The Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) Legislative Council met last Wednesday, where its members passed a motion to classify the Computer Science Undergraduate Society (CSUS) as a departmental association under the AUS, and discussed the upcoming launch of a new AUS mobile app.
The motion to recognize CSUS as an AUS departmental association was put forward by AUS President Ava Liu, VP Finance Li Xue, and Political Science Students’ Association (PSSA) VP External Gabriel Gilling. CSUS VP External Ian Karp spoke to the reasoning behind the motion.
“There are many students in the Faculty [of Arts] who are in computer science, a lot of people who are minoring or majoring, so it made sense that we’d become a departmental [association],” Karp said.
“To get people to vote, people have to be aware of what’s going on on campus.”
Tom Zheng, co-founder of app development company Kreate Solutions, gave a presentation to Council about the new AUS app, which is set to be launched on February 16.
According to Zheng, the app is meant to allow students to access all AUS-related information through one channel, and to give AUS representatives insight into what issues their constituents care about the most. Zheng also highlighted its potential for increasing election turnout, noting that AUS hit a record of a mere 21 per cent during the strike year.
“To get people to vote, people have to be aware of what’s going on on campus,” said Zheng.
Xue asked for clarification on the legal implications of the marketplace aspect of the app, where students could hypothetically advertise the buying and selling of textbooks. “In our Memorandum of Agreement [with the University], it says that we cannot be a medium for these sorts of activities because that goes through the bookstore.”
Zheng responded that, while no transactions actually take place on the app, AUS should display a disclaimer outlining any activities that the app should not be used for.
Xue also noted that the app was late, as it was originally contracted to be available for Frosh 2014.
A last-minute motion to approve the AUS operating budget was tabled at the request of Councillor Patrick Dunbar-Lavoie to allow Council more time to read the budget, which had been revised since it was last presented to Council, before voting.
Council also unanimously passed a motion to adopt a revised version of the Classics Students’ Association (CSA)’s constitution, which was last updated in 2011.