by Travis Poland
Student organizations at Carleton University hoping to receive student association levy funding may have a harder time getting the resources they need. As of Sept. 1, as part of a new agreement, the Carleton University Student Association (CUSA) and Carleton’s Board of Governors (BoG) have adopted a policy to require more than twice the voter turnout threshold for levy referenda.
Michael Bueckert, former Graduate Student Association (GSA) President and current graduate student Board representative, told the Leveller that he noticed in the minutes of the previous Finance committee meeting that ex-VP-Finance Duncan Watt had suggested that quorum for changes to fees should be increased to 15 per cent.
According to Bueckert, for a long time, both the GSA and CUSA had a six per cent quorum for all referendum questions. These policies were determined internally by the Councils of the student associations. In the case that the referendum questions involved changes to fees, those referendum results would be passed-on to senior administration and the BoG to be approved and implemented.
When Bueckert inquired about this suggestion, Suzanne Blanchard, Vice President (Students and Enrolment) and University Registrar, informed him that CUSA had already agreed to this change, which is formalized in an agreement between CUSA and the administration.
Bueckert said he was surprised to hear that CUSA had agreed to change its referendum policies, as CUSA Council, which he sat on last year, was never informed about the new CUSA-Carleton agreement nor about the new referendum policy.
“Although the GSA has not been approached nor has agreed to making this change, it was made clear that the university intends to compel the GSA to adopt the 15 per cent quorum, regardless of whether that policy is reasonable or makes any sense and regardless of whether it is consistent with the GSA constitution and bylaws,” said Bueckert.
According to Blanchard, the change will go for approval at a meeting of the Ancillary Protocol Committee, which consists of one seat each for the GSA and CUSA, and two seats for Carleton’s administration. This means that if CUSA decides to vote with admin, the new policies could be forced on the GSA.
Currently, almost 25,000 undergraduate students are enrolled at Carleton. The new rule means that at least 3,750 students must vote in a referendum for it to be considered valid. This is a large number compared to the previously required 1,750-student minimum.
This change impacts all undergraduate students but CUSA did not publicize the creation or implementation of the new policy. CUSA President, Fahd Alhattab, seconded a motion for the change to be implemented at an April 26, 2016 BoG meeting.
Some organizations at Carleton feel as though CUSA did not provide clubs or students with enough information before the new policy was enacted.
Carleton’s Student Alliance for Mental Health (SAMH), for example, is “disappointed” with CUSA’s lack of communication. SAMH President, Greg Owens, told the Leveller that, “The input of clubs and groups who are directly impacted by such a change seems like it would be a basic facet of making such a large decision and the lack of transparency and accountability is extremely damaging to club and union relationships.”
At the time of printing, neither CUSA nor the BoG responded to repeated requests for comment on the issue.
This article first appeared in the Leveller Vol. 9, No. 2 (Oct/Nov 2016).
