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Constitution issues stifle CONMUN fee levy application

Concordia’s model UN contested application rejection for fee levy
by Nathalie Laflamme and Gregory Todarro

On Wednesday, Oct. 8, it was discussed at a CSU meeting whether the application Concordia Model UN (CONMUN) submitted in order to apply for a fee levy could be accepted.

CONMUN had submitted their application on Sept. 12 after collecting 1,000 signatures from students. On Oct. 1, the CSU policy committee and CONMUN met in order to discuss the issues the policy committee had with their constitution. The committee explained that their issues with the document stemmed from ambiguities in the constitution, as well as a late submission of their request.

In the rebuttal CONMUN presented to CSU this week, they described the two-hour meeting with the policy committee as having had a “hostile” environment, and said their constitution had been unfairly “shredded” for seemingly minor issues.

“We felt that this decision of the policy committee to reject our application to hold a fee levy referendum based on our constitution was completely unjust,” Nathanaël Dagange, CONMUN president, said.

However, this was news to CSU VP academic and advocacy Terry Wilkings, who chairs policy committee meetings.

“I was very surprised to see the language in the rebuttal document in terms of the environment being hostile,” he said. “I honestly felt like the meeting was conducted with mutual respect and was a highly collegial affair.”

The reason the policy committee was so thorough with eliminating ambiguity from this particular constitution was to set precedent for future applications, according to Wilkings. He explained that the CSU is currently working to improve how the constitutions for future fee levy groups are set up.

“The ambiguity that currently exists is something the policy committee is making a priority to review, and we’d like to put in place a standard review process so all applications are being treated in the same manner year in, year out,” Wilkings said.

The other issue brought up by the policy committee was dealing with the date the application was submitted. According to Benjamin Prunty, CSU president, it has yet to be decided whether the notwithstanding clause will be used to exempt CONMUN from abiding by this limitation. However, he warned of the dangers of setting a “dangerous precedent.”

“If we accept applications outside of our regulations for no compelling reason beyond the fact that some of our members have shown a good deal of initiative, then we are communicating to everyone that that is all it takes, but that should not be the case.”

Prunty added that unlike other initiatives from the past, such as the Concordia Food Coalition, there is “no pressing matter needing to be attended to by CONMUN, among other differences between the two situations. If we don’t send their questions to ballot, they will continue to operate, presumably, as the well-funded CSU club in much the same way as they have in the past.”

The policy committee will announce on Oct. 17 whether the ambiguities of the CONMUN’s constitution have been successfully dealt with.

“We are still in the process of reviewing the application, but it is definitely possible that, if major inconsistencies can be addressed, that policy committee will change its previous recommendation,” Prunty said.

CONMUN had applied for a fee levy of seven cents per credit starting in the winter 2015 semester. If their application is approved by council, students will vote on whether or not CONMUN will be able to have this fee levy at the winter by-elections.

 

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ConMUN asking for financial help from students

ConMun at the Swedish permanent mission in New York.

Concordia Model United Nations (ConMUN) is currently asking students for help: they would like to become a fee levy group.

In order to apply, they need a total of 1,000 signatures by Friday, Sept. 5. As of now, they have over 600 signatures. If they get enough signatures,  the matter will be added to the ballot at the next Concordia Student Union’s (CSU) elections this Winter.

They will be asking for the approval of the collection of a fee of 7¢ per credit to fund the operations of the Model United Nations Education and Leadership Centre.

This would allow them to have an operating budget of about $50,000. Last year, ConMUN recieved a $5,000 allocated budget from the CSU, while two years ago it was $3,200.

“ConMUN plans on using a substantial amount of the funds that would be allocated to our organization not only to compete at the national and international levels to UN simulations but to also arrange and host multiple events in which all of Concordia’s undergraduate and graduate students are welcome and encouraged to attend,” ConMun president Nathanaël Dagane said.

During the year, ConMun members travel to many different conferences, sometimes around the world. At these conferences, members must simulate being UN ambassadors dealing with important current issues. They must work as a team in order to solve global issues, or in order to mobilize international cooperation.

They must negotiate with countries, make speeches, prepare draft solutions, and resolve conflicts — all while abiding to the Model UN rules of procedure.

ConMun at the Swedish permanent mission in New York.

“Our goals as a club are to not only improve our members abilities but to achieve high levels of success at the conferences we attend. Half of what we do is focused on these national and international conferences, where we apply our well trained skills in competitions against the top schools from across North America and many others from around the globe.”

This year, ConMUN plans on attending conferences in Montreal, Rome, Ottawa, Seoul, and Chicago, to name a few.

ConMun has, in the past, been able to afford registration, accommodations and sometimes transportation for members, but students must still pay a lot from their own pockets in order to attend conferences.

“The budget of ConMUN is highly limited but we truly believe that finan­cial limitations should not stop talented and motivated youth from pursuing their dreams,” Dagane said. “Our goal is to send as many students as possible to the different confe­rences and ensure that they learn from their experience in several Model United Nations.”

According to Dagane, more funds will allow ConMUN to send talented students to conferences, regardless of their financial status. More talent will hopefully lead to more awards for Concordia.

ConMun dates back to 1998, and also existed before Loyola College and Sir George Williams University merged in 1974. The club once had one of the CSU’s largest operational budgets, which was at times mismanaged. To read an open letter written in 2002 from the CSU’s then VP Finance to ConMun’s then president, click here.

“Though it was true in the past that ConMUN did receive one of the biggest budget allocated by the CSU to clubs and had it mismanaged along the road, we should not pay for the errors of the past, considering that the turnover for student executives is usually quite high,” Dagane said.

“We believe that obtaining the status of a fee-levy group; autonomous from the administrations of Concordia University, the CSU, the GSA, and all academic bodies and associations, would help us complete successfully our activities for the year 2014-2015 and greatly improved Concordia’s university and student life off and on campus!” Dagane said.

To find out more about ConMUN and their proposed fee levy or to meet the executives in person, contact conmun@gmail.com. They are also on Facebook and Twitter.

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Students to vote on Greenhouse fee levy

Photo by Madelayne Hajek
Photo by Madelayne Hajek

The Concordia Greenhouse Project is reaching out to students by asking for the approval of a fee levy in hopes of securing a budget in the wake of potential closure.

The Greenhouse is asking that students approve a 12 cents per credit fee levy in a referendum this month to provide funding for a wealth of services and locally grown veggies on the 13th floor of the Hall building and several community gardens.

While the Greenhouse has been around for 50 years after the merge of Sir George Williams University and Loyola, the sciences eventually moved to Loyola Campus and abandoned the initiative. When plans were made to tear it down eight years ago students, faculty and Sustainable Concordia moved in and brought it back to life under an expansive rejuvenation project.

“In a really quick amount of time we started writing grants, we created more positions, we opened up all the rooms,” said Marcus Lobb, a co-ordinator of the City Farm School. “There are all kinds of different community projects that are taking up the different rooms and we do a huge ceiling production each year. There’s a lot to it, it’s really vast.”

The Concordia Greenhouse is now looking for permanent funding. In the last academic year its expenses totaled $90,846. If the fee levy is accepted it would raise approximately $75,000 during the 2013-2014 academic year. The rest of their funding would be found through grants for sustainability programs, private donations and fundraising initiatives.

Fee levies often provide programs and infrastructure to students; many students consider them to be an effective means to provide valuable opportunities, though not every student has a chance to benefit directly from the endeavor.

Those who may not want to pay for services in which they don’t personally have a stake in have options. Every year there is an opt out period providing ample opportunity to those students who may disagree.

“I feel that [the Greenhouse] is kept a little secretive and a lot of people . . . would be thinking ‘why am I paying two dollars towards this when I didn’t even know it existed,’” said Dillon Crosilla, a geography student at Concordia. “So I can see some hesitation from people there.”

During the last two years students across the anthropology, sociology, engineering, geology and economics departments have engaged in the Greenhouse’s offerings. The Concordia Greenhouse also supplies food to Cafe X, Frigo Vert and on-campus markets for healthy and inexpensive produce.

In order to oversee operations and ensure an ethical use of the students’ investment, the Greenhouse will be forming a Board of Directors that will comply with the Concordia Student Union’s standing regulations. An annual general meeting is also held every fall where students have the binding authority to approve or reject the proposed budget.

The vote will be held across March 27, 28 and 29, between 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.. A 50 per cent plus one majority of votes is needed to decide on the initiative. If passed, full-time students can expect a $3.24 yearly fee added to their tuition fees.

Similarly, Sustainable Concordia will also be holding a fee levy referendum in hopes of expanding student contribution to 15 cents per credit starting in fall 2013.

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