April 12, 2007

se Nees aren aren SATAN

CAMPUS |

National Representation Committee Report

Committee Members

Jeremy Hogan - Executive Vice President (Chair)

Megan MacKinnon ~ Science Representative Ryan Gallant - President Sarah MacDonald - Senate Representative

' The National Representation Comniittee is a standing committee of the Student Council of the University of Prince Edward Island Student Union (UPEI SU). The mandate of this Committee

- is to make a recommendation to Council on the direction it should take in terms of national-. representation. Considering this issue, the committee began by weighing the options presented to the UPEI SU. First of all, the Committee was to determine whether the UPEI SU would be better served to continue on the basis of non-affiliation, or to join a national representative organization. If the Committee decided to move forward towards affiliation, then it was then to analyse both current student lobby options, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), and the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), and to deliver a recommendation based on the results of that analysis.

In consideration of these goals, the committee examined the possible benefits of affiliation versus -

non-affiliation. It was recognized that the most beneficial aspect of remaining independent was that it does not cost students anything, while lobbying on behalf of students will continue on the National scale on the part of both student lobby organizations. The kind of national lobbying preformed by both organizations is not aimed at generating results specifically for their members, but for all students in Canada. This means that the UPEI SU could opt not to participate in Federal lobbying, and still benefit from those efforts. The committee, however, believed that participation in a national lobbying organization gave the UPEI SU the ability to shape the policy of that organization. This would mean that representation with either organization would allow us to ensure that the interests of students from PEI specifically were represented. Further to this, it was agreed that being proactive on issues of student advocacy was more favourable than leaving that responsibility to other student associations.

As a result, it is the recommendation of the National Representation Committee that the UPEI SU consider joining a national student lobby organization.

The committee then began to compare the two available options: CASA and the CFS. To effectively compare the two organizations, the committee chose five criteria on which to base their decision. These five criteria consisted of: _

1. Regional Representation - Based on the representatives available in each region from each organization, and the number of member associations in those regions. Specia! emphasis was placed on the number of Atlantic schools in each organization, recognizing this region as a unique, and as obviously important to our advocacy issues.

THE CADRE *

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