DSU VP Finance and Operations Candidate: Chantal Khoury

Editor’ Note: This interview has been edited and formatted for style and clarity

Name: Chantal Khoury

Major, Year: Fifth year, BM, Environment, Sustainability and Society

What position are you running for, and what responsibilities correspond with it?

I am re-running for the position of Vice President of Finance and Operations. The VP Finance and Operations has the opportunity to oversee the finances of the union; Write the annual budget; Consult regarding the annual budget; write budget revisions; Provide treasurer training to society treasurers; Oversee the investment portfolio; Head Grants and Sponsorships Committee, Budget and Finance Committee, and Ethical Investment committee. The VPFO also oversees the DSUSO operations and budget line, and audits the finances of levied and faculty societies.

On the operations side, the VPFO oversees contracts, both individual working contracts and income contracts (Chartwells); Member of the President’s Advisory Council on Sustainability; Member of the Transportation and Security Committee of the University, and has the opportunity to report to the Budget Advising Committee of the University.

Why are you running for re-election?

I care very deeply about student issues and am passionate about them to the core. In my term, I have prioritized food security and student advocacy by providing much need resources and assistance to the DSU Farmers Market and Food Bank. I have sat at government and university round-tables to advocate for students’ access to education by lowering tuition costs, and asking for more physically accessible infrastructure.

I want to finish what I’ve started by institutionalizing my sustainability and equity priorities for the union.

What are your goals if you are elected?

 Here are a list of my goals for the year if re-elected:

Environment

• Establish and institutionalize food-waste reporting system with Chartwells
  • Advocate for food-waste reporting system from Aramark, the University’s food supplier
• Conduct an operations sustainability audit on our offices, services and individual exec operations
• Continue to advocate to the university to conduct a accessibility audit
  • Ensure the respective communities are being consulted
• Write a SUBstainability handbook for current SUB operations, offices, execs and students with more environmentally-friendly alternatives to access on campus
  • this would include food options when catering for meetings and events, as well as materials for campaigns, etc.

Engagement

• Work with executives to create a consultation framework to engage societies and community groups on campus.
  • Institutionalize bi-weekly communication channels between faculty and levied societies for council and operations updates
• Collaborate with Faculty societies to host more programming on all four campuses
• Increase student jobs!
  • Turn commissioner positions into part-time jobs to increase accountability and engagement
  • We currently hire 80 part-time students — whereas some student unions of similar size hire over 100 students
  • For example, I hire two finance commissioners throughout the year to assist with the budgeting process and audits. Increasing their pay would allow me to shift more of the administrative duties on those students. As of now, our current structure bogs down the executives with administration. This shift in responsibility would allow the executives to spend more time engaging students.
• Provide both paid positions and low-commitment volunteer opportunities. 

Equity

• Institutionalize equity hiring processes and cultural safety training for all full-time staff
• Expand DSU Food Bank Operations
• Centralize communication for all Food Justice work, create permanent SUB space for their work
• Advocate for BIPOC and LGBTQ2S++ representation in counselling services and in our own health plan
• Implement and international student’s health plan panel
• Implementing accessible Tiger Patrol

My full platform is available on my  website!

What is something interesting about you?

I have four other siblings that have also attended Dal in some capacity. I am, and have always been a part of this community. I am also a professional baker on the side!