Carleton graduate students will decide whether to fund the creation of a Sexual Assault Support Centre on campus in a referendum included with this year’s Graduate Student Association (GSA) elections.
Acclaimed nominee and vice-president (external) Austin Miller said the referendum involves a $1 levy per semester for full-time students.
Though all the executive positions are uncontested, graduate students will vote March 22 and 23, according to this year’s chief electoral officers, Aidan Brand and Paola Ortiz.
A support centre was proposed after a sexual assault occurred on campus in 2007. At the time, students at the undergraduate and graduate levels voted over 80 per cent in favour of a centre supported by the university and run by students, Miller said.
“The money collected from the levy will be placed into a dedicated fund overseen by a committee comprised of graduate student councillors, GSA executives, and members of the Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Centre,” Miller said.
Students want a peer-to-peer, non-medical model for the centre, and money is needed in order to have some control over its creation and operation, according to current vice-president (academic) and acclaimed presidential nominee Elizabeth Whyte.
Votes will be cast online this year, Ortiz said, in an effort to make the election process more environmentally sustainable.
According to Brand, in 2009 the turnout rate was over 10 per cent of the graduate student body, amounting to 280 students casting votes.
Brand said candidates were required to gather a minimum of 12 signatures during the nomination period, which ran from March 2-11. He added that the campaign period runs until the final voting day on March 23.