Tag: fee levy

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Where’s my (fee levy) money? 

Carleen Loney/ THE CONCORDIAN

Following the vote in favor of increasing Concordia Student Services fee levy, a new oversight body will be established to manage the funds.

In the recent Concordia Student Union (CSU) general elections, students voted 54.9 per cent in favor of an increase to the Concordia Student Services (CSS) fee levy. This is the first time Concordia Student Services have requested a fee levy increase since 2009. The $0.85 per credit increase brings the total fee levy from $10.26 per credit to $11.11 per credit, an overall 8.3 per cent increase. The vote was decided on a 9.1 per cent student voter turnout. 

Following the fee levy increase, the CSU and Concordia Student Services are set to create a mandating and oversight body to create greater transparency over the use of student funds.

A number of different units make up CSS, including the Student Success Centre, Campus Wellness and Support Services (which include counseling and psychological services) and the Dean of Students Office. In their application for an increased fee levy, CSS cited a net decrease in enrolment at Concordia due to the decline in 18-24 year olds living in Quebec. Currently, CSS has a surplus budget due to higher levels of enrolment previously. Without the fee levy, they expect to operate with a $2,316,991 deficit by the 2024-2025 academic year.

CSS helps students access many services at no direct cost, including but not limited to doctors, counseling, career advice and tutoring. In the 2021-2022 academic year, counseling and psychological services provided 9,654 student appointments, including triage and counseling. A deficit would see CSS needing to cut services.

“There are so many services offered in student services. It’s such a wide variety and I think each one is really important in its own way,” said Catherine Starr-Prenovost, a fifth-year psychology student at Concordia who currently works as a welcome crew mentor with the Student Success Centre, and as a homeroom facilitator as part of the Dean of Students Office.

“I can’t think of any student service that doesn’t have a huge impact on students’ lives.”

While student services are impactful, the nature of how their funding is allocated can be quite vague. 

​​”Students don’t have a way where they can govern this money, $9 million every year from their fees. They don’t have a way of knowing how it gets allocated. They can’t oversee it as there isn’t even a budget publicly available on their website,” said Fawaz Halloum, the CSU’s general coordinator.

The total revenue for CSS this year was $10,672,927 with student fees fronting 90 per cent of their funding, not including the surplus. Other student-run fee levy groups are required to hold Annual General Meetings, where board members can discuss budgets. They keep auditor’s reports and other financials ready at any time. This is not currently the case for Concordia Student Services. 

“There’s a trend that students do not want to keep paying into university services where they have absolutely no control over their money or to oversee or hold them accountable,” said Halloum.

Following CSS’ initial application for funding, Halloum suggested that an oversight body be created.

“I told them that students would want to see a board, a council of sorts, where students will sit along with the service directors. They will fight the budgets, make decisions and bring in student concerns directly and have a bit of a forum between the shareholders and the executives, which is long overdue,” said Halloum.

Halloum believes that with more oversight, the quality of work done by CSS could be improved.

“If you just start breaking it down one by one, you can find a slew of things that you can improve on pre-existing services, maybe even add certain facilities or services,” he said.

In most units of student services, a majority of the budget is directed towards salaries and benefits. According to their 2021-22 yearly report, CSS employs 118 professional employees across their units, with 322 students employees. During that year, student jobs accounted for $1,253,000 of the annual operating and non-operating budgets. This represents 10.44 per cent of CSS’ total revenue in that year, despite the fact that student employees make up 73.18 per cent of the CSS’ total workforce.

According to Laura Mitchell, Concordia’s executive director of student experience, the new funding from students won’t necessarily mean new services. “It’s to keep everything going that we have at present,” she said. “So this wouldn’t be money that would bolster one particular area. It would be spread across everything that we currently do.”

According to their application, CSS predicts a five per cent increase in costs to maintain their services every year. The extra money will help combat this increase and maintain salaries for professional and student employees amid rising cost of living expenses. 

​​”It’s all equally important, like our student jobs are really important to us,” said Mitchell. “We love working with students and we love supporting them. So obviously, we would love to be able to give a fair and generous salary to our student employees as much as we possibly can,” she added.

Student employees like Starr-Prenovost have spoken highly of their experience with CSS. “It’s been an amazing experience,” she said. “I feel like I’m treated really well and very fairly.”

A new oversight body has the potential to improve transparency to students, so they can better understand how their funds are being allocated. 

“Both sides were very enthusiastic about this idea,” Mitchell said.

Currently, CSS does have a committee called Concordia Council on Student Life that is a parity committee made up of students and staff. Mitchell says the new advisory body could resemble it. 

“We need to set up those consistent meetings and have these discussions and I think that will be great. I think it’d be really illuminating for both sides. To learn more about each other, because obviously these collaborations are really important for us too.” 

Now that the fee levy increase has been approved, a memorandum of understanding will be presented to the CSU’s council in one year to create a body staffed and operating in the following academic year.

“We don’t want to go in alone, we want to be in partnership as much as possible,” said Mitchell.

Despite the risk of deficit and increasing costs, students are the only ones currently being asked to increase their contributions to student services. The university’s contribution to CSS makes up just 4.11 per cent, which would diminish with an increased fee levy. It’s not as though the university does not have money to support these services. According to Concordia’s annual financial reports, a number of executives saw salary increases this year with President Graham Carr receiving a 9.56 per cent pay raise.

But Mitchell said they are having discussions with the university to see what that contribution looks like. “I think that’s another very important component,” she said.

Starr-Prenovost also thinks it’s important for everyone, including the university, to contribute to maintaining these services and that the efforts of people like Mitchell see results.

“I do hope to see that it comes to an increase in funding from [the university] as well. Anybody that could offer funding to the Student Success Center in student services, I think it would be a great investment,” she said.

“I really do think that the services are so important. Essentially, I think that it should be a priority  for everybody to increase funding for student services in general.”

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Concordia Student Union News

Referendum questions ready for the ballot

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.

 

Photograph by Lou Neveux-Pardijon

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Concordia Student Union News

Results of the referendum questions in the 2021 CSU general election

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.

Breakdown of the results:

YES:                    657 (62.3%)
NO:                      398 (37.7%)
ABSTAINED:        481 (31.3%)
TOTAL VOTES:   1,536

Student Building Referendum Question 

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.”

Breakdown of the results:

YES:                       936 (84.9%)
NO:                         167 (15.1%)
ABSTAINED:          433 (28.2%)
TOTAL VOTES:    1,536

Modification to CSU’s Bylaws 

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.

Breakdown of the results:

YES:                       658 (80.6%)
NO:                         158 (19.4%)
ABSTAINED:          720 (46.9%)
TOTAL VOTES:    1,536

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.

Breakdown of the results:

YES:                       600 (51.3%)
NO:                         569 (48.7%)
ABSTAINED:          367 (23.9%)
TOTAL VOTES:    1,536

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.”

Breakdown of the results:

YES:                       638 (53.5%)
NO:                         554 (46.5%)
ABSTAINED:          344 (22.4%)
TOTAL VOTES:    1,536

CEED Referendum Question

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.

Breakdown of the results:

YES:                       634 (64.8%)
NO:                         344 (35.2%)
ABSTAINED:          558 (36.3%)
TOTAL VOTES:    1,536

Concordia Student Union Student Advocacy Centre 

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.”

Breakdown of the results:

NO:                        616 (50.9%)
YES:                       595 (49.1%)
ABSTAINED:          325 (21.2%)
TOTAL VOTES:    1,536

 

Logo courtesy of the Concordia Student Union (CSU)

Categories
Concordia Student Union

A petition proposed by a CSU councillor seeks to defund The Link and CJLO

Both organizations told The Concordian that allegations in the petition questions are unwarranted

 

Disclaimer: The Concordian is a fee-levy organization and Hadassah Alencar also works for the CJLO news team.

Petition questions calling to defund student-run publication The Link and campus radio station CJLO were presented by councillor Tzvi Hersh Filler to the Concordia Student Union (CSU) during a regular council meeting last week on Oct.14.

Added to the agenda the night before the CSU meeting, allegations against the two fee-levy organizations caused alarm among the organizations, other fee-levies, and some CSU members.

The first question claims, “The Link has run smear campaigns against those who tried bringing the opt-out system online.” The second asks, “CJLO is attempting to sue the CSU to prevent online opt out, do you support removing CJLO‘s fee levy?”

The petition lacks clarification and proof of the claims, with both organizations telling The Concordian the statements are unwarranted.

The Link’s Editor-in-Chief Marcus Bankuti provided a statement to The Concordian, saying, “Councillor Filler’s claims of smear campaigns are baseless. We stand by the integrity of our reporting.”

Filler would not provide a comment on his claim against The Link “due to ongoing litigation.”

When asked how he will collect signatures if he cannot elaborate on the reasoning behind his question, Filler said, “I would expect that well before next semester, the relevant processes would have been resolved, and I would be able to answer those types of questions.”

He expects the litigation will be resolved before the Winter 2021 semester, and said he would “likely” speak on the allegations in the near future.

Filler said the intention of presenting the petition questions was to validate them so that he may collect signatures at a later date. He does not have any “hard deadlines” for when he would begin collecting signatures.

According to the CSU by-laws, a petition is only valid to be added to the referendum if it is first presented to the CSU before collecting signatures. Members are allowed to voice their opinion and give advice on the questions, but the petitioner is not required to take their advice.

The petitioner must then collect 750 signatures and submit them to the CSU before the deadline to add the question to the referendum. Students would then vote on whether or not they support the question.

As for CJLO, Filler plans “on seeing what [CJLO does] before I start collecting signatures, because I really don’t want to collect 750 signatures without a good reason.”

The petition question claimed CJLO was suing the CSU “to prevent online opt-out.”

CJLO Station Manager Francella Fiallos said the legal letter was a “challenge” to the online opt-out process, rather than an attempt to put a stop to it. The letter “was to challenge the way in which the CSU had decided to implement the referendum question, and how the consultation process was insufficient.”

Back in May, CJLO sent the CSU a legal letter to challenge the online opt-out process, given how the CSU was handling the process at the time.

Internal emails obtained anonymously through a request for information showed former General Coordinator Christopher Kalafitidis was working on the online opt-out system with the Concordia administration before he consulted with the fee-levy groups.

In the referendum questions, students voted to have an online opt-out system created “in consultation with all fee-levy organizations.” Kalafitidis said a survey sent to fee-levy groups was a sufficient consultation process, and said that the document he created with the fee-levy’s answers was adequately discussed with the administration.

Several groups, including CJLO, felt that the consultation process under Kalafiditis was not enough.

But this has changed with the current executive team, who began their mandate in June.

“Now we have a very strong relationship with the CSU,” said Fiallos.“We basically felt that the new administration…seem[s] to have an interest to make sure that fee-levy groups are adequately represented in this online opt-out process.”

“Once they came in, we basically said that the injunction was not going to be a relevant factor anymore.”

Filler said he did not speak to anyone from CJLO or the CSU recently about CJLO’s legal injunction against the student union.

Filler speculated on a legal argument against CJLO’s legal letter, speaking on his interpretation of the limitations of the letter: “It strikes me as grasping for straws and unlikely that a reasonable judge would accept it.”

“But in the event that a judge will accept it, how do I remove that obstacle? And the simple answer to that is remove CJLO’s fee[-levy] entirely,” said Filler.

Should CJLO’s position ever change, he plans on collecting signatures with his currently validated petition question.

“In the event that they do, I want to have the right at that point to collect signatures without having to go to present to council. So I’m trying to remove barriers, so the back up steps are ready to be done, in the events that an actual injunction is filed with the Court of Quebec.”

He believes that “The basis of the potential lawsuit is that online opt out affects the CJLO fee, and if the fee doesn’t exist, then online opt-out can’t affect it.”

Fiallos said, “[Filler’s petition] is not going to impact our judgement.”

“It just felt like he was just trying to intimidate us, but the fact is we’re not going to be intimidated,” said Fiallos.

She said that the decision to back down from the suit was based on how Eduardo Malorni, CSU student life coordinator, is handling the online opt-out process.

“He’s talked directly to us several times about this, he’s advocated for the recommendations that we made to the administration … I genuinely feel like it’s a much better relationship.”

The difference is, Malorni has continually directly consulted with the fee-levy groups since starting his mandate as CSU executive. He has dealt with the online opt-out process by discussing and negotiating the process between the administration, the CSU, and the fee-levy association.

Malorni told The Concordian, “We de-escalated the situation because basically they felt that they weren’t being listened to.”

On the night the petition questions came in, Malorni stayed up late answering questions and speaking with several fee-levy members about their concerns.

Malorni is also in charge of the Fee-Levy Review Committee, which reviews all applications regarding fee-levy groups, and said Filler must “give a clear reasoning as to why he is defunding [fee-levy groups], or he believes that they need defunding.”

Chairperson of the CSU Caitlin Robinson referred to the CSU’s Standing Regulation 259, which explains the manner in which a fee-levy is removed. One must simply provide a reason for the petition: “An explanation of the reasoning underlying the request.”

“That being said, although under the CSU’s regulations a petition can be circulated, the person circulating it needs to be very cautious about what they are writing and disseminating because they could encounter legal issues if they are circulating libellous claims,” said Robinson.

Categories
News

Fee levy members kicked out from council meeting due to fire hazards

A coalition of 40 people representing fee levy groups were forced to wait in JMSB hallways after the CSU booked 34-person room 

More than 40 people from various fee levy groups were kicked out of the CSU council meeting by Concordia security as the student union’s executive team only booked a 34-person capacity meeting room. 

The fee levy group members were gathered in solidarity as they demanded the CSU properly consult fee levy groups about the implementation of online opt-outs. Fee levy group members allege that the CSU have started working on the project without conducting proper consultations. The CSU set in place an ad hoc committee to start working on the online opt-out procedures earlier this year. An email from to book consultation sessions with the CSU was sent to fee levy groups on Feb. 5.

Switching to online opt outs could mean a massive reduction in funding for fee levy groups.

CSU meetings usually hold around 40 individuals–30 councillors, eight executive members, one chairperson, one minute keeper and the student media. This already breaches the 34-person maximum set by Concordia security for this room.

Members were allowed to peek through the doors as the motion was discussed.

“It’s bullshit,” said Paul Baloukas, an intern at Concordia’s radio station, CJLO 1690AM. “It’s ridiculous making us wait outside when they’re discussing something about us.”

A Concordia security officer yelled for people to exit as the exceeding number of people was a “fire hazard.” There were roughly 70 people in the room at the time.

“We got kicked out because of a fire hazard, which makes total sense,” said Danny Gold, a DJ at CJLO. “But 34 people seems small for that room.”

For the majority of fee levy group members gathered at the meeting, their groups offer opportunities to put in practice what students learn in class. Philippe l’Espérance, a CJLO radio host,  said online opt-outs could put at harm those opportunities.

“For some people, it’s a way to get experience journalistically outside of class,” L’Espérance said. “For others, it’s also a medium to live their passion.”

Those asked to leave the meeting were asked to stay around the JMSB’s 14th floor near the room where the council meeting was held.

Editor’s note: The Concordian is a fee levy group, but did not participate in the solidarity gathering present at this meeting.

 

Photo by Jad Abukasm

Categories
Opinions

Editorial: An open letter to Graham Carr

The Other Side was a satire column that frequently appeared in what was then called the Arts and Culture section of The Concordian in 1994. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Dear Graham Carr,

It has been almost two months since you’ve been appointed Concordia’s newest president. In the statement released on the Concordia website on Jan. 16, you expressed your excitement about building off of this “great momentum we’ve created in the last several years.”

While this sounds great, it is also a little bit brief.

We at The Concordian would like to make a few suggestions regarding what needs to be addressed at our wonderful school: 

 

Sustainability: While there have been some improvements, we can’t help but notice a lack of awareness when it comes to sustainability on campus. Some people remain unaware of sustainability groups, like CUCCR (Concordia University’s Centre for Creative Reuse), and compost bins are scarce—-the CJ Building at Loyola only has one. We reported back in October that half of what the university sends to landfills could be composted, according to student groups. Becoming completely zero-waste isn’t going to happen overnight, but providing a clear plan will give the Concordia community an opportunity to track the university’s progress.

Transit: Yes, the university already had a conference concerning the shuttle bus, and we are pressing the matter again. While efficient, the shuttle bus can be unreliable at times. Universities across Canada include a transit pass as part of their tuition. Why not Concordia? As an institution with a large contingent of students reliant on public transit, it’s clear that the demand is there. This would also serve as an incentive for students who drive to campus to start using public transit instead.

Food: Concordia’s five-year agreement with Aramark comes to an end in May this year. For years, students have pushed for more independent and student-run food providers. Aramark’s reputation is also less than stellar. So let’s be realistic, feeding hundreds of students at both residences and the thousands across both campuses is extremely difficult and requires a large workforce. But what the university can do is commit to signing shorter contracts with large corporations, and begin transitioning towards independent and student-run groups becoming the main food providers on campus. It’s not an issue that can be solved immediately, but this is the type of legacy move that only benefits the Concordia community.

Online Opt-Out Consultations: It should come as no surprise that we at The Concordian are against online opt-outs for fee-levy groups. When opt-outs are done in person, Concordia’s groups, from gender advocacy groups (The Centre for Gender Advocacy) to food services (People’s Potato, The Hive), to student media (CJLO, The Link, The Concordian) have a chance to educate students about the services they offer. Following the recent vote to move to online op-outs, all that we ask is to be included in meaningful discussions about the implementation of this system. Will the website include a list of services offered by each group? Will it properly inform people of the role the groups play on campus, and how they can get involved? Or will it simply have a list of services to opt out of?

As our president, these are some of the issues that we ask you to consider as you plan what to tackle here on campus for the duration of your tenure at Concordia. 

 

Sincerely,

The Concordian.

 

 

Feature photo by Alex Hutchins

Categories
Concordia Student Union News

CSU online fee levy opt-outs reached referendum

Fee-levy groups may lose significant funds after the upcoming referendum. “That would mean [serving fewer] people. People that sometimes really need it,” said Ian Herrera, member of the board of directors of People’s Potato.

Concordia students will go to the polls from Nov. 12 to 15 to vote on six referendum questions the Concordia Student Union (CSU) is putting to the ballot with online fee levy opt-outs, raising many concerns across the university.

Fee levy groups are student-run groups, semi-independent from the CSU and are elected through referendum. They include The Concordian, The Link, the Frigo Vert, Cinema Politica, and many more. They are not part of the union’s student clubs. Instead, they are funded directly by students who have voted in previous CSU referenda to fund them. They give access to multiple services on campus for all students, like food services, student media and environmental advocacy centres.

The motion was proposed by CSU President Chris Kalafatidis. However, he explained he is not binding the CSU to his decision since he proposed the question as a neutral student at large.

While students have always had the option to retract their shares from fee levy groups, Kalafatidis wants to facilitate the process.

“It’s always been a part of the deal that ‘we’re all going to pay for this collectively, but we do have the right to opt-out,’” Kalafatidis said. “All we’re doing is embracing technology to make the process easier for everyone.”

The controversial question faced a lot of opposition from CSU councillors and fee levy groups themselves. In fact, none of the 23 groups have expressed support, rather the opposite.

“The way the process works now in person is a positive thing where people can be informed face to face to understand what services we provide,” said Emily Carson-Apstein, a Concordia student employed at Sustainable Concordia. “From there, it’s their decision to opt-out and we’re not critical about that. Moving the system online makes it impartial. It makes people make hasty decisions that they don’t understand the consequences of and it shuts down the conversation before it even starts.”

McGill University switched to online opt-outs in 2007. Students’ Society of McGill University’s President, Bryan Buraga, said that this caused many fee levy groups to struggle with financing.

“This led to a decrease in the quality of services provided by these groups until the opt-out rate stabilized, after several years, to approximately 10 per cent rate of what it is today,” Buraga wrote in an email to The Concordian.

Full-time Concordia students with a four-class course load pay $58.44 per semester for fee levy groups at the moment.

Carson-Apstein explained that students can easily see a return on these fees by occasionally attending offered services, like movie or documentary screenings and eating at the People’s Potato – even just once every two weeks.

The People’s Potato serves free vegan food for students. On average, it serves around 400 to 500 people a day.

“[Online opt-out] would drastically reduce the income that we get and by consequence the number of people that we serve every day,” said Ian Herrera, member of the board of directors of the People’s Potato. “We would have to reduce the serving time. That would mean [serving fewer] people. People that sometimes really need it.”

But Kalafatidis said that if the question were to pass, the CSU would still have to sit down with all the fee levy groups to discuss the new opt-out process. Kalafatidis has yet to consult any of them. An option, Kalafatidis proposed, would be a checkbox system. Students will be required to read a description of the group prior to checking the opt-out option.

The question on fee levy opt-outs was brought up last year by the CSU slate Cut the Crap, which Kalafatidis was part of. On top of opt-outs, the slate also proposed election reform and cleaner bathrooms.

“[Fee levies] are the backbone of Concordia’s culture,” Herrera said. “Concordia’s culture isn’t dirty toilets, it’s this.”

The CSU will also be asking if students:

  1. agree with the Concordia Student Union endorsing a Fall Reading Week proposal and pursuing its implementation at Concordia University;
  2. agree with the Concordia Student Union endorsing a university-wide food waste reduction proposal and pursuing its implementation at Concordia University;
  3. support giving all faculties equal representation on the Council of Representatives by changing the structure to three Arts seats, three Science seats, three Gina Cody seats, three JMSB seats, three Fine Arts seats and one Independent Student seat. At the moment, 14 seats are allocated to arts and science, six to Gina Cody, four to JMSB and three to fine arts;
  4. agree to a non-opt-out fee increase of $2.08 that would result in a 50 per cent reduction of le Gym and PERFORM centre fees and free Stingers game;
  5. approve the Sports Shooting Club to be officially recognized as a CSU club.

 

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

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News

The conundrum of Concordia’s Online fee-levy opt-outs are back

The controversial topic of online fee-levy opt-outs is back, as discussions are being pushed by CSU General Coordinator Chris Kalafatidis, who is aiming to get it on a referendum.

Kalafatidis explained that the CSU bylaws allow any student to bring a question to a referendum. All that is needed is to present the question at a meeting, then the student must get 500 signatures from Concordia students. Once that is achieved the question automatically goes onto a referendum.

Kalafatidis requested online fee-levy opt-outs to be put on a referendum at the CSU meeting on Oct. 25.

“As General Coordinator, you have enough influence where you could just go ‘here’s a question council, pass this’ and it goes directly to a referendum,” Kalafatidis said. “Despite being in a position where I could have probably brought this referendum through council, I want to present it myself and get the signatures of 500 students.”

Kalafatidis believes that the effect of online opt-outs will be a positive one. The only thing fee-levy groups have to fear is that students will not know about them. Those that are more exclusionary will have the incentive to spread their services and be more open to students.

Yet, Emily Carson-Apstein, External & Campaigns Coordinator at Sustainable Concordia, was at the meeting as an opponent to Kalafatdis’ presentation. According to Carson-Apstein, online opt-outs will negatively impact fee-levies and the student culture they support.

“It’s really hypocritical for the General Coordinator to take on a project that is going to harm the community,” said Carson-Apstein. “These aren’t people picking and choosing groups. These are people who are opting out of everything without understanding what’s going on.”

Carson-Apstein argued that online opt-outs will defund fee-levy groups immensely. As an argument, she referred to McGill University implementation of online opt-outs as an example of the impact this decision would have on the Concorida student community.  According to the McGill Tribune, before 2007, opt-outs were relatively low. The Student Society of McGill University (SSMU), McGill’s version of Concordia’s CSU, had a 0.83 per cent opt-out rate for the Winter semester. But when online opt-out went up, by the next semester, SSMU’s opt-out rate went up to 6.45 per cent.

“The sad thing is that the opt-out numbers across the majority of the fees are consistent,” said SSMU Vice-President and Services Sarah Olle, in an interview with The McGill Tribune back in 2010. “So, I think what this indicates is that people who are opting out are usually blanket opting out.”

Carson-Apstein believes that opt-outs would defund fee-levy services. This will decrease student awareness of fee-levy’s and their benefits, which in turn will cause more students to opt-out, creating a vicious cycle of opt-outs and defunding.

“It’s not a political decision, it’s a financial decision that is uninformed on what these services can offer them,” Carson-Apstein said. “Many fee-levy groups have been created over decades to address student poverty.”

Carson-Apstein explains that while a student would save $50–$60 when they opt-out, if they take advantage of the services fee-levy’s offer, the student will save much more.

“If you go to the People’s Potato every day for a week, you’ve made that money up already,” Carson-Apstein said.

The McGill Tribune interview with Olle said that despite the fee-levy being different, the rate of students opting-out online didn’t change. Students consistently mass-opted-out no matter what the fee-levy provided or cost.

McGill’s Midnight Kitchen, Concordia’s version of the Peoples Potato, charges $3.35 a semester. It had almost the same rate of opt-outs as CKUT, who charge $5.00 a semester.

But as Kalafatidis presented during the meeting, if online opt-outs are implemented, all fee-levies will be conciliated to work towards a system that will benefit all sides and to make sure students know what they are opting out of. He used the People’s Potato as an example; students use it, are aware of it, and those that don’t use that service understand the importance of the People’s Potato, and refrain from opting out as to not take away free food, Kalafatidis said.

“Fee-levy groups never work towards building better relationships with students,” said Kalafatdis. “Having this option to opt-out would put them in a situation where if they are going to be using student money, they are going to have to earn it.”

Yet, Carson-Apstein is worried because once the referendum is counted, the final say will be with the Concordia University Administration.

“Once we put it in the hands of the university, the students won’t have control,” Carson-Apstein said, describing how Concordia websites are infamously hard to use and full of bugs. “If you think about how well Moodle and myConcordia work, the University is not going to make this easy.”

Online opt-outs are not imminent, but the groundwork is being laid. No matter which option students pick, both demand student engagement in the Concordia community.

 

Photo by Laurence B. D.

 

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News

Space Concordia fee-levy request denied

Space Concordia president Mark Snidal argued his group should receive a fee-levy during a CSU special council meeting on March 5. Photo by Étienne Lajoie

Space Concordia president Mark Snidal argued his group should receive a fee-levy during a CSU special council meeting on March 5. Photo by Étienne Lajoie

Group seeks approval to ask students for $0,16 per credit fee-levy; complaint policy questioned

Space Concordia president Mark Snidal went to the March 5 Concordia Student Union (CSU) special council meeting hoping council would approve asking the student body if they would accept a $0.16 per credit fee-levy for his organization, effective Summer 2018.

“Over time, our scope has expanded […] more recently we’ve started including projects from students outside the scope of engineering,” said Snidal when asked why he believed Space Concordia should be receiving money from Concordia’s student body through a fee-levy.

In addition to their skepticism about Space Concordia’s benefit to the entire student body—and, therefore, whether it merited a fee-levy—the union called into question the functioning of the organization’s proposed complaint policy, which would be implemented along with a fee-levy.

Snidal explained that a permanent committee for dispute resolutions would be formed in order to address complaints made by members “arising out of or related to the Constitution, or out of any aspect of the operations of the Association,” the constitution reads.

The committee, Snidal suggested, would be chaired by a Space Concordia executive. It would also consist of a temporarily appointed member from Space Concordia, as well as a member of the CSU council and two students at large.

Certain council members pointed out that a conflict of interest may arise if the organization names its own chair, and council member Rowan Gaudet said he’d never seen the CSU appoint someone to sit on a complaints board for a fee-levy group.

“I think that’s not really our place […] that’s not something the CSU is responsible for, and also the CSU can’t promise it will go well,” Gaudet said.

“I think it’s really important that the complaint process is done in a way that the people coming forward feel comfortable and safe, and not necessarily that they are going to be outed by a committee right away when the committee is being chosen,” added Sophie Hough-Martin, a council member who sits on the student union’s policy committee. Hough-

Martin also recommended the group include consent and sensitivity training for its members.

According to CSU council member Aliénor Lougerstay—who also works as Space Concordia’s vice-president for marketing—the organization only recently received feedback from the union about their constitution, which includes the complaint policy, despite having submitted the proposed constitution to the CSU policy committee in December.

Lougerstay said the original proposal for the committee for dispute resolutions was that it be internal. However, the CSU policy committee noted that, since a person might file a complaint against the Space Concordia executive body, it couldn’t be internal.

“We tried to figure out something, so that’s how we came up with the idea [of having a CSU member on the committee.],” Lougerstay said.

In the end, the CSU council voted in favour of referring Space Concordia’s fee-levy request—including the complaint policy—back to the student union policy committee for review.

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QPIRG Concordia to expand student resources

QPIRG Concordia focused on research stipends and expanding resources available to students. Photo by Kirubel Mehari

Organization turns focus to the future following annual election, fee levy increases

Following the recent election of new board members and an eight-cent fee levy increase, Concordia’s chapter of the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) is focusing on increasing research stipends and expanding their student resources.

The grassroots organization, which has historically focused on funding research and community-based projects aligned with their progressive political views, elected 12 members to their board of directors on Sept. 27 during their annual general meeting.

Since the organization works with both the Concordia and Montreal communities, it has two separate boards: one consisting of students and the other made up of community members. Any Concordia student with a valid student ID and all community QPIRG members (non-students who have donated at least $10 to the group or who volunteer 10 hours per year) were able to vote in the election.

Eamon Toohey, who was elected to the community board of directors on Sept. 27, said the board will spend the year developing and funding “radical, grassroots social justice initiatives” and will be prioritizing marginalized voices.

“I’m really excited to work with a whole new crop of board members to support the folks working for a brighter tomorrow in the city and beyond,” Toohey said. “Especially folks at the margins fighting for Indigenous sovereignty and migrant justice. Those two fights are brutally suppressed and forgotten, but absolutely vital.”

In addition to new board members, the organization recently received an increase to their annual student fee levy. According to the group’s 2016-17 financial report, between January 2007 and November 2016, the group received 31 cents per credit per undergraduate student, with the exception of students who chose to opt out in the first weeks of each semester.

Through a referendum vote during the fall 2016 Concordia Student Union (CSU) by-elections, the QPIRG was granted an eight-cent fee levy increase. Under this new model, undergraduate students pay 39 cents per credit per semester, or $11.70 annually for a 90-credit degree. The graduate student fee levy of 50 cents per credit was unchanged.

“It was up to Concordia undergraduates to decide at the polls,” Toohey said of the referendum. “When voting closed, our fee levy was raised, allowing us to support social and environmental initiatives all over the city.”

While the group’s primary source of income is fee levy funding, it’s impossible for the QPIRG to predict how much funding that will be, as all students have the option to opt-out each semester. According to financial records from October 2016 to August 2017, the group’s total revenue for the 2016-17 fiscal year was $238,586 with approximately $220,000 coming from student fee levy funds.

The QPIRG insisted the increased funding will be put towards community-based programs and research projects. According to Hesser Garcia, a newly-elected community board member, the fee levy increase has already allowed the group to fund a $3,000 summer stipend, which they granted to Captive Minds.

According to the QPIRG’s 2016-17 annual report, Captive Minds is a Little Burgundy-based mentorship project that connects black, low-income youth with an adult mentor in the prison system. Garcia said this stipend is “the first in many to come,” now that the group has increased funding.

“We were also able to provide better support for our alternative agenda, School Schmool, and our alternative library,” Garcia said. School Schmool is a free student planner that features articles and resources, including food banks and low-cost mental health services in the Montreal area. The alternative library, in QPIRG Concordia’s office at 1500 de Maisonneuve Blvd., offers books, magazines and audio-visual media focused on environmental and social justice issues.

In total, the QPIRG invested $20,000 in community and campus projects in 2016-2017. Several board members said they are hopeful the increased fee levy will allow them to expand funding for these programs even further in the coming year.

Photo by Kirubel Mehari

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Concordia Student Union News

CSU to demand academic amnesty at next senate meeting

Photo by Nelly Serandour-Amar

The student union is also proposing to increase the fee levy of Concordia Greenhouse

Academic amnesty and increasing the Concordia Greenhouse fee levy were discussed at the CSU monthly meeting on March 8.

The CSU decided they would demand academic amnesty from the senate for students who might have missed classes in the days following the bomb threat that was made on March 1 targeting the school’s Muslim community. The targeted buildings were evacuated and no bombs were found on-site after an SPVM search. That afternoon, Concordia president Alan Shepard sent a letter to all students saying classes would resume for the rest of the week. “For students whose classes and exams were affected by the evacuations, or if you have other concerns about completing your coursework or exams, please speak with your professor. I hope that professors will be flexible in light of this very unusual situation,” he wrote in his letter.

While the CSU appreciated the gesture the university made by sending this letter, they did not feel it was enough. “It was a nice statement—the [intention] was there but they didn’t go farther,” said Sophia Sahrane, the CSU’s academic and advocacy coordinator. She told The Concordian the student union will try to convince the university senate during their next meeting on March 17 to request amnesty from all departments. “The students cannot just hope that professors will understand. They need to know that, if professors refuse to give them academic amnesty, they have different resources to protect them,” said Sahrane. “Having this academic amnesty ensures students that they have alternatives and that they should feel comfortable about not going to class if they don’t feel good about it.”

According to Sahrane, the only department at the university that have offered academic amnesty so far is the department of Geography, Planning and Environment. “They have sent out a notice to all of their teachers and faculties to not count the absences from March 1 to 3,” she said.

During the meeting, the CSU also passed a motion stating they will be presenting a motion at the Greenhouse’s annual election to increase the Concordia Greenhouse fee levy. Sahrane, who presented the motion, is proposing to increase the fee levy from 12 cents per credit to 24 cents.

“They are having issues with their facilities, but also offer twice as many services as they used to when they initially started,” said Sahrane. She said she believes it would be a great investment. According to her, the Greenhouse has been providing extra services and without ever asking for a fee levy increase. “This increase is to ensure that they can keep going and that their [needs are] answered.”

Students are allowed to use the Greenhouse space to study, for group work and they can also buy plants and seeds. “They also offer internships depending on the students’ needs. It’s a very diverse group that is providing a lot for its community,” Sahrane said.

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News

ASFA asks for per credit fee levy increase

November by-elections to fill VP Academic & Loyola, VP External positions

The Arts and Science Federation of Associations will be asking students to increase its per credit fee levy by 0.38 cents as of winter 2015.

At a special council meeting held Oct. 23, ASFA voted to put the question to a referendum during a by-election to be held Nov. 25-27.

This proposed increase was put forward by ASFA’s Financial Committee in order to offset the increased expenditures of the federation on services and Member Association budgets.

ASFA represents almost 15,000 undergraduate students and currently receives a fee levy of $1.22 per credit. While it represents the most students of any other faculty association, with the Commerce and Administration Student Association coming closest at just over 7,000, it receives the smallest levy. CASA receives $2.35, the Engineering and Computer Science Association receives $2.00 and the Fine Arts Student Alliance, representing only 3,700 students, gets $1.35.

This year, ASFA has budgeted a deficit of $61,690—an increase from last fiscal year’s $57,977 deficit. The federation cites financial restructuring, increase of costs and additional services as the reason for the budget imbalance.

While ASFA is not in a position where it is unable to continue its operations, the federation’s bylaws state that the year-end cash balance must be $150,000 or more.

The referendum question, approved by ASFA reads as follows: “Do you agree to increase ASFA’s per credit fee levy by $0.38 to a total of $1.60 per credit, effective starting in the winter 2015 semester (January 2015)?”

In addition to voting on the fee levy increase question, the by-election will also see the vacant positions of VP External and VP Academic & Loyola filled.

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