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A new executive to kick off December

Photo by Madelayne Hajek.
Photo by Madelayne Hajek.

The Concordia Student Union appointed Hajar El Jahidi to VP academic and advocacy during a regular council meeting last Wednesday.

Following a ruling from the Judicial Board, the position of VP academic and advocacy that was tendered for the byelections by concerned councillors was officially closed because it was never legally opened. The decision stated that regulations were not adhered to when council put forth the initial motion, rendering it defunct. In accordance with the CSU bylaws, only the president may appoint someone to an executive position.

El Jahidi was the only candidate for the position formerly held by Lucia Gallardo, who stepped down in September due to her inability to resolve her registered student status issue. Since Gallardo’s departure the portfolio of VP academic and advocacy had been split between VP external Simon-Pierre Lauzon and VP sustainability Andrew Roberts. Council, however, expressed concerns over fulfilling the mandate of an executive who was no longer there.

Schubert Laforest, president of the CSU, motioned to appoint El Jahidi for VP academic and advocacy. As of last Monday, El Jahidi underwent training for the position.

When asked why Laforest (who was initially opposed to opening the position) had changed his mind, he said it was the “responsible” thing to do and that “it would be detrimental not to” considering the higher education summit to address the governance of post-secondary institutions this February.

El Jahidi said she is collaborating with Lauzon to prepare for the higher education summit to ensure that Concordia students have their voices heard. She went on to say the she is hoping to implement CSU tutoring services in the near future as part of her mandate. Furthermore, El Jahidi hopes to use the additional money from VP academic and advocacy’s unused salary to date for student bursaries.

“For now I’m mainly getting up to speed with the rest of team and catching up on the work that’s been done since the beginning of the year,” said El Jahidi.

Similarly, the postponed motion to appoint a John Molson School of Business student to the university’s Senate was approved by council, appointing Melissa Lemieux.

“I am ecstatic that JMSB has a representative in time for the December 7 Senate meeting, which is long overdue,” Lemieux said.

Prior to last Wednesday the JMSB faculty lacked undergraduate student representation on Senate, something that is mandatory in accordance with university bylaws. For Lemieux, she hopes that the CSU will amend its bylaws to reflect those of the university regarding undergraduate seats on Senate and hopefully address the lack of independent student representation.

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Concordia Student Union News

Byelections allow CSU council to grow

The Concordia Student Union held byelections last week to fill the spots and elect new representatives from Arts and Science and the John Molson School of Business.

During the voting that took place from Nov. 27 to 29, only 465 Concordia undergraduate students cast their votes. The undergraduate student body is over 30,000.

Caroline Bourbonnière, Patrick Lefebvre, Justin Occhionero, Benjamin Prunty, Hardial Rosner, James Vaccaro and Ashley Walling ran to represent Arts and Science on council.

With the exception of Occhionero, all candidates were elected. Occhionero only lost by three votes, with 181 in his favour.

Anja Rajaonarivelo, Pierre Tardivo Martin and Eugene Gusman were elected to the vacant JMSB seats since there were four open spots during the byelections. Chief Electoral Officer Justin Holland of the CSU confirmed that only approximately 80 votes were cast for JMSB candidates.

Gusman stated that he was excited to sit on council but that the lack of interest from the student body and low voter turnout left him feeling disappointed.

“I want people to care a little more of what happens around them, whether it’s in school or in Montreal,” he said.

This concern was also voiced by Prunty, who said he wants to investigate student apathy.

“In a lot of ways, participation is the measure of legitimacy for political or representative bodies and we have to make sure that we are, in fact, legitimate,” said Prunty. “Increasing participation won’t be easy, but it must be done.”

For Lefebvre, he hopes to create an initiative to help students with disabilities and reduced mobility attend more school events.

“I also want to help create a fund to […] pay for aides who can help with feeding and bathroom needs of disabled students while at events,” said Lefebvre.

CSU President Schubert Laforest stated that he is pleased with the outcome of the byelections.

“I’m happy we’ll have a lot of new members, and great representatives representing the Arts and Science faculty,” he said. “But there is still a lot of concern about the Fine Arts faculty not having a representative. It’s something we definitely have to look into,” Laforest added.

– – – – –

BYELECTION RESULTS:

ARTS AND SCIENCE CANDIDATES:
Benjamin Prunty – 230 votes
James Vaccaro – 218 votes
Hardial Rosner – 215 votes
Caroline Bourbonnière – 209 votes
Patrick Lefebvre – 206 votes
Ashley Walling – 184 votes
Justin Occhionero – 181 votes

JOHN MOLSON SCHOOL OF BUSINESS CANDIDATES:
Pierre Tardivo Martin – 45 votes
Anja Rajaonarivelo – 39 votes
Eugene Gusman – 29 votes

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Concordia Student Union News

Petition circulating for a second CSU byelection

A petition is circulating and calling for a new round of byelections in January to fill the vacant Fine Arts seats on the Concordia Student Union’s council.

After the departure of councillor Laura Glover, and the forced resignations of councillors Michael Mercer and Nicolas Martel due to mounting absences, Fine Arts students have been left without representation on council. The most recent byelection did not allow for all three seats to be filled after no one ran for the only seat available, that of former councillor Laura Glover.

Erika Couto, the author of the petition that has garnered close to 250 signatures and VP clubs and services of the Fine Arts Student Alliance, told The Concordian that as well as only having one seat out of three available for elections, the one seat available for Fine Arts students was poorly promoted.

“There was very little outreach done to advertise this one open seat,” Couto said. “No visible postering in buildings frequented by Fine Arts students, nothing was sent to the FASA executives to be sent out through our listserv. These were all easy steps that could have been taken to ensure maximum visibility for the open spot.”

Couto said that the lack of representation is a concern for her, considering the CSU deals with millions of dollars in funding and makes vital decisions for the entire undergraduate student body.

“What it comes down to is that I know these people, I see them every day,” she said. “I owe it to them to fix a problem when I see it, because I care about them.”

At the council meeting where the petition was discussed, a decision was reached to support the petition and look into the issue of holding another vote in January. Though there were questions of where the money would be found, it was decided that the matter would be sent to the financial committee to figure out the technicalities of holding another election.

Nadine Atallah, VP internal and clubs of the CSU said that she was concerned about the lack of representation for Fine Arts students, but that it was not a unique situation.

“It’s definitely unfortunate any time that you have a lack of representation or no representation at all for any faculty at council and we should all do our best to do serve those people,” Atallah said, adding that she was pleased to see Fine Arts students interested in representation. “There are also independent students who aren’t represented at all on council, and we’re having a hard time getting independent students out, which is concerning for me as an independent student myself.”

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Breakdown of a potential student centre proposal

The Concordian sat down with Patrick Goodwin of MHPM Project Management Inc. to discuss the new contract with the Concordia Student Union in hopes of building a student centre. Here is our breakdown of the next year and the proposal that undergraduate students dished out $97,300 for.

THE PROCESS

Analysis
As part of the plan, MHPM and the CSU will conduct a analysis by surveying students on their wants, needs and current space. In order to move forward and present options, Goodwin emphasized that Concordia’s undergraduate student body plays a huge role in the entire process.

“We’re reaching out to students in general who don’t use the facilities as much to see where they stand,” said Goodwin.

Report
Following the needs analysis, Goodwin said that a report will be produced for early 2013 and presented to the ad hoc committee organized by the CSU. In consultation with the executive and committee, MHPM will develop options geared to the needs and wants of students.

Options
Following this, the CSU will present the options to Concordia students and see which choices are well received and which aren’t. According to Goodwin, it’s possible to combine different aspects of the options.

“We don’t want to present a slew of options that are confusing, the idea is present different ways of looking at things,” he said. “We also get a bit of a vision of where students want to go.”

Preparing for next year
Outside of MHPM’s mandate and realm, a referendum could be held for students to decided how to move forward. Furthermore, the CSU and MHPM will work in tandem to provide a roadmap on how to move forward with future student centre initiatives.

THE CHALLENGES

Student involvement
One of the main obstacles that MHPM and the CSU will face is having students participate in the needs survey and provide their input on a potential student centre.

“The CSU wants to get the support but it’s up to the students,” explained Goodwin.

“It’s getting the engagement.”

Concordia’s undergraduate population is composed of 30,000 students and the goal is to involve as many as possible.

Two campuses
The mandate and proposal is geared to construct a student centre at Concordia’s downtown Sir George Williams campus while still accommodating the needs of the population at Loyola campus in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

“Our mandate is very much laid out for a student centre at the SGW campus but it is for the entire student body,” Goodwin told The Concordian.

Urban setting, lack of space
While it is too early to consider options for a proposed student centre, one possibility that can be ruled out is modifying a building that Concordia already owns. It would be difficult to change a facility that is already in use since the university already has a large student population and a lack of space.

“I think there are too many things involved in that,” said Goodwin. “If it is an option, we need some openness from administration on that.”

The objective is to find out what students think “how far is too far and what they consider campus to be” so that a location can be found that reflects Concordia student life. However, Goodwin remains optimistic considering MHPM has dealt with Ryerson University in Toronto that also is in the heart of the city.

Administration
A significant problem of the past is the dealing of the CSU and university administration when it comes to proposing and accepting a student centre plan. According to Goodwin, past proposals failed because students’ needs weren’t taken into consideration or the university presented an offer that received a negative reaction from undergraduate students.

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Judicial Board releases decision on byelections

The Concordia Student Union’s Judicial Board nullified the opening of the VP academic and advocacy executive position by council while simultaneously deciding that additional Arts and Science councillor seats could be opened for the upcoming byelection.

The three members of JB discussed the case Friday afternoon with respondent and Chief Electoral Officer Justin Holland before issuing a statement later that day. As per the CSU’s request stemming from a regular council meeting Nov. 14, JB investigated the legalities of the vacant executive position and the potential opening of new seats following a slew of resignations.

Hajar El Jahidi, the only candidate for VP academic and advocacy, VP Loyola Stefan Faina and Holland were the parties present for the hearing. Councillors and plaintiffs, Chad Walcott and Melissa Kate Wheeler, cited work obligations for their absence.

The written decision produced by JB states that CSU bylaws and regulations were not adhered to when the vacant executive position was issued for the byelection, therefore legally never opened. In accordance with bylaw 7.3, council does not have the power to appoint an undergraduate student to the position but “should the president of the Concordia Student Union wish to appoint a vice-president academic and advocacy, he should do so with regards to Concordia Student Union bylaw 7.3.”

Furthermore, following numerous departures from council of Arts and Science representatives, JB rendered that all three positions were eligible for byelections if Holland so chooses to open them.

Faina stressed that retracting the executive position from the ballot and not opening the three seats would be detrimental to the CSU and representing the undergraduate student body.

“Technically should we allow these three seats to be open? No. Should we? Yes,” said Faina. “It’s miraculous to have people running for the CSU at this time. So let them, please.”

This was a choice Holland favoured when asked by JB Chairperson Nick Cuillerier if he felt it was appropriate to open the seats.

“I think it’s a grey area,” replied Holland. “I think if the position is in the same faculty and they have willing candidates, it would be in the best interest of the CSU.”

Since councillors April Underwood, Adriana Farias and Haneed Alatrash resigned prior to the campaign period, contrary to the plantiffs’ claim as proved by Holland, these additional seats can be opened. Therefore, if Holland does add the three seats, six Arts and Science seats will be opened for a council that is dwindling in numbers.

Walcott disagreed with the conclusion JB issued, feeling uneasy about opening the seats.

“I’m a little worried this decision will favour Arts and Science councillors,” Walcott told The Concordian. “It’s problematic.”

According to Walcott, he believes that concerned councillors will address this at the council meeting Wednesday.

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Breaking down byelections

Photo by Madelayne Hajek
Photo by Madelayne Hajek

The Concordia Student Union may have to rescind its decision to open the seat of VP academic and advocacy after the Judicial Board hearing set for this week.

During a regular council meeting Wednesday, councillors brought forth concerns regarding the legalities of the positions up for grabs in the upcoming byelections on Nov. 27, 28 and 29.

Chad Walcott, former VP external and current councillor, suggested that all candidates be rendered ineligible for the VP academic and advocacy position. Walcott was the councillor who initially motioned for the position to be opened despite reservations from the executive including President Schubert Laforest and VP external Simon-Pierre Lauzon during the meeting of Oct. 24.

The motion was amended by Councillor Melissa Kate Wheeler, who stated that it was not a matter of ineligibility but that the position was not legally opened to begin with.

The opening of the position was not initially announced and revised posters had to be issued to rectify the matter.

The executive took issue with the motion, including VP internal and clubs Nadine Atallah, who stressed that backtracking now would set a “dangerous precedence” for the CSU by deeming candidates ineligible. Laforest agreed, stating that Walcott’s proposed way of solving the problem was not proper.

“This is not done maliciously, it’s an error, but we have to recognized this error,” said Walcott. “Our standing regulations and bylaws were not followed.”

Councillor Rami Khoriaty expressed concerns with the motion, stating it was a “political move” before Gonzo Nieto, former VP clubs and student space, tabled the motion to render the candidates ineligible indefinitely.

The issue of legalities regarding vacant positions being opened following the nomination period will be addressed by the Judicial Board this week in order to render a decision before the byelections.

In addition, a mounting number of resignations from council left some wondering if these positions were now opened for potential candidates since it occurred after the announcement of polls.

Three councillors resigned in the span of six days and currently council sits with less than half the seats filled. As it stands, three seats for Arts and Science, three for John Molson School of Business, one Fine Arts seat and four independent spots are available in the byelections.

However, if the last three seats that were vacated by an influx of resignations from Arts and Science councillors were to be opened for the byelections, six Arts and Science seats would be available. It’s up to the discretion of JB to decide whether or not this is legal. Members of JB will also have access to a lawyer for an hour of legal consultation from the CSU.

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Three councillors resign from the Concordia Student Union

Concordia Student Union councillors Charlie Brenchley, Adriana Farias and April Underwood officially resigned from their positions on council this week in separate letters.

Brenchley stated in his letter that he did not feel he was upholding his duty to his fellow Arts and Science students, and that in his final year, he realized that he needed to put the priority on his studies in order to succeed.

He stated that with the “added stress” and “time commitment,” he found his “heart wasn’t really in it.” He also cited his decision to work part-time as another reason for his resignation.

Chad Walcott, former VP external and current councillor, said that Brenchley’s departure was unfortunate because he had a “strong voice” on council.

Farias’ resignation letter listed time commitment issues as one reason for her departure, and said that “personal health issues” factored into her decision.

Walcott suggested that Farias’ poor attendance at council meetings may have been an agent in her decision to resign.

Last Tuesday, Underwood submitted her resignation as well, saying that she wanted to devote more time to her studies and her position as VP academic of the philosophy students association.

It was also announced Monday, in an email by CSU Chair Jean-François Ouellet, that Arts and Science councillor Hajar El Jahidi would be running for the open executive position of VP academic and advocacy. Jahidi is currently the only candidate for the position, which was vacated earlier this year when Lucia Gallardo resigned due to her inability to resolve her student status issues in time.

When asked about the low turnout for the vacant position, Walcott said it was unfortunate that only one person was running.

“I think there probably could have been more advertising done with regards to the election as a whole,” explained Walcott.

In violation of the CSU’s standing regulations, certain candidates started postering before the designated time. Candidates are only allowed to poster after 9 p.m. the day before campaigning but posters of several candidates were seen at both campuses throughout the day Monday. The polling dates will be Nov. 27, 28 and 29.

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Concordia Student Union News

A preview of the upcoming CSU byelections

After the recent resignation of Lucia Gallardo, the executive position of VP academic and advocacy is open, along with numerous other seats on council, and will be up for grabs in the upcoming Concordia Student Union byelections this month.

Leaving the position vacant was discussed at the regular council meeting Oct. 26 when councillor and former VP external Chad Walcott motioned to put forth the vacant position in the upcoming byelections.

“I proposed the motion to open up the VP academic position because the CSU should have a full executive,” Walcott said. “The job of an executive is often overwhelming, so I figured if we have a chance to reduce some of the pressure by filling the position then we should take it.”

Due to Gallardo’s resignation because of student status issues, current members of the executives have taken on her various roles and responsibilities. VP external Simon-Pierre Lauzon and VP sustainability Andrew Roberts have split the portfolio. Since Gallardo stepped down, Lauzon has handled academic affairs and Roberts is in control of the advocacy portfolio.

Schubert Laforest, CSU president, was hesitant to leave the position open because he preferred to appoint someone who he thought would be best suited due to their connections and current work with the CSU.

“Council felt it was more convenient to leave the seat open. I just hope people who want to run at least get information on what the job entails, what are the requirements and if they have any experience,” Laforest said.
Laforest went on to say that he is also hesitant because of the timing which is something he wants to “minimize.”

“We’re in the middle of mandate, things are intense, with Senate and all, and the idea of having to train again in the middle, it’s not the same as being elected at the beginning,” he said.

Lauzon voiced his reservations during the meeting, stating that it would be difficult to have a new student join their team. He emphasized that it was a “risk” and that an incoming member might not be beneficial in the long run.

The CSU byelection nominations started yesterday and will proceed until Nov. 9 and forms for applicants are available at the CSU offices on the 7th floor of the Hall building.

Although the executive felt it was unnecessary and unwarranted to open the seat, the motion passed.

Following the resignations of councillors Juliana Ramos and Laura Glover, additional seats on council are fair game to those seeking a spot.

The seats that are open are one Fine Arts seat, two Arts and Science seats, three John Molson School of Business seats, and three Independent student seats.

Laforest states that a few students have stopped by to give their nominations but doesn’t recall any Independent student nominations yet, since those students are a lot harder to find.

“I mean, there’s always worry, you don’t know what you’ll get, and if they’ll be dedicated or not. It’s something you can’t control, but I do have faith,” Laforest said.

Thus far, no one has expressed interest in the VP academic and advocacy seat. The polling dates will be Nov. 27, 28 and 29.

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Investing in student space

CSU VP clubs and internal affairs Nadine Atallah (left). Photo by Madelayne Hajek
CSU VP clubs and internal affairs Nadine Atallah (left) and VP finance Keny Toto. Photo by Madelayne Hajek

The Concordia Student Union unanimously agreed on a motion to sign a $97,000 contract with MHPM Project Managers Inc. for their services in planning and preparing for a new student centre during a regular council meeting Wednesday.

The contract would also allow MHPM to aid the CSU in negotiating with the university should there be another round of student centre contract negotiations in the future.

Nadine Atallah, VP clubs and internal affairs, said that hiring MHPM was an important step in the long-term plan for the student centre.

“The whole idea behind this is to keep the option open for students to decide if they want to move forward with the university, independently or with another party,” said Atallah. “Should students decide they do want to move forward with the university, then at least we’ll have started the process of putting together an agreement that is a little more representative of the students’ interest.”

Two representatives from MHPM were present at the CSU meeting to explain their proposal and to answer any questions. Council had very few questions upon the conclusion of the presentation, but Atallah told The Concordian that council members received the proposal weeks in advance and many had already had their questions answered by her. Council voted unanimously to accept the motion, but after the representatives left, councillor Ramy Khoriaty raised concerns about what had specifically been voted on.

“Is this a proposal or a contract?” Khoriaty asked. After being informed that council had agreed to a contract, not simply a proposal, Khoriaty asked if the contract had been reviewed by a lawyer. Council then reconsidered and amended the motion to have a lawyer review the contract before its approval.

The student centre, which has been an issue for students and the CSU for nearly a decade, would provide free space for students and clubs near the downtown campus. An account set up for student space has amassed more than nine million dollars to date, according to VP finance, Keny Toto, mostly from fee levies and interest accrued over the years.

Alex Callard, a second-year communications student, said he was cautiously optimistic when he heard of the agreement.

“It really depends on what specifically the consultants are helping out with,” he said, “Because if they’re professionals and can actually do a better job, then I think it’s a reasonable investment.”

Justin Banks, a second-year marketing student, said that he had been hearing about the student centre for as long as he’s been at Concordia, but is still wary about paying a project management firm so much for their services.

“If they’re going to be drawing up the blueprints and planning everything that needs to be done before construction takes place, then I suppose it’s a necessary evil,” he said. “The CSU doesn’t know anything about what the building needs other than what they want for students, so it could be worth it.”

According to Atallah, once the contract has been signed, a financial feasibility study will be conducted followed by the creation of a project implementation plan.

“The first step is consulting with students on what they need from the space, on what space we have and what we might need in 10 years,” Atallah said. “Once you get the results from the space study, then we put together a financial feasibility study, which is basically looking real-time at what’s available to us and what are our options.”

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ConU addresses concerns over foreign recruitment

Concordia’s VP Services Roger Côté announced six new measures Monday afternoon, which will be taken to address concerns raised about the experience of international students at the university.

Côté sat down with student media to discuss initiatives the administration will enact, in response to an article published in The Link on Sept. 25. The article stated that some Chinese international students have had negative experiences with the Concordia China Student Recruitment Partnership Program and the Premier Homestay program.

“It came to light that some students were experiencing difficulty with the homestay program,” said Côté. He went on to explain that while the university administration was concerned about students who had bad experiences in a homestay, the program is not run by Concordia.

“Students elect to do that on their own,” he said. It is arranged “independently” from Concordia and Côté emphasized that it is a “private arrangement” which international students are in no way required to do.

Peter Low is the director of the CCSRPP via the university’s agreement with his company, Orchard Consultants Ltd. The company is authorized to represent ConU at educational fairs and presentations as well as accept tuition and fee payments from international students.

On Oct. 2, a letter was sent out to Concordia’s 5,200 international students encouraging anyone who had complaints or concerns to come forward.

“While some students may hesitate to launch complaints for fear of compromising their academic or immigration status. We assure you that is not the case,” read the letter. “We urge you to take advantage of Concordia’s student services or contact the Dean of Students office for immediate assistance.”

Members of the administration spent the next few weeks reviewing the situation and coming up with six measures to help clarify the CCSRPP’s information and investigate complaints further.

“Given the fact that there were few responses [to the letter], we wanted to proactively reach out,” said Côté.

One of the main focuses of the initiative was to call for the translation of all relevant documents into Mandarin as well as English. The pre-departure guides created by the International Students Office, the documentation provided by the CCSRPP and homestay applications will all be made available in Mandarin in the future.

University spokesperson, Chris Mota, explained that while the university can ask to have these changes made, it is not in the “parameters of the contract” with Orchard. Côté, however, said that he was optimistic these changes would be made nonetheless.

“It’s in the interest of all parties to be as helpful and supportive to students and make things as clear as possible,” he said. “We’re interested in working with individuals that have the best interests of our students at heart. Those are the kind of partners that we want to have.”

This fall, a survey will be created to gain a better understanding of “student needs relating to university residence with a focus on international students.” Student enrolment services will also conduct annual interviews with a random sampling of 15 per cent CCSRPP students.

“We’ll be asking students to come in and talk about their experiences,” said Côté. “We want to be responsive and supportive of the needs of students, especially those who travel halfway around the globe to get here.”

The last measures will be to establish an online orientation session for new international students in not only Mandarin, but Arabic and Farsi as well, and update all references to the CCSRPP on the Concordia website.

Earlier this week, at the Concordia Student Union meeting on Wednesday, a motion was passed to formally review the situation. Côté explained that he had already met with student representatives to discuss the issue and hoped to collaborate with them further.

According to Côté, the contract with Orchard is almost up and is currently under review.

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Concordia student council remains divided

Photo by Madelayne Hajek
Photo by Madelayne Hajek

The Concordia Student Union discussed student appointments, the upcoming byelections and the ongoing issues with information technology services during a regular council meeting Wednesday.

Two weeks ago, Councillor Ramy Khoriaty announced his resignation from Senate in light of the lack of undergraduate representation from the John Molson School of Business.

Contrary to his statement however, Khoriaty did not officially step down from his spot by sending a letter of resignation to the council chair. Citing midterms, Khoriaty said he simply forgot to submit the letter and would do so soon.

Schubert Laforest, president of the CSU, expressed interest in appointing VP academic of the Commerce and Administration Students’ Association, Tuan Dinh, but council immediately voiced their concerns regarding his repeated absence during interviews.

Chairperson Jean-François Ouellet then refused to allow a motion to appoint JMSB student and applicant, Melissa Lemieux, to Senate. According to Ouellet, a student cannot be nominated for the position until Khoriaty submits his letter of resignation to the chair. Therefore, Senate will not have a JMSB student representative for its third meeting of the year this coming Friday.

Furthermore, a contentious council disagreed over the suggestion to open the executive position of VP academic and advocacy next month. Many councillors expressed discomfort with the current situation of dividing the position among the current executive, while those same executives felt it was crucial to help them function as a whole.

“Keep in mind we’re asking someone to work full-time and this is not an easy task. It takes time, and it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen,” said VP external Simon-Pierre Lauzon. “The other risk is that this person comes on the team, and does not actually work with us.”

Senator Chuck Wilson argued that “one portfolio is enough” and that Lauzon would be unable to fulfill his own duties if he was also taking on additional work.

The motion to open the position for applicants during the byelections passed.

Council also addressed the recurrent problems with the information technology service and went forward with the decision to hire councillor and former VP finance, Jordan Lindsay, to investigate the hardware issue.

Council was divided over the notion of hiring a company to do a massive overhaul of the IT services, something that a visibly frustrated Laforest argued was necessary for his executive to function.

“You’re asking us to do all this stuff with our hands tied behind our back,” said Laforest. “The fact of the matter is that a decision needs to be made immediately.”

Laforest explained that waiting another two months to choose which company will remedy the situation will only cost the CSU more since it is losing money on funding a dysfunctional system.

It was decided that an open-tender process would be used for the website documents and management despite the wishes of the executives to hire a company immediately.

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Another month, another resignation

Fine Arts councillor and last year’s VP student life & sustainability Laura Glover officially resigned from her position at the Concordia Student Union in a letter released Sunday.

In her letter, Glover stated that while she is “incredibly grateful” for all of her experiences at the CSU, she is “committed to a number of projects this year” and feels that perhaps another student would be better suited to fill the position.

Glover is the third councillor to step down from the from the CSU this year. Following backlash from council regarding her unresolved student status issues, former VP academic and advocacy Lucia Gallardo formally resigned in September. Former councillor Juliana Ramos quickly followed suit, citing a contentious council as her reason for leaving.

“I realized in September that my workload was quite heavy and I knew I wouldn’t have my focus on the council, the way a counselor should,” Glover told The Concordian. “It took a lot of responsibility to realize I couldn’t and be honest with myself.”

Schubert Laforest, the president of the CSU, spoke to Glover Monday about her resignation and said that while it came as a surprise to him, he understood her choices.

“She’s involved in a lot of things and she knows what the job requires, and knows that she can’t do it, and give 110 per cent,” he said.

Laforest went on to say that the seat will remain open until the byelection in November, where any Fine Arts student is eligible to run for the position.

Glover stated that she will continue to remain in contact with the union and give her advice if needed.

“It was challenging to step down from the CSU or, should I say, take some space because I care very deeply for the union,” Glover said.

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