Good evening all, and a reminder that your clocks “Fall Back” an hour this coming Sunday, November 1st.
Senate/ Senate Committees
Senate business is still very much preliminary this year. The valuable portions of the main senate meetings are the updates from Dr. Jack, as well as the COU Academic Colleague, which keep us informed as to what’s going on from their end of things. The discussions that Jack has in particular, about the direction of the province, the COU, and the priorities he has for Brock, are extremely helpful for informing my work through OUSA, and with politicians. As we are awaiting the formal submissions to the province by the COU this year, Senate and other discussions are the only avenues to keep tabs on the requests the university has for Ontario in the next few years.
I was invited to attend the Senate IT and Infrastructure Committee meeting two weeks ago in response to the motion that was passed at BUSAC supporting 24-hour learning space. I presented to the committee for approximately half an hour including questions, and a motion of support for extended hours on campus was passed. A subcommittee was struck to come with further ideas, and this committee also includes Sebastian Prins. I continue to work with Steven Pillar about a pilot 24-hour space during exams this semester.
OUSA
Of the seven work days which take place between one BUSAC meeting and the date the reports are written for the next one, probably the equivalent of four complete days was spent working on issues that pertain to OUSA.
OUSA General Assembly took place this past weekend (but after the time of writing). After the Assembly approves policies, documentation and bylaws on Sunday, I will send out anything that becomes officially approved to BUSAC by Monday, for your reference and information. I will also highlight the conference verbally and answer questions at that time. I spend time these weeks discussing with our delegates the procedures and expectations for the weekend conference.
On the 14th, I met with the OUSA Auditors to discuss their draft audits for the previous two years. There were a few questions still to answer on both sides, and a few corrections to still make based on the discussions that took place. BDO made the corrections, OUSA signed the necessary documents, and OUSA received the final audit statements on the 21st. I also spent significant time updating the OUSA year-to-date financials for presentation to General Assembly.
The policy on the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) which I was responsible for was completed as well, with editing, footnotes and other styling details taking up most of the effort on that paper in the past two weeks. I also proposed and sent amendments for the other two General Assembly papers which I did not have a direct hand in writing.
The newest version of the Ontario Operating Funds Distribution Manual, the holy scripture of Ontario university operating funding and policies, was released (nearly 200 pages), and it took significant time to go through the document to familiarize myself with any new pieces.
The National Student Survey, which both OUSA and CASA are participating in, is coming near. I spent some time working at Brock on behalf of EPI (the survey administrators) to ensure Research Ethics clearance, and some minor changes as we near the launch date of November 9th.
Friday the 16th I was in Toronto for a Steering Committee meeting. This one went significantly longer than our usual meetings, but we had a lot to discuss. We flew through a session that looked at OSAP in detail, and all the tweaks and changes we have and should be asking for. If anyone knows more about loan calculations and differences between federal and provincial systems more than Alexi and Paul, I’d like to meet that person.
During the meeting we also had Leah Myers present, she is the Postsecondary Secretariat with the MTCU, and in charge of the current round of discussions around Reaching Higher 2. She is a former President at Durham College, and before that, was the executive director of the Secretariat which supported the Rae Review. In short, she’s one of the top ears in the world to hear and understand our concerns, and influence what we need influenced moving forward this year with respect to RH2 and the tuition framework moving forward. We were able to discuss with her the following topics, all in significant detail:
- E-Learning
- Classroom technology
- Turnitin.com
- Flat fee tuition
- Differential tuition
- Co-op programs, internships and service learning
- How the above interact (negatively) with OSAP
- Branch campuses
- Quality vs. Expansion
It was an incredibly productive day, probably the best Steering Committee that I’ve had in the past year and a half in this job.
CASA
I’ve started the bookings of hotels, flights, etc. for the next CASA conference, the Annual General Meeting in November hosted by Dalhousie.
As one of the Central Regional Coordinators, I’ve also spent a fair amount of time these few weeks on the phone with my counterparts in Ontario and Quebec, gathering input to begin the process of creating CASA’s next Strategic Plan. This stage is still a brainstorming and input stage, the creation of a structure with points and goals will follow shortly.
Niagara Prosperity Advisory Committee
Brad Clarke from Off Campus Living approached me last week about the Niagara Prosperity Advisory Committee. This is a group with a number of stakeholders coming together to address challenges related to poverty, and supporting the work of those that reduce poverty throughout the Niagara Region. There are a number of town halls happening in various communities to identify some of the challenges, solutions and visions of those who face poverty situations, for use in providing some direction for this group to proceed. Brad and I are working on bringing one of these “Community Conversations” to Brock to gather the input on student-specific concerns. Please keep watching the BUSU website and some posters in the hallways to find out more about this event, if you or someone you know is affected by poverty.
Budget Town Hall
Friday October 23rd, Dr. Lightstone held the first town hall of this year’s budget cycle, and invited the BUSU executive to attend. It was effectively a re-summarization of the results of last year, with a challenge to work this year on solutions:
The results of last year’s budget saw Brock close a 17 million dollar gap by approximately 8.1 million dollars. We are now left with a 8.9 million dollar gap to tackle. The impetus in the first year, due to time, was cuts to places where cuts could be made. This year, the focus is on revenue enhancements; that is, finding ways to increase revenues with the same amount of resources, in order to close the gap by moving the revenues side upwards, rather than by moving the expenses side downwards. We have a few months to achieve some of these creative solutions, and Dr. Lightstone will be working with all the stakeholders on campus, including BUSU, on how we achieve this moving forward.
We have promised that town halls will be held, like last year, for students to specifically have student questions answered, and to inform as many people as possible moving forward. Details about when these will be, with a likely location of Isaacs, will be forthcoming.
Deferral Fee Charges
A few weeks ago, I asked Alex to begin looking at how our tuition deferral fee of $75 compared to other schools with their OSAP and tuition payment process. This was expediated in order to get the information for the Brock Press, who independently also stumbled onto that topic for a story. You will find on tonight’s agenda a policy position relating to Deferral Fees.
New Tuition Stats
A Statistics Canada report was released last Tuesday highlighting tuition trends across the country. I’m unhappy to say that Ontario was vaulted up to #1 this year, after every university took the maximum 5% hike allowed. Nova Scotia, previously in top spot, froze tuition this year, and their average actually declined. Ontario is setting new records for all the wrong reasons. I received some coverage in a story in the St. Catharines Standard (along with Kathryn Haynes), and a story in the Brock Press.
Other Meetings
BUSU AGM – Attendance of 5; did not meet quorum
Student Senate Caucus – regular meeting before Senate
O-Week Debrief – The exec are sitting down to formally discuss the process and outcomes of all the events we ran, to incorporate everyone’s feedback from an executive sense into the reports for next year’s staff, and for BUSAC
Staff appreciation dinner
Regular Executive meetings – 2x per week
VPUA Job Tip of the Week
Tip #3 – RSS Feeds
RSS stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’, and you’ll recognize the orange square symbol that you’ve seen on many websites. An RSS feed allows you to keep track of websites, blogs and other feeds that update on a regular basis, without having to continuously check their sites directly. Though there are many formats to receive RSS, my preferred method is through my e-mail, as a new folder within Microsoft Outlook which continuously scans the RSS feeds I’m subscribed to for new content. Each RSS story will show the first three lines of content in the story, with a link to take you to the source page if you want to read the whole story/blog post, etc.
I have a host of RSS feeds coming in; most blogs and news sites have RSS feeds for their content, using iGoogle I get RSS feeds updating me on any stories about Brock University, or with my name in them. I even use RSS to automatically post content from my blog, into a Facebook note for me so I don’t even have to copy-and-paste the content into Facebook. So they’re handy in two ways: delivering you content, and disseminating your content in multiple locations.
Closing Lyric of the BUSAC
“’Cause I’d get a thousand hugs
From ten thousand lightning bugs
As they tried to teach me how to dance”
- Owl City
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Tuition in Ontario climbs to highest in Canada
Press Release
October 20, 2009: Tuition in Ontario climbs to highest in Canada
Ontario students now pay the highest tuition in Canada, according to the Statistics Canada university tuition report released this morning. Average tuition levels have increased by 5%, or nearly $300 in one year, pushing Ontario past Nova Scotia and into the worst spot in the country.
“10 out of 10 is a great score on a midterm, but the worst place to be when comparing provinces,” noted Rob Lanteigne, Vice President University Affairs with the Brock University Students’ Union (BUSU), “Ontario needs to be at the top in quality, affordability and accessibility, not setting new records for the highest tuition levels.”
Ontario universities already face significant financial challenges, and our students continue to pay the highest percentage of university operating budgets, compared our counterparts in other provinces. BUSU is calling on the provincial government to bring per-student funding up to the national average, while asking for the federal government to take leadership on the nationwide issue of rising tuition.
BUSU stands with a partnership of federal and provincial student organizations across the country, representing over 600,000 students, calling upon the federal government to increase post-secondary funding to $4 billion. BUSU is a member of both the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA), and the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA).
“Coming off a summer with record highs in student unemployment, faced with rising debt levels and reduced employment prospects, it’s unreasonable to charge more tuition to students who can’t afford it,” said Lianne Bradley, BUSU President. “Both the provincial and federal governments must come to the table with substantial new investments for students.”
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For more information please contact BUSU VP University Affairs, Rob Lanteigne at vpua@busu.net or 905-688-5550 x.4198 (W)
BUSU is a not-for-profit organization representing over 15,000 undergraduate students at Brock University, working to improve the post-secondary education experience for Brock students.
October 20, 2009: Tuition in Ontario climbs to highest in Canada
Ontario students now pay the highest tuition in Canada, according to the Statistics Canada university tuition report released this morning. Average tuition levels have increased by 5%, or nearly $300 in one year, pushing Ontario past Nova Scotia and into the worst spot in the country.
“10 out of 10 is a great score on a midterm, but the worst place to be when comparing provinces,” noted Rob Lanteigne, Vice President University Affairs with the Brock University Students’ Union (BUSU), “Ontario needs to be at the top in quality, affordability and accessibility, not setting new records for the highest tuition levels.”
Ontario universities already face significant financial challenges, and our students continue to pay the highest percentage of university operating budgets, compared our counterparts in other provinces. BUSU is calling on the provincial government to bring per-student funding up to the national average, while asking for the federal government to take leadership on the nationwide issue of rising tuition.
BUSU stands with a partnership of federal and provincial student organizations across the country, representing over 600,000 students, calling upon the federal government to increase post-secondary funding to $4 billion. BUSU is a member of both the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA), and the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA).
“Coming off a summer with record highs in student unemployment, faced with rising debt levels and reduced employment prospects, it’s unreasonable to charge more tuition to students who can’t afford it,” said Lianne Bradley, BUSU President. “Both the provincial and federal governments must come to the table with substantial new investments for students.”
-------------
For more information please contact BUSU VP University Affairs, Rob Lanteigne at vpua@busu.net or 905-688-5550 x.4198 (W)
BUSU is a not-for-profit organization representing over 15,000 undergraduate students at Brock University, working to improve the post-secondary education experience for Brock students.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Council Report - October 13, 2009
Good evening all, happy returns from your Thanksgiving break
Thanksgiving Weekend Bus Service
(Caveat, this report is written on Friday morning, and thus outcomes of this bus are not yet known as of writing. Full updates can be provided for you during the meeting upon request.)
The Thanksgiving buses took place this weekend, with three bus routes. The return trip from Kitchener to St. Catharines was cancelled, a decision made on Tuesday last week based on poor ticket sales. Those who had purchased tickets on that route already were accommodated, but we were not prepared to lose the volume of money that we would have on that return trip.
As of the time of writing, sales were approaching the break-even mark for both of the outbound trips. The inbound trip from London is fairly sluggish and will cost BUSU money, but has enough passengers that running the bus is still desirable for the passengers who have purchased tickets. Not every experiment can end as an unqualified success. A full evaluation of this service will take place after the weekend, once feedback has been received from the riders and we know where the final numbers lie.
I have been working through the past few weeks responding to questions, and dealing with both stores as they have sales questions, as well as adjusting information and working with Coach Canada on the issues that arise “on the spot” with such a new service.
OUSA
Along with Justin, my counterpart at Waterloo, I have been working on a paper which will be brought to General Assembly at the end of the month for adoption. It is focused on RAP – the federal Repayment Assistance Plan, which provides support measures for students who may have difficulty paying back their loans. Ontario currently has measures known as Interest Relief (IR) and Debt Reduction in Repayment (DRR), both of which the federal government just eliminated in favour of the new RAP. This policy is focused on convincing the provincial government that harmonizing with the federal RAP is in the best interest of students, as well as recommending some changes to RAP as it exists now. This paper is just under 10 pages, and set to be finalized this week, and will be debated and (hopefully) adopted by the end of the month.
Community Barbecue
The second Community Barbecue this year was held on Wednesday October 7th in St. Catharines, at the Anglican Church on the corner of Glenridge and Glendale. About 250 people were served between 4 and 7pm. We had the assistance of BUSU staff behind the grills and tables once again, and another successful partnership with the host facility. It was, however, very chilly and lacked the grassy surface for playing which made the Thorold barbecues most successful over the past few years. We will need to be very proactive through the summer next year to find and secure a St. Catharines location that fits all of the objectives.
Great Neighbour Program
The Brock Off Campus Living/Brock University Students’ Union Great Neighbour Awards are now live, there is a link on www.busu.net to find the applications. There will be great prizes available for 6 individual students, 6 groups of students, and 4 long-term residents/households. With the Brock website switch-over, the OCL department is not ready to host this information yet, so BUSU is currently the only location for the forms, and OCL will be directing people to our site for the immediate future.
Community Connections Day of Service
Saturday October 3rd was the 2nd Annual Community Connections Day of Service (I’ve attended both now). It attracted close to 100 people, to attend one of multiple sites throughout the region to engage in service projects, and bring students a volunteer experience which they might parlay into a long-term volunteer commitment with a number of agencies. I was located at the Morningstar Mill, at Decew Falls, assisting with cataloguing in great detail all the articles which are owned by the mill and historical site.
BUFAC Meeting
Tuesday October 6th, I arranged for a training session for councillors who were interested in doing a mock-meeting to give them the tools and tips they need to become experts at Robert’s Rules, and our other council procedures. 9 people attended, as well as Damien who served as Speaker. It was a very informative session, and I think the people who went would agree that we should continue this model of training moving forward. 37 motions, covering over 30 types of motions, were made and discussed, giving these councillors practical examples of how and why to get things done at council this year.
Other Meetings
Obviously not every meeting is report-worthy and has substantial outcomes. However, I feel bad that my report looks a little “light” on initiatives this week. Below is a summary of some of the other meetings I had this week on topics which did not become noteworthy enough to warrant extra work, or larger updates.
CASA Policy Committee – discussion about an upcoming childcare policy
Kim Meade + GSA – conversation about accessible events, and regular updates between the two associations with the Brock VP Student Services
O-Week Debrief – The exec are sitting down to formally discuss the process and outcomes of all the events we ran, to incorporate everyone’s feedback from an executive sense into the reports for next year’s staff, and for BUSAC
Legislative Affairs – has held two meetings, I’ve been at both, with two bylaw proposals
Town and Gown – Thorold committee discussed reaction from O-week, but nothing of substance was raised at this meeting, only a few concerns from private citizens
2014 Conference – Brock is bidding to host a major conference in 2014, I attended a reception to help impress the site visit committee
Online Voting – Chris, Lianne, Nazir and I had a web-based presentation from a company that facilitates online voting.
Regular Executive Meetings – we have two to three of these per week, about various topics
Senate Committees – UPC and Governance both had regular meetings with very routine business. Subcommittees are being struck, and both are in the very early stages of planning the paths of action for the year
H1N1 – A staff meeting about the spread and prevention of the flu
Dr. Jack – The exec regularly has a breakfast with Dr. Jack to have updates flow in both directions about activities happening around the school, and for us to raise some concerns
Mr. Harper – Oh right, Lianne, Sohail and I briefly chatted and had a photo WITH THE PRIME MINISTER. No big deal...
VPUA Job Tip of the Week
Tip #3 – Twitter
It may be a fad, it may be a trend, but within the past 3 months, Twitter has emerged as the most vital, and the most timely, link to education and other informational news. All of the “players in the game” have twitter accounts, including OUSA, CASA, CFS, campus newspapers (but not the Brock Press...yet), universities, bloggers, and a hefty amount of student union politicians from across the country. If something relevant happens or gets released, a flurry of re-tweets ensures that it reaches a large number of people in a short amount of time. Check #cdnpse for any national stories, and updated by contributors from all across the sector. #casaacae and #cfsfcee are fairly active surrounding student group initiatives and media releases, and a host of individual bloggers have their own threads. I also follow the @brockuniversity channel for any information flowing either to or from Brock, and often place @brockuniversity in my tweets to make sure it hits a wider audience. You can check my list of follows and followers, and ask me about some of the other major players if you are interested.
Tweet Deck is a great application for your desktop, which updates twitter feeds in real-time, keeping you updated on multiple channels all day long.
Closing Lyric of the BUSAC
“Some people they’re looking for paradise
Others they’re searching for inner light
But me I’m just having the time of my life
I’m headin’ out, to check it out”
- Bryan Adams
Thanksgiving Weekend Bus Service
(Caveat, this report is written on Friday morning, and thus outcomes of this bus are not yet known as of writing. Full updates can be provided for you during the meeting upon request.)
The Thanksgiving buses took place this weekend, with three bus routes. The return trip from Kitchener to St. Catharines was cancelled, a decision made on Tuesday last week based on poor ticket sales. Those who had purchased tickets on that route already were accommodated, but we were not prepared to lose the volume of money that we would have on that return trip.
As of the time of writing, sales were approaching the break-even mark for both of the outbound trips. The inbound trip from London is fairly sluggish and will cost BUSU money, but has enough passengers that running the bus is still desirable for the passengers who have purchased tickets. Not every experiment can end as an unqualified success. A full evaluation of this service will take place after the weekend, once feedback has been received from the riders and we know where the final numbers lie.
I have been working through the past few weeks responding to questions, and dealing with both stores as they have sales questions, as well as adjusting information and working with Coach Canada on the issues that arise “on the spot” with such a new service.
OUSA
Along with Justin, my counterpart at Waterloo, I have been working on a paper which will be brought to General Assembly at the end of the month for adoption. It is focused on RAP – the federal Repayment Assistance Plan, which provides support measures for students who may have difficulty paying back their loans. Ontario currently has measures known as Interest Relief (IR) and Debt Reduction in Repayment (DRR), both of which the federal government just eliminated in favour of the new RAP. This policy is focused on convincing the provincial government that harmonizing with the federal RAP is in the best interest of students, as well as recommending some changes to RAP as it exists now. This paper is just under 10 pages, and set to be finalized this week, and will be debated and (hopefully) adopted by the end of the month.
Community Barbecue
The second Community Barbecue this year was held on Wednesday October 7th in St. Catharines, at the Anglican Church on the corner of Glenridge and Glendale. About 250 people were served between 4 and 7pm. We had the assistance of BUSU staff behind the grills and tables once again, and another successful partnership with the host facility. It was, however, very chilly and lacked the grassy surface for playing which made the Thorold barbecues most successful over the past few years. We will need to be very proactive through the summer next year to find and secure a St. Catharines location that fits all of the objectives.
Great Neighbour Program
The Brock Off Campus Living/Brock University Students’ Union Great Neighbour Awards are now live, there is a link on www.busu.net to find the applications. There will be great prizes available for 6 individual students, 6 groups of students, and 4 long-term residents/households. With the Brock website switch-over, the OCL department is not ready to host this information yet, so BUSU is currently the only location for the forms, and OCL will be directing people to our site for the immediate future.
Community Connections Day of Service
Saturday October 3rd was the 2nd Annual Community Connections Day of Service (I’ve attended both now). It attracted close to 100 people, to attend one of multiple sites throughout the region to engage in service projects, and bring students a volunteer experience which they might parlay into a long-term volunteer commitment with a number of agencies. I was located at the Morningstar Mill, at Decew Falls, assisting with cataloguing in great detail all the articles which are owned by the mill and historical site.
BUFAC Meeting
Tuesday October 6th, I arranged for a training session for councillors who were interested in doing a mock-meeting to give them the tools and tips they need to become experts at Robert’s Rules, and our other council procedures. 9 people attended, as well as Damien who served as Speaker. It was a very informative session, and I think the people who went would agree that we should continue this model of training moving forward. 37 motions, covering over 30 types of motions, were made and discussed, giving these councillors practical examples of how and why to get things done at council this year.
Other Meetings
Obviously not every meeting is report-worthy and has substantial outcomes. However, I feel bad that my report looks a little “light” on initiatives this week. Below is a summary of some of the other meetings I had this week on topics which did not become noteworthy enough to warrant extra work, or larger updates.
CASA Policy Committee – discussion about an upcoming childcare policy
Kim Meade + GSA – conversation about accessible events, and regular updates between the two associations with the Brock VP Student Services
O-Week Debrief – The exec are sitting down to formally discuss the process and outcomes of all the events we ran, to incorporate everyone’s feedback from an executive sense into the reports for next year’s staff, and for BUSAC
Legislative Affairs – has held two meetings, I’ve been at both, with two bylaw proposals
Town and Gown – Thorold committee discussed reaction from O-week, but nothing of substance was raised at this meeting, only a few concerns from private citizens
2014 Conference – Brock is bidding to host a major conference in 2014, I attended a reception to help impress the site visit committee
Online Voting – Chris, Lianne, Nazir and I had a web-based presentation from a company that facilitates online voting.
Regular Executive Meetings – we have two to three of these per week, about various topics
Senate Committees – UPC and Governance both had regular meetings with very routine business. Subcommittees are being struck, and both are in the very early stages of planning the paths of action for the year
H1N1 – A staff meeting about the spread and prevention of the flu
Dr. Jack – The exec regularly has a breakfast with Dr. Jack to have updates flow in both directions about activities happening around the school, and for us to raise some concerns
Mr. Harper – Oh right, Lianne, Sohail and I briefly chatted and had a photo WITH THE PRIME MINISTER. No big deal...
VPUA Job Tip of the Week
Tip #3 – Twitter
It may be a fad, it may be a trend, but within the past 3 months, Twitter has emerged as the most vital, and the most timely, link to education and other informational news. All of the “players in the game” have twitter accounts, including OUSA, CASA, CFS, campus newspapers (but not the Brock Press...yet), universities, bloggers, and a hefty amount of student union politicians from across the country. If something relevant happens or gets released, a flurry of re-tweets ensures that it reaches a large number of people in a short amount of time. Check #cdnpse for any national stories, and updated by contributors from all across the sector. #casaacae and #cfsfcee are fairly active surrounding student group initiatives and media releases, and a host of individual bloggers have their own threads. I also follow the @brockuniversity channel for any information flowing either to or from Brock, and often place @brockuniversity in my tweets to make sure it hits a wider audience. You can check my list of follows and followers, and ask me about some of the other major players if you are interested.
Tweet Deck is a great application for your desktop, which updates twitter feeds in real-time, keeping you updated on multiple channels all day long.
Closing Lyric of the BUSAC
“Some people they’re looking for paradise
Others they’re searching for inner light
But me I’m just having the time of my life
I’m headin’ out, to check it out”
- Bryan Adams
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