On Monday March 26, McGill’s Management Undergraduate Society (MUS) held a General Assembly, during which members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Council assessed the state of their portfolio activities, as well as prospects for the 2018-2019 academic year.
MUS President Alexandre Perron first briefly described the MUS’s responsibilities, stating that its three priorities over the past year had been the personal, academic, and professional development of all students at Desautels.
Before addressing executive updates, members of the Board of Directors spoke about the improvements in communication which took place this year, both between groups within the Bronfman community and outside of the faculty.
Perron went on to highlight that the MUS had, over the past year, implemented a “strategic shift” towards greater student wellness. Another significant achievement, he noted, was voter turnout in MUS elections, which was the highest it has been in history. Perron hopes that the MUS will maintain its momentum in the coming months, all the while increasing its collaborative efforts with student clubs and improving its overall communication strategy for better accountability.
VP Competitions Fiona McCarten then spoke about the difficulties her portfolio encountered, chiefly in garnering funds to send students abroad to take part in competitions. She hopes that the incoming VP Competitions will continue to modernize the approach to competitions, and thereby allow a larger proportion of the student body to participate.
Simon Shubbar, VP Corporate Relations, went on to address the evolution of sponsorship revenues at the MUS. He explained how key implementations, such as training guides for incoming executives and higher quality sponsorship packages, allowed his team to increase gross sponsor revenue by 60% since last year.
VP Development and Outreach Lainie Yallen, VP Internal Affairs Mariam Madwar, and VP Academic Colin Donahoe all cited higher degrees of approachability and accountability as their current and future goals. Yallen added that her portfolio has made great strides in its first year of existence, and she hopes that the coming year will be just as productive.
VP Communications Bogdan Tanasie also made progress this year, working closely with student media to increase student engagement. He hopes that the portfolio will continue to focus on this, mainly by championing the expansion of their social media channels online.
Prior to opening the floor to a Q&A, VP Events Yannick Leblanc announced that his portfolio had smoothly overseen the operations of Frosh and Carnival, with 2017 being the most successful year for Frosh yet in terms of registration volume. The management of 4à7, however, was less efficient, with building renovations taking a toll on the weekly event’s organization and attendance. This is an issue the portfolio will continue to work on over the course of the next academic year.
