September Executive Blog
So much has happened since my June Executive Blog. These past few months have been crazy busy and were filled with so many opportunities to learn. I have learned about time management, how to identify priorities, how to work full-time while continuing to get schoolwork done (this one was definitely a challenge!), how to host meetings, and so much more. I have learned that the VPFA role is not necessarily a difficult role, though it has a lot of different components to it that can feel overwhelming at times. However, being apart of the executive team has been so incredibly rewarding, and I would not change anything.
In July, I flew to Edmonton from Toronto for part two of our Executive Retreat. Getting to meet the other members of the Executive team, meeting AUSU staff, collaborating on ideas, seeing the AUSU office, and doing two podcasts for AUSU Open Mic was such an amazing experience. It was a super busy two days, but we got a lot done. When you are in an online environment for such a long period of time, such as attending AU, it is weird feeling when you meet people in person who are also attending AU. A lot of the time, people in my day-to-day life do not understand AU, so just to have people understand the structure of your schooling is a great feeling. This was also the first time that I met anyone from AUSU, despite working with them remotely on council for over a year. My trip to Edmonton was such a unique experience, and I was really excited to be apart of it all.
Another major highlight of July was putting together the budget to be able to bring it to the Finance Committee. On July 24th, 2019 the Finance Committee met to review the budget for the next fiscal year. The members of the committee asked a lot of great questions and there was a lot of good conversation around the budget. After going through the budget, the committee approved it to go to council at the August council meeting, where council also approved it. There was a lot of work put into the budget, and we are really happy that everyone was on board with what we presented.
We also spent time reviewing some of our policies throughout July and August. There were mainly minor changes made to the policies to ensure our documents are consistent with clear language.
Until next time,
Brittany Daigle
VP Finance and Administration