Tag: John Molson School of Business

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News

Concordians share their experience of participating in the JMoSB fundraiser

JMoSB comes to an end with over $28,000 raised

For JMoSB’s Movember fundraiser, all its members chose their own way to raise money and spread awareness for men’s health, particularly mental health.

Some members of the John Molson School of Business Movember team, a subsidiary of CASA Cares, sold pins, some found sponsors and prizes for raffles and competitions, and others did push-ups. But they all had the same goal: raising funds for the John Molson School of Business Movember fundraiser.

Sally Vu, the co-director of external relations for JMoSB, is majoring in Human Resource Management. Her mental health awareness project consisted of sharing video journals of 22 different men, each talking about their experience with and opinion on men’s mental health.

Jason Lobasso, a third-year finance student at JMSB, contributed to Vu’s video journals. He said that men’s mental health should be a subject that’s more talked about.

“I think it’s great that we, as a society, are collectively engaging in conversation about it more and more as time passes,” he said. “No one should ever be ashamed to open up and speak up on what’s on their minds. We should be prioritizing dialogue as much as we can.”

Vu received many donations with the help of her campaign, but since she wanted to do more, she decided to collaborate with Mary Colombo, the owner of a small Montreal-based online business, @artxfeels. Colombo sells customized accessories through her Instagram account. She graduated from Concordia in 2018 and has previously participated in another fundraising initiative.

“A couple months ago, I decided I wanted to raise money for the MUHC [McGill University Health Centre] foundation,” Colombo said. “So, I designed Ça va bien aller pins, and 100 per cent of the profits went to the foundation.”

Colombo said that when Vu asked her to collaborate, she was more than happy. She made mustache pins and sold each pin for $5, with all profits going to the fundraiser.

Karim Hatem, co-director of external relations, is in charge of media presence, as well as finding sponsors to provide prizes related to mental health care or self-care in general, including spa packages from Bota Bota. Hatem is in his second year at JMSB, doing a double major in Marketing and Human Resource Management. He will be posting a video of him doing push-ups, depending on how much money he raises.

“If I raise $100, then I’ll do 100 push-ups,” he said.

Neil Kafidi, vice president (VP) of external for JMoSB, is majoring in International Business with a minor in Finance. His role also consists of finding sponsors and prizes for different competitions and raffles, similar to Hatem’s role. To do that, Kafidi gets in touch with companies and asks them for monetary or material donations, which would be used for the raffles.

He received a $1,000 donation from Imperial Tobacco, and many products from Pharmaprix, including a laptop, a tablet, and a camera.

Most members joined the Movember team because they wanted to help raise awareness and funds for an important cause, but they also have more personal reasons for why they decided to apply.

“It’s a bit more personal for me,” Hatem said. “A friend of mine has mental health issues, so I wanted to help raise awareness, and that’s why I joined and decided to focus more on the mental health aspect of Movember,” he added, referring to the self-care prizes he acquired for the competitions.

For Kafidi, joining JMoSB was just about giving back.

“I feel like when you’re lucky enough to be in a good situation and when you can help, it’s always important to help because not everyone has the same luck,” he said. “And I believe in good karma too. If you do something good, then something good is always going to come back to you.”

He also explained that he initially applied for the VP internal position, which consists of communicating with the team and organizing their meetings. However, he was offered the VP external position, which allowed him to talk to more people, including possible sponsors. He said he was happy to take on a more challenging position.

“I got to discover a new way to get out of my comfort zone,” Kafidi concluded.

“For me, the most important part is mental health,” Vu said. “The more I reached out to people during the pandemic, the more I realized we’re going through a lot, everyone individually. That’s why I wanted to do this campaign, to share everyone’s stories.”

Colombo loved Vu’s idea of sharing testimonies of men.

“I feel like I’ve never seen that being done,” she said. “And I think that in regards to men’s health, it’s something that’s often overlooked, and because of that, I feel like they were extremely strong for talking about it on social media.”

All the members learned something different from their experience fundraising for men’s mental health.

“I learned a lot about myself, about the cause and about how people really feel,” Vu concluded. “It’s a great initiative and I plan on reapplying next year.”

“I think I’d like to participate next year too, but maybe have another position, to see things from a different angle and learn new things,” Hatem concluded.

 

Logo courtesy of John Molson School of Business Movember team

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Student Life

Beyond the business benefits of JMUCC

Photo by Mackenzie Lad

Non-business students attending Case Competition walk away inspired

While you need to be a business student to join the John Molson Undergraduate Case Competition (JMUCC), you do not have to be a business student to reap the benefits it has to offer.

Last week, 24 universities from around the world came to the 11th edition of the JMUCC. During the competition, teams of four are presented with a real case from a local business where, in three hours, they must identify a problem and create an action plan how they intend to solve it. Contestants must present their ideas through a PowerPoint presentation to a panel of judges in 20 minutes, after which they will face a 10-minute question period. Teams did this three times from Feb. 25 to 27, and then completed a 24-hour long business case on Saturday. The event is open to the public to watch for free or live online. Students from all business disciplines are allowed to compete—but what about non-business students?

“This whole experience is about not just cracking a case, but it’s also about how you develop that business thinking that’s so crucial and so important to all the programs that people are studying,” said Kawish Lakhani, a tech volunteer for the event.

The John Molson Undergraduate Case Competition (JMUCC) was held at Hotel Bonaventure at 900 Rue de la Gauchetière from Feb. 25 to 27, with the final day on March 2. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

During presentations, guests witness how teams have worked together by putting forward their individual skill sets. Students can learn valuable presentation skills like voice projection, concise phrasing and developing unique presentation styles. Most importantly, students can learn to have fun while developing new skills; a mix many students deem impossible when presenting. Seham Allison, a contestant for Concordia, did just that by laughing with the judges at her tongue-tied moment when she tried to say the word “compensation.”  As an added bonus, with the 10-minute question period, students can see how participants think quickly on their feet—a skill they can use for future job interviews.

Concordia contestant Mathieu Kost brought up a different point of view. He expressed the limitations for non-business students visiting the event, as they do not have access to read the cases beforehand and therefore would not be able to understand and learn fully. However, he did mention that there are benefits for students who own businesses as they could learn “tangible actions that don’t cost too much money […] and then replicate that specific piece of recommendation in their business.”

For those who wish to travel or pursue careers elsewhere, they must know beforehand that every culture thinks differently, especially in a work setting. Students participating in the competition come from Canada, the United States, China, England, Ireland and more. “You can see there’s a cultural difference in how we look at issues, how we solve problems, what we prioritize as a primary issue,” said John Fragos, a member of the Concordia team.

“You can bond with a bunch of JMSB students that you wouldn’t necessarily get to meet if it weren’t for JMUCC, and meet people from all around the world,” said Julia Wheeler, the VP of logistics for the event. Due to the large amount of international students present, an extensive list of companies sponsor the event, such as RBC, CN, Ardene and IBM, to name a few. Students can make connections that can help them in their personal or business-related endeavors.

“It’s inspirational,” said Kevin Phok, a member of the Concordia team. At JMUCC, students from all domains can be inspired and educated. These professional skill sets can be applied to their own lives since, after all, when you’re an entrepreneur, everything is a business opportunity.

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Student Life

AIESEC at Concordia

Volunteering abroad is only a few steps away

If volunteering abroad is something you’re interested in, AIESEC (pronounced eye-sek) is an organization to look into. A non-profit international youth-led organization offering global internships, AIESEC aims to take young adults out of their comfort zones and into a world where their help can make a difference.

On Friday, Nov. 23, AIESEC held a conference at the John Molson School of Business where volunteers, who now work with the organization, spoke about their experiences abroad.

AIESEC has three main sectors for its internship programs: Global Talent, Global Entrepreneur, and Global Volunteer. All three revolve around an exchange system where young adults from different parts of the world travel to share their talents, entrepreneurial skills, and volunteer. The projects they organize are based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) created by the UN, as well as the #Envision2030 17 goals for persons with disabilities.

“I wanted to go somewhere completely different from what I knew,” said Stéphan-Thomas Trembley, who went to Indonesia last summer. He worked with consultants on a project aimed to help the economic growth and development aspect of the SDGs. “I think about it all the time, and I wish I could live it again. It’s inspired me to want to travel more, talk to people, and get to know their side of the story,” Trembley said.

Harnessing leadership and communication skills is only part of what is gained from going abroad. Students also learn about different cultures, different day-to-day routines, and even find similarities where they thought would be none. One of the things Trembley found most inspiring is that “people are the same.”

From beginning to end, AIESEC ensures their trips are safe. The Outgoing Global Exchange sector’s purpose is helping students with their exchange process—from airport pickups, to transportation, to accommodation, everything is planned carefully. Volunteers stay with assigned host-families while they’re overseas, and these families are often also volunteers. Depending on the project the student chooses, the time varies from six weeks to three months.

“I went to Romania to develop leadership skills and ended up meeting wonderful people and really creating a network of people all over the world that made this experience the best it could ever be,” said Ève Provencher-Dagenais, Local Branch Manager of AIESEC Canada. “I promised myself I’d go back to Romania, and I also want to go to a different country to learn a new culture.”

According to its website, AIESEC is the largest youth-run organization and is present in 126 countries with over 80,000 members.

“I’m originally from Sri Lanka, and over there AIESEC is a big movement,” said AIESEC Concordia Outgoing Global Exchange Vice President Sathsala Perera. “I was really inspired by what they do with youth development.”

The application process is done online using a step-by-step guide. First, you need to create a profile. According to Perera, the reason for this is that the organization is highly selective of their applicants in order to ensure the best possible outcome for all parties involved. The plane ticket is covered by applicants themselves, and there is a fee of $570 that goes towards the individual’s accommodations, food and basic care while they’re abroad.

“I joined AIESEC for empowerment,” said Perez. “I stayed with AIESEC because I saw this as a platform. A lot of people at Concordia don’t know about it, but it’s an important organization. Come and use us, use the resources we have here.”

Feature graphic by Ana Bilokin

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Sports

Illegal streaming biggest problem for broadcasters

Rogers Sportsnet president Scott Moore wants to crack down on illegal sports streaming. Photo by Nicholas Di Giovanni.

Sportsnet president Scott Moore and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly say issue needs to be stopped

At the John Molson Sports Business conference on Nov. 2, Scott Moore, president of Rogers Sportsnet, asked how many people in attendance use cable TV to watch hockey. About 30 per cent of the crowd reluctantly raised their hands.

“That’s not good for [Rogers Sportsnet], because we’re firstly a cable TV company,” Moore said.

Next, he asked how many people use Rogers Sportsnet’s streaming service to watch National Hockey League (NHL) games. At least 50 per cent of the crowd raised their hand, and this time with more pride than the people who said they watch cable TV.

Lastly, Moore asked how many people have illegally streamed a hockey game in the past. Almost everybody in the room had their hand up.

“Look at the person to your right and left,” he told the crowd. “That person to the right of you won’t have a job. That person to the left of you won’t have a job. And you’ll be unemployed.”

Moore said illegal streaming of NHL games severely affects his business, and “it’s the biggest challenge facing professional sports.” In 2013, Rogers Communications signed a 12-year, $5.2-billion deal to become the exclusive broadcaster of NHL games in Canada from the 2014-15 season through 2025-26. So Moore wants to make sure customers are paying for his company’s service, and not illegally streaming it online.

The opening panel at the John Molson Sports Business conference featured Bill Daly, Scott Moore and Stephen Brunt. Photo by Nicholas Di Giovanni.

“We invest heavily in this content, and we want to make sure [customers] value this content,” Moore said in an exclusive interview with The Concordian after he spoke at the conference. “So we’re working heavily with [other] leagues and content-providers to find ways to shut down the stealing of content, because that’s what it is—it’s stealing.”

Rogers’s streaming service, Rogers NHL Live, broadcasts almost every NHL game, including playoffs, and is available across multiple devices. An annual membership for Rogers NHL Live is $200, while a monthly membership is $30.

However, most streams can be found by simply going to reddit. The Concordian asked reddit users why they would rather stream games than pay Rogers’s subscription fee. The response was overwhelmingly because of blackouts. A broadcast blackout on Rogers NHL Live happens when a fan tries to watch a team in their local market—i.e. a Canadiens fan in Montreal. Moore said blackouts happen to protect local cable TV. But reddit users said they would prefer streaming games than paying for cable.

“I live in New Jersey, so all Rangers, Islanders, Devils and some Flyers games would be blocked out for me locally and all nationally televised games,” wrote Beth S. “So if I want to cut the cord from cable, then I’d need to pursue a less than legal option.”

Bill Daly, the NHL deputy commissioner, took part in a panel with Moore and Sportsnet reporter Stephen Brunt at the conference. Daly said the NHL also needs help to shut down illegal streams.

“That’s a Rogers problem, not the NHL’s,” Daly said jokingly before adding: “But no, that’s an NHL problem because, if our product isn’t profitable, nobody wants to deal with us.”

“[Broadcasting rights] are a property right,” Daly said. “Just like any other property right, it could be possessed and sold, but it shouldn’t be stolen.”

Moore added that his company wants to provide a win-win situation for customers, but he said it isn’t a win-win if fans stream games illegally.

“It’s no different than going in and stealing something from the local store,” Moore said. “It is illegal.”

Main photo by Nicholas Di Giovanni

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News

Trading sticks for stocks

The John Molson Sports Marketing Committee organizes the annual John Molson Sports Business conference. Photo courtesy of the John Molson Sports Marketing Committee

Annual John Molson Sports Business conference to feature NFL, Sportsnet speakers

Nicholas Vonapartis was attempting to find speakers for the John Molson Sports Business conference when he received an email from Sportsnet president Scott Moore.

“He sends me an email [saying], ‘How do you like Bill Daly?’” recounted Vonapartis, the vice-president of speaker personnel for the John Molson Sports Marketing Committee (JMSM), in an interview with The Concordian. That is how the conference managed to book the National Hockey League’s deputy commissioner as a speaker.

According to Vonapartis, two elements came into play when the committee began reaching out in June to potential speakers: name recognition and educational purpose. Daly fits both criteria.

In a few days, students from 23 North American universities will flock to Montreal for the three-day conference taking place at Hotel Bonaventure. According to JMSM vice-president of marketing Romana Kazi, 300 tickets have already been sold for the event.

Daly is one of more than 20 speakers, including lawyers from National Football League teams, public relations agents representing the biggest names in sports and Major League Soccer franchise presidents.

Daly’s panel with Moore and Sportsnet columnist Stephen Brunt will kick off the conference on Nov. 2. A discussion between Montreal Impact executive vice-president of soccer operations Richard Legendre and Toronto FC president Bill Manning will follow.

Vonapartis said the committee had a specific vision for the panels, and then found individuals who embodied that vision to participate. In short, the committee wanted to keep the panel discussions “completely up to date,” according to Vonapartis.

Consequently, the topic of national anthem protests in the NFL will be touched upon during a workshop featuring New England Patriots general counsel Jack Mula, Vonapartis said.

During Legendre and Manning’s discussion, Vonapartis expects the increasing number of MLS franchises to be addressed. The MLS imposes “huge franchise fees, but profits are nowhere to be found,” Vonapartis explained.

Some familiar faces

The Concordia Stingers 2015 rebrand featured new colours and a new identity, but more importantly, a lot of business decisions. The man responsible for it, Patrick Boivin, will return to Concordia more than a year after leaving the school to join the Montreal Alouettes as the organization’s president. He will host the VIP breakfast on Nov. 4.

Boivin’s short-lived tenure with the university—just over three years—doesn’t match Matt Pfeffer’s one-year stint as a consultant with the prestigious Montreal Canadiens.

Pfeffer––a data analyst for the Nashville Predators––is remembered not for the duration of his time with the Canadiens, but rather for the way his tenure ended.

Following the blockbuster trade that sent Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Shea Weber, Pfeffer wrote in a statement that he “made a passionate case in favour of Subban” prior to the trade. He added: “There was never a meeting with [Canadiens] management” prior to the trade.

A month later, the Canadiens fired Pfeffer. Pfeffer will talk about hockey analytics alongside Sportsnet writer Dimitri Filipovic, hockey analyst Mike Kelly, Stathletes co-founder Meghan Chayka and Florida Panthers assistant general manager Eric Joyce.

The conference is a representation of Vonapartis’ overall goal for panels. The JMSB student said he wanted “a mix of three things: journalistic perspective, independent company perspective and internal [team] perspective.”

Courtesy of the John Molson Sports Marketing Committee

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Sports

A look at the business aspect of sports

Chris Moynes has his own asset management firm for athletes. Photos by Ana Hernandez.

Three speakers in the sports business industry shared their knowledge at the JMSM speaker series conference

Around 40 JMSB students packed into the Sheraton Hotel on René Lévesque Boulevard for the John Molson Sports Marketing speaker series conference on March 24.

The event was organized by JMSB students and featured three speakers, including Rob Campana, Jonathan Mailhot and Chris Moynes. Each spoke for about an hour, with Campana and Mailhot presenting students with a case study where students had to come up with ideas to fix a problem that affected the speaker’s business. Moynes was the keynote speaker.

At around 1 p.m., Campana, who is the founder of Flag Plus Football league in Montreal, spoke to students about starting his sports league and the challenges that came with it. A graduate of JMSB, Campana started Flag Plus Football when he was 19, in 2005.

“I started the league because the leagues that did exist seemed to not want my friends and I,” Campana said. “It’s like we weren’t part of their friend group so I felt like I needed to make something for my friends.”

There were only 18 teams when the league started in 2005, but now there are over 300. Since then, league has become a luxury brand for recreational flag football in Montreal.

As a former student, Campana was happy to speak at the conference and share his knowledge with the eager crowd.

“It’s interesting to stay connected with the John Molson community as an alumni,” Campana said. “Sports marketing has always been a passion of mine, and I was honoured that they wanted to have me.”

After giving his talk, Campana presented the students with a case study related to his own company. Flag Plus Football grows about 10 to 15 per cent each year, according to Campana. However, low profit margins make it hard to expand the business.

Campana looked to students for solutions to his problem. After 30 minutes, the students came back with ideas, which Campana listened to and gave feedback on.

“John Molson students are very smart,” Campana said. “I’m always curious and interested in what they come up with.”

Some students thought that one route Campana could go, is license his league’s services to other recreational leagues for a royalty fee.

Jonathan Mailhot is in charge of advertising, media planning and innovation for the Montreal Canadiens.

The next speaker was Mailhot, who is the head of advertising, media planning and innovation for the Montreal Canadiens. Mailhot spoke to the group about his role with the Canadiens, as well as how he got there, having started out as a student in JMSB.

In his role with the Habs, Mailhot helps develop advertising campaigns, as well as create promotional videos for the team’s various events and media platforms. For instance, Mailhot is in charge of the season launch campaign, which lets fans know the Habs are back.

Mailhot said he remembers being a student and attending these conferences.

“I think the biggest thing is I was in those chairs not so long ago,” Mailhot said. “Presenters don’t even notice how much impact they have on someone’s life, so I always like to think of what I would have liked to learn and then bring that information to these types of conferences.”

For Mailhot’s case study, he asked students to figure out how the Montreal Canadiens could make their Bell Centre tour more enticing to people. He also wanted to see if students could tie the tour into a social cause that would help the organization give back to the community.

He said despite students only having 30 minutes, he was impressed with the ideas the students came up with.

“I was curious to see what people came up with. It was a real challenge that we have at the Montreal Canadiens, so it was interesting,” Mailhot said. “What came out today was a bit of what we’ve worked on already, but to hear it from a group of students may have confirmed some of those projects.”

The third and final speaker was Moynes, who is the creator of One Sports Entertainment Group. The firm helps professional athletes manage their assets and make the right investments so they don’t go bankrupt.

Moynes talked about his early years as an employee at his father’s company which also dealt with asset management. There, he would help manage the assets of some of hockey’s biggest names. He then went on to work at RBC and later started his own company.

Each student got to go home with two of his books, The Pro’s Process and After the Game, which discuss how athletes can avoid financial instability later in their careers and after retirement.

While speaking about his career path, Moynes left students with some motivational words.

“In life, you never know where you’re going to end up,” Moynes said. “But with hard work and determination, you’re going to go down the path you want to go.”

After his talk, a networking cocktail was held for students to formally meet each of the three speakers.

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CASA participates in 5 Days for the Homeless

CASA took part in 5 Days for the Homeless between March 12 and 17. Photo by Ana Hernandez

Concordia students raise funds for Montreal homeless shelters

A group of executives from the Commerce and Administration Students’ Association (CASA) and a group of JMSB students braved the March 14 snowstorm by sleeping outside hoping to raise awareness of the homeless people living in Montreal who face these winter conditions every year.

As part of the annual 5 Days for the Homeless campaign, participants slept on the corner of De Maisonneuve Boulevard and Mackay street in sleeping bags during the winter storm that dumped more than 35 cm of snow on the downtown region. The students relied solely on the generosity of the downtown community between March 12 and 17, using the money they raised on the streets for food.

“We feel that five days out of our lifetime is not very much,” said Émilie Leduc, the executive vice-president of CASA, who slept outside all five nights for the cause. “We bring the bare necessities such as a backpack, an extra layer of clothes, a water bottle—no money and no phone,” Leduc added. “We live off of donations and from the generosity of the community.”

This winter marked Concordia’s 9th edition of 5 Days for the Homeless.

Since 2008, the Concordia group has helped raise more than $300,000 for local homeless charities.

This year, the team raised $11,1262.80 for the Dans la Rue and Chez Doris homeless centres, which cater to the Montreal downtown community, said LeDuc. Chez Doris is a day centre for women in need, which provides meals and basic services, LeDuc explained. “Chez Doris has a number of volunteers and services which help get these women back on their feet,” she said.

Dans la Rue, which was founded by Father Emmett Johns, or “Pops,” in 1988, caters to homeless and at-risk youth between the ages of 12 and 25 in the greater Montreal area.

“It was very eye-opening,” said Evan Pitchie, the CASA JMSB president.

“We have the option of going home when things get tough, but not everyone has that same opportunity,” Pitchie added.

Photo by Ana Hernandez

During the storm, between 2:30 a.m. to 4:30 a.m., Pitchie said the team helped individuals who were stuck in their cars. “It was good exercise to keep us warm, and helped us raise even more donations for the shelters.”

“A lot of people assume that sleeping outside in the cold is the hard part, but what is most difficult for many people living on the street is the lack of social and human interaction,” Leduc explained. “They are often at the mercy of strangers and rely on our generosity—they are often ignored or avoided by people crossing the street to distance themselves.”

The 5 Days for the Homeless campaign was first introduced by the University of Alberta’s School of Business in 2005, and has since been undertaken by other universities across Canada, Leduc said. She added that Josh Redler, a CASA executive, was the one who brought the campaign to Concordia nine years ago.

This year, the 5 Days for the Homeless opening ceremony was hosted at McGill University—the two schools take turns each year hosting the event’s opening ceremony. This year’s event was organized by Émilie LeDuc, Mackenzie Murray and Nour Hanna, all CASA JMSB executives, along with 13 other JMSB CASA executives.

“The issue of homelessness in youth is very important to us,” said Murray. “We want to address this problem and raise awareness and funds to help those who are facing this reality.”

The most popular programs at Dans la Rue are their education and employment services, said Michelle LeDonne, a development adviser at Dans la Rue. “We offer several different employment opportunities for youth in Montreal, such as an alternative high school on-site and funds for students attending CEGEP.”

“Dans la Rue has an RV van which goes out five days a week to provide individuals living on the street a warm spot, a meal and offer them assistance on mental health, healthcare or information about our day centres,” LeDonne explained.

The van visited the Concordia group during the storm on last Tuesday, offering the students food and shelter, Leduc said.

“We are touched to have this partnership with Concordia and their motivation for the cause,” LeDonne said.

For anyone who would like to donate clothing, food or money to the cause can visit their website.

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News

CASAJMSB gears up for elections

Graphic by Florence Yee

The elections have been promoted via Facebook advertising

Between Feb. 13 and 17, students in the Commerce and Administration Students’ Association (CASAJMSB) will be given the opportunity to have their voices heard.

In the annual CASAJMSB General Elections, JMSB students will be able to elect their peers into positions within CASA’s executive team, including president, VP finance and VP events, among others. The positions for subsidiary presidents and independent directors are open as well.

Since Concordia only allows registered student groups to use the school’s bulletin boards, as stated on the school’s website, CASA has chosen to advertise the elections using Facebook posts and pre-election debates.

Benjamin Zoldan, a JMSB marketing student, believes the publicity for the elections has been effective this year. “I’m well aware of the upcoming elections. There’s a lot of news about it on social media so it’s pretty hard to miss,” said Zoldan.

The student turnout for last year’s elections represented only a small percentage of those able to vote. Of the 7,000 students who were part of CASA, only 488 students voted. That’s approximately 6.9 per cent of the association’s membership.

“Getting students involved with student governance is something that many, if not all business schools suffer with,” said Evan Pitchie, CASAJMSB’s current president. “In fact, this year as president and last year as VP External, I was fortunate enough to meet other student leaders from business schools all over Canada. Every year, one of the topics we discuss is how to get students more involved and engaged with the student association.”

Anojan Kanagalingam, a student in the accounting program, said more students need to get involved. “More students in JMSB should vote, in order to get a better representation of what they want,” Kanagalingam said. “Seven per cent is a horrible turnout ratio.”

In an attempt to increase student participation, online voting has been introduced as an option in this year’s election. By sending in their name, student ID number and a photo of their student ID card to cro@casajmsb.ca, students were able to vote from home, however, only between Feb. 8 to 9.

“When it comes to CASA’s implementation of an online voting system, I must admit that I thought the idea was good and definitely one to be explored,” said Pitchie. “That being said, I was against implementing it for this upcoming election.”

Pitchie said the proposal for an online voting system was brought forth to the board for the first time on Jan. 17, 2017, when awareness week—the first week of the election period—was happening just the following week. Pitchie said the decision was too rushed.

“My opinion is that [online voting] is one that could have been explored if this proposal had been presented sooner or if we slowly started working on its implementation now for the next election in 2018,” said Pitchie. He said due to a short time frame this was not possible. “I hope that next year’s board has the necessary amount of time to review and test something of this magnitude,” said Pitchie. He said at this time, he cannot comment on how many people signed up to vote online.

In-person polling stations will be open between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the JMSB lobby, at 1600 Blvd. de Maisonneuve West.

With files from Savanna Craig

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News

JMSB talks about mental health

CASA Cares is responsible for spearheading the #TalksAboutIt initiative Photo by Alex Hutchins

Concordia students open up about mental health with the hashtag #TalksAboutIt

JMSB students have created a video series using the hashtag #TalksAboutIt as a way to encourage Concordia students to open up about their experiences with mental or emotional hardships.

The campaign was organized by CASA Cares, a non-profit organization of the Commerce and Administration Student Association (CASA) at JMSB, which promotes social awareness and inclusion. The student association is a volunteer-based organization with a mission to inspire students to get involved in their community and help destigmatize mental illness.

“The #TalksAboutIt campaign all started when one JMSB student approached us about an idea he had to help students affected with mental illness,” said Yasmine Ait Bihi, president of CASA Cares. The #TalksAboutIt campaign is a YouTube video series where students film themselves talking about their personal experiences with mental illness and depression.

“We wanted to create a hashtag on social media to encourage students to talk about the cause,” Ait Bihi told The Concordian. “Many times the issue is that students [are afraid] to talk about their struggles.” The campaign allows students to share their experiences in the hopes of helping others in a similar position, she said.

“One thing I’ve learned about depression is that you are not alone. We’re not alone,” said one Concordia student, Frankie Lee Sunnyshine, in a #TalksAboutIt YouTube video. “Speaking to other people who you can console with and talking to friends [and] family helps you to deal with the pain.”

“We want to empower students to make a difference in someone else’s life,” Ait Bihi said. “It’s a small action that can make an impact on a stranger’s or a friend’s life.”

CASA Cares invites all Concordia students to participate and send in videos of their stories, said Ait Bihi. Students can simply send their videos directly to CASA Cares or post a video themselves with the hashtag.

She said she and her team hope this year-long initiative continues in future years. “CASA Cares promotes social awareness and raises money for a variety of causes,” Ait Bihi said. Some examples include Movember, which raises funds for prostate cancer research, and an annual fashion show to benefit the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

Concordia University offers a variety of programs for students who need emotional guidance and help. The Everyday Therapy campaign, organized by Concordia Health Services, is among one of the many Concordia programs geared towards helping students with everyday personal struggles.

Everyday Therapy hosts four sessions throughout the semester to give students tips and suggestions for dealing with daily obstacles.

In addition, many Concordia students have been involved with this year’s Bell Let’s Talk campaign. On Jan. 25, Bell Let’s Talk will be launching its seventh annual conversation about Canada’s mental health. On the same day, Concordia will host “One in Five,” an event in conjunction with Bell Let’s Talk, from 10 a.m to 3 p.m. The event will feature different resources for students and will discuss internal and community resources to help deal with mental health said, Dale Robinson, Manager/Psychologist, Counselling & Psychological Services at Concordia.

Bell will donate five cents to mental health initiatives for every text or call on Jan 25, regardless of the topic. As well, every tweet of instagram post with the hashtag #BellLetsTalk, or every time someone watches a Bell Let’s Talk video on Facebook. In addition, five cents will be donated if a picture is taken with the Bell Let’s Talk snapchat filter.

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JMoSB breaks fundraising records with 2016 Movember campaign

Photo courtesy of Mikael Clement. Mikael Clement pictured in the middle at the back, and Catherine Doyle on the far right.

The organization contributed the majority of Concordia’s fundraising total

The JMSB philanthropy organization CASA Cares and their subsidiary JMoSB announced that their annual Movember campaign broke their previous fundraising records by raising $13,930 during their 2016 campaign.

Led by co-captains Catherine Doyle and Mikael Clement, JMoSB was one of four teams participating in Concordia’s Movember campaign. JMoSB contributed the majority of Concordia’s overall fundraising, with a total of $17,717- with six JMoSB students raising over $1,000 each.

Clement and Doyle, along with 10 JMoSB members and 33 volunteer fundraisers, raised money by collecting pledges from students who grew facial hair for the month of November. They also threw a public “Stache Bash” fundraising party which raised close to $2,000.

According to Clement, the 2016 fundraising total was more than twice as much as JMoSB’s last fundraising record. All proceeds will go to the Movember Foundation, a charity focused on men’s health issues, including testicular and prostate cancer, suicide prevention and destigmatizing the conversation surrounding men’s mental health.

“While the Movember cause is deadly serious, a lot of fundraisers have fun with Movember because it deals with growing facial hair,” Clement said, adding that the fun nature of the campaign contributed to its success. “We had one of our fundraisers raise hundreds of dollars from a donor who wanted the opportunity to choose his facial hair style. Everyone has their own fundraising methods and tricks so that people can have fun while making a difference.”

Clement added that, while facial hair is traditionally a major aspect of Movember fundraising, many donors and volunteers chose to spread awareness and raise money without it, and over half of 2016’s fundraisers were female.

In 2017, JMoSB is aiming to break its 2016’s record and continue increasing awareness about men’s health issues on campus.

Although the campaign is designed to be fun for participants, Clement said it’s important to remember the cause behind the campaign.

“If the fundraising by Movember can continue at this pace, by 2030 the number of men dying prematurely will diminish by 25 per cent,” said Clement. “[The Movember Foundation does] extensive research to find innovative health solutions to solve these long-standing problems… They have already had a significant impact on the crisis worldwide.”

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Concordia Student Union News

CSU takes a stand against potential tuition hikes

John Molson School of Business is home for many international students who are studying in deregulated programs. Photo by Nelly Serandour-Amar.

The student union opposes the university’s rumoured tuition hike affecting international students

The Concordia Student Union (CSU) revealed the Concordia administration has been planning—supposedly for three years—a perpetual tuition hike that will affect future international students.

A recent open letter posted on the CSU’s website last Friday said this tuition hike would be directed towards students in deregulated programs.

Most universities’ program fees are regulated by the provincial government, but since 2008, according to the open letter from the CSU, the government of Quebec has deregulated six programs of study for international students: business, engineering, computer science, pure sciences, mathematics and law. This means the university can charge international students in these programs any price they want.

The university will propose tuition increases through “cohort pricing,” which is a payment scheme that guarantees tuition fees for international students in deregulated programs won’t increase over the course of their degree, according to the open letter. This means that when an international student begins their program at Concordia, they will be paying the same fee for every year of study. However, their fee will be higher than a student who started in the same program the year before.

The university has yet to confirm how much higher the fees will be, which isn’t a good sign, according to Lucinda Marshall-Kiparissis, general coordinator for the CSU. “If the university is declining to provide some basic information about what they’re planning for cohort pricing, we are led to suspect that it’s going to be significant increases year by year,” she said.

The student union found out about the increase after Chris Mota, university spokesperson mentioned in an email, that the university has been exploring implementing cohort pricing for international students in deregulated programs for three years now. To follow up, the CSU has been directly asking the university about specifics of their plan, but the university has yet to answer their questions. “It’s unfortunate that we are running under assumptions since we are the accredited union for all students at Concordia,” said Marshall-Kiparissis.

Sepideh Zangeneh, an international student from Mexico studying business at the John Molson School of Business, said she can barely afford the current tuition at Concordia. She’s worried if the tuition increases drastically, she will have to drop out. “I love Concordia, but if I can’t stay here because I can’t afford it, I’ll have to change,” she said.

Zangeneh is not the only one worrying about these tuition hikes. Samuel Miriello, who studies Human Resources Management, is concerned about the possible tuition hikes, even though he’s not an international student. “The school environment will change for the worse if the tuition hikes occur,” he said. Miriello said if  tuition rises for international students, only the elite of the international students will be represented at Concordia. “This prevents us, the students, from seeing the world from a clear, fair, equality-oriented lens,” he said.

As a response to the supposed tuition hikes, he created a Facebook group, “Concordia University Against International Tuition Hike,” alongside Zangeneh and CSU’s External Affairs and Mobilization Coordinator, Aloyse Muller. The group’s goal is to bring students together who are against the tuition hike the university is imposing without the students’ consent. They are currently working on a petition and are also planning an awareness day once enough students are aware of the situation, Miriello said.

The CSU believes the proposal for the tuition hikes for international students in deregulated programs will be presented to the Board of Governors on Dec. 14. If it is approved, the proposal will be implemented as of the fall 2017 semester.

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News

Students demand BTM200 be economically friendly

Petition creater Samuel Miriello fights for lowered fees for him and fellow classmates in BTM200 course. Photo by Savanna Craig.

JMSB student creates petition in protest of high fees for mandatory BTM 200 course

In light of discovering a required fee of over $200 for the mandatory John Molson School of Business (JMSB) course, “Business Technology Management,” BTM 200, some first-year JMSB students are signing a petition to protest against what they consider costly fees.

Samuel Miriello, creator of the petition and first-year human resource management student, said he was not aware of these fees until he received an email from his professor mid-September prompting him to pay more than $200 for the class.

“Online classes are amazing and they give us access to tools that make learning easier, but it doesn’t warrant the school making us pay tuition and not giving us class sessions,” said Miriello. He said with his other online classes, there is a virtual classroom and the class meets once a week. However, this is not the case in BTM 200.“The professor never hosts sessions that we can attend where he does any live teaching,” he said.

Miriello said the different components of BTM 200 are distributed across three websites, each with their own fees—$90 to access the eConcordia website, $20.70 for LearningLab—a software providing grades and due dates, and $104.95 for Skills Assessment Manager Cengage (SAM)—a website which teaches students how to use Excel and Access.

“Every website has it’s own quizzes, it’s own material, it’s own modules and you kind of have to jump between them,” Miriello said.

Raafat George Saadé, an associate professor of supply chain and business technology management, and the creator and coordinator of BTM 200, said LearningLab has a low cost and helps to guide students through the 12 activities within the course.

Students express frustration over paying more than $200 for BTM200. Graphic by Florence Yee.

Saadé said LearningLab allowed him to consolidate all of the students performances into one location and to sequence their activities. He said the LearningLab provides reminders of the due dates for students and provides a report for Saadé on how much students achieved on each of their learning goals.

On eConcordia, only three per cent of the student’s grade is evaluated, said Miriello.

However, Saadé explained the three per cent accounts only for the quizzes on eConcordia—however, the final exam, worth 60 per cent, is based on the eBook available through eConcordia. Saadé said SAM makes up 20 per cent of the final grade. The activities on LearningLab are worth 17 per cent.

“When we take BTM, no one ever tells you that you’re going to have to pay so much money,” said international business student Saloné Prigent. “At least I’d like a warning that we’d have to pay this to take BTM, especially because BTM is a mandatory course.” She added, with three websites to keep up with, it’s hard to keep track of when assignments are due.

Sepideh Zangeneh, an international student from Mexico studying international business, said Miriello’s idea of making a petition was great, and though she may have financial support to pay the BTM 200 fees, not all students have this privilege. “There are people [who] are on their own in university—they don’t have the money to pay that,” said Zangeneh. “More than for me, I want this for people who really can’t afford stuff like this.”

Saadé said, after paying the required fee for SAM, it can be accessed until graduation and is officially used in two to three courses within JMSB. He said he is trying to make these fees valuable for students by implementing more courses where Excel and Access can be used, requiring students to use SAM.

“This is not new,” said Saadé, towards students complaining of the high fees required when taking BTM 200. Saadé said he has tried switching website hosts various times, but this is the lowest price he can get. “When I started, I looked at all the different softwares and at companies like Microsoft and other publishers,” said Saadé. He said all publishers range in price from $60 to $180. “Over the years I’ve experienced each one—one by one,” said Saadé.

Miriello said the website is still not up to par with his expectations considering the cost. ”It’s just ironic that our intro to business technology management is taught in such an uninspired, expensive and cluttered way. The complete opposite of what BTM should be,” he said.

Saadé said he has 1,500 students and asks them at the end of every class if the book was good, if they learned anything from the quiz, if there should be any improvements and what their opinions are on using SAM. “Over 90 per cent of the students, they say they see the value,” he said.

Saadé said in certain circumstances he has waived students either from taking the course or paying the cost of it. He said, in the past, he has contacted the program provider and they suspended the cost for SAM or LearningLab. Alternatively, if a student can demonstrate they know the material, they do not have to take BTM 200, he said. “If they really have financial problems, I can personally try to figure out ways to help” said Saadé. He said some semesters he is not approached, however others he may receive up to five students requesting financial help.

Saadé said many students in co-op, who gain job experience through paid work-terms, have told him that they felt they had not learned enough in Excel and Access. “They come back and say, ‘We need to learn more—we took BTM 200 and it’s not enough. Can we learn more advanced stuff?’” said Saadé.

The winter semester version of the course will have a brand new website, feature more activities and be more interactive, said Saadé. “Because of the nature of the course also, every two years I have to update the content,” he said, adding that SAM updates itself as well. Saadé is also in the process of creating a follow-up course to BTM 200 that will hopefully be released this year.

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