The Trent Central Student Association (TCSA)’s January 21st Board of Directors Meeting reviewed the ideals and projects they will be taking into the new year, with a focus on student engagement.

Vice President of Health and Wellness, Bri Policchico, and Vice President of Campaigns and Equity, Alexx Bodden, shared similar observations about the Holiday break bringing less new material to their reports, while remaining optimistic about their forthcoming work. VP Bodden declared that her next executive report would be “extra long and juicy.”

Trent’s Foodservice Request for Proposal Committee, reviewing the university’s foodservice providers, was overseen by VP Policchico. The committee assessed the quality of Trent’s foodservices, and VP Policchio asked “student driven questions in regard to [...] cost, food and security.”

VP Bodden discussed her work on a plan to evaluate the accessibility of the Trent Student Center, for which she said she would receive a report in the next week.

Vice President of University and College Affairs, Rovel Rehman, presented her own executive report, in which she discussed her participation in Trent’s Student Engagement Committee. This committee focused on students’ falling attendance rates, and how to incentivize attendance to classes.

In response to this, Environmental Sustainability Commissioner Alyssa Scanga asked Rovel if the committee had discussed COVID-19 infection as a possible cause for student attendance decreasing. VP Rehman responded that the committee had discussed the issue, but were not able to find any solutions.

Following this, Arthur asked VP Rehman if there had been any discussion of the possibility of reinstating previous COVID protocols to resolve this issue. VP Rehman responded that there had not.

Otonabee College Commissioner Jonathan Naylor asked VP Rehman if mental health had been discussed as a possible cause for drops in attendance, to which VP Rehman stated that it had not, responding that she wasn’t sure if mental health was a “valid factor in skipping classes.”

When asked about specific incentives to attendance that were discussed by this committee, VP Rehman explained that they had primarily discussed COVID as a cause for lowering attendance, and how attending professors and faculty could change their “teaching styles” to “make class more engaging,” so that students would want to attend their classes. VP Rehman did not point to any more specific solutions, whether those be regarding COVID or the aforementioned changes in “teaching style.”

TCSA President Aimee Anctil’s report discussed her participation in Human Relations meetings with Trent students, clearing up TCSA policy and encouraging student engagement with the TCSA and its events.

President Anctil also held a meeting with students about the One Stop Chop food pantry initiative, where she was asked to “seek further collaborations with clubs and groups just to ensure that their demographics are being properly served.” She reported working with Trent International, and receiving recommendations to do more outreach with Trent students, specifically those in the Social Work program.

President Anctil announced a collaboration between the TCSA and ReFrame Film Festival, offering 50 free tickets to Trent students for screenings from the festival’s Curve Lake Storytelling section, with catering from Black Honey cafe on January 27th.

She also spoke about Trent’s ongoing planning of events for Black History Month, with over 19 different events to come. 

The TCSA’s second 2023/2024 Draft Budget did not deviate substantially from the first. Lady Eaton College Prime Minister Noah Edwards asked whether students moving from using Food Assistance Cards to using the One Stop Chop food pantry would lead to a reallocation of funding away from the card program and towards the One Stop Chop, which General Manager Tracy Milne confirmed.

This meeting also led to the release of the 2024 TCSA elections schedule. Nominations will be open from February 1st-29th, with the campaigning period held from March 1st-22nd, and the voting period from March 15th-22nd. Following the elections, election results will be ratified March 24th, and campaign expenses due the following day. 

This will be the first TCSA election following its new electoral operating resolutions, which passed December 3rd, 2023. This time around, candidates will not be able “interact with other accounts in a way that may be perceived as irritating or annoying by the recipient.”

These new resolutions also give the TCSA’s Election Committee the right to “suspend or terminate the use of social media” of any candidate whose social media is deemed not to follow “community standards,” nor will candidates be permitted to “undermine or attempt to undermine the authority and the ability of the Lead Electoral Officer and the Elections Committee to perform their duties.” What constitutes a violation of “community standards”  or of the Council’s authority is not specified in any documentation obtained by Arthur.

General Manager Tracy Milne officially announced the date of the TCSA’s Second Annual General Meeting, scheduled for February 14th.

Lastly, during the call for Any Other Business, President Anctil announced the failure of an attempt to unionize Trent Student Housing staff. She reported “working with quite a few student staff within the housing department, as well as CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) and their president [...] trying to sort out a student staff union.”

“Unfortunately, the students who were involved no longer wish to support this,” Anctil explained, identifying the cause as a sense of general overwhelm caused by exam season, followed by a failure to regain momentum afterwards. 

Anctil explained that “the students who [she] was working with weren't gonna come back for next year, either because they're graduating or because they're no longer interested in student housing. So, it was a bit of a turnover thing. And then, when [she] had reached out to other student staff, there was less of an interest in wanting to make it happen, but that is what [she] can share outside of the HR stuff.”

Nevertheless, her colleagues congratulated her on the advancements she managed to make. According to Anctil, “[student housing staff’s] wages will be increased to incorporate also their meal plan. So it will be on par with what minimum wage is.” “The workplace standards will also be increased. They're getting more therapists [...] and there will hopefully be more tasks taken on by security, but that is obviously still in discussion.”