Freshman Events and Representative Committee (FEARC)

The Freshman Events and Representative Committee (FEARC) aims to promote the welfare and interests of first-year students in the faculties of arts and arts and sciences. According to FEARC Co-President Marta Canneri, FEARC also provides “activities and services to enhance the educational, cultural, environmental, and social aspects of the lives of its members.”

The FEARC executive is composed of nine members, all of whom are first-year students. The council also has a number of subcommittees, including the Publicity Committee, the First-Year Handbook Committee, the Fundraising Committee, and a group of Academic Councillors.

“Our priorities for the year are to ease the academic and social transition from high school [or] CEGEP to university, and to integrate first year students into the greater McGill community,” Canneri said. “We want to foster a sense of belonging and community among first years and create an environment that is conducive to both academic and social success.”

FEARC represents its constituents at the bi-monthly Arts Undergraduate Society Council meetings. This year, FEARC also added two new executive positions to their council: a CEGEP representative and an International Student representative.

FEARC executives meet once a week, while the entire body—executives and subcommittees—meet as required. Subcommittees also convene separately with their respective heads.

First-Year Involvement Team (FIT)

FIT aims to increase first-year involvement in the Management Undergraduate Society (MUS) by relaying important information and hosting events aimed at easing the transition into university life for first-year students.

“The primary focus [of FIT] is to increase first-year involvement within the faculty,” a FIT executive wrote to the Tribune via Facebook account. “Overall, we aim to make first-year students feel more included and at home within the MUS and Bronfman.”

FIT is composed of 13 members, including students from five different McGill residences, as well as students who live off-campus. Provincial, out-of-province, and international students are all represented.

“FIT is unique from other associations because of its role within MUS,” the FIT executive wrote. “Not only is it directed [towards] management students, but FIT collaborates with other clubs and events within the MUS portfolio … to increase first-year awareness of all the opportunities the MUS has to offer.”

The team has a number of goals for the year, such as hosting events targeted at first-years, communicating regularly with the student body, and reaching out to the incoming class of 2017 to ensure that they feel welcomed before coming to campus next September.

FIT executives meet once a week to assess their progress and set goals for the week.

Freshman Undergraduate Science Society (FUSS)

The Freshman Undergraduate Science Society (FUSS) aims to increase interaction between first-year science students by acting as  a liaison to clubs and organizing various events throughout the year.

“The primary purpose of FUSS is to give the first-year science students a chance to interact with each other through various events that we will put on throughout the year, as well as [to] organize the Note-Taking Club, which sells notes that students can buy,” FUSS President Sukhmeet Singh Sachal said.

FUSS is composed of nine executive council members, all if whom are in either the faculty of science or the faculty of arts and science.

The society also organizes Judgement Day—an event that provides information about the various majors available to science and arts and science students, and helps first -year students apply to their major at the end of the year.

Sachal said the society is also going to host a series of seminars called the Freshman Interest Group for Students (FIGS), which is currently offered to only a few undergraduates due to limited space.

“This program will share information pertaining to the science field including internships, research positions, and volunteering,” Sachal said.

FUSS will host meetings once every two weeks, once the three other councillor positions have been filled.

First Year Council (FYC)

Composed of six executive members, the First Year Council (FYC) works to represent all first-year students at McGill by advocating for their needs, interests, and concerns. FYC also aims to promote the involvement of first-year students both on and off campus, to ease their transition to McGill, and to expose them to Montreal life and culture.

According to FYC President Lucy Liu, FYC is unique among the other first-year associations because it the only body that represents all first-year students, operates under SSMU in dealing with student politics, and whose primary function  isn’t to  organize events.

“We are primarily representation and advocacy-based,” Liu said. “We work on negotiating student issues, changing policies, and addressing first-year concerns.”

FYC’s priorities for the year include increasing advising and academic support to first-year students prior to their arrival at McGill, and organizing several events, including one that provides free massages to all first-year students during the exam period.

Another of FYC’s goals is to further facilitate cooperation between the other first-year associations by organizing round table discussions and subcommittees composed of representatives from each of the first-year councils. Together, they will organize several interfaculty events.

FYC meets at least once a week, while subcommittees meet when necessary.

Inter-Residence Council (IRC)

The Inter-Residence Council (IRC) is responsible for ensuring that students’ experiences in McGill residences are positive and enjoyable. According to IRC President Kareem Ibrahim, the Council hosts events throughout the year for all students in residence, and provides networking opportunities. IRC also liaises with the residences’ administration as well as Rez Life.

IRC is composed of 27 elected members—seven members who are elected by students in McGill residences, including the presidents and vice-president externals from each of the Hall Councils. Each individual residence has a Hall Council, whose members are elected by the students living in that residence.

“IRC is unique because [it is] the only association whose sole purpose is to provide for students in residence,” Ibrahim said.

According to Ibrahim, the Council is given great flexibility in how they choose to fulfill this mandate. IRC is granted a yearly budget of $20,000 for its initiatives; this comes from a portion of the residence fees paid by each student living in residence.

“This year, we aim to ensure that our events and activities cater to a diverse audience within residence, and that everybody can leave this year feeling that the IRC truly cared about their individual concerns and preferences in terms of their time in residence,” Ibrahim said.

IRC meets at a different location each week—typically at the McGill residences—in order to “better connect with the places where everyone lives and [understand] how each living space is unique,” said Ibrahim