U1O: Friend or Foe?

UMSU and U1 at odds over orientation

TESSA VANDERHART STAFF

University 1 orientation is over, but a disagreement between UMSU and U1 over podium time at the annual Welcoming Ceremony that began last year is still going strong.

UMSU attempted to have a more active role in U1 orientation (U1O), held this year from Sept. 5-6, but negotiations broke down between the two sides this summer.

UMSU president Garry Sran said that all UMSU wanted was what they had last year — but University 1 was “so difficult to work with it was unbelievable.”

Last year, UMSU contributed to the beginning-of-term mailout, bought adspace on the University 1 clipboards, and set up tents in Duckworth quadrangle two days early for U1O’s use. In return, UMSU was allowed to speak in classrooms and at the Welcoming Ceremony in the Investor’s Group Athletic Centre. This year, U1 offered a reduced speaking role, and UMSU will not be sharing the podium with the university president.

Both this year and last UMSU paid approximately $1,500 to advertise on the U1O clipboard, and charged U1O $2,000 to set up their tents for Sept. 5. UMSU will be speaking in classrooms, though Sran has complained that the five executives are permitted only two hours to do so. There will be approximately 4,000 new University 1 students attending the U of M this year.

In the spring, University 1 provided UMSU with a list of eight ways the students’ union could be involved in orientation. UMSU responded that a more prominent role at the opening ceremonies (as in previous years, the same opportunity to speak as the university president) — a demand U1 director Christine Blais said was simply asking too much. Blais called UMSU’s reaction “so unfair.”

“We gave them the opportunity and I could show you the correspondence. They did not want to co-operate or be flexible.”

Blais said University 1 attempted to change the way UMSU was involved this year. “It doesn’t matter what bartering goes on, we want them to be there to meet the students and not care about the money,” Blais said.

Blais said that she thinks UMSU is important to students, and that U1 tried to co-operate. After the 2005 orientiation, then-UMSU president Amanda Aziz campaigned for more UMSU involvement in orientation — perhaps even integration of U1 and UMSU orientations. A committee was formed, including Blais, Aziz, and David Morphy, vice-provost of Student Affairs.

Blais complained that the committee was unproductive.

“When one group was invited, the other wasn’t.”

She also noted that integration of U1O with UMSU orientation is unlikely, as University 1 starts planning orientation before the UMSU executive is elected — and though UMSU “has the money for it . . . students need academic content.”

Blais said that her “big objection” to having UMSU be more involved in U1O is that: “I’m trying to show students that they have options.” And she said she isn’t sure UMSU’s intent is the same.

According to Blais, UMSU’s behaviour at past university events caused the university administration to be wary. At Parents’ Day in March, and also at U1 orientation last year, Blais said, UMSU made derogatory comments about the university administration.

“I think there’s just been too many ‘incidences.’ [The administration doesn’t] want to make it worse,” Blais said.

“I think she’s got it all wrong,” Sran disagreed. “Not only are they trying to silence us, but the University 1 Students’ Council and Engineering had difficulties as well.”

Vice-provost (student affairs) David Morphy said before University 1 was created, every faculty worked together for the first week of school to orient students. In 1999, when the entrance faculty was created, the university Senate declared the first two days of classes to be official orientation days — to be filled with academic programming.

University 1 collected student feedback in homerooms at U1O last year, and the results were positive — about 2,000 students responded, and an average rating of 3.38/5 was given to the statement “After the Welcoming Ceremony, I felt a part of the U of M community.”

Blais asked: “Is UMSU going to evaluate theirs? This is accountability. [Orientation] needs to be useful, or we’ll change it again.”

Sran said that “if you interview students from year to year, what do they say? That U1O is a waste of time.”

Orientation co-ordinator Ashley Tolton said that the basic U1O sessions — academic success, avoiding plagiariasm — are the same as last year, but this year expanded, “beyond basic” programming allowing students to choose sessions that fit their interests.

She added that this programming is planned by permanent University 1 staff such as herself, student staff members, and U1 director Blais.

“It’s intended to give them a sense of what they’ll be expected to know in class,” Tolton said. “Over the years, we’ve been trying to beef up what we [offer], to increase the amount students are taking away from orientation.”

U1O director Blais couldn’t agree more. “We’re not just having fun on the quad,” she said.

U1O vs. UMSU-O