Signage near the south entrance to the Students' Union Building.

South face of the Students' Union Building.

The University of Alberta Students' Union (UASU) is the student society that represents undergraduate students at the University of Alberta. Originally established in 1909, it is a non-profit corporation that operates under the authority of the Post-Secondary Learning Act (Alberta). Its membership consists of the roughly 31,000^[1] undergraduate students enrolled at the university.

With an annual budget of more than $13,000,000 and hundreds of paid and volunteer staff,^[2] the Students' Union serves as an advocate for students and provides a variety of services to its members. The Students' Union also operates a number of businesses, manages various targeted trust funds, hosts a wide variety of entertainment and educational events, and runs the Students' Union Building.

Students' Council

The Students' Council is the highest decision-making body of the UASU and is composed of a speaker, a general manager (both of whom are non-voting members), councillors elected from each faculty, 5 executive members and an undergraduate student representative to serve on the university's Board of Governors, all of whom are elected in an annual campus-wide general election every March.^[3]

The breakdown of faculty councillors is as below:

• 2 from the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences
• 7 from the Faculty of Arts
• 1 from the Faculty of Augustana
• 2 from the Faculty of Business
• 3 from the Faculty of Education
• 5 from the Faculty of Engineering
• 1 from Faculte Saint-Jean
• 1 from the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport & Recreation
• 1 from the Faculty of Law
• 1 from the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
• 1 from the Faculty of Native Studies
• 1 from the Faculty of Nursing
• 1 from the Faculty of Open Studies
• 1 from the Faculty of Pharmacy
• 7 from the Faculty of Science

Representation

Provincially, the Students' Union participates in the Council of Alberta University Students. The Students' Union was a founding member of the Canadian Alliance of Students Associations. While it took a brief hiatus on its membership, having pulled out in 2003, the Students' Union moved to rejoin CASA in March 2008.

In the fall of 2016, the Students' Union expanded the U-Pass program to Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc and Spruce Grove.^[4][5]

Services

The Students' Union provides a number of services to assist students in their academic careers. These services include:

• Access Fund
• Campus Food Bank
• InfoLink
• Ombudservice
• Peer Support Centre
• Safewalk
• Student Job Registry

The Students' Union also runs several businesses, which offer discounts to Students' Union staff and volunteers.

Students' Union Building

Built in 1967, the Students' Union Building (SUB) is the headquarters of the Students' Union. It contains the Horowitz Theatre.

Notable past presidents

Several people who have served as president of the University of Alberta Students' Union have gone on to achieve some level of fame.

• James Harwood Ogilvie, who served as president in 1917–1918,^[8] went on to become a long time alderman on Edmonton City Council and an unsuccessful candidate for the Conservative Party in the 1935 and 1940 federal elections in Edmonton West.^[9]
• Percy Griffith Davies was president in 1925-1926^[8] and later served as a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1932 until 1935.^[10]
• Gerard Amerongen, president in 1943–1944,^[8] became a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (and later its Speaker), representing Edmonton Meadowlark from 1971 until 1986.^[11]
• Peter Lougheed, president in 1951–1952,^[8] was Premier of Alberta from 1971 until 1985.^[12]
• Lou Hyndman, president in 1958–1959,^[8] was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (representing Edmonton West from 1967 until 1971 and Edmonton-Glenora from 1971 until 1986) and provincial treasurer.^[13]
• Marilyn Pilkington, president in 1968–1969,^[8] was the first female Dean of Osgoode Hall in 1983.
• David Leadbeater, president in 1969–1970,^[8] became the youngest alderman in the history of the Edmonton City Council, elected at the age of 27 and serving from 1974 until 1977.^[9]
• Robert G. Greenhill, president in 1982-1984, being the youngest ever at 20 years old and elected to this position during a criss that threatened to bankrupt the organization. He then held Executive Roles leading to President, International Group at Bombardier Inc. (1985-2004), was recognised in 1998 as Canada's Top 40 under 40, became president of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Deputy Minister for International Cooperation (2005-2008), Managing Director and Chief Business Officer of the World Economic Forum (WEF) (2008-2014).
• Mike Nickel, president in 1985–1986,^[8] became an alderman (2004–2007), two-time mayoral candidate, and prominent conservative in Edmonton.^[9]
• Mike Hudema, president in 2002–2003,^[8] is a prominent activist.

See also

• The Gateway, student paper at the University of Alberta.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to University of Alberta Students' Union.

• Official website
• University Site

53°31′31″N 113°31′37″W / 53.52528°N 113.52694°W / 53.52528; -113.52694