Departmental Student Union (DSU)

Departmental Student Unions are Bridges

Tired of being the only person advocating for change in your department? Do you want substantial support for creating on-campus events run by students? Get organized with other students to be effective.  Departmental Student Unions make a bridge between you, your Department, and your Student Society. Right now, there are over 50 active Departmental Student Unions within the SFSS. All students automatically belong to the student union for any department in which they are a major, minor, or taking even one course. Click [here] if you are not sure of which student union you belong to. 

How are DSUs different than SFSS Clubs?

Departmental student unions are the democratic foundation of the Simon Fraser Student Society. A Student Union is different than an SFSS Club. Clubs have a specific focus, like Oxfam or Imported Cars, while Student Unions represent student interests in that academic department. A Departmental Student Union might host career fairs, socials, pub nights, conferences, publish journals, be involved in faculty hires, advise on curriculum changes, and take on special projects.

 

DSUs Represent Student Interests in the SFSS

Each Departmental Student Union has autonomy to hold elections and elect representative to larger decision-making bodies within the SFSS to ensure student voices are heard. One important place for campus-wide dialogue is the SFSS Forum, which is a monthly-cross campus dialogue with all 54 student unions.

 

SFSS Supports its DSUs with Substantial Funding

Departmental Student Unions are the foundation of the SFSS, and they are supported with two types of substantial funding. Core Funding supports the day-to-day operations and SFSS Grant Funding is set aside for big projects.  Grant Funding for 2010-2011 is set at $30,000 and Departmental Unions are what their members want them to be, so get involved and make it happen! Sample grants and sample budgets are available in this section [here].