At first they decided to keep it, then get rid of it, but now the Fine Arts Student Alliance has finally come to the decision that the title of VP finance will be preserved in its new constitution, with one small amendment: the position will be elected, not appointed.
FASA councillors unanimously voted on the VP finance motion presented by AJ West, president of the cinema students association, at their regular meeting last night. Originally, FASA’s constitution reform committee had planned on changing the position’s name in the new constitution from “VP Finance” to “director of finance” in order to reflect the fact that the title holder is hired.
However, West proposed that the VP finance position remain and that it become an elected office, occupied by a student who could then hire a bookkeeper to oversee FASA’s accounts. This path seemed like the right one, according to the CSU’s VP sustainability and promotions Morgan Pudwell, who was in attendance at the council meeting.
“The VP finance is accountable to students, he or she tells them what’s going on with the organization’s finances,” said Pudwell. “But the current draft [which stated the position would be hired] doesn’t really address those needs, and could be confusing.”
On top of receiving the backing of all councillors, West’s motion also elicited the support of the executive, with FASA co-president Neal Moignard noting that it would make much more sense to divide the roles of VP finance and bookkeeper.
“It’s a move toward greater accountability to Fine Arts students,” later added co-president Paisley Sim.
The clarification over the VP finance position came after the former title holder, Laura Glover, was fired by the executive last summer. They maintained that they had the power to do so because Glover’s position was appointed, and not elected. Following the ratification of the constitution, likely to be done at FASA’s Mar. 21 AGM, the termination of the VP finance will require Council’s approval.
Other additions to the constitution include the hiring of an impartial chair and secretary for council meetings (positions currently held by FASA executives), the power for Council to establish ad hoc committees when deemed necessary, the creation of FASA’s own judicial committee and the chance for fine arts programs that don’t have clubs to still be represented by a councillor at FASA.
Toward the end of the meeting, co-president Sim echoed West’s sentiment that FASA reviewing its constitution will now put it on equal footing with the other faculty associations.
“It’s a bit of a rebranding, we’re upping our game,” she said. “I think the reaction at the AGM with regards to the constitution will be positive.”
