Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA)
Promise: Increase student jobs.
Yes: The goal of this initiative was to increase the number of student positions on campus in a sustainable way that wouldn’t impact the operating budget. To accomplish this, CUSA sought out grants available to not-for-profit organizations, which CUSA is.
One of the grants that CUSA was given was the Canada Summer Jobs grant, which was used to hire four students this year, according to CUSA president Zameer Masjedee.
CUSA is currently in the application process for the Career Focus Grant, a large grant targeted towards students who are seeking experience relevant to their career. The grant would give CUSA up to $200,000 and would be used to hire 20 students for two years, he said. The money would be dedicated to creating jobs in CUSA’s communications office.
CUSA will find out later this semester if they were awarded the grant, but Masjedee said the process is “looking good so far.”
Promise: Implement nap pods.
No: The original promise was to place two nap pods on campus to give students a place to relax and sleep while destressing, especially during the exam period. However, CUSA determined—due to both cost and space—that it would have only been feasible to acquire two, which wouldn’t be able to serve many students, Masjedee said.
Instead, CUSA implemented Gumby Chairs, which Masjedee said are “currently accessible on the fifth floor of the library, which is a silent space . . . there’s about 12 to 20 of them there right now.”
According to Masjedee, CUSA is now considering implementing more.
Promise: Decertifying from the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS).
Ongoing: While the process has started, Masjedee said of the proposed timeline: “we were a little bit too ambitious.”
He explained that CUSA became constricted by the CFS’ bylaws dictating how a decertification campaign must operate. The original plan was to complete the process during their term, however Masjedee said his team now expects it to last past their time as executives.
Nevertheless, Masjedee said that the promise would be fulfilled.
“What we have been able to do is really plan out what a successful decertification campaign would look like,” he said.
He added the current plan is that CUSA will carry out the petition process this year, followed by a referendum in November 2018 under the new CUSA executives.
Promise: Offer free printing.
Yes: Free printing has been operational since September, and students can print up to 100 black-and-white pages annually by emailing their print jobs to CUSA. Students wishing to use the system must email their job by 5 p.m. for it to be ready for pickup by 9 a.m. the next business day.
Masjedee said that there are currently no hiccups in the system and they are now considering ways to promote and encouraging more students to use the service.
They are also examining ways to make the service automated.
“Right now, the service is manual,” Masjedee explained, with CUSA’s front desk staff being responsible for printing the student submissions and having them ready for the next day.
Photo by Meagan Casalino
