Council Report March 30

We’re in the home stretch. After you read this report, I’ll have a month left in office, and only one council report left. Eat it up, you know you’ll miss my words of wisdom when I’ve moved on...

OUSA

Last weekend, I attended the OUSA General Assembly in London along with 5 other BUSU delegates. I’m sad to say this is my last official conference as a BUSU executive, and it’s hard to let good times go by.

At the conference, we were addressed by current Attorney-General of Ontario, and former TCU Minister, Chris Bentley, as well as MPP Yasir Naqvi. Friday and Saturday were full of presentations and policy discussions, followed by the plenary session on Sunday. OSUA passed research papers on E-Learning and Alternate Cost Recovery Models, as well as a policy statement on Differentiation, and full papers on Students with Disabilities (co-written by Lianne), Student Success, and System Vision. The OUSA Long-Term Plan was also approved.

Wow, when you write it out, you can actually fit that all into a paragraph! Let me tell you, there were hundreds of pages of readings, and some fantastic debate, amendments and insight into all the business passed. Thank you to all the delegates, especially the Brock ones, for allowing OUSA the most prepared and smoothest conference I’ve seen in two years!

Provincial Budget

On March 25th, the provincial government introduced their budget. It was one which leaves significant gaps and unanswered questions: the tuition framework was not discussed, no was student aid, ongoing university funding, or any other elements of the anticipated ‘Reaching Higher 2’. (This report is being written on Friday morning for the BUSAC deadline). Indications are the Ministry will be speaking with stakeholders on Friday and Monday to outline the timelines from here forward, including possible extensions of the current tuition policy, and a timeline for when the ‘full’ RH2 will be rolled out to bring 4-5 years of predictability to the sector.

What the budget did contain was $310 million to fund 20,000 new spaces in both college and universities. This amount of money is significant and positive; more than enough money to fully-fund enrolment, while providing room for operating budgets to improve quality as well. How much of this money and which spaces will flow to Brock are still to be determined.

The budget also outlined a plan to increase international student enrolment by 50% in the province. This in itself is not a bad thing, however international student tuition remains the only type of tuition deregulated in the province. We are hopeful that the tuition framework will address something about not using international students as a revenue source to supplement operating budgets; Ontario needs to be a jurisdiction attracting the brightest international students, not the richest ones.

Finally, the budget did not mention anything regarding the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. No new infrastructure funding was announced, but it was signalled that existing infrastructure ‘pots’ might be opened to applications from the post-secondary sector. No specific projects were announced either, so we did not ‘lose out’ to anybody, but the time is certainly ticking on this project, and I know Brock officials are already hard at work preparing whatever applications are necessary to get this building into the air.

Dean Searches

Two weeks ago, the first two candidates for the Humanities Dean were brought through Brock. Two more are to come in the next few weeks, followed by four candidates for the Education Dean. I have been/will be meeting with all of them in a student consultation session on their visit days, and then providing confidential thoughts to the search committees.

That being said, Brock is nearly ready to announce the new Dean of Business. Senate was privy to the decision in an in-camera session, and it will be announced shortly.

Senate Business

At Senate last week (and all the committees work that came before), it has finally been approved to make the changes to co-op that have been highlighted in some of the budgetary remarks. Without students doing any extra work, the back-end of co-op has been switched around to gain BIU funding for the university, while allowing most of the student co-op fee to be counted as tuition, and thus eligible for OSAP funding and tuition tax credits.

Though I continue to vote against seminar cuts due to budgetary constraints both at the committee and full senate level, once again another program has seen seminar cuts for no productive reason. Tourism and the Environment joins the list of departments which have been forced to make cuts to their small group learning only for budget reasons.

In upcoming Senate business, I am compiling information and doing some quick research (along with Alex Kidd) into the topic of placing a student’s minor onto their diploma. Students have worked hard for their qualifications, and it would be nice for them to receive the recognition for the additional components they have been able to complete other than their major. If you have any thoughts on this topic, please send them to me.

Transition

I have continued to prepare Daud for what he will be facing next year, we have been spending transition time learning the office, and he’s been asking questions about most facets of the job. I’ve given him a USB key with about 25-30 key documents to give him the background knowledge on many of the major projects and initiatives, and we’ve still got another month to go and learn.

Brock Outdoors Referendum

As most of you know, I was also on the NO team for the recent Brock Outdoors referendum, and was the face of the team in both debates. I also spent significant time in the hallways over the past few weeks. After 4 full campaigning sessions in the last three years, I’ve seen enough of Academic South and backboards to last me a lifetime. I’m happy to say that at Isaacs on Thursday, it was announced that 69.5% of you voted NO to Brock Outdoors! As far as I’m able to find through our documentation, this is the first time a NO campaign (reaching quorum) has won a referendum in BUSU in 19 years. Congratulations to everyone who helped out!

News from Across the Country

Wow, what quantity this week! After a quiet month during many school election times, there are dozens of high-hitting stories for this report. Here’s a selection:

Manitoba Government / Budget

Manitoba tabled their provincial budget last week, offering up two major goodies for post-secondary education. Public universities and colleges received a 4.5% increase to their operating grants, invest in Early Outreach, and allow students to access part of their tuition tax rebates while they are still enrolled in school.
http://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?archive=2010-03-01&item=8025

Universite de Moncton Student Union (FEECUM)

It’s the end of the line for the campus bar at Moncton, as the student-union run pub, Osmose, is closing on March 31st. The bar has lost $120,000 over the last two years, and the plug is being pulled for financial reasons.
http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/search/article/989702

York University and York Federation of Students

The President of York University has asked the York Ombudsperson (university-staffed) to investigate the process and results of the recent elections for the YFS. York is one of the student unions frequently criticized for unfair insider control over the election process, including multiple conflicts of interest within the CRO and appeals mechanisms. Such criticisms are usually noted by an “insider” slate appearing favoured over a “change” slate. This year, multiple members of the 21-person slate “New York” were disqualified, some for reasons that included handing out copies of the student newspaper.

The results of this review may have broader implications beyond just York. It will investigate the fiduciary duty which Universities may/may not have over the conduct of the autonomous student unions which operate on their campuses, and the duty held by the university when it collects money (through tuition at registration) on behalf of student unions.
http://www.yorku.ca/yfile/archive/index.asp?Article=14523
http://www.joeycoleman.ca/2010/03/21/york-university-president-requests-review-of-student-union-election/

Ryerson University

Over to Ryerson, with some background. A student who was charged with academic misconduct a few years ago for starting a facebook group which encouraged students to share answers to graded course work. The department called for him to be expelled at the time; his punishment was eventually settled as a mark of 0 on that assignment, plus a requirement to attend an academic integrity meeting. This student is back, now suing Ryerson through a $10 million class-action lawsuit for denying students the right to legal representation in preliminary academic discipline hearings.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/782045--ryerson-faces-10m-class-action-lawsuit?bn=1#article

Other Student Election Dysfunction

Check out the blog post by David Foster, an avid watcher of campus politics at University of Victoria, for a compilation of election “situations” at UBC, Ottawa, Carleton, York, Toronto, Ryerson, Simon Fraser, St. Mary’s, and his own at Victoria.
http://eyeontheuvss.blogspot.com/2010/03/electoral-dysfunction-national.html

CFS Defederation Referendums

Two referendums were held last week for student associations to leave the CFS and related provincial components...and it is once again likely that both of them will end up in court.

The University of Calgary Graduate Students voted, with 15.6% turnout, 81.6% in favour of leaving the Federation. The Concordia Student Union voted 72% in favour of leaving the Federation. Neither of them was considered an official referendum by the CFS, and no CFS campaigners (usually including national office staff, and other student leaders brought in from across the country) were present.

At Calgary, the petition process was initiated last year, but a response was only received from CFS National my March or April, stating that the GSA owed them money. This year, the GSA began the petition process again, but was not one of the two schools awarded a referendum after the passage of “Motion Six” at the CFS AGM (google it, or read previous reports). The GSA went ahead with this referendum anyway, and with over 80% support, this will likely end up in a legal battle over the legality of Motion 6 and the retroactive application of rules.

At Concordia, the CSU was actually granted one of the two “legitimate” referendums in the spring (along with ACAD in Alberta, to be held later). However, the CSU was then served with a notice from the CFS claiming over $1,000,000 in back-dues before their referendum could be held. Neither the CSU internal process, nor the CFS financial statements, have ever indicated any unpaid balance. Student leaders at Concordia dispute the fact that money is owed, and the CSU went ahead with this referendum without official compliance of the CFS. It will likely also end up in a legal battle, over the same issues.

VPUA Job Tip of the Week

Tip #13 – You’re the Team Captain

As a VPUA, you’re often leading delegations to conferences. At the very least, the President will be by your side at most events. For events like OUSA, you may be in charge of a delegation of 6 people. And as the resident expert (supposedly) of what’s all happening, this means you’re the Team Captain and in charge of others.

The little details all tend to add up: like directions, hotel reservations, meal plans, breaks, faith requirements, finding buildings, introductions, what-to-bring, social activities, and of course, making sure everyone has read the mountains of pre-readings that go into every conference.

It’s a job in itself, and this means you need to be prepared. You can’t start planning for a conference the day before, or hope that you can get the pre-readings done on the drive. Most likely, you’re the driver. And you’re probably going to have your delegates pepper you with questions about the readings on the way. (Either that, or you have to hound them to get the material read so that Brock has something educated to say and makes their presence actually worthwhile).

Keep lists and folders in your office. Lists of things you need to bring on every conference. Checklists of all the details and things to bring (remember that Ethernet cord for your hotel room, powerbar for the meeting room, and your swim/workout clothing for the hotel fitness area). Folders for every type of confirmation, including vehicle rental/airline, registration, hotel, and meals. Keep a location for all receipts.

Staying organized is the only way to stay sane. That’s applicable at all times of the year, but especially true when you’ve got 5 other people pulling you in different directions, and whom you’re responsible for when away from BUSU.


Closing Lyric of the BUSAC

“It’s time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap
It’s time to try defying gravity
I think I’ll try defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye, I’m defying gravity
And you won’t bring me down
I’m through accepting limits
‘cause someone says they’re so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try, I’ll never know”
Wicked, via Glee