The 2019 Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) executive elections are well underway, with more slates running than last year.
Five slates are running in this year’s elections: Excellence, Forward, For Change, Student Alliance and United Students.
The last time the elections had five slates was in the 2017 elections.
According to RRRA president Jacob Howell, the increase in the number of slates this year is a result of better communication between the association and students in residence.
“It’s how well the association engages with its membership through events and other things,” he said. “If you don’t have an active programming year, students don’t know what the organization is and what RRRA does. But, if students are really seeing positive work within the association and on campus, they’re like, ‘hey, that’s super cool. I’d love to get involved in that.’”
Howell said one of the biggest challenges incoming execs will face is the Student Choice Initiative (SCI).
The SCI will be implemented by the Ontario government in 2019-2020 year. The initiative will impact student fees and OSAP, and will allow students to opt out of paying ancillary fees for services from student-run organizations on campus, including RRRA, the Carleton University Students’ Association, and the Charlatan.
“They’re going to have to find ways to let incoming residence students know what RRRA is and how it operates on campus,” he said, “especially because class registration and the time students are accepted into residence can be very limited.”
“You can sign up for your classes and that time is when you’ll be prompted with the window where you can select which fees you’d like to opt into, whereas with RRRA, students can get accepted into residence a week before they come into school,” he added.
The RRRA all-candidates debate will be happening on March 20, with voting happening via online ballot on March 22.
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