UWSA's VPUA Ryan Osterberg takes too much time off
By Michal Tellos
News Editor
January 13, 2010
 By early fall, UWSA vice president of administration, Ryan Osterberg, found himself with negative 10 vacation days - a situation that has never previously occurred.
Executive positions are paid through student tuition. Their job is to best represent students’ needs and concerns, and to ensure a well rounded university experience.
Osterberg is responsible for UWSA’s administrative aspects as a corporation, as well as large scale events on campus, and several campus programs.
Absenteeism became a concern after Osterberg ran out of vacation time in October after representing students for 4 months. Executives are given 10 paid vacation days and five unpaid sick days.
Osterberg explained that visiting family in Alberta in August and October ate up most of his time. Other incidents were random sick days in which isolation was recommended to UWSA, especially in wake of spreading the H1N1 flu. This prevalence has left Osterberg taking a total of 25 vacation and sick days, 10 over his limit.
Although Aaron Campbell, vice president of finance and operations, organizes and posts attendance for members to view, Osterberg admits he did not always get the chance to look.
“I just lost track of days... It got away from me,” he said. In order to make up for lost time, Osterberg proposed that he would work one week for free in January and another during reading week next semester.
However, UWSA board of directors (BOD) and council members have authorized President of UWSA, Mohsin Khan to take alternative, immediate action.
On Nov. 10, during an in-camera meeting, the board came together and announced a solution.
“Board of directors issued clear instructions on how they expect the situation of negative vacation days to be rectified immediately,” Khan stated about the gathering.
The agreement resulted that within the next four weeks, Osterberg will only be paid for two. He agrees this is a fair consequence and respects the BOD for their concern.
UWSA senator Patrick Lalonde agrees that being on campus and being accountable is the key to representing students.
“When executives exceed this time off, they are not providing the service to the members of UWSA that they were elected to provide,” he said.
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