On Thursday, McMaster University released its 2013 "sunshine list" [link], which publicly discloses the reported salaries of its employees that made at least $100,000 in 2012.

Top earners included:

• Mo Elbastawi, Vice-President of Research and International Affairs, with earnings of  $506,246.80  
• Dr. John Kelton,  Deane and Vice-President of Health Sciences, with earnings of  $455,504.40
• Dr. Salim Yusuf, Professor in the Department of Medicine, with earnings of  $387,351.10
• Patrick Deane, President and Vice-Chancellor, with earnings of $387,287.20
• Dr. Akbar Panju, Professor in the Department of Medicine, with earnings of $368,819.95

Also on the list was former McMaster Association of Part-time Students executive director Sam Minniti with earnings of  $124,429.20. MAPS ended its relationship with Minniti and promised to elect an entirely new board in January following an investigation by McMaster University into the Association's spending practices. In addition to Minniti’s reported income of  $126,152 2011, he was paid $101,117 that year in "retroactive pay." He was listed because the University processed his income.

A small but varied group turned up at the McMaster Association of Part-time Students annual general meeting on Feb. 5.

Attendees were anxious for answers about a months-long investigation by McMaster into allegations of misspending by the Association, which resulted in the departure of Sam Minniti, MAPS’ executive director, as well as a promise from the board of directors that they wouldn’t run for re-election.

Officials cross-checked student cards with a list of part-time students at the meeting room door. No press, no community members, no MSU employees – no non-members whatsoever – were permitted into the meeting.

But MSU president Siobhan Stewart, who is currently taking a course and is therefore a MAPS member, was allowed in.

“I think, for the most part, what was shared in closed session could have been in open session,” she said.

Matt van Dongen, who had been covering the MAPS saga for the Hamilton Spectator, was also inside the room.

“AGM is for student members only, so far,” said van Dongen from his Twitter account. “But as I have recently become a biz comm CCE student, MAPS officials have allowed me in.”

From inside, van Dongen reported that questions about Minniti drew cautious responses. Minniti was said to have legal representation, which limited what the outgoing board members could say.

Minniti, with whom MAPS had “ended its relationship” in January, was not at the meeting.

About 15 minutes into the event, van Dongen tweeted that part-time students in attendance were “poised to overrule [the] board on keeping [the] meeting private.”

But it wasn’t until almost two hours into the meeting, after outgoing president Jeanette Hunter had given a report and a new board had been elected, that observers were allowed to enter. And for the 20-minute open session portion of the meeting, observers were not allowed to speak.

By the time the AGM became public, there were only 30 people in the room, including representatives of multiple media organizations, observers and outgoing board members.

MAPS bylaws were not made available at the meeting.

The new MAPS board currently has eight members, all of whom were elected by acclamation at the meeting. When and how a new executive director will be hired is up to the new board.

Despite the overhaul, Stewart was encouraged by the new directors.

“I think it’s too soon to know what’s going to happen,” she said. “You have a new board that’s really green. There’s no one that’s returning … [but] the two or three that come up to me at the end and wanted my contact information, I have no question about their intentions.”

The McMaster Association of Part-time Students cleaned house last Friday. Its board of directors announced that MAPS had “ended its relationship” with its beleaguered executive director Sam Minniti and that none of the current board would stand for re-election at the Association’s Feb. 5 annual general meeting.

On Monday, MAPS released its 2011 financial statements, the contents of which had been kept under wraps for months.

The news comes after an investigation of MAPS by McMaster University “in light of significant concerns that were raised regarding MAPS’ business practices,” according to a December statement from the University. The investigation began last spring, after McMaster’s board of governors denied MAPS’ request that its per-student fee be increased from $7 per unit to $10 per unit.

Now, the University is looking for more oversight of the Association. In a statement released last Friday by McMaster’s Provost, David Wilkinson, the University outlined a number of conditions for the continued operation of MAPS, most of which were centred on more transparency and better financial reporting.

Meanwhile, multiple candidates in this year’s McMaster Students Union presidential election have argued that summer students who were full-time students in the fall and winter shouldn’t be paying MAPS fees, given that their MSU membership lasts into the summer. MAPS fees are charged to students who take fewer than 18 units in a two-term academic session.

David Campbell, who is on leave from his post as the MSU’s Vice President (Administration) to run for the presidency, has even included the sentiment in a platform point.

MAPS’ 2011 financial statements showed that the organization had student fee revenue of $507,035, of which $354,023 went to salaries and benefits.

In addition to Minniti’s reported income of $126,152, the financial statements outlined $101,117 in back pay he received that year, which “relates to a retroactive pay adjustment” for a period between November 2005 and November 2010.

In a separate note, the financial statements added that “uncertainty exists as to whether a further sum to a maximum amount of $88,117 may still be owing” to Minniti.

They also describe Minniti’s recent termination. “As a result, severance pay may be owing, however, the amount, if any, is not currently determinable.”

In 2010, MAPS pledged $1 million to the construction of the Wilson Building, a new on-campus liberal arts facility that will be up in place of Wentworth House by 2015. The Association promised to pay that money out over 10 years at $100,000 a year.

MAPS gave only $60,000 to the project in 2010 and gave nothing in 2011.

It also neglected to make good on its 2012 instalment of the pledge, according to Gord Arbeau, McMaster’s Director of Public & Community Relations.

“The project remains on schedule and is moving ahead as planned,” said Arbeau about the Wilson Building’s construction, the bulk of which is funded by a grant from the Ontario government and a donation by McMaster’s chancellor Lynton (Red) Wilson.

“As 2012 progressed, the University’s focus on was gaining an understanding of MAPS’ financial and business practices, and the focus now is on ensuring that MAPS enacts the requirements that we laid out in our statement last week.”

MAPS’ Feb. 5 annual general meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. in Gilmour Hall 111.

He had no intention of coming back. But here he is, running for MSU president for the second year in a row. David Campbell, current VP (Administration) of the MSU, is following the footsteps of previous VPs and sticking around to aim for higher office.

RELATED: Selected questions and answers from our interview with David

“One year just isn’t a lot of time to get projects done,” he explained. “We have all these projects on the go with the whole organization that I want to see continue, and so I decided to run to see that happen.”

His 2012 campaign was popular, but ultimately put him in a close second to Siobhan Stewart. He considers this reason to stick to similar campaign points, and a strategy of being upfront and honest with voters, making the spirit of both years the same.

Campbell’s campaign is very practical. As the candidate most familiar with the inner workings of the MSU, he insists that he knows what can be achieved in a year-long term.

“My platform shows that I have a much greater understanding of what can be done, what should be done, and feasible ideas. I think I have a balance of that,” he argued. “In looking at the other candidates’ platforms, I don’t see that nearly so much.”

A series of simple points, such as adding more outlets around the student centre and extending library hours, promise concrete and tangible results. He is also adamant about saving students money by eliminating redundant part-time student fees in the summer, a point that has been echoed by other candidates, as MAPS is already under fire.

But while other candidates dream big, Campbell ultimately thinks inside the box. His campaign counts on students valuing the little things the MSU can do, rather than motivating them to effect bigger changes. If students are happy with the direction the MSU is headed, Campbell definitely has the skills and the know-how to keep it on track.

Nichole Fanara / The Silhouette

Thank you journalism! Thank you for being an inquiring body, thank you for following leads, and thank you for fearlessly publishing controversial topics that will now result in justice for thousands of part-time students!

No thank you to McMaster University for not properly giving a shit about their student’s financial burden.

Anything that has “McMaster” right in the name generally comes back around to the University.  I would think that an institution that demands thousands of dollars from its students would bat an eyelash when a student-run government has used its name in vain, and stolen thousands more from their students.

Who is ultimately responsible?

MAPS, the part-time student run governing body (much like the MSU for full-time students) was recently hit with a financial inquiry that found their president and exec team stealing money from their society and feeding themselves inflated salaries, trips to Europe, and expensive and unnecessary luxuries.

The most interesting part to this story is that this went unnoticed by students and McMaster for YEARS. And their president used to be a president for the MSU only a few short years before. Think about that before you vote this time around.

There are two things that bother me most about student governments funded by students. The first is the supplementary fees that we are forced to pay for through our tuition. With no opt-out option, how is this fair for students who do not wish to be a part of the union? Sure, we could debate that the union is here to help us and in our best interest, but that aside, students deserve a choice. If a student doesn’t want to pay for it they shouldn’t have to - this is not a tax.  But there is a lot of money involved here. What if I don’t agree with what the MSU is doing? What if I don’t use the facilities, don’t care, or just would like the healthy democratic option to opt-out and save a couple hundred dollars on my tuition?

My second issue is this - how has it become so easy for presidents and exec members to steal money from McMaster students? And why? What is it about our system that makes these sticky fingers so easily satisfied? I don’t think any of us have the answers right now, but I do know that this is more than a moral issue. McMaster should not make it this easy to for her students to suffer financial burdens by the hands of its own.  If there is no opt-out option for a fee that costs students hundreds of dollars, than McMaster herself needs to oversee what and where this money is going.

I want to know what exactly it is that I am paying for, and why.  If there is nothing to hide, then the answers to these questions should be accessible.

Let’s not allow another president to pick our pockets.

The board of the McMaster Association of Part-time Students will meet with its members on Feb. 5 for an annual general meeting. And at this year’s gathering, they’ll have a little more to answer for.

McMaster University launched a probe of MAPS last summer following allegations of irresponsible spending. It has been withholding a portion of part-time student fees collected for the organization while the investigation is ongoing.

The University made the decision “in light of significant concerns that were raised regarding MAPS’ business practices,” it said in a December public statement.

The 2011 earnings of MAPS executive director Sam Minniti appeared on Ontario’s 2012 public salary disclosure list at $126,152. It was the first time since he became executive director in 2005 that his salary has shown up on the ‘sunshine’ list, which discloses the salaries of all employees on public sector payroll making more than $100,000 annually.

UPDATE: The Hamilton Spectator reported this week that Minniti was also given $101,116 in retroactive pay in 2011.

Although MAPS is not a public organization, Minniti’s earnings were listed because McMaster University processes MAPS’ payroll.

The retroactive pay, though, was not processed through McMaster.

“Any salary that comes in [through McMaster], anything that’s issued on a T4, shows up on a ‘sunshine’ list,” said Andrea Farquhar, McMaster’s assistant vice-president of public and government relations, to the Silhouette.

Minniti and MAPS president Jeanette Hunter have declined interviews with the Silhouette on multiple occasions.

MAPS represents all McMaster students taking fewer than 18 units in an academic session, as well as continuing education students. Although it is incorporated separately from McMaster, the University charges fees on the Association’s behalf.

“McMaster took this extraordinary measure to protect the interests of part-time students,” read a December statement from the University.

MAPS currently charges part-time students membership fees of $7 per unit. The Association requested an increase to $10 per unit last year, but was denied by McMaster’s Board of Governors at an April meeting. The Board pointed out that the fee had risen from $5 per unit three years prior, and felt that there was insufficient evidence presented for the need of this second increase.

“That’s not usual,” said Farquhar of the denied fee increase. “There are some times, certainly, when requests for fee increases are sent back; it’s not that it never happens. But it doesn’t tend to be the norm. I think that probably began with some people starting to ask questions.”

MAPS bylaws last approved in 2008, which are absent from the Association’s website but were obtained by the Silhouette, say that MAPS must present finan- cial statements to its members at an annual general meeting each February.

“Several months ago con- cerns were raised about some of MAPS’ spending practices over a period of time including, salaries, expenses and reimbursements, travel and office costs,” read a Dec. 21 statement from MAPS.

“The Board reviewed these significant and serious concerns, identified means to ensure it adheres to best business prac- tices and committed itself to an enhanced governance structure for consideration by the member- ship at its next [annual general meeting].”

When contacted in late No- vember 2012, Minniti and Hunter declined to share financial statements with The Silhouette. The MAPS bylaws also say that a new board of directors must be elected at the general meeting.

The board, it adds, must be made up of “not less than 10 and not more than 16 directors.” The board currently has five members.

The Hamilton Spectator spoke with former MAPS presi- dent Elaine Marion earlier this month about allegations that she used part-time student fees for a trip to Italy.

“This was not a vacation; this was a course and I was a student,” Marion told the Spectator.

She explained that a bursary allowed her to take art theory classes in Italy.

“The board was looking for ways to support [the program] ... this was an investment in art his- tory at McMaster,” she added.

There is not yet a definitive timeline for when the Univer- sity’s investigation of MAPS will conclude.

When the McMaster Association of Part-time Students was denied a 42.9 per cent fee increase last spring, it must have raised some red flags with the University.

It was the second substantive increase that MAPS had requested in three years. In reporting to the University’s Board of Governors, the Budget Committee expressed its discomfort with approving the increase. For its part, the Finance Committee felt that insufficient evidence was given to support the need for it.

But although MAPS was denied the extra funding, the organization seems far from starving.

Sam Minniti, who has served as executive director of the Association since 2005, made Ontario’s 2012 Public Sector Salary Disclosure list with one-year earnings over $126,000. In 2010, MAPS donated $1 million to the construction of the Wilson Building for Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, which will break ground on campus next summer.

MAPS recently participated in an audit by the University, The Silhouette has learned. The results have not been released.

MAPS, which is incorporated separately from the University, was established in 1979 to represent students in part-time degree programs and in continuing education. All students taking fewer than 18 units in an academic session paid fees of $13.07 per unit this year, including a $7 MAPS membership fee, a $4.92 Athletics and Recreation fee and a $1.15 administrative services fee.

Also paying MAPS fees were summer students, many of whom would have paid McMaster Students Union dues as a full-time student during the previous fall and winter terms, and therefore retained their MSU membership into the summer. Although those students may apply to transfer their membership from MAPS to the MSU, the MAPS fees are automatically charged.

By comparison, an MSU member taking 30 units this year would have paid $15.48 per unit in membership dues to the Union.

The two organizations, though, have different missions. While both advocate on behalf of students, the Students Union also provides a number of services, health and dental plans, and a bus pass.

Both Minniti and MAPS president Jeanette Hunter declined live interviews with me on multiple occasions over a period of a few weeks. While both agreed to answer questions over email instead, they chose to jointly prepare and submit their responses, despite my request that they each send responses.

Minniti and Hunter said that MAPS activities in recent years have included opposing the elimination of free tuition for seniors two years ago, fighting to keep general three-year degrees and encouraging the University to relax requirements on admissions of mature students so that they could take more courses to accelerate degree completion. The MAPS donation to the Wilson Building was made because many part-time students are enrolled in a liberal arts program, they said.

Ensuring access to university services after hours is another stated priority for MAPS, as is helping students who might have been out of school for a while to navigate course registration and access financial aid.

But at the time of this writing, the MAPS website contained no governing policies, bylaws, financial statements or other organizational documents – only the promise that they would be updated soon.

“The MAPS Board is currently discussing the kinds of documents to be placed on the MAPS website,” Minniti and Hunter told me.

MAPS bylaws, which The Silhouette has obtained and which were last updated in 2008, read that audited financial statements must be presented to MAPS members each February at an Annual General Meeting. Corporation members also are permitted to examine the financial records at any time, given reasonable notice.

Minniti and Hunter explained that statements were presented at an AGM in February of this year, though they declined to share statements with The Silhouette.

I don’t doubt the need for part-time student representation. The culture of our campus is built around our full-time undergrads. And maybe the MSU, even if its operating documents mandated it do so, wouldn’t be able to give part-time or mature students the attention they require.

But it’s time for a little transparency. MAPS need to make bylaws, agreements and financial statements publicly available. They need to make better use of part-time students’ money. And they should try giving the campus media the time of day.

Part-time students are busy, I know. They have jobs, and maybe even families.

But something, I think, is apparent: they need to take the time to demand better from their Part-time Students Association.

Two years after it was allocated, the McMaster University Student Centre (MUSC) continues to hold $1.1 million in student money, and both the McMaster Students Union (MSU) and the University, along with the part-time students association (MAPS), are looking for a way to spend it.

The money came from excess student fees collected by the MSU in 2010-11, which were collected to pay for the remaining portion on a loan from the University to fund the MUSC’s construction ten years ago.

The money will either go toward a new capital project to improve the Student Centre or toward discounting occupancy fees of its resident businesses and services.

The decision of how the funds will be spent now sits with the MUSC Board of Management, which includes representatives from the MSU, the University and MAPS.

John McGowan, who is the general manager of the MSU, explained that details on how, exactly, the money will be spent have not yet been worked out.

The money was not originally earmarked for projects of a certain kind.

“In all scenarios, it will help benefit undergraduate students,” he said, given that a reduction in occupancy costs for MSU services would mean more funding for other areas, and that a capital project would, presumably, benefit at least some students.

The issue began in 1987 when the MSU held a student referendum about the construction of a student centre. As a result, they started to collect a yearly amount from students to finance their portion of the Student Centre. In order to pay for their share, the MSU borrowed money from the University, to be paid back over a number of years.

MUSC was completed in 2002. However, the final loan payment from the MSU to the University didn’t occur until April of 2011.

“Leading up year of the retirement of the capital debt on the student centre, there was a lot of discussion between the University and the MSU on exactly what was outstanding,” said McGowan.

“The project had been going on for an extended period of time and the many stakeholders had changed. When sorting out the remaining balance, there were a couple of discrepancies that all parties needed to clarify regarding contributions to the student centre versus loans for the student centre.”

Because the discrepancies could not be sorted out until after fees were to be set early in 2010 for the following school year, the MSU has a decision to make. Should it collect only what it thought the remaining balance on the loan was, or collect the same amount as the previous year, increased with inflation, to cover their bases?

They opted for the latter. When the dust settled and the University could not produce proof that the MSU owed more than it thought it owed, it turned out that the MSU had collected roughly $1.13 million more than was required.

As per an agreement between the University and MSU, which was clarified when the final year’s fee was set, that surplus was transferred to the MUSC, which has a separate administrative body that is jointly managed by the MSU and University.

“That’s full-time undergraduate money that students said they wanted to spend on the MUSC,” explained McGowan about the money sent to MUSC.