, and chat about our new and old favorites to try and entice others to join in our fandoms.”

“Every Friday we meet from 2 - 4 pm, but we alternate between Richmond (The KSA Lounge) and Surrey (Birch 206) so we can involve as many people as possible. Check out our Facebook page for info on which campus we are on that week!”

Learn more about the KPU Anime Club at https://www.facebook.com/KPUAnimeClub/

Council Recap: March 2, 2018

The last meeting of the Kwantlen Student Association was held on the Surrey campus, in the recently renovated Birch space. Did you know that the KSA has a lounge, two meeting rooms, and rooms for the collective groups on the second floor of Birch? Turn right at the cafeteria to find them.

Here are the FIVE things you NEED to know from this week's’ Council:

#5

A motion was moved to consider the Bylaw revisions “in seriatim”. Seriatim is a Latin word that means “taking one subject after another in regular order; point by point”. In this case, we considered the Bylaws article by article, and we used the Latin just to sound fancy.

 

#4

Over $220,000 dollars was moved out of reserves to endow awards for students. Presently, the KSA awards a number of awards through the KPU Foundation. These endowments will be invested to support those awards, and help create new ones moving forward!

#3

The results from the recent election were presented to Council at this meeting. This means that they are now officially official! Congratulations to all the successful candidates, both new and returning.

#2

VP Finance & Operations Rawan Ramini moved a motion to approve the sponsorship of a refugee student through the World University Service of Canada (WUSC). Ramini has been working on developing this proposal for some time, and has attended a number of training and information sessions with WUSC, as well as many meetings with the University to arrange this sponsorship. It will allow a refugee student to attend KPU for a year.

#1

Revisions to the Bylaws were recommend for approval at the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM). Some of the revisions are necessary to bring the Bylaws in alignment with the Societies Act of BC, which governs non-profits like the KSA, some of them are to update the Bylaws to match changes that have been made to the Regulations over the years, and some of them are new and (sort of) exciting changes! To review the proposed changes, visit www.kusa.ca/agm, and attend the Annual General Meeting on all four campuses on Tuesday, March 27! All KPU students are members of the KSA, and have a vote at the AGM.

The full minutes of this meeting, and all other KSA Council and Committee meetings, are available after approval on kusa.ca/committees.

-- Kelsey

Spring 2018 Bucket List

It may not totally feel like Spring yet, but we’re getting closer each and everyday. Now that we’re officially in the ‘Spring’ semester, I thought it would be useful to write a Spring Bucket List for Kwantlen Students a.k.a Things you totally shouldn’t miss out on in the next couple months!

Without further ado…

KSA’S SPRING 2018 BUCKET LIST

1.   Complete in The Amazing Race: KPU Edition

It happen once a year, so don’t miss out on this killer event. Have you seen The Amazing Race on TV? It’s a reality race/challenge TV show were teams of 2 compete to win a grand prize. Our Active KSA department is hosting The Amazing Race: KPU Edition on March 16th from 11am - 1pm. It’s a team race, with both physical and mental challenges, across the KPU Surrey Campus. It’s completely free to register a team and participate, and the grand prize is $300 -- you read that right THREE. HUNDRED. DOLLARS. More information on the event at amazingracekpu.eventbrite.ca

2.   Attend a Career/Professional Development Workshop

After setting those yearly goals and resolutions in January, Spring is a great time to revisit your professional goals and refresh that resume. KPU Career Services is offering a number of resume, job search and career focused workshops and events this entire month to help you get ahead and get hired -- whether it be in preparation for a summer job, graduation or just to stay on track professionally. If you can’t make it to a KPU Career event, there are other resources on campus you can access that will give you an extra boost in the resume department. Not ready for that yet? Do some research on volunteer opportunities (on or off campus). RSVP for KPU Career Services events and workshops here.

3.   Get Involved, Politically

Everyday there is a new political story plastered all over the internet. Yesterday maybe it was about Trudeau, today maybe it’s about Trump and tomorrow it could be about Putin. Knowing what is going on in the world is incredibly important, but have you ever thought about what is going on with your student government? In case you’re confused, yeah, hi, that’s us (raising hand emoji here). We’re having our 2018 Annual General Meeting March 27th @ 1pm and I want to challenge you to get involved in your student government and attend. This challenge isn’t asking you to run for anything, I’m not asking you to sit on a committee...

I am challenging you to hang out for 1 hour, eat free food, raise your hand when you agree with things, ask questions if you’re confused and let us know if you’re not a fan of something.

Helping to pass bylaws and regulations may not sound like the sexiest thing, but this is your student government, and we need you.


4.   Celebrate International Women’s Day!

Whether you self-identify as a female or not, International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate. There are all kinds of events happening across the lower mainland from run clubs to yoga classes to workshops to conferences all focusing on International Women’s Day (Events happening all month long, before and after the actual IWD on March 8th). We’re hosting a number of events on March 12th at the KPU Surrey Campus.

5.   Try: Archery

Try something new this spring! May we recommend Archery on March 23rd with Active KSA!

6.   Get Festive on St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patricks Day is March 17th and as with every year, there are lots of different events you can attend to celebrate the day. If you’re busy studying for midterms, or completing assignments in the library, wearing green is an easy and fun was to participate in the day. On campus the KSA GrassRoots Cafe serves green beer, if you’re looking to take a break.

7.   Do: Spring Cleaning

Spring is a time to reorganize and refresh. Go through some clothes that you don’t wear(drop them off at the donation bins at the KSA Member Services in Richmond or Surrey), or finally recycle those old electronics you have lying around (our REBOOT program can recycle them for you).

8.   Take time for yourself

Last but not least, take time for yourself this spring and practice self care. Listen to that podcast you’ve been dying to listen to, book that massage (covered through your Health & Dental plan), or make an appointment through the Peer Support program and talk with someone about the struggle you’re going through -- take time for yourself, however you need to.

Until next time,

Kendell