Approximately 15,000 Concordia students have been invited to participate in the 2012 National Survey of Student Engagement.
The NSSE is a questionnaire given to first- and final-year students that looks at how students evaluate their university experience and the change from first to last year.
The survey was conducted at 750 universities across the continent in 2011 and includes 71 questions and five different benchmarks.
Bradley Tucker, the director of institutional planning and analysis at Concordia, said there is a lot of merit in the results of the NSSE.
“We get a very clear picture of what our students are telling us. We can count on the fact that what we’re seeing is true,” he said.
The questions focus on a variety of topics ranging from how much a student discusses grades with instructors, to how many community events a student attends, and how well he or she interacts with other students and faculty members.
“It’s not just numbers, we get comments as well,” he explained. “Our students have something to say and we’re listening.”
Concordia Provost David Graham stated that last year, the response rate of students was 25 per cent.
“That’s pretty extraordinary for a survey,” he said. “We want to increase the number of students participating. We want to increase the accuracy.”
Graham went on to say that students who complete the NSSE before March 1 could win a Chapters-Indigo gift card and all students who complete it by March 31 will be entered to win an Apple iPad 2.
The survey was done in 2006, 2008 and 2011 and will now be conducted on an annual basis.
Polling for Arts and Science Federation of Associations’ general election began today with the surprise resignation of the chief electoral officer.
Chris Webster stepped down from his position at 8 a.m. on Feb. 15, mere hours before polling stations were set to open. He is the second ASFA CEO to resign during this academic year.
ASFA President Alex Gordon said he did not expect Webster’s decision in the least.
“I can’t say I foresaw this happening,” he said.
Gordon explained that VP internal, Schubert Laforest, received a call from the former CEO tendering his resignation. Gordon described the feeling at the time as “a bit of a panic.”
He went on to say that he and Laforest had to spring into immediate action in order to get the stations situated across campus open in time.
“A lot of the leg work had already been done,” said Gordon. “There was already a schedule set up, ballots had been printed. It was just a matter of putting it all together.”
Gordon confirmed that during the electoral process, he had heard that Webster felt “unprepared” and “stressed,” but hadn’t been overly concerned by it.
Laforest said he was completely “blind-sided” by Webster’s decision and that getting things organized was a bit of a scramble.
“We had to start from scratch,” he said.
Laforest explained that Webster cited several reasons for resigning but he didn’t go into much detail.
“[Webster] said it was the atmosphere of the elections and how he was interacting with it,” said Laforest.
He also cited a disagreement between Webster and ASFA’s judicial board over an alleged campaign violation concerning one of the candidates, as being an influence in the decision.
Laforest said he did his best to facilitate the elections himself for the first day, but “I don’t want it to be a conflict of interest.”
Gordon explained that the executive would pick up the slack and that the three deputy electoral officers who sit on the elections committee would take over for Webster.
“So much of the work had already been put in,” he said. “It’s up to the executive to step up now.”
McGill students occupying the James administration building - Photo by Navneet Pall
McGill students occupying the James administration building – Photo by Navneet Pall
After almost 115 hours, the nine students still occupying the sixth floor of the McGill James Administration building were evicted by Montreal police Sunday morning.
The Occupy McGill movement started last Tuesday when 23 students assembled in the office of Deputy Provost (student life & learning) Morton Mendelson to take a stand against the university administration’s decision to not validate the results of a student referendum.
The referendum, which took place in Nov. 2011, was in regard to the continued autonomy of campus groups CKUT radio and Quebec Public Interest Research Group-McGill.
The referendum questions asked students to confirm whether or not they supported the continued funding of the groups and if they agreed that the opt-out period, in which students can choose to not pay fees to the groups, should be switched from online to in-person. Over 60 per cent of those who cast their ballots voted “yes” in the referendum.
Sami Fink, a McGill occupier, said that despite the eviction, the protest was not in vain.
“Occupy McGill is still a victory since we made the university use force to evict occupiers,” Fink explained. “It caught the attention that we wanted.”
McGill spokesman Doug Sweet explained that officers of the SPVM informed students Sunday morning that they had five minutes to leave and no charges would be pressed.
“We wanted to get services back up and running for Monday,” said Sweet. “We needed to get the building back in operation.”
Sweet went on to say that the university had denied occupiers access to electricity and washrooms in an effort to “persuade them to leave of their own accord.”
Despite the firm approach, the university administration did provide water to occupiers, added Sweet.
“We didn’t take any measures that would endanger the health of students,” he reiterated.
Following the eviction, a protest of solidarity occurred on Feb. 13 where students expressed their discontent with a new set of provisional rules issued by the university concerning how students will be allowed to protest in the future. Over 60 people were reportedly in attendance.
The Occupy McGill organizers first entered the James building to orchestrate a “surprise resignation party” planned for Mendelson. Students peacefully started redecorating and preparing to celebrate in front of his office.
A second wave of about 20 students followed, but were welcomed by security who tried to stop Throughout last week, occupiers ran low on basic supplies and several students on the outside found creative ways to get around security. At one point, an estimated 40 pounds of food was delivered up to the sixth floor window via a pulley system.
Occupiers stayed in the James building for more than five days. Students supported them by finding creative ways to deliver them food – Photo by Navneet Pall
As time went by, the second group stayed in the lobby and a third group of students started camping outside the building to support the occupiers.
Caitlin Mason, an outreach coordinator at CKUT, said the station was not directly affiliated to the movement but agreed on the principle that McGill denied a right to students.
“The occupy movement caught us off-guard,” said Mason. “We had reached a principle agreement with the administration an hour before students occupied the building. However, as a student organization we completely support the students’ freedom of speech.”
CKUT has agreed to another referendum in March, while QPIRG McGill has not chosen to accept the same deal.
QPIRG McGill board member Simone Lucas said the organization was “disappointed” with the way the administration has been treating students.
“This is a continuation of what has happened in the past,” she said, “student dissent met with punitive measures.”
Lucas said this is a clear indication of the administration’s unwillingness to listen to students.
On Feb. 11, QPIRG extended an offer to the McGill administration to engage in negotiations which include student protesters.
“We would like to have a dialogue with the administration and the occupiers,” said Lucas.
