The CSU held a town hall to discuss what to do with the new building they bought
Community fridge, meeting rooms and open spaces: those were some of the many ideas the Concordia Student Union (CSU) and other student groups discussed at the town hall Tuesday, Feb. 21.
Unlike many other universities in North America, Concordia did not have its own official student building — until now. Bought in Winter 2022, the new student building will see its renovations start in Jan. 2024 after students agree on how they envision it being constructed.
This town hall invited students and community members to take part in a small group discussion around a table filled with possible sketches of the new building. After this consultation process, the CSU will share a report on the different possibilities the building could offer students.
Located just across the Hall Building on Bishop Street, the new student building will help foster an even stronger student community, according to CSU sustainability coordinatorSean Levis. “It’s important for us that students are consulted in the planning process for what is going to be a part of the building.”
After more than 20 years of raising funds, the CSU is now in a consultation process to find out how to make this new building an active and collaborative space.The student groups discussed the possibility of open spaces, a greenhouse, kitchen, and even showers for the brave souls biking to school.
Student groups attended the town hall to take part in the discussion. “This is a real important building. It is going to be a focal point on campus for years and years, centuries actually,” said Donald Armstrong, one of the collective members of Le Frigo Vert.
Student groups asked students to have their voices heard and express their needs to make this future building their own. “You come to university to get a degree, but also to meet people, develop as a person and find what you are passionate about, and I think a lot of the groups sitting here today really represent that,” said Angelica Calcagnile, the president of the Concordia Student Broadcast Corporation.
The CSU invites students to take part in the next annual general meeting in April to vote on the report gathered by the CSU and the student groups.
Concordia University's Sir George Williams Campus. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian
The standing committee responsible for combatting sexual violence on campus remains highly unpopular Amongst the student body
Debates raged at the Concordia Student Union’s (CSU) regular council meeting (RCM) on Jan. 11, over the ongoing boycott of the University’s Standing Committee on Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Violence (SMSV) as student representatives discussed potential solutions to end sexual misconduct on campus.
The boycott dates back to October 5, 2022, when the CSU, alongside the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) and the Teaching and Research Assistants at Concordia (TRAC) formally withdrew from the SMSV.
The action came after years of criticism from members of the SMSV and from the student body at large over the committee’s lack of transparency and failure to support survivors of sexual assault.
The conversation was sparked after it came to light that multiple candidates had been appointed to the SMSV during an appointments committee meeting last December. This action, if passed, would have ended the CSU’s ongoing boycott of the SMSV.
Fawaz Halloum, general coordinator of the CSU, explained the reason behind the appointments committee’s decision at the RCM on Jan. 11. According to Halloum, the decision was made in response to Lisa White, executive director of the Equity Office at Concordia University and chair of the SMSV, who was threatening to appoint students to the committee without the CSU’s consent.
“I find it very troubling because it takes a lot from our power as a union,”
Said Halloum.
After consulting with a legal expert, Halloum said he was advised that the best course of action would be to appoint students to the SMSV — either to ensure the CSU maintains a voice on the committee, or to continue the protest by having committee members refuse to show up.
The proposed nomination was met with harsh criticism from many in attendance at last week’s RCM.
TRAC’s bargaining officer Mya Walmsley called the move “disgraceful.” Walmsley believes that the concessions the University’s offered in response to end the dispute was not made with the students body’s best interests, but rather to legitimise the SMSV’s poor track record.
“Obviously [the administration is] going to try to get you back with honey [rather than vinegar],” said Walmsley. “Promising these sorts of vague and nonspecific concessions is the way to do it.”
Walmsley asserted that, due to the current circumstances, the best course of action would be to further escalate the conflict to press their demands.
“We have the power now, we have the opportunity to talk to Lisa White whenever we want, we just don’t have to do it through the committee [SMSV],” said Walmsley.
“The argument that we gain more power by ending the boycott is absurd. It’s like giving up power will give us more power.”
Said Wamsley.
The CSU’s External Affairs Coordinator Julianna Smith presented a motion which was passed to reject the appointment committee’s nomination to continue the boycott.
However, CSU counsellor Mohamad Abdallah spoke out against continuing the boycott. He questioned the purpose of an indefinite boycott and argued that the decision was harming students.
“How is this boycott harming [the administration] more than it is harming us by preventing us from representation? They have already appointed new people on that committee,” said Abdallah.
Abdallah also challenged the idea that those in favour of ending the boycott were, in essence, supporting the current policies that are in place.
“Our goal is the same at the end of the day, but we are taking different roads to reach the same goal, which is to change these policies regarding sexual violence and sexual harrassment in the University,” said Abdallah.
Nevertheless, Abdallah’s position remained unpopular amongst CSU councillors. The boycott of the SMSV will continue into the foreseeable future.
Other motions passed at the Oct. 12 RCM include a $35,000 grant to Students For Consent Culture and the appointment of a new CEO for the CSU
On Wednesday, Oct. 12, the Concordia Student Union (CSU) reconvened for the second Regular Council Meeting (RCM) of the fall semester. The major developments from this RCM are as follows:
CSU pledges $35,000 to Students For Consent Culture (SFCC)
The CSU executive team unanimously passed a motion to renew a grant worth $35,000 to SFCC. SFCC is a student-based organization dedicated towards ending sexual violence on campus.
SCFF’s representatives told the CSU the funding will be used to help support ongoing SFCC projects and advocate for further implementation of sex violence and safe space policies on Concordia’s campuses.
The decision comes after representatives from the CSU announced a withdrawal from Concordia’s Standing Committee on Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Violence.
CSU committees remain understaffed
The shortage of volunteers that affected many CSU committees last month continues as many committees struggled to fill the vacant positions on their respective bodies. Less than a third of the 18 vacant committee seats were filled by the end of the appointment phase of the RCM.
The Student Life Committee (SLC), which oversees the allocation of $30,000 in the special-project fund, once again failed to reach the minimum requirement of members to reconvene. Amina Vance, an arts and science councillor, was the only volunteer to join SLC at the RCM.
Councillor Vance stated that she was motivated to temporarily join the committee solely to open the special-project fund.
“It just seems so unfair that we have this money that we can open to students and special projects,” said Vance.
Despite Vance’s appointment to the SLC, the special projects fund will remain inaccessible until an additional councillor joins the committee.
Ikjot Singh appointed as CEO of the CSU
The CSU voted unanimously to appoint second-year finance student Ikjot Singh as the CEO of the CSU.
CSU General Coordinator Fawaz Halloum put forward Singh’s candidacy during the RCM on Oct. 12. The CSU’s appointments committee recommended Singh for the position after interviewing candidates on Oct. 3. 2022.
Singh will be responsible for overseeing all CSU elections and enforcing CSU regulations during the election process for the duration of his mandate.
Former CSU councillor Jeremya Deneault delivers resignation speech to the Council of Representatives.
During the announcement period of the second RCM, former CSU councillor Jeremya Deneault took the opportunity to address the Council of Representatives for the last time. Deneault’s speech was delivered retrospectively after his resignation during the previous RCM on Sept. 19.
Deneault’s speech was reflective of his time working for the council and his legacy as the CSU’s first openly autistic councillor.
In addition, Deneault accused the CSU of fostering a hostile culture between rival student alliances.
The former councillor also addressed the backlash he faced for comments he made allegedly trivializing gender neutral pronouns while in office.
When reached for comment, Deneault said: “People deserve both to have their pronouns respected and to have some time to adapt their speech. I understand some people might have concerns about me, but at the end of the day I’m a fun person who simply wanted to ease some of the boredom and tension at meetings with some lighthearted humour.”
Correction:
In a previous version of this article, the appointment of Ijkot Singh was attributed to the CSU’s executive team. The executive team brought forward the motion to present Ijkot Singh as CEO of the CSU to the council of representatives, who then voted unanimously to ratify the appointment.
Student Life Coorindator Harley Martin during Wednesday's CSU meeting. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian
The CSU reassembles for the first Regular Council Meeting of the fall semester
On Wednesday, Sept. 21, representatives from the Concordian Student Union (CSU) gathered at the Hall building to attend the first Regular Council Meeting (RCM) of the 2022-23 school year. In total, seven representatives on the CSU’s executive team and eight CSU councillors attended to discuss initiatives for the upcoming year. Here were the major topics of discussion:
$30,000 worth of funding remains inaccessible due to lack of volunteers on CSU committees
During the committee appointment phase at the RCM, a number of CSU committees struggled to fill the vacant positions on their respective bodies, leaving many committees at risk of being unable to meet their respective quorums.
The impact of the shortage of volunteers means that the CSU will have severely limited operational capabilities for the foreseeable future. One example of the consequences of this volunteer shortage is the Student Life Committee (SLC).
The SLC, which oversees the allocation of around $30,000 worth of funding within the special-project fund, was in need of three additional committee members at last week’s meeting before it could resume operations.
Student life coordinator Harley Martin made sure to stress that unless these vacant positions are filled, the SLC would be unable to reconvene and the special-project fund would remain inaccessible for student use in the foreseeable future.
“I get multiple emails every week of people wanting to apply on this funding,” said Martin. “But we need to have a committee to vote to open that funding in the first place. So we really need people to join.”
Despite Martin’s pleas, only one CSU executive volunteered and was appointed to the SLC on Wednesday.
Amendments to the 2022-23 mural festival project
Another motion passed at the RCM — the 2022-23 mural motion — included two amendments made to a motion from last year, regarding the establishment of a mural within the G-Lounge space located at Concordia’s Loyola Campus.
Both amendments, which were presented by the CSU’s Loyola Coordinator Sabrina Morena, involved the reallocation of the project to a different artist from the one specified in the original motion. The amendments also ensured that the CSU would prioritize Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC) artists during the selection process for the project.
When questioned about the rationale behind the amendments, councillor Morena clarified that the amendments were necessary once it became apparent that the artist initially commissioned for the project was unable to complete the project within the intended time frame due to prior obligations.
Referendum on CSU General Operations Fee Levy increase to be featured on upcoming bi-election ballet.
The CSU unanimously approved a motion to include a referendum question regarding a 25-cents-per-credit increase to the CSU General Operations Fee Levy in the upcoming CSU bi-elections.
The referendum will provide students with the opportunity to vote on whether or not they approve the proposed increase of the CSU General Operations Fee Levy from $2.46 to $2.71 per credit. If passed, the fee levy increase will be implemented as early as the beginning of the 2023 winter semester.
While presenting the motion to the RCM on Wednesday, academic and advocacy coordinator Asli Isaaq stated that the intention behind the fee levy increase is to help the CSU provide additional services to meet the surge in demand with the return to in-person instruction.
CSU opens Student Space, Accessible Education, and Legal Contingency Fund (SSAELC) to striking Members of Associations (MAs)
The CSU also voted in favour of amending its policy to allow for the SSAELC to fund student associations on strike. CSU’s external affairs and mobilization coordinator Julianna Smith explained the application process for funds through reimbursement. MAs should expect to receive a reimbursement around mid to late October.
The CSU’s decision comes after multiple MAs passed mandates to go on strike in the coming weeks. As of Wed, Sept. 28, 11 MAs under the Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) have approved a strike from Oct. 3 to 7 in support of a fall reading week for the 2022-23 school semester.
Fawaz Haloum, the CSU's newly-appointed General Coordinator, at Concordia's downtown campus. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian
Elected after the resignation of the previous General Coordinator, Fawaz Halloum is ready to start his year
Fawaz Halloum takes over as General Coordinator after the previous Concordia Student Union (CSU) leader, Elijah Olise, resigned over the summer. Despite starting in the middle of the mandate, he says: “I can do this role. It’s a role of support and just providing an environment where people can be heard and speak freely.”
A fourth-year history student, Halloum joined the CSU in his first year as a board member, and climbed up the ranks with the hopes of one day becoming an executive.
“I’ve had a lot of exposure to how the CSU works and I’ve always felt like I could bring some change.”
Halloum took over the position shortly after Olise was involved in a dispute and resigned.
Julianna Smith, the CSU’s External Affairs & Mobilization Coordinator, in her office at Concordia’s downtown campus. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian
According to the CSU’s External Affairs and Mobilization coordinator, Julianna Smith, “[Olise] was brought to an impeachment trial — he was about 20 minutes late — and then he resigned in the middle of the impeachment trial, before evidence could be provided.”
The executive committee elected Halloum as a replacement in August, and he accepted the position despite needing to juggle it with his role as Internal Affairs Coordinator.
Halloum shared his plans for his year-long mandate. His first priority is overseeing the renovation of a CSU building downtown, which will become a student centre. This is the first time CSU dabbles in real estate.
“This is unique and, in a way, historic. So that’s on the top of my list, making that student centre ready for use by next summer.”
He also wants to improve mental health services for students, and he hopes to establish a drop-in daycare for student-parents like him.
When asked about Halloum, Smith stated that “he’s someone who is very determined and has a clear outlook of what he wants. He’s good at seeing something up ahead and following it through to the end.”
Both coordinators are excited about the CSU’s plans for the semester. “We want to bring back the vibrancy that Concordia has, because we do have such a vibrant community,” says Smith. “We have so many clubs, so many different fee-levies, so many groups, so we just want to bring everyone together so we can all have a great year.”
Concordia’s Student media comes together to profile this year’s CSU executive candidates
To cover this year’s CSU elections, The Concordian, The Link and CJLO News teamed up to interview several executive candidates. CSU elections will be held between March 15 – March 17.
Elijah Olise, general coordinator
Interview conducted by Zachary Fortier and Mohammad Khan, The Link
Elijah Olise is an urban studies student, currently working as a community organizer. Before running for general coordinator he planned to run as the CSU’s external coordinator in an effort to combine his work regarding housing, food security and community connection to Concordia and student government.
“I was hoping to connect the campus to work that I’m doing outside [school] and break down the walls of academia. To develop a mutually beneficial relationship for students as well as community members who are particularly part of marginalized communities.”
Olise wants to focus on further connecting the Concordia community and facilitating more student involvement with the CSU.
“I think it’s important to really invest more heavily into how we can build community,” said Olise.
As general coordinator he will focus on fostering this community through development of more clubs and events and encouraging greater democratic involvement within the CSU.
An ability to lead by example coupled with his decisiveness are some of the qualities Olise believes he possesses that will make him a good fit for general coordinator.
“When it’s necessary I’m decisive and ready to move forward on certain goals, past the talking phase and I encourage and inspire others around me to do exactly the same.”
Olise said some of his key values are community, inclusion, justice and sustainability.
Sean Levis, sustainability coordinator
Interview conducted by Cedric Gallant , CJLO News Editor
Sean Levis is a fifth year philosophy student at Concordia. In 2020 he began living at the Woodnote Solidarity Cooperative where he joined the finance committee, later becoming their treasurer. His major goals are to create greater institutional stability within the CSU and greater housing sustainability to Concordia students through supporting the Woodnote.
“The reason I chose sustainability was when I first moved into the Woodnote I realized that there was not a lot of support to ensure the sustainability of the organization itself,” said Levis.
“The reason why I’m running for the CSU sustainability coordinator is I think there are a lot of initiatives with regards to sustainability that need to be done within the Woodnote and I think there are some sustainability initiatives at the CSU that need to be undertaken as well.”
Levis wants to ensure that CSU councilors are more democratically connected to the faculties which they represent and held more accountable to accomplishing students wishes.
Encouraging more grassroots organizing by the student body, is one of Levi’s major goals. “The ability of students to organize in their member associations is somewhat limited because they don’t have the support or the resources that they could otherwise have from the CSU.”
Another of Levis’ key focuses is bringing food sustainability initiatives to the Woodnote to mitigate food insecurity. In addition to providing free hygiene products and bringing a composting program to the building.
Sabrina Morena, Loyola coordinator
Interview conducted by Evan Lindsay, Co-News Editor of The Concordian
Sabrina Morena is a third year human relations student at the Loyola campus. Some of Morena’s major goals as Loyola coordinator are to create more food options at the Loyola campus and creating a greater presence at the CSU there.
“I’ve been at Loyola the whole time throughout my undergraduate degree. […] There was a lack of presence of the CSU as well as lack of student life and sometype of engagement,” said Morena. “There should be some type of presence and some type of student life to make it more engaging and make those students who attend Loyola all the time feel like they matter as well.”
Morena said she wants to create more food options for students at Loyola or even create a discount card for restaurants around the campus. She also wants to bring more events like job fairs, orientation fairs and markets to the campus.
As Loyola coordinator Morena would try to highlight some of Loyola’s existing features like the Hive Café, a solidarity co-op program of which she is a board member.
“Many people I speak to in my classes don’t even know that the Hive exists or they might know but, they don’t know where it’s located,” said Morena.
“I want to bring more attention to [the Hive] because there could be some really cool initiatives that could be implemented at this location as well.
Meryem Benallal, finance coordinator
Interview Conducted by Zachary Fortier, The Link
Meryem Benallal is a second year student in political science. She has managed multiple companies, including her own, which lead to her running for the finance position.
“I opened my painting company with my husband. We had to do all the budgeting and the nitty gritty of a business. I learned a lot from that,” said Benallal. In addition to this, Benallal worked with two daycares managing their salaries, number of kids, different classes, and other regulations.
Benallal is a full time student and also a parent, which influences some of her biggest goals as finance coordinator. “My number one priority this semester is to hopefully fund or ease the struggles of student parents that I strongly empathize with.”
One of the important roles of the finance coordinator is to provide transparency to students on where their money goes – something Benallal thinks is very important
“Transparency is related to the students’ vision of where and how much they want to fund. I think we should first listen to what students want and their needs.”
Some of the areas that Benallal thinks require more funding are bursaries and CSU daycares. She also wants to provide greater transparency to students on where their tuition money goes and what students get out of that funding.
Fawaz Halloum, internal affairs coordinator
Interview conducted by Cedric Gallant, CJLO News Director
As the executive primarily responsible for clubs and spaces, Fawaz Halloum will work to guide student clubs, as well as organize communications within the CSU itself, including some financial matters. Halloum will also work to organize anti-oppression training within the CSU and the larger student body.
In his final year at Concordia. Halloum will draw on his experience as a founder of the Concordia Mycological Society.
“I truly hope to see more engagement from student clubs in experiential learning opportunities,” said Halloum.
“I do have a plan of creating a specialized fund for internships for mature enough clubs […] where they could conduct an internship if it’s appropriate to their mandate.”
One of his other goals is to create a special fund for journals for undergraduate scientific or arts programs.
Asli Isaaq, academic and advocacy coordinator
Interview Conducted by Zachary Fortier, The Link
Asli Isaaq is a second year sociology student. In the past she has been involved in the ASFA, particularly working in the Anti-Racism and Anti-Sexual Violence Taskforce. She was also president of her CEGEPs student association.
“Student advocacy comes with student mobilization,” said Isaaq.
“It’s very difficult for us to advocate for students if students aren’t involved first. Before we get to the step of advocating for students we first have to rally students behind us,” said Isaaq.
In addition to this, Isaaq said she wants to “set a new tone” with Concordia’s administration.
“I don’t doubt the incredible work that the past student execs have done. But clearly there is a point where something isn’t clicking,” said Isaaq.
“There has to be a point where we strategize and figure out how we can get what students want and also get this university on our side.”
Following the pandemic, Isaaq thinks students are missing support from the administration. She wants to ensure that students are not being penalized by the administration for how they are proceeding with education throughout the pandemic and beyond.
You can listen to the full interviews with each of these candidates on the CJLO News Podcast.
After the completion of the Woodnote in 2020, the Concordia Student Union is going ahead with plans for a second building
The Concordia Student Union (CSU) is moving forward with plans for a second affordable student housing unit, confirmed Laurent Levesque, CEO of UTILE, the housing non-profit that built the Woodnote. This new building will likely be finished by the end of 2025.
UTILE has said that this new unit could house roughly 144 students, or the same amount as the Woodnote. “We’re in the phase of the project where we collect objectives. The CSU is telling us the project parameters they want us to meet, and that will eventually be turned into a contract. This then becomes UTILE’s mandate for the building,” he said.
The Woodnote’s total cost was $18 million. Of that total, the CSU funded $1.8 million while $1.6 million came from the city of Montreal, and $3 million from the federal government, according to Levesque. For this second building, Levesque’s hope is to stay around the same budget. “We’re always trying to house as many students as possible without getting to a size that makes a feeling of community impossible to achieve. The realistic target is about the size of the Woodnote, and that goes for the budget too.” Levesque wishes that more funding from municipal, provincial, and federal governments would be allocated to fund this expansion.
The project is in its initial phase, so there are lots of details to work out. “We don’t have a name for it yet,” said Levesque. “The Woodnote’s name was chosen by students in part because of its design and location near Parc Lafontaine. We’ll get there [with this second building] once the land is found and the design starts to take shape. We’ll only do that once the CSU confirms that this project is something they want to do. We expect to be able to deliver the project in three to four years, which is faster than the Woodnote.”
Eduardo Malorni, the Concordia Student Union’s general coordinator, gave an update on the project. “The CSU is currently in discussions with UTILE regarding the possible creation of a second housing cooperative project following the successful completion of the Woodnote. This would manifest itself as an investment into the PUSH (Popular University Student Housing) Fund. Currently we are in discussions regarding the scope of the project and if all goes well, we will be sending a referendum question to be voted on by the student body regarding their support for the project in the March 2022 CSU General Elections.”
In a report compiled in 2020, around 50 per cent of the Woodnote’s residents were Quebecers. The other half was split between Canadian and international tenants. Levesque said that there was a turnover rate of around 30 per cent within the building, which he saw as beneficial. “It shows that students are happy to live there and happy to move out when their studies are done.” UTILE hopes to replicate the conditions of their first building with this new Concordia project., as their goal is to ensure affordable housing for students.
“We are essentially the only non-profit group to be doing this work on student housing. Our research has shown that there are over 250,000 student tenants in Quebec alone. That’s a lot of people that are suffering in the housing crisis,” Levesque said.
UTILE sees Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante’s reelection as a green light, as she has committed to creating 2000 units of affordable student housing in her second term. On municipal contributions, Levesque said that “It’s very reasonable for the CSU to expect for the city to pitch in again. We don’t want to place the burden on student unions to fund these initiatives, so it’s good that the city is here to help. There is a lot of political momentum for this project.”
As plans get drawn up and contracts get written, the student housing crisis continues to worsen. The CSU has told The Concordian that it intends on moving forward with the construction of this second building which will help dozens of students find affordable housing in Montreal.
While rejected by Concordia’s Senate, the CSU plans on continuing to advocate for pass/fail option
The Concordia Student Union (CSU) is continuing to push for the return of a pass/fail option this semester, despite their requests being denied in the Concordia University Senate.
Concordia University spokesperson, Vannina Maestracci, shared in a statement to The Concordian that “Pass/fail was an exceptional measure taken at the height of the pandemic when all courses had to be remote.”
In the fall 2020 and winter 2021 semesters, Concordia University implemented the option for students to choose to pass or fail one course instead of receiving a grade. These pass/fail marks did not affect students’ overall GPAs, but the pass/fail option was rescinded in the fall 2021 semester as the COVID-19 situation lessened.
According to a CSU survey in October, over 78 per cent of students found the pass/fail option was helpful, and over 79 per cent of students said they wanted Concordia to reinstate it for the coming semesters.
“The pass/fail option was amazing and super helpful. It also eased my worries. But I am very disappointed that they got rid of the pass or fail system now that we’re back in person,” commented a student on the anonymous survey.
In December, the CSU held a joint presentation with Concordia administration, where both the CSU and Concordia administration took turns voicing their opinions of the pass/fail option. Afterwards a vote was held, where the students who voted in favour of pass/fail were outvoted by the administration.
“The big concern for us is that with the introduction of pass fail, even if it’s only for one course, we can’t catch the annual GPA for any student,” said Anne Whitelaw, the Provost and vice-president academic at Concordia University.
Whitelaw explained that the annual GPA is used to identify students who are struggling, specifically those in failing standing. When a student is in failing standing, an email is automatically sent to them, explaining they need to take courses at the Student Success Centre which are meant to help them improve academically.
Before the pandemic, according to Whitelaw, approximately 500 students were taking these courses, but with online school and the introduction of pass/fail, that number dropped to 80. This is because with pass/fail, the university was unable to calculate the annual GPA, meaning the automatic system is unable to tell which students are in failing standing.
“It would take years of programming because for every student, it’s going to be a different course,” said Whitelaw, who explained that the current capabilities of the software used to calculate the annual GPA of each student would not work as intended with the pass/fail option, meaning these calculations would have to be done manually for each student. “We’re looking at calculating it for over 40,000 students.”
“If you look at your transcript, you might not have any GPA on your transcript right now, because we haven’t been able to calculate it for two years,” said Whitelaw.
Eduardo Malorni, the CSU’s general coordinator said “We pushed it as far as we could, but, faculty, staff, and administration voted against it. Which makes it pretty clear, they just didn’t care about the student’s opinion.”
Malorni believes that the university should have other ways to tell if students are struggling, besides the annual GPA — such as having professors identify students who are failing, or have students self-disclose they need academic help.
“The compromise we reached was that [Concordia] would offer a late DISC to students,” said Malorni. “So that instead of students failing their class, if they knew they were under too much stress, especially during final exams […] they could choose to get out without a refund.”
DISC means that a student drops the course with no impact on their GPA, but they must still pay for the course. It is usually two-thirds into the semester. DNE is the last day students are able to drop a class with a refund, and is usually two weeks after the semester starts.
The DISC deadline has been extended to April 18. Malorni explained that the CSU also pushed for an extension on the DNE date, so students would have their tuition reimbursed, but the university refused.
Malorni said that while they were not able to get the pass/fail option for students, the extension of the DISC is still an improvement, as last semester the university extended the DISC date, and between Nov. 9 and Dec. 7 over 2,600 students used the extended DISC.
The CSU BIPOC Committee Chairs. Faye Sun, Shivaane Subash, and Camina Harrison-Chéry.
During the general elections, Concordians will choose whether to open a service centre for BIPOC students
From Nov. 16 to 18, students will vote on whether to open a diversity office in the CSU Elections.
This office will advocate for marginalized students and staff. It will also advocate for the inclusion of these students in the CSU. The point is to make the CSU hospitable for students with disabilities, who are a part of the BIPOC or 2SLGBTQA+ communities, or who are migrants/refugees.
A diversity office, which will operate independently from the CSU, will promote inclusivity regardless of the elected council. To fund the office, the union will ask each undergraduate student to pay $0.20 per credit in their student association fees each semester, starting winter 2022.
The BIPOC Committee’s executive team came-up with this idea. This committee hosts fundraisers and events that support local charities. They also offer grants to BIPOC students who start and run clubs or initiatives.
Committee chairs Camina Harrison-Chéry, Shivaane Subash, and Faye Sun believe BIPOC students must overcome barriers at Concordia.
To counter these problems, the diversity office will encourage students to speak their minds, find community, and offer resources such as “mental health support, student advocacy, and other resources that are often not accessible to them given their identity and circumstances,” according to Sun.
“[Students of marginalized identities] don’t often see the point in reporting or talking about their experiences because they know that the people who read [their complaints] are also a part of the problem.”
In 2019, the CSU surveyed 1023 students about their on-campus experiences. The survey revealed a discrimination problem at Concordia, where nine per cent of students felt discriminated against by professors, staff, or peers. Also, 12 per cent of students witnessed another student who experienced discrimination at Concordia. According to the survey, discrimination includes harmful jokes, unwanted physical contact, hateful remarks, and the display of hateful messages or images.
More recently, a report revealed that Concordia students and staff filed 20 official complaints about instances of racist discrimination during the 2019-2020 school year.
Harrison-Chéry believes the diversity office can improve the experience of BIPOC students.
“Our motion responds to years of recurring systemic issues,” said Harrison-Chéry. “So, there is a clear need for this service.”
The diversity office will comprise of an equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) advisor, who is currently being onboarded. Community directors will also be hired if the fee-levy passes in the coming weeks.
“Black and Indigenous peoples have a very specific history of being enslaved or genocided on this land,” said Subash. So, the CSU wants to put more energy into those groups. Once they see what these community directors are able to accomplish, they will create community advisor positions for other minority groups on campus.
The EDI Advisor will ensure that the CSU adheres to inclusive policies. The advisor will also recommend ways to improve diversity within the CSU which will help to foster a more welcoming environment for marginalized students. The selected advisor is Sandra Mouafo, who also works with Concordia’s Anti-Racist Pedagogy Project.
Subash said that marginalized council members often feel undervalued. These council members are compelled to address BIPOC issues on top of their studies and regular councillor work. According to Sun, these members, “are forced into situations where they have to experience discrimination.”
“It can feel like you’re being stretched in a thousand different directions with everyday microaggression and the institution itself being unsafe,” said Subash.
Harrison-Chéry believes that the CSU can only function if it welcomes diversity.
“It’s about promoting effective leadership. If we do not address the problems in our institution then we cannot help students. So, we need to improve our governing culture and policies,” she said.
“Diversity work often gets offloaded onto the few BIPOC employees in a work space. […] I think it’s unfair to have a small group of people do this work,” said Sun.
According to Sun, diversity work is emotionally laborious, especially for those who are marginalized. “So, having many people doing this kind of work together spreads out the workload and it’s more fair,” she said.
Meanwhile, the community directors at the office will focus on student issues. They will help BIPOC students embrace leadership opportunities. They will also work to foster a community where students feel at ease.
CSU passes the questions that will appear on the referendum
Correction: A previous version of the article incorrectly stated that an additional student fee charge for Sustainability Concordia, The Link, and SEIZE could not be opted out of. They can be opted out — all fees collected for fee-levies organizations at Concordia can be opt-ed out of.
At the Concordia Student Union (CSU) meeting on Oct. 27, multiple questions were passed to be put on the referendum, including whether there should be a mandatory course on sustainability, and a charter of students’ rights. Here are some of the questions students will vote for in this upcoming election.
Position against transphobia
The CSU wants to add a position in support of trans, non-binary, and gender-non-conforming people to its positions book in lieu of the Quebec government’s proposed Bill 2.
Bill 2 will make it so that someone cannot change their sex on their government documentation without having gender-affirming surgery.
“It’s basically asking trans people to out themselves,” said Hannah Jamet-Lange, the CSU’s academic & advocacy coordinator.
Jamet-Lange explained that the CSU has a general position in their position book in solidarity with LGBTQIA2+ people, but Jamet-Lange wanted something that was specifically in support of trans, non-binary and gender-non-conforming people.
The position book is the CSU’s stance on political, social, and student-life issues. For any position to be added to the book, it must be first voted on by students in a referendum.
Pass/Fail
The CSU wants to know if students want Concordia University to implement a pass/fail grading option until the pandemic is over. For the 2020-2021 academic year, students were allowed to receive a pass/fail notation in one class per semester. It was implemented as a way to reduce stress and burnout in students.
“We’re still in the pandemic, and people are still struggling,” said Jamet-Lange, who explained that student stress has not lessened during the return to in-person classes due to the continuation of the pandemic.
Charter of Students’ Rights
This question is asking the Concordia community if the CSU should create a charter of students’ rights and responsibilities. Many universities have a charter of rights, including McGill and UQAM, but Concordia does not have one.
Jamet-Lange explained that the CSU wants to see if students are in support of the charter before the CSU puts in the time and effort of creating the document.
Sustainability Curriculum
According to the question, Concordia is four times lower than the Canadian national average on sustainability learning outcomes in the curriculum. The question asks if students want Concordia University to commit to ensuring that all students learn about sustainability and the climate crisis in the curriculum by 2030.
Fee levies
Fee levy groups are organizations elected by students in referendums who receive their funding from student fees. They provide different services for students, such as free meals from The People’s Potato.
Multiple fee levy groups are asking to increase the amount of money they collect from undergraduate students, such as the CSU Advocacy Centre, which provides students with independent representation in disciplinary proceedings. They are asking for an extra $0.14 per credit, resulting in a total increase to $0.45 of the fee-levy amount, as the negative impact of COVID-19 has caused an increase in students reaching out for help. This means the centre has had to increase its staff and hours in order to support the influx of students.
Should this pass, an additional student fee charge will also increase by $0.42, to a total of $1.35 per 3-credit course, which cannot be opted out from.
Sustainable Concordia, an initiative that aims to reform systems that contribute to the climate crisis, is asking for an increase as their organization is growing and wants to give more support to their staff. The fee-levy increase will be to $0.07 per credit, resulting in a total increase to $0.22, and will be annually adjusted to the Consumer Price Index of Canada.
This fee-levy increase will result in a change of $0.21 to an additional student fee charge, to a total of $0.66 per 3-credit course, which can be opted-out from.
The Link, another independent student media publication at Concordia University, is asking for an increase of $0.10, resulting in a total fee-levy increase to $0.29. The organization has not requested a change to their amount since 2001 according to The Link, and seeks to increase funds to support their reporting, improve multimedia opportunities for students, enhance diversity and equitability, and account for inflation.
Should this pass, an additional increase of $0.30 for every 3-credit course will be added to the student fee charge, resulting in a $0.87 fee which can be opted out from.
A new fee levy group, SEIZE, is asking to be established. It will become, “a solidarity economy incubator,” which will, “engage students through the support, development, study and promotion of democratic enterprises.” SEIZE’s fee would be $0.29 per credit.
Should this pass, an additional student fee charge of $0.87 per 3-credit course will be added, a fee which can be opted out from.
Recorded Lectures
The CSU is asking if students want them to advocate to the Concordia administration for the implementation of either live-streaming or recorded lectures. The CSU states that at the beginning of the pandemic, the university allowed for classes to be recorded. Now as classes return to in-person, recorded classes have been reduced, yet many students, such as international students, are still unable to attend them.
Students can expect a new off-campus building and a few fee-levy increases
While the general election saw one of the worst voter turn-outs in recent pollings, students still supported the majority of the seven CSU referendum questions, with only one failing. Read more to find out what changes are in store from the CSU.
Positions Book Reform
A majority 62.3 per cent of students voted to have positions in the CSU Positions Book no longer expire every four years, revoking the controversial expiry position that was passed in the last CSU general election of February 2020.
The campaign to add the expiry position aimed to “democratize” the Positions Book, by way of claiming that students would continuously have a say on the different political, social, and ideological stances taken by the CSU.
Once the expiry date was implemented, several positions disappeared, including those that supported anti-racism, climate justice, and high-quality education for students.
Several CSU executives and councillors criticized the expiry motion, saying they received complaints from students and organizations that re-voting to support stances such as Indigenous rights and anti-racism implied the CSU wasn’t serious about defending these issues permanently.
Additionally, the referendum question criticised that the expiry also “leads to lengthy ballots because previously voted-on positions must be re-voted on.” During the last CSU by-election in the fall, almost 10 questions were dedicated to the Positions Book, including supporting LGBTQIA2+ rights, student parents, and denouncing antisemitism and Holocaust denial.
The CSU will independently build and operate a new student centre/building, which would give students a new “space for events, social gatherings, and new services.” A majority 84.9 per cent of students voted in support of the CSU negotiating with Concordia University to realize this project.
According to the referendum question, the CSU is currently negotiating with Concordia University to build the centre in the Sir George Williams (SGW) campus area; the land in question is confidential, and has not been purchased yet.
The additional 40,000 square feet of space would be funded by a fee-levy established in the 1990s purposely for this project. The centre would provide “new quality spaces for clubs and associations, an auditorium and additional state of the art study spaces.”
Students voted 80.6 per cent in favour to add an amendment to CSU bylaws to make the Sexual Violence and Safer Spaces Policy and the Code of Conduct more enforceable.
This means if a councillor commits misconduct against the Code of Conduct or the above policy — for example harassment or violence — other CSU councillors can “impose sanctions and/or recommend removal from office of CSU Representative.”
In a closed session meeting before either the Judicial Board or another CSU committee, the councillors would present their recommendations and the accused councillor would present a counter argument. The outcome would be determined by two-thirds majority vote.
Concordia Student Union Off-Campus Housing and Job Resource Centre
A majority vote of 51.3 per cent approved a fee-levy increase of $0.06 per credit to the CSU’s off-campus Housing and Job Resource Centre (HOJO) to be implemented during the fall 2021 term, bringing the fee-levy total per credit to $0.26. This charge will also “be subsequently indexed annually to inflation in accordance with the Consumer Price Index.”
This increase directly resulted in an additional student fee charge of $0.18 per 3-credit course, up to $0.78, which students cannot currently opt-out of.
HOJO provides “reliable housing and employment information, resources and referrals” for Concordia students, with said students increasingly procuring their services during the pandemic, according to the CSU.
Students voted 53.5 per cent for a fee-levy increase of $0.10 per credit, up to $0.27, for the CSU Legal Information Clinic. The charge would “be subsequently indexed annually to inflation in accordance with the Consumer Price Index.”
This includes an increase to the student fee charge of $0.30 per 3-credit course, up to $0.81, which cannot be opted out of.
The CSU Legal Information Clinic has not had a fee-levy increase in five years, and says they would use the additional funds to “increase personnel and hours of its staff to better respond to growing students’ demands and needs for increased legal information services and support.”
Students voted to allow the CEED (Community Empowerment Education Development) organization to change the mission statement to be “expanding Concordia’s campus in Uganda, East Africa, allowing students from all four faculties to participate in volunteer activities at these new campuses be used in the future for the purposes of: expanding Concordia’s footprint in developing countries, allowing students from all four faculties to participate in experimental [sic] learning activities at these new campuses.”
Currently, the non-profit student-led organization collects a $0.35 per credit fee levy.
Students did not approve a fee-levy increase for the CSU Student Advocacy Centre of $0.10 per credit, which would have brought it to $0.40 per credit, effective for the fall 2021 term, which would have included a non-opt-out student fee increase of $0.30 per 3 credit course, up to $1.20.
The CSU Advocacy Centre provides students with “independent student representation in Disciplinary Proceedings, Investigations and Tribunal Hearings.”
This year’s CSU elections seem to have taken students by surprise
Students had the opportunity to vote last week in the CSU general elections, but it seems like many students may have missed their chance.
This year’s elections had the lowest voter turnout the CSU has seen in recent years, with 1,536 votes cast; 4.8 per cent of the 32,199 students registered to vote.
This was a 0.8 per cent decrease from last year’s general election, in February 2020, which had the advantage of being held in-person and online, with a total of 1,731 votes.
The results of this election were also a massive decrease from the by-elections in fall 2020 a greater success with a 17.8 per cent voter turnout.
The elections are an opportunity for students to select who will represent them in the coming year. This year, due to the pandemic, they were held entirely online which may have made it difficult for students to get involved.
Some were completely unaware elections were happening in the first place.
“I didn’t know that it was happening this year, until I got the email pop up,” said Noah Cohen-Wanis, a second-year Mechanical Engineering student. “I had more important school things to worry about, like my grades.”
The pandemic and online classes have made it more difficult for students to keep up with school news unrelated to their own classes. In a time where students are notified of nearly everything by email, it can be easy to miss things.
Some students feel that just receiving an email from the school isn’t enough to get them interested in the election in the first place. Cohen-Wanis suggested a more personal approach, with candidates trying to make appearances briefly in Zoom lectures as they often did when classes were in-person.
“That way we can hear them talk and understand what their purpose is and what change they’re trying to make. It would definitely get me interested instead of just getting some email from the school,” said Cohen-Wanis.
Other students suggested taking advantage of other essential Concordia platforms like Moodle and MyConcordia; things that students interact with every day.
“Honestly if one of my friends hadn’t told me the CSU election was this week I’m not sure I would have seen the email until the weekend [after the elections],” said Patrick Baylis, a third-year Engineering student.
Not knowing who they were voting for was a common issue among students who did take part in the election.
“I feel like the most I learned about the candidates was when I was actually looking at the ballot — previously I didn’t know who was running,” said Baylis.
Information about candidates can be found on the CSU’s website. While many candidates have detailed bios and campaign information, many have less than a paragraph, or even nothing at all written. Some candidates simply stated the position they were running for.
Some students did try to vote in the elections, but got frustrated by the online process.
“I got an error saying I wasn’t registered for any ballot,” said Baylis. After contacting an elections representative from the CSU, Baylis was sent a second email that would detail how he was going to vote again. Many students received multiple emails with different voting information.
The emails contained unique voter login and password information for use on the official CSU online voting website. But after voting, some students were sent another email with new login credentials, after receiving an error message when trying to vote the first time.
Baylis explained that the follow-up email did not contain any information detailing if his original vote was invalid, or whether he would have to vote again. It was only after contacting a CSU elections official, that he was told he would have to vote again.
“It was just from my conversation with the election person at the CSU, I knew I would need to go and vote through that link as opposed to the previous link,” he said.
Baylis says many of his peers were sent second emails with voting links as well, and many were unsure if their original vote was actually cast.
Logo courtesy of the Concordia Student Union (CSU)
