For the first year ever, undergraduate students will be voting online for the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) referendum questions, according to chief electoral officer Sunny Cohen.
According to CUSA policy, referendum questions about collecting, altering, and/or reimbursing student fees require a “nomination” before being voted upon. A nomination consists of signatures of 1,000 eligible students, or 10 per cent of the eligible voting body, whichever is less, Cohen said.
Nominations will be collected by “yes” committees— a group of students, one for each question, who support the question. The nomination period will run March 11 to 4:30 p.m. on March 13.
A campaigning period will follow, where a “yes” committee and a “no” committee for each referendum question will be allowed to publically support its position from March 15 to March 19.
Cohen said he will validate which questions will go to referendum by March 14. Voting will take place March 20 and 21.
At the Mar. 2 council meeting Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) vice-president (external) Anna Goldfinch raised concerns about the referendum dates coinciding with the graduate students’ referendum and GSA general elections, which are March 20 and 21 as well.
“Our goal is to maximize student turnout for our election, and holding the two elections concurrently will only create confusion,” chief electoral officers Mohammadreza Ataei and Nyssa McLeod said via email.
Cohen said the dates are positioned to accommodate the host of the online referendum questions, the Carleton Office of Institutional Research and Planning.
The office will be hosting teaching evaluations online this year for teachers who want to participate. They will be the last week in March, and Cohen said it was the request of the office that the referendum questions be held no later than March 22.
“I invite students to get involved in the referendum process because it has to do with their money and where their money is going. Students should be familiar with the fees they’re being charged,” Cohen said.
As passed by CUSA council March 2, here are this year’s referendum questions:
1) Are you in favour of reducing the CUSA Health, Dental and Accident Insurance Plan annual fee from $178.00 to $158.00?
2) Are you in favour of eliminating the annual $6.84 fee for the Ontario Public Interest Research Group?
3) Are you in favour of eliminating the annual $2.00 fee for the World Food Program?
4) Are you in favour of implementing an annual fee of $21.00 (indexed to CPI for future years) to be used for the development and construction of a new student owned and operated Student Centre building on the Carleton University campus?
