Despite last term’s vote by the SRA that MSU members would no longer pay part-time fees during summer sessions, the McMaster Association of Part-time Students has plans to continue collecting these fees anyway. The two organizations are now at odds with each other in terms of what will happen with student fees this upcoming summer.

A December media release from MAPS opposed the MSU’s stance and outlined preliminary plans for a “summer advocacy program” based on survey results as a suitable way to spend summer student funds.

MAPS president Andrew Smith said the program “will be designed to identify aspects of the summer academic term that may be changed to improve the student experience of our members.” Smith suggested this will specifically entail comparing the summer session with the fall/winter term, course availability and comparisons to other universities.

Some aspects of the media release, however, don’t hold water under further scrutiny.

MAPS claimed, “Between the date of this agreement (1986) and last year, the MSU decided that their membership lasts for twelve months of the year (they decided this unilaterally). They say because of this, full-time students should not have to pay student fees if they take courses during the summer, and they want this change to happen for this May.”

In actuality, the MSU amended their bylaws at an SRA meeting in 1988, clarifying their 12-month membership. Kyle Johansen, MAPS' executive director from July to December 2013 was at that 1988 meeting as an SRA Social Sciences representative and spoke in favour of the amendment, suggesting that “full” be added regarding MSU membership holders in order to be clearer.

Another claim by MAPS that the University might not be able to “identify MSU versus MAPS students during summer session registration” was also refuted in recent conversations the Silhouette had with the Office of the Registrar.

Additionally, after reiterating that the original MSU-MAPS agreement always intended for MSU members to be reimbursed for summer fees, the release goes on to say that in May 2014, “To temporarily deal with the MSU's demands, at least for this year, MAPS would refund summer student fees to MSU members, upon request.”

Jeffrey Doucet, VP (Finance) of the MSU, disagrees with MAPS’ ability to collect such fees.

“Collecting the fee would be effectively ignoring the MSU’s governance mechanism,” he said. “It was the SRA that empowered MAPS to first collect the fee and now the SRA no longer views the fee as legitimate," Doucet said.

It is unclear as to why, historically, MSU members have not sought – or, perhaps, known that they could seek – reimbursement of summer session fees.

“MAPS has no record of the MSU ever exercising that option,” Smith said.

At the time of the Sept. 29, 2013 meeting in which the SRA voted unanimously to break from the 1986 agreement, MSU President David said repeated attempts had been made for eight months to meet with MAPS and renegotiate the agreement.

“We’ve done everything we could to negotiate in good faith,” Campbell said. He described unilaterally breaking from the agreement as “our only option.”

The University's administration is unclear in terms of how the two organizations will resolve the conflict. Associate VP (Students and Learning) Sean Van Koughnett said, “There is no specific process to determine the final outcome of this situation, but rather, the outcome will be determined over the next two months in large part through any further discussions between the two student organizations and based on the wishes of our students.”

The McMaster Association of Part-Time Students passed a set of revised bylaws at a special general meeting held on Oct. 22. The meeting was the first to be called by the new board of directors, elected in February after former MAPS director Sam Minniti was fired and board members resigned.

Just 28 people, including two guests and MAPS board members, attended Tuesday’s meeting. During the one-hour meeting, extensive changes to MAPS' bylaws were passed by a vote of 22-0 including nine proxy votes.

MAPS president Andrew Smith said the bylaws were completely overhauled and rewritten.

According to the new bylaws, an online referendum system will be put in place to reach a larger number of part-time students in MAPS' corporate decision-making process.  Acting MAPS director Kyle Johansen said the referendum system is a response to low attendance at MAPS general meetings. Before an e-referendum is held, MAPS will hold an information meeting in person, through broadcast or on the Internet.

Should a referendum not be possible, a general meeting would be held. A quorum of three per cent has been set for all general meetings.

MAPS' previous bylaws stated a motion could pass with at least five MAPS members in the room and at least five proxy members.

“That’s a lot of power for five people,” said Johansen.

“The bylaws kept being changed. Setting quorum at three per cent is a significant goal to achieve. Referendum will allow members to address issues on their own terms and their own time,” Johansen said.

Another new bylaw provision says that only MAPS members can approve new fees or an increase in fees and the board must provide a rationale for any request.

A two-year term of office is being enforced for directors and directors cannot serve more than eight years in a row. A review committee will be set up by both MAPS and McMaster University to evaluate MAPS’ progress and make a public report available every three years.

In addition, MAPS president Andrew Smith said he anticipates MAPS fees held in trust by the University since May 2012 will be returned to MAPS. McMaster is holding more than $362,000 in MAPS fees until the new board meets the University’s requirements for fiscal transparency.

“Hopefully, the fees will be returned by the end of the calendar year, but I can’t give a definite timeline,” Smith said.

MAPS’ most recent financial audit for 2012, released in September, was also included in Tuesday’s meeting agenda materials.

MAPS spent $206,117 in salaries and benefits, down from $352,023 in 2011. Staff travel expenditures amounted to $14,663 in 2012, up from $4,577 in 2011.

MAPS posted $209,600 in net assets for the 2012 calendar year.

In July 2013, MAPS was released from its $1M commitment to the L.R. Wilson Hall.

Come next fall, full-time students may not have to pay an extra fee if they switch to part-time status in the summer.

On Sept. 29, the Student Representative Assembly voted to nullify a 27-year agreement between the McMaster Students Union (MSU) and the McMaster Association of Part-Time Students (MAPS).

The end of the agreement suggests summer MAPS fees will no longer be collected from students who have already paid fees to the MSU. The decision would be imposed in 2014/15, barring any disagreement from the University’s board of governors.

MAPS would have its budget of roughly $500,000, funded entirely by student fees, slashed by about 50 per cent.

Prior to the SRA vote, full-time students who took a part-time course load during the summer had to pay $7 per unit to MAPS despite paying an MSU fee covering a full 12 months. MSU president David Campbell told the SRA at the Sept. 29 meeting that they had a “moral obligation to act” to end the duplication of fees.

At the end of the discussion period, the SRA voted to end the agreement 26-0 with three abstentions.

“The MSU did not like one provision in an agreement so it threw the baby out with the bathwater.  Frankly we don’t know what they want now,” said interim MAPS director Kyle Johansen.

Johansen was hired in July to pick up the pieces of the MAPS spending scandal that had former director Sam Minniti fired.

Regardless of the outcome, Johansen said, "MAPS has no intention of abandoning part-time students. We will continue to advocate for all part-time students."

At the SRA meeting, the atmosphere was tense as Johansen hurriedly read off a statement on why the agreement should not be dissolved. Johansen wanted the matter to be discussed in November rather than be decided last night.

“A year ago, a unilateral decision to end this agreement might have been acceptable to the university community. I don’t think that’s the case today,” Johansen said. He said the new MAPS board was more willing and capable to discuss the issue but needed more time.

In response, MSU president David Campbell said the MSU board was frustrated with MAPS’ unwillingness to negotiate or meet until Aug. 8 despite repeated attempts over eight months.

“When we met with [Johansen] on Aug. 8, he told us in no uncertain terms that he did not consider what we were discussing a priority. He had bigger things that he was hired to address,”Campbell said, after the SRA meeting.

“Our only option was to unilaterally decide that the agreement was null and void,”Campbell said. He added that he did not see how putting off a decision would change the situation.

Campbell said the motion to end the duplication of student fees was in the works in June 2012, before the MAPS spending scandal was exposed in January. Ending the agreement was also part of Campbell’s presidential platform earlier this year.

After the vote, MAPS issued a statement condemning the MSU’s decision to walk away from the contract.

“Unlike the MSU Board who are full-time paid employees, all members of the MAPS Board are volunteers. They have been working practically non-stop to save this organization for seven months,” the statement reads.

MAPS questioned whether or not students could still transfer between the two student associations under a 2007 agreement amending the initial contract.

Campbell dismissed the claims made in MAPS’ statement.

Campbell said the MSU “fully intends to uphold the transferability mechanism.”

“We have an agreement here that is extremely unusual – there is no exit clause except if both parties come together,”Campbell said, of the 1986 agreement. “We’ve done everything we could to negotiate in good faith. This was our only option.”

“In our bylaws, if you’re a member in September, you’re covered for 12 months,” Campbell said.

MAPS stated that their board will meet this week “to review the options are available to us, but our primary focus is to finish the task at hand and present revised by-laws and policies to the Provost for his comments.”

The McMaster Association of Part-time Students (MAPS) Executive Director's seat is occupied once again – but not by Sam Minniti. His replacement, Kyle Johansen, is a corporate crisis professional who has been brought in to pick up the pieces and get the organization back on its feet. His mandate is simple: to expedite the implementation of solid governance, operational transparency and financial accountability. It's the execution that's going to be complex.

“The current board – who are exceptionally dedicated individuals – were put in the difficult position of learning about a problem while simultaneously trying to solve it,” Johansen explained. “My objective is to look at what was missing that allowed the problems to occur, and using my experience and current best practice evidence, create a new approach that attends to the original issues, and proactively protects the organization going forward.”

In light of the allegations of financial mismanagement of MAPS, the mandate of financial accountability is perhaps the most pressing. Johansen addressed two major goals in terms of addressing this issue. He emphasized how important it is “that the reporting of quarterly and annual financial statements should be intuitive to a non-finance person and show how money was spent in relation to the organization’s mandate.”

He also identified the second element of financial accountability as “placing reasonable limits on any one person’s authority to spend money, as well as implementing changes that would require increasing support by the board – and in some cases the membership – for significant spending decisions.” This comes as no surprise following the allegations regarding personal spending of Association funds that MAPS came under fire for earlier this year.

One project that will directly affect student experience is Johansen's aim to connect the organization with the part-time students that feel alienated from it. “The Board and I are looking at ways to increase the level of engagement with part-time students. My work with local health integration networks showed me how necessary it is to understand the issues and concerns of those you serve,” Johansen said. “And as much as I will enjoy helping the Board make MAPS a leader in student government best practices, I will get the most satisfaction from knowing that MAPS will continue for another 35 years as a valuable, relevant, and responsive advocate.”

Johansen, a Mac alumnus, has been hired on to achieve these goals during a three-month temporary term. Any potential extension to Johansen's contract would be limited to getting the organization back on track, not leading it long-term.

It remains to be seen who the permanent face of MAPS will be. As Johansen explained, “My skills and experience are best suited to bringing organizations into alignment with members’ expectations, public policy requirements, and building the mechanisms that will ensure the organization maintains that alignment. Whoever assumes the permanent role of Executive Director will be responsible for using those mechanisms and being accountable based on them. To use an analogy… I am really good at building the ship, but not very interested in sailing it.”