As an undergraduate student at the University of Calgary (U of C), you are a member of the Students’ Union (SU). Your SU provides access to a wide range of academic supports, social events and opportunities to make your university experience one of the most exciting times of your life.
The Student Legislative Council (SLC) is the SU’s governing body, which is made up of five executives (the president and four vice presidents) and 18 faculty representatives that are elected annually to represent your interests. The SU’s operations are supported by a professional staff and hundreds of volunteers. With the MacEwan Student Centre as its home, the SU serves students by advocating on student issues and providing a broad range of services, products, programs and events that can enhance the quality of your educational experience and the quality of student life on campus. The SU is also the voice of students and are public advocates for an affordable and accessible post-secondary education experience for undergraduates at the U of C.
Quality of Education
Advocating on academic matters and providing academic services and programs that enhance the quality of your educational experience is a key focus of the SU. Through participation in the development of university academic plans, participation in national dialogues on the cost of academic materials for students, promoting student feedback through national and university student surveys and nominating instructors for teaching excellence, the SU ensures that the U of C student voice is heard on matters of academic importance. The SU offers a range of academic programs and services such as the Book Loan Program for students in financial need, the online exam bank, locker services, book consignment and printing services and annually supports the addition of new library resources for students. To promote and recognize undergraduate research, the SU holds the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium and offers a range of academic awards to support students. The SU also provides travel and conference funding to enable students to attend conferences or competitions related to their field of study.
Quality of Student Life
The SU believes that the student experience at the U of C involves more than just the classroom. The SU is dedicated to providing a wide range of health and lifestyle programs, products, services, facilities and events to ensure that everything is in place to create an excellent student experience. The SU supports more than 300 student clubs – opportunities for students to get involved in athletics, music, theatre, social issues, volunteering, religion, cultural issues, politics and academics – there is quite literally something for everyone. There’s an exciting range of weekly, and annual special events throughout the year - the line-up including major activities and celebrations like Orientation Week and Bermuda Shorts Day (BSD), weekly activities like Cinemania and Yoga in That Empty Space, entertainment and concerts and many other special events. To find out about what’s on, visit the SU website (su.ucalgary.ca) or keep an eye out for the SU bulletin boards throughout campus or watch the digital screens in MacEwan Student Centre for updated information. The SU also provides your undergraduate student health and dental care plans. We offer lifestyle services including an off-campus housing website, the Q Centre for our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer community and annual support to campus Safewalk and the Wellness Centre.
The SU has been a campus leader in promoting awareness and actions on sustainability. The SU Sustainability Board was established to influence environmentally sound and socially ethical decisions on campus and to fund opportunities for students to act on their own ideas to reduce the environmental footprint of our campus. At many post-secondary institutions across the country students and faculty have limited say in how finances are invested in academic programs and campus life in general. However, at the U of C, thanks to your SU, the campus community has access to a resource that allows them to create and implement projects and initiatives identified as priorities for students. Called Quality Money, this is resource is a unique partnership between your SU and the U of C. Each year the SU is provided with approximately $1.7 million from the U of C Board of Governors to invest in projects identified by students that will enhance the overall student experience.
The SU provides a range of volunteer service opportunities both on campus serving fellow students and out in the “real world” serving the community. Students can get practical hospitality experience through the SU Information Centre and Lost and Found, professional office experience, tax preparation experience or organizational experience at the Campus Food Bank by volunteering for the SU. And the SU is in business to fund all these efforts while keeping student fees and levies low. In addition to book consignment and inexpensive photocopying and printing services at Bound and Copied, the SU owns and runs Stor – a convenient place for everything you need, like newspapers, transit tickets, and phone cards, to chocolate bars, pop, produce, yogurts and other tasty snacks. More good food and entertainment can be found at The Den/Black Lounge and there are fantastic concerts in our award-winning concert venues. As the landlord of MacEwan Student Centre, we also bring you a range of retail and service businesses and the popular food court. The SU also operates the MacEwan Conference and Event Centre which rents out function space to both university and off-campus clients and provides free meeting and event space to SU-sanctioned clubs.
Affordability and Accessibility
As the student advocate on affordability and accessibility of postsecondary education, the SU lobbies the university and government on the cost of post-secondary education. On campus, the SU engages with university administration and campus stakeholders in a variety of ways to ensure the student voice is well represented as decisions are made on issues that affect your education and university experience. Your elected officials hold seats on a number of university committees and groups including the University of Calgary’s Board of Governors, the General Faculties Council (GFC) as well as committees from the Office of the Provost. Along with these formal positions, your SU President and SU Executive maintain relations and meet regularly with all U of C senior administration including the President, the Provost Office, the Registrar, and Student and Enrolment Services, to name a few.
Your elected officials also play an important role in advocating on behalf of the U of C’s undergraduates to all levels of government on issues such as: tuition and fees, student financial aid, safe and affordable housing to name a few. Your President and VP External regularly meet with key government stakeholders including members of the City of Calgary Council, the provincial ministry of Enterprise and Advanced Education and federal Parliamentarians. As part of a larger student voice, your SU is an active member of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) and the Council of Alberta University Students (CAUS).
Partnerships
One of the SU’s primary objectives is to build and sustain positive and proactive working relationships with the U of C’s administration and the Board of Governors on matters of mutual interest and importance. The SU is proud of the role it plays in partnering with the university on key events and activities that benefit undergraduate students.
Get into the school spirit and get the most out of your university experience! To become involved or to learn more about your SU, visit the SU website at: www.su.ucalgary.ca.
Location: Students' Union Office 251 MacEwan Student Centre
Telephone: 403.220.6551
Email: supres@ucalgary.ca
Student Services