The Carleton Academic Student Government (CASG) will be increasing funding for its Ravens Academic Relief Bursary following a successfully passed motion at its Jan. 19 council meeting.
The relief bursary is open to undergraduate students and can provide up to $200 per applicant. According to bursary application documents, the bursary can cover the cost of textbooks and academic tech, such as webcams and access codes.
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students have needed to upgrade their home work stations for this online semester in order to succeed in an online environment,” the application reads.
Matthew Gagné, CASG president, said he is happy that the council has received 125 applications to date—the most applications he’s ever seen CASG receive for one of their initiatives.
“Unfortunately with this initiative, the initial $3,000 we had invested is not going to be enough to give exactly what we want to, especially with that many applications,” he said.
The council voted 34-5 in favour of passing the motion to amend the 2021 budget. The amended budget will see an additional $4,800 allocated to the bursary budget, increasing its total funding to $7,800.
Gagné said the bulk of the $4,800 will be coming out of the council’s social media promotions budget.
“We realized at the end of the day that we want to keep a strong online presence, but we want to make sure these students get their funding first,” he said.
An additional $1,000 will come from the academic initiative fund, which provides funding for accredited academic clubs and societies as well as engineering students’ capstone design projects.
Pierce Burch, CASG vice-president (academics) said the academic initiative fund will not be opening applications for the winter term.
“We’ve shifted a lot of funds to [the relief bursary] in making sure we can get as much money to as many students as possible,” he said.
Gagné said these budget changes are meant to ensure more money goes towards the high demand of the bursaries.
“At the end of the day, answering the 125 applications is the number one priority right now. This is why these budget changes are up because we want to be able to satisfy as many applications as possible,” Gagné said.
The council is also gearing up for its executive elections, which will be happening later this term.
Featured image from file.
