Tag: student associations

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Student associations vote in favour of strikes against tuition hikes

Graphic by Semira Kosciuk / The Concordian

 After two weeks of General Assemblies, Concordia students are ready for another round of strikes

This week, 22 member associations within the Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) at Concordia University are on strike to oppose the Legault government’s planned tuition hikes. 

The announcement that the hikes would increase out-of-province student tuition by about 33 per cent and international student tuition by $20,000 has already started to affect the English universities in Quebec. The enrollment rates for Concordia and Mcgill have reportedly gone down by 30 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively. 

With tuition fees being the main source of revenue for universities, a lack of student applications would be a major hit to funding. Concordia has already begun planning to cut department budgets by 7.8 per cent. 

In response to this, student unions have started striking. This week marks the third round of strikes. Each round of strikes has been longer than the previous one, while also seeing more and more member associations mobilized. An estimated total of 22,242 Concordia students alone are on strike this week.

Elle Alahmar is a first-year English major at Concordia University. She is a Quebec student, but she is in support of the student strikes.

“It’s very important for students to organize [strikes], and I think collective action on this scale is very impressive,” Alahmar said. She is a part of the Concordia Association for Students in English (CASE), which has decided to hard picket on March 15. 

Each member association, along with deciding if and when they want to strike, also voted on whether there will be a hard picket or soft picket. 

A hard picket involves students physically blocking classes from being entered. In doing so, the class is forcibly cancelled. If a class is moved to a different location or switched to an online space, attending the class is still considered crossing the picket line. 

A soft picket line will instead have students by the door of the classroom urging students to not enter the class through means such as pamphlets. In the case of a soft picket, students and professors will still be able to enter and conduct the class.

In either case, protesters urge students to not cross the picket line, as doing so weakens the movement and could result in the striking students being penalized. 

Despite most departments being mobilized, there is still contention among students regarding the strikes, especially in the case of hard pickets. Students pay to be at the university and go to classes, and being physically blocked from attending has some students upset with the decision of their departments. 

Taylor Adams is a first-year computer science major from Ontario. Their department has voted to hard picket from March 13 to15, with labs and co-ops being exempt. 

Although they are in support of the strikes, Adams has heard a lot of students voice their displeasure with the decision, especially on the Concordia Reddit page.  

“As an average student who isn’t particularly involved, I’d say there needs to be more awareness on how picketing classes does anything at a provincial level,” they said. “I feel like I see a lot of frustration from students writing that protests feel irrelevant to the cause, and that the provincial government won’t respond to us not showing up to the classes we already paid for.”

Despite the mixed feelings, a number of the associations voted on striking during their respective General Assemblies. 

These student associations are organizing several activities during the strikes. Below is a list of all the member associations that have decided to strike. The Instagram accounts for the student groups have more information on how to get involved, details on the picket type and what days they will be striking. 

Concordia Student Associations on strike:

  • Fine Arts Student Alliance 
  • Liberal Arts Society 
  • School of Community and Public Affairs Student Association
  • Sociology and Anthropology Student Association
  • Geography Undergraduate Student Society
  • Journalism Student Association
  • Urban Planning Association
  • Concordia Undergraduate Psychology Association
  • Concordia Religion Student Association
  • Biology Student Association
  • Sustainability and Diversity Student Association
  • Science College Student Association
  • Women’s and Sexualities Student Association
  • Undergraduate Student Association in Translation
  • Communication Studies Student Association Guild
  • Engineering and Computer Science Association
  • Concordia Association for Students in English
  • Linguistics Student Association
  • Applied Human Sciences Student Association
  • Philosophy Graduate Student Association
  • Political Science Graduate Student Association
  • Graduate History Student Association
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News

Former President of ECA on why he was disqualified.

Alex Stojda was disqualified as he ran to be President of the Engineering and Computer Science Association (ECA) for a second year

In March, Alex Stojda, then-President of the Board of Directors for the Engineering and Computer Science Association (ECA) was disqualified from running for reelection because of a bylaw infraction.

ECA’s bylaw B.4.1.3 states that, “Current executives of another society, association or committee that has financial affiliations with ECA, excluding all ECA appointed committees, shall not be eligible to be the President or Vice-President of Finance of the Association.”

Stojda was disqualified because it was his first year as President of the board of the ECA, and he was on the executive board at Reggies Bar, which has financial connections to ECA.

“I disagreed [with the disqualification], but I was willing to rectify the situation and resign [from Reggies] because the ECA is the thing I care the most about,” said Stojda.

He explained that he tried to appeal the decision, and said his bylaw infraction was minimal and easily remedied, but it was not accepted.

He also stated that bylaw B.4.1.3  was added in March 2019, halfway through his term on the executive board at Reggies.

When he became President of the board, he explained, the issue of him also being on the board of Reggies was never brought up.

“In one word, I feel betrayed,” said Stojda. He explained that while he understands that different interpretations of bylaws happen, the issue is that he was never allowed to argue against it, “Or have the three years of my work as an executive on the ECA considered.”

“My offer to resign from Reggies was never addressed and it was never explained to me why that option was unacceptable,” said Stojda.

He admits that he wasn’t surprised by the accusation, as it was election time and it is common for “the dirt to come out,” but he was surprised by the verdict.

A petition created in May to reinstate Stojda garnered just under 150 signatures, but the petition was never acknowledged by the ECA CEO Febrian Francione. Stojda explained that the support for the petition is a significant amount as the average voting turnout for the ECA is around 350 students.

The petition claims that the issue with this verdict is that Reggies does not fit into the bylaws definition of an organization, as it is an independent organization.

It also states that if the bylaw was interpreted correctly it would allow Stojda the opportunity to resign from Reggies and re-run for presidency.

According to Stojda, besides asking CEO Francione to reconsider, there is nothing else he can do, as the ECA doesn’t have a board of appeals.

He believes that if ECA had a similar board, such as the Concordia Student Union’s (CSU) judicial board — an independent judiciary branch of the CSU — he would be able to make it clear that he would resign from Reggies for the new election and have the disqualification overruled.

Stojda also admits that after three years of hard work, this verdict has heavily impacted his mental health; thus, he has decided to stop pursuing the issue and redirect his time to new opportunities.

“Despite all of this, I had a great three years representing the students and I only wish I had a fourth,” said Stojda. “I am worried that the work that I have been doing will be stained by this situation.”

The CEO has not responded or commented on the petition, nor have they responded to any of our communications. The article will be updated if they respond.

 

Photographs courtesy of Alex Stodja

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Opinions

Student groups need to consider reforms

Exploring common pitfalls of Concordia’s student associations

With the semester winding down, the current masthead of The Concordian has sat in on its fair share of student group councils, assemblies, and meetings. We’ve seen the admirable dedication of various members who sacrifice free time, sleep, and opportunities in positions that are often overlooked or taken for granted. Depending on what association we’re talking about, the financial remuneration, if any, may very well come out to below minimum wage when one factors the time commitment involved. That these individuals continue to devote their energies to their fellow students cannot be chalked up singularly to a simple calling for politics or a cynical desire for power; quite the opposite, in fact.

Yet over the past few months we’ve also witnessed a broad range of structural deficiencies and methods of procedure that leave the door open to abuses and a lack of transparency that could be rectified with relatively simple procedural changes.

Student groups are ultimately responsible to their constituency, but an oftentimes apathetic student body means even minor mobilization can sweep questions and assemblies via popularity politics. This is unavoidable and common in all elections, and what should be aimed for is not an elimination—this is impossible—but a minimization. Secret ballots won’t eliminate friendship votes, but they’ll help. Greater use of online voting would as well (how often are you called over after class to help sway an election?)

Transparency involves clearly marking past decisions. There is no standard for minute-keeping with some organizations being quite thorough and others leaving much to be desired. If the student body is to have a clear record and evaluate an individual’s voting history, keeping track of how members vote on issues shouldn’t be a choice. (Right now, votes are anonymously grouped by decision and voters must explicitly ask for their names to be noted alongside their votes.)

Another issue is a lack of institutional memory—and once again this is prevalent in some groups and nonexistent in others—as student groups cycle through in a flash with executive terms lasting but a year with the possibility of re-election. Nothing can be done about that, but there are alternatives that should be open to discussion. Perhaps the merits of a staggered election—with half a council elected each semester and where the incomers would be assured on-the-job training by virtue of their real-time collaboration with their senior colleagues—could be debated, though admittedly this has its share of difficulties.

Long histories of mismanagement mean student associations often have bad reputations. They therefore need to be constantly sending a clear message of reform through more ethical management and conduct if they hope to gain and maintain student trust.

None of these tweaks are outside the realm of discussion or impossible to achieve, and after the initial inconveniences of getting used to the new system, maintenance is virtually zero with minimal added bureaucratic strain.

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