SAMRU VP resigns

On Jan. 10 the Students’ Association of Mount Royal University accepted the resignation of Addison Asuchak, Vice President of Student University Affairs.

“Every single time we are in office there are moments where you start to look at your life and what you are doing,” she said. “Mr. Asuchak took a leave of absence for almost a week and then after that he informed us that he wanted to resign.”

His resignation came as a surprise to the SAMRU Executive committee and Student council as the office left to decide on how to best fill-in for the work.

“Right now all of the work that VP Asuchak had will be divided amongst the current VPs and the President as well,” Chareka said. “Rather than hire someone to do the work we figured it would be better to divide it up and then just move forward for next year.”

Chareka said that despite the resignation, no student life programming would be affected during he winter semester.

“We have a wonderful programming and events team here that is going to be looking over stuff.”

The position will be filled during the regular elections held in March and the current VPs and President will not receive any salary compensation for the added workload.

According to Chareka, Asuchak cited personal reasons for his resignation. Asuchak declined an interview with The Reflector, however Chareka suggested that the workload expected from the student executives can be quite challenging.

There is a lot of stress involved with being a VP,” she said. “I think a lot of people look at the job and think we are playing government, but there is a lot to it.”

“It’s a full-time job, over 35 hours and we are only allowed to take one class per semester.”

VP Asuchak was in his second-year on student council, a job that includes work, travel and school commitments in order to reach the requirements of the position.

Chareka feels that SAMRU’s structure of governance works well, as many other students’ associations in Canada are expected to carry 2-3 courses with a reduced workload.

SAMRU did attempt to integrate a new fifth executive to student council at last semesters Annual General Meeting — a motion that vehemently opposed by students attending.

Chareka added that while it’s unfortunate to lose their VP, Student Council is already doing everything possible to mitigate any situation that may arise.

Chareka thanked VP Asuchak for his time at SAMRU and the passion he brought to the position.

“He was a very engaged VP student life and we wish him all the best in all of his endeavors.”