The newly-proposed provincial Student Choice Initiative (SCI) was a major topic of discussion at a Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) council meeting on March 6.
The SCI is a new policy under Premier Doug Ford’s administration in which students across Ontario will be given the choice to opt out from various ancillary fees associated with their tuition. These fees fund different groups across campus, including CUSA, the CFS, the Graduate Students’ Association, and the Charlatan.
Oladejo said CUSA has been meeting with Carleton administration to talk about how these changes will be rolled out during student registration. He told council in his president’s report that CUSA is working to make students more aware of the services offered by the association in light of the SCI.
“Obviously the largest thing that’s been on our plate as an executive is planning around the Student Choice Initiative . . . This is something that affects us directly because our budget is comprised of student levies and student fees,” he said in the meeting.
Aside from other levies collected through CUSA, CUSA specifically receives an annual fee of $44.60 per undergraduate student, as of this school year.
Trina James and Mary Askemoe, representatives from the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), presented current campaigns and programming from the federation to councillors.
James opened the CFS’ presentation by saying it’s important that the CFS “started taking steps to start rebuilding” with Carleton in light of last term’s defederation referendum.
As of this school year, the CFS receives an annual levy of $16.74 per undergraduate student, as collected through CUSA.
In response to a question on what the federation is doing regarding the SCI, James said CFS is taking “a three-pronged approach.”
This approach, James said, includes its current We The Students awareness campaign on OSAP changes and the SCI, consulting with experts to see what legal action may look like, and looking at possible internal changes within the CFS to cope with the potential loss of funding.
“People are actually going to have conversations about what restructuring is going to look like,” Askemoe told council. She added that the CFS is speaking with student unions about navigating this process with their school administrations as well.
“We have to find different ways to make sure you folks aren’t getting screwed over here on your campus as well,” she said.
—With files from Tim Austen
Photo by Tim Austen
