By Areej Ali
Following a two year hiatus, the McMaster Students Union brought back the university budget submission, a document submitted to the university that outlines a number of recommendations put forward by the MSU.
Tasneem Warwani, associate vice president (University Affairs), sought to re-introduce the MSU McMaster budget submission given the power and usefulness of the advocacy tool.
“We believe that it’s important for the university to incorporate student perspectives into all aspects of governance,” said Warwani. “Budgets and financing greatly affect student lives because the budget committees fund or defund initiatives that can both directly and indirectly affect student experiences.”
[spacer height="20px"]Warwani wants to ensure that McMaster student voices are heard in university processes.
“It also helps make our advocacy much stronger when we have formalized documents that we can present. The budget submission is a first step, and our advocacy for our initiatives outlined won’t stop there, but it has proven to be a successful first step for other universities so it will be interesting to see how effective it is for the MSU,” said Warwani.
One notable recommendation in the document calls for the university to fund 50 per cent of the MSU Emergency First Response Team’s costs and expenses, which would equate to an annual cost of $11,922.
The motivation behind this recommendation largely lies in the fact that as a result of equipment purchases and staffing expenses, EFRT is running a net loss of $59,845, which is significantly more than first responder teams at universities such as the University of Waterloo and University of Ottawa have incurred.
The MSU also recommends that the university designate $50,000 to support professors in developing and refining open educational resources, which include openly licensed online textbooks. This recommendation comes on the tail of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance and the MSU’s #TextbookBroke campaign, which pushed for increased textbook affordability via the adoption of OERs.
According to the MSU budget submission, universities such as the University of Alberta, Simon Fraser University and the University of Calgary have already invested thousands in OERs on their campuses.
Another recommendation outlined in the document calls for the Student Wellness Centre to receive funding to support the hiring of an additional trauma counsellor and the Equity and Inclusion Office to receive additional funding to support increased sexual violence response efforts.
The MSU McMaster budget submissions also asks the university to implement initiatives that reduce overall energy consumption by one per cent. This proposed allocation would save the university $400,000 according to the MSU.
In September, Stephanie Bertolo, MSU vice president (Education) and Warwani presented the document to the university budget subcommittee.
“They were all fairly impressed and receptive to our asks. We’re now scheduling follow up meetings with key stakeholders to follow up on our asks,” reads part of the Oct. 9 associate vice president (University Affairs) report.
While the document merits optimism, it should be noted that some significant past recommendations have not been implemented by the university.
For instance, during the 2016-2017 year, the MSU pushed for the university to cease to operate the Learning Portfolio, a portfolio platform now hosted by PebblePad that the MSU argues is not worth the over $700,000 that the university has spent on it. However, the MSU’s demands have still yet to be met, with the MSU persisting to include the recommendation that the LP be axed in its 2018-2019 submission.
This year’s MSU university budget submission includes a number of recommendations that align neatly with MSU policies and priorities. However, it remains uncertain whether or not the university will listen to the union’s voice this time around.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
By: Donna Nadeem
Students may have a say in how the municipal budget is spent, with the latest participatory budgeting initiative.
Forward One is a municipal project where citizens of Ward 1 may vote for a new project to invest money in. Ward 1 was the first Hamilton region to adopt this method of a participatory budgeting to help engage community members in government decisions that directly impacts their lives.
Every year, residents of Ward 1 have the opportunity to voice their opinions about how the councillor of the ward should spend the $1.5 million annually dedicated to improving infrastructure projects through participatory budgeting.
The Participatory Budgeting Advisory Committee is a committee made up of 17 volunteers from Ward 1 who oversee and manage the Forward One process, as well as advise the councillor on how to spend the funds.
The MSU has been encouraging students to look over all of the ideas and vote for the projects that they believe will enhance their neighbourhoods and life in Hamilton.
There are a lot of projects submissions this year, from adding more bike racks and water bottle refilling stations to planting more trees and native plants and the McMaster Students Union encourages students to look over all of the ideas and vote for the projects that they believe will enhance their neighbourhoods and life in Hamilton.
Anyone can submit suggestions for projects they would like to see supported by the Forward One fund. Submissions can be completed online or in person at the Union Market in the McMaster Student Centre, Westdale Library, Locke Street Library and other brick and mortar locations throughout Hamilton.
Residents will be able to vote from March 19 and April 19. The votes are then processed by the PBAC and submitted to the councillor as suggestions, which are taken to council for final approval. After the top voted projects are announced, the appropriate city staff reviews them and an implementation plan is created using the original submissions. As well, all combined or amalgamated ideas that receive funding will be forwarded for implementation with all details of each individual idea submitted.
“The Participatory Budgeting Advisory Committee and councillor Aidan Johnson have been very receptive to students feedback on the process in the past two years. They modified the timeline last year to place the submission phase earlier in the academic year to better reach students,” said Stephanie Bertolo, associate vice president (Municipal Affairs).
“The voting period, which started this week, is also at a good time for students since they are still in classes and on campus,” Bertolo added.
“The Participatory Budgeting Advisory Committee and councillor Aidan Johnson have been very receptive to students feedback on the process in the past two years.”
Stephanie Bertolo
Associate vice president
(Municipal Affairs)
McMaster Students Union
Changes have also been made to the ballot lists and McMaster has been added as one of the communities in Ward 1, making the process more inclusive for those living on campus or identify with being part of the McMaster community rather than the neighbourhoods they live in.
The MSU has been encouraging students to look over all of the ideas and vote for the projects that they believe will enhance their neighbourhoods and life in Hamilton. The last academic year was the first time the Education Team held the Cupcakes and Community Change event, which encouraged students to submit ideas in the Forward One process.
“We held the event again this year, which also had great success. We had the largest number of paper ballots submitted in the Ward!” said Bertolo. “With McMaster being a community on the ballot, we will begin to be able to see how many students are voting.”
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
By: Kieran Douglas
The recent McMaster Students Union presidential election concluded with two of its candidates disqualified, including the president-elect. Rule-breaking among the candidates was so common that Connor Wong, the satirical option, was the only one to abide by them.
Is it the case that this class of presidential candidates fought particularly dirty campaigns? Hardly. An examination of the election night meeting minutes reveals a fleeting glimpse at campaign regulations that seem to nearly guarantee a candidate will blunder into violating at least one of them. The standards by which a candidate will be judged are frustratingly opaque in their public inaccessibility. The “How Do I Run?” guide on the Elections Department’s website states that rules are distributed in the nomination package and recommends candidates become familiar with them, though the website is unclear about where they can be found.
The contents of the meeting minutes from Jan. 25, election night, are alarming. The elections committee sustains a habit of retroactively adding individuals to campaign teams, often resulting in multiple violations and fines levied against candidates for a single event. This happened six separate times across all candidates, even in situations where it was unclear whether the relevant campaign had control over the individuals responsible. Muhammed Aydin, now president-elect, was fined because “an eager friend” posted to a Facebook group in support of him; I fail to see how Aydin was culpable in this case.
Ikram Farah was similarly fined for appearing in the Instagram story of an MSU part-time manager. The individual who posted it was added to the campaign by the electoral committee, who then fined the campaign a second time for employing a PTM not on a leave of absence. Sensible as it is that the Elections Department would be interested in monitoring the social media activity of candidates to ensure a consistently fair competition, it is difficult to ignore the fervent excess with which the Committee motions and unanimously passes fines.
There is also the matter of Rule 7.9.8, which is violated with the “deliberate” violation of any other rule. I presume that it was introduced to deter candidates from simply embracing the various fines they incur, as its conviction entails an additional $30 fine for any offence it is attached to.
However, its use seems to instead normalize the frequency with which the committee charges ambiguously responsible candidates for seemingly minor offences. The existence of a rule that distinguishes some violations as ‘deliberate’ implies that a lack of culpability is no defence even while it can be used in prosecution. This judiciary double standard ensures that candidates may be fined when fault is not theirs, and that they will be fined more heavily when it is.
While a functional system of regulation and adjudication is an intrinsic virtue, the behaviour of the Electoral Committee has real consequences. Though her violations in part seem more serious than those of the other candidates, Ikram Farah won the vote and was disqualified days later. The decision of the Electoral Committee in this case obscures the ostensibly democratic will of the MSU. Whether Farah deserved this fate or not, this decision should never be taken lightly, and the saturation of severe violations this election cycle suggests that sometimes it might be. Furthermore, though individual violations usually incur fines between $15 and $30, those charges can easily snowball, especially given the tendency of the Committee to “double-up” offences.
In the face of such a rule-breaking epidemic, it is worthwhile to consider that the rules and their application might be the cause. This evidence shows that reform is necessary for both the maintenance of democracy and the sake of student candidates. The campaign rules should be revised and published, as the students of the MSU deserve transparency, efficiency and sensibility in their elections.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
By: Crystal Lobo
Ted McMeekin, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and MPP for Ancaster- Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale, announced an updated Affordable Housing Strategy on March 14. This multi-faceted strategy involves an investment of $178 million across Ontario over the span of three years. It declared the construction of up to 1,500 new affordable housing units. Additionally, the announcement mentioned funding for the Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative. Furthermore, building frameworks for portable housing benefit and Supportive Housing Policy were also mentioned.
This funding from the provincial government is a positive step towards helping homeless Hamiltonians according to Mayor Fred Eisenberger.
“There are a lot of positives here that talk about many of the things that municipalities have been asking for, which is long-term care, a focus on poverty and homelessness, as well as providing benefits to residents that are having problems in terms of affordability,” said Eisenberger.
The mayor cites housing and homelessness as a significant issue in the community of Hamilton. Eisenberger acknowledges that homelessness impedes many Hamiltonians from leading stable lives and successfully providing for their families. He states that the effort in combatting this issue must be collective.
“This is a community-wide issue and resolving this issue I think is a collective responsibility for all of us. To do that we would be making some significant investments in our human capital.”
Currently, there are 6,000 people on the wait list for affordable housing in the city. Each affordable housing unit costs $200,000 to build from scratch. As such, Hamilton requires more resources than those provided by this announcement from the provincial government.
“This is a community-wide issue and resolving this issue I think is a collective responsibility for all of us."
“The amount of money they set aside here on the provincial level just kind of scratches the surface in terms of the greater need,” said Eisenberger.
Moreover, the announcement declared that developing Indigenous housing strategies in conjunction with Indigenous communities would be a priority.
“I think that's going to be a provincially-led initiative that we're certainly going to be partnering on,” said Eisenberger. He added that along with Indigenous communities, immigrants and Syrians who are new to the city will be included in the affordable housing strategy in Hamilton.
McMeekin hopes to pass the legislation for inclusionary zoning before June 9, when the provincial legislature closes for the summer. This mandate would require new construction projects to include affordable housing for people with low or moderate earnings. Eisenberger believes it is a positive step for the province and this city. However, he acknowledges that implementing inclusionary zoning will not be a simple task.
“Inclusionary zoning really has to be supported by and mandated by the city and the developing community. There's going to be a need to have some pretty intense focused discussions about how we actually achieve that so that we get the benefit of additional housing units,” said Eisenberger.
Photo Credit: Construction Specifications Canada
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
Every year, Ward One residents have the opportunity to voice their input on how the Ward Councillor should spend $1.5 million dedicated to infrastructure projects through participatory budgeting. Twenty community members, including a representative from the MSU, are appointed to a Participatory Budgeting Advisory Committee that oversees the process.
Starting in April of 2011, the Ward One Area Rating Funding was put in place as a means of aiding in infrastructure investments. Ward One was the first Hamilton region to adopt the method of participatory budgeting to engage community members in government decisions that directly impacts their quality of life.
Anyone can submit suggestions for projects they would like to see supported by the ForWard One fund. Submissions can be completed online or in person at Westdale Library, Locke St. Library and other brick and mortar locations throughout Hamilton. Submissions are due March 25, after which Ward One residents are able to vote on the options from May 16 to June 3. A public discussion is held between the submission period and the voting period in order to facilitate conversation about the options put forth. The votes are then processed by the PBAC and submitted to the Councillor as suggestions, which are taken to Council for final approval.
“There are sometimes modifications [to projects] because there is higher citizen involvement in some neighbourhoods of Ward One than others, a process meant to correct for any unequal partitioning of projects,” said Ward One’s Dale Brown.
Hamilton residents may recognize some previous ForWard One projects around the neighbourhood. Those who have hiked the stairs going up the mountain near the golf course may have stopped to drink from the newest water fountain, and those walking by Cootes Paradise Elementary may have seen their new natural playground.
While $1.5 million may seem like a lot, when put towards ambitious projects, it can be stretched pretty thin. A suggestion that has gained a lot of support in the past is the construction of a Pedestrian Bridge to Bayfront from Locke Street North. To the disappointment of those that voted for the Pedestrian Bridge, it is not likely to be something that is ever realized. Instead, smaller but much needed projects have been supported by a fraction of the Ward One Reinvestment Fund. Community members have welcomed the recent addition of bike lanes on Longwood Road North and pedestrian activated crosswalks at Locke and Hunter. The changes can be so small that those without knowledge of their history might never notice; yet they are much needed improvements to the ward’s infrastructure.
This year the initiative will allow for the use of $3 million, as the project was put on hold last year and the money transferred over.
The initiative is novel in its use of community input to make decisions, and this system of participatory budgeting was adopted by the MSU more recently.
Brown recognizes that despite its benefits, the system is not perfect. “It is always a challenge because of the timeline, because [students] end school in April and [the initiative] operates until June, making it challenging for students who have headed off for the summer to vote. We are cognizant of that but have not yet figured out how to fix it, because we also have deadlines that we have to meet for the city.”
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
Don’t overspend at thrift stores
Sometimes we can be enthralled by the mediocre because it is surrounded by the totally uninteresting. Something that works is not the same as something that you will wear regularly. Don’t get overly excited, because those “cheap” finds can add up really quickly. My general rule of thumb for thrifting is that I only buy something if I’ll wear it once for every dollar it costs. If I want that ten-dollar bowtie, I had better be willing to wear it at least ten times.
Don’t follow trends
A while ago I decided that I was going to dress however I felt like dressing, and not question whether my choices lined up with the status quo. I know this is the antithesis of what you are usually told. My own mother makes fun of me on occasion because what I wear can be 40 years outdated. Ignoring seasonal fashion advice is one of the best ways to develop your own personal style. Don’t label your style as anything, and don’t be afraid to try things that are out of vogue. This will also save you money. If you aren’t worried about whether this year’s colour is cerise or lavender, you are less likely to go out and stock your wardrobe with new stuff.
"Fashions fade, style is eternal." — Yves Saint Laurent
Balance the unique and the useful
Don’t overdo it. I own more crazy patterned spandex than I would like to admit, but the only way I get away with wearing it is by pairing it with really simple pieces. For someone who prides herself on creative attire, I also own a lot of black. Figure out what you want to be the focal point of your outfit, and use the rest of your wardrobe to highlight it tastefully. I guarantee you’ll get compliments on it all day.
Spend more, buy less
Hear me out. Three years ago I decided that I wasn’t going to buy any clothing made in sweat shops, meaning that my wardrobe slowly filled up with thrift store finds and one of a kind pieces made by hand here in Hamilton. Not gonna lie, it was more expensive. You don’t realize how cheap mass manufactured clothing is until you abstain. I can no longer go out and buy four or five things in a day, because if I buy one thing from a local designer it clears out my clothing budget for the next four or five months. My no-mass-manufactured-clothing rule has done two things: First of all, I shop significantly less frequently. Secondly, the clothing I do buy is legitimately better quality. It looks better, it washes better, it wears better. Not everything that is expensive is better made, but if you buy smart, you won’t regret it. You will also be dressed in things that no one else around you will have thought about wearing. You can’t get more unique than a style a seamstress only made once.
Try alterations
The best thing I could have done for my wardrobe was learn to sew. You can extend the life of things that might otherwise fall apart, you can alter things to have them fit better (remember those men’s button ups?) and you might even be able to make your own clothing (the holy grail of the unique wardrobe). Worth all the accidental finger pricks in the world, I promise.
Hand-me-downs are your best friend
Take all of your parents’ cast offs. I’m not kidding. Some of my favorite clothing has been slyly coopted from my mother’s wardrobe. Keep an eye on your snazzily dressed relatives and when they are giving away old items, snap them up. This goes for all genders. Never doubt the universal utility and timelessness of a men’s button-up. Best of all, they are free.
Make use of the old and toss the uninteresting
Some of the things I get the most compliments for are things I bought in 2006. Sure, the Old Navy tank top that I owned in middle school has (shockingly) not stood the test of time, but some of the more interesting things I owned back then have held up. The key is cleaning out your wardrobe decently often, but hanging on to things that are unique. Don’t use this as an excuse to never throw anything away, but keep your fashion future in mind, because sometimes old pieces can surprise you. The added benefit is that everyone else in your life will think that they are new.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[adrotate banner="16"]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
This is an evolving story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
As McMaster lay awake in anticipation following the closing of the polls on Thursday, Jan. 28, it would have sounded absurd to suggest that the most newsworthy item would not be the identity of the winner of the 2016 MSU Presidentials. Yet the announcement on the MSU website released on Friday at 3:45 a.m. was a collection of both the stunning and the improbable.
Jonathon Tonietto, one of the more unorthodox candidates, finishes second.
Mike Gill, arguably one of the frontrunners in this year's race, finishes as an outside third.
The referendum on VP elections at-large fails to pass by a margin of 0.3 percent, or approximately 20 votes.
But by far, the most startling turn of events: the disqualification of Sarah Jama from the Presidential candidacy for what are described as "excessive campaign violations."
Did someone mention that Justin Monaco-Barnes is the new MSU President-Elect?
These unexpected results are perhaps a fitting end to one of the most tense and aggressive campaign periods in recent memory. Anonymous accusations of sexual and physical assault against a candidate surfaced on social media, which prompted both an official response by the Women and Gender Equity Network and a discussion on these accusations during the Student Representative Assembly meeting on Sunday, Jan. 25.
In many ways, these events had a significant impact on the tone of the election, and according to a Facebook post by Sarah Jama, these allegations played a role in Jama's disqualification.
Based on the adjudication from Elections Committee, Jama's campaign committed two severe violations outlined in section 7.9 of the 2016 MSU Presidential Rules. As explained by Chief Returning Officer Priya Gupta, a severe violation is anything that involves "something that might harm the integrity of the election." She also explained that any severe violation is required to involve a discussion on disqualification by Elections Committee.
The first involves an infraction of rule 7.9.1 for exceeding the spending limit of $450 as outlined in rule 6.1, and the second is an infraction of rule 7.9.5, involving the use of material that is considered to be in "bad taste," defined in rule 2.1 as that which "shall include but not be limited to material that is determined by the Returning Officers to be: sexist, racist, heterosexist, homophobic, pornographic, obscene, derogatory or prejudicial to any member of the McMaster community."
The recent Facebook post by Jama on her campaign page confirms that the alleged incident in violation of rule 7.9.5 "Bad Taste" was in part a retweet on Jama's Twitter account of a user that accused one of the candidates of sexual assault.
While many have speculated on the outcome of the election had Jama not been disqualified, the results of the ballots will remain confidential during the appeals period in order to preserve the integrity of decisions made by Elections Committee.
According to Jama, the volunteer responsible as well as another individual involved were removed from her team following the incident. While rule 7.4 states that "candidates are responsible for their campaign and representatives," it later states that "candidates are required to notify the Returning Officers immediately if they believe they could be unfairly penalised for another individual's actions.” In her post, Jama asserts that she removed the tweet within “ten minutes” and that she “talked to the [Chief Returning Officer] right afterwards to make sure [her] response was correct.”
Currently, Jama has announced her intent to appeal the disqualification; her post on her Facebook page has specifically contested the severe violation for exceeding the spending limit, denouncing the violation as untrue. According to Jama, the decision was based on a screenshot of a conversation that indicated she had paid $500 for her website, but Jama has declared she has evidence that proves otherwise.
While many have speculated on the outcome of the election had Jama not been disqualified, the results of the ballots will remain confidential during the appeals period in order to preserve the integrity of decisions made by Elections Committee.
"I cannot reveal that information, only I know that information; even EC doesn't know," said Gupta.
"The reason being is that we do not want to bias EC's decisions, especially since we are in an appeals period. I think knowing that information might bias the people on the committee to one way or another."
Gupta also explained that the minutes for Elections Committee's meeting will be publicly shared as soon as they can be made coherent and presentable by Administrative Assistant Victoria Scott, the transcriber.
"There are seven hours' worth of meeting minutes," explained Gupta. "I'm hoping and aiming for them to be released by Monday or Tuesday."
"I know students are a little agitated and upset that the meeting minutes have not come out, but I just ask them to be patient and to respect the time. It is a human process."
The appeals period will extend until Friday, Feb. 5 and all candidates will have the opportunity to voice any concerns. In the meantime, students will be left to speculate on the results of a remarkably contentious election.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[adrotate banner="16"]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
On Jan. 14, the McMaster Students Union held its annual State of the Union in the student centre.
The State of the Union is held every year for the Board of Directors to update and inform both the full-time, undergraduate students that make up the MSU as well as the general population at McMaster.
"Our mission statement is to draw into a true society, all undergrad students here at McMaster; so basically our job is to enhance the student experience at Mac," outlined MSU President Ehima Osazuwa in his opening comments.
In a way, the State of the Union is an avenue for the Board of Directors to highlight some of the key successes of the MSU over the past year. A few of the highlights noted by the BoD include an emergency bursary fund at $500 for any student, up to $12,000 in total, as well as several expansions to the management of the clubs system, including the addition of a second Clubs Assistant Administrator and the movement to an online booking format for rooms in Clubspace.
VP (Administration) Giuliana Guarna highlighted some of the important updates to MSU services during the past year as well, including the creation of new MSU service Maccess and the closure of MacGreen following the 2015-16 academic year.
Despite this, while the BoD have been successful in a number of initiatives, it's worth noting that some projects, including the Light-Rail Transit system announced for Hamilton, have been in progress for years.
The MSU Course Wiki is another project that has been in the works for several years and has experienced some delays in taking off, but VP (Education) Spencer Nestico-Semianiw noted that it is expected to launch over the next couple of months.
The MSU also remains financially healthy, generating over $13 million in revenue in 2014-15. From its day-to-day operations, the MSU continues to operate on a slight surplus of $60,000, and D'Angela emphasized the efficiency at which student dollars were being utilized.
"From our operations, we collect about $2.6 million in fees, but spend around $9.6 million in supporting student life through advocacy, programming, services, etcetera," explained D'Angela.
D'Angela also noted that a second Budget Town Hall would be held by the MSU during February. The Budget Town Hall is one of several platform points that D'Angela promised to introduce during his term as VP (Finance), and the upcoming Town Hall will be focused on gathering student feedback on the focus of future MSU budgets.
You can download a copy of the 2016 State of the Union here or view the Prezi below.
In-article Photo Credit: 93.3 CFMU
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[adrotate banner="16"]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
MSU President Ehima Osazuwa’s phenomenally successful campaign last year was largely built on a distinctly ambitious platform. One of its most controversial points was a promise to address the issue of increasing tuition and student expenses. His ability to tackle a post-secondary policy giant during a one-year long mandate was met with much skepticism.
In 2015, the average tuition of Canadian universities saw a 3.2 percent increase to $6,191, an increase of more than double the rate of inflation. The province will spend about $7.8 billion dollars across its post-secondary and training sector, just under six percent of the total budget for the 2015-16 year.
Now well into his term, Osazuwa along with a Tuition Task Force and members of the Board of Directors, are tackling these issues through a number of specific initiatives within the MSU and with its partners.
The provincial government’s current tuition framework, which outlines the post-secondary education funding model, is set to expire in 2017 and the government has launched consultations on “modernizing” the funding formula. With the province running a deficit and a projected decrease in post-secondary enrollment, the government could easily look to students to bear most of the financial burden. For the MSU and fellow Ontarian student unions, the 2016-17 school year is a crucial period to develop tuition advocacy strategies.
The new policy paper seeks to outline a more detailed, extensive, and long-term policy to represent the MSU’s views on tuition. The recently passed Tuition Policy includes a number of requests, principles and goals, and is set to be finalized in on-going SRA meetings.
The paper calls for the implementation of a tuition freeze until the federal or provincial government is able to contribute “one dollar for each dollar of student contribution.” The paper argues that as tuition outpaces the rate of inflation and the median household income, the current framework needs to see more investment from the government or at the very least, a cap on the increase of tuition in accordance to inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index. The document stresses the need for more regulation in the face of rising student debt.
“While the topic of tuition may appear divisive, the MSU believes strongly in the ability of dialogue and competing interests and protects students from cumbersome and inaccessible student debt,” declares the current draft of the policy paper. Despite its stated desire to accommodate for the diverse views on tuition issues, it does not shy away from arguing for specific tuition frameworks.
The paper includes long-term recommendations, including that “the government should create a strategy to adopt a publicly funded, no upfront tuition model.” The document cites “The OUSA Paper on Alternate Cost Recovery Models,” which describes the system of deferred tuition based in Australia and New Zealand. These models allow students to delay their tuition payments until their graduation, as well as offering several financial assistance programs. In Australia, the upfront tuition model also gives a 20 percent discount to students who choose not to defer tuition.
In addition to defining the MSU’s stance on these issues, the policy paper also alludes to some of the current projects that the student government is currently undertaking.
Over the past month, Osazuwa and VP (Education) Spencer Nestico-Semianiw have met with the university’s Board of Governors to present a number of requests. These include the desire to increase the amount of needs-based scholarships, which recognizes the effects financial strain can have on the academic performance required to earn merit-based scholarships. “I’d like to see some of that funding come from the four million dollars McMaster uses for merit-based scholarships,” explained Nestico. “I think that merit based scholarships are quite inequitable, so using that funding into needs-based would better target students who actually need the money.”
To increase transparency, the MSU is also pushing for an activity-based funding model, which more easily allows students to understand what exactly their tuition is being used for in the university. Osazuwa believes this to be an easy change to implement. It will also be accompanied by a Tuition 101 information campaign, and a letter writing campaign directed to the provincial government in the next term.
Osazuwa thinks that one of the MSU’s most important requests to the University is the removal of interest on late tuition payments, most often forced on students who rely on OSAP. This will likely be the most difficult request to negotiate and implement with the university, but Osazuwa wants to achieve it before the end of his term.
In addition to on-campus advocacy campaigns, the MSU has already introduced an emergency bursary for students in need of up to $500. The $8,000 budget allocated to the bursary program was quickly exhausted after its introduction in September, and by the end of the month, the MSU gave out approximately $12,000. The additional funds were drawn from saved money from other budget lines.
Vice President (Finance) Daniel D’Angela explained that the MSU is looking to revise the program, and is considering alternative sources of funding to sustain it. So far, no definite changes have been made. D’Angela said that the MSU is not looking to make the requirements for the bursary stricter, but noted that the emergency bursary is not a sustainable solution.
“I think our main goal is to provide the assistance that we’re doing through systems that we can but then work on issues to ensure that no student needs a bursary or needs an emergency bursary. I think that’s what the MSU’s goal is and what its responsibility should be. We can do some of the small things like that but I don’t think we should be just taking a lot of money from one set of students and just giving it to another,” said D’Angela.
While Osazuwa noted that the Board of Governors was receptive to some of the recommendations and initiatives the MSU is seeking to promote, the Board’s decision-making powers are limited. McMaster’s Chief Financial Officer Deidre Henne will discuss these requests with the Board of Directors, and is impressed with their initiatives and ideas so far.
Henne explained that currently the university gets the majority of its operating budget from tuition and grants. The province is in a deficit, and looking to change the way they provide operating grants, while the MSU and other student unions and advocacy groups are hoping to fight the increase in tuition.
“There’s a real opportunity for student bodies now, at the same time that the government is looking to change the funding model in 2017, to speak with government and make sure that the province understands, not just from a University perspective … but more importantly from a student perspective of what is important to them,” explained Henne.
The Board of Directors met with Henne this week, and discussed the MSU’s requests in relation to her role on the Council of Ontario Universities, and on the technical advisory committee to the Ministry of Education’s financing model.
In response to Osazuwa’s personal goal to end interest fees on late tuition payments, Henne stated, “I’m going to say it’s difficult, and that’s just the truth of it because we want to collect tuition fees as early in the process as possible for the overall financing and budgeting of the university.”
The university’s current financial system runs with the assumption that it will operate with most of its money paid on time. If payments were to arrive later in the term, the university would have to seek assistance from a lending facility to cover the first few months of operation.
For the hope of implementing a province-wide tuition freeze, Henne says that it has to accommodate declining enrollment and deficit issues Ontario is facing. Henne suggested, “what Ehima could do, is take his tuition request for zero percent increase and request the gap from the enrollment gap to be redirected as a supplement for this lack of tuition increase. It’s yet another alternative in the mixed pileup of complexities. It’s a lofty goal and I admire Ehima for taking it on. I feel his group has a lot of capability.”
The MSU has put student tuition and debt at the forefront of its priorities this year, following Osazuwa’s landslide win. However, with his term coming to an end and a new presidential election on the horizon, the state of affordable tuition advocacy as a long-term priority for the MSU remains to be seen.
With the Ontario government seeking input on the future of its funding formula, this is an opportune time for the MSU to be active in the tuition conversation. Osazuwa believes that both the student union and the University are interested in discussing student financial issues and stressed the need for collaboration between all stakeholders.
“We can run campaigns, we can have emergency bursaries, we can have our tuition policy paper but, at the end of the day, the best we can do is continue to lobby to the university and I think the university’s receptive to the idea of a more affordable tuition. We can’t change the price of tuition just by ourselves.”
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
