The three referendum questions the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) approved at an emergency meeting March 9 have been officially validated, according to chief electoral officer Samantha Somerville.
Students can vote on the questions online from March 25-26.
The questions focus on CUSA’s health and dental plan, an increase to the club and societies levy, and CUSA’s bursary fund.
The three questions are:
“Do you support the enhancement of the Carleton University Students’ Association health and dental plan coverage at a cost of $14 per term?”
“Due to the significant growth of the number of clubs and societies on campus, are you in favour of increasing the clubs and societies levy by $3.30?”
“Are you in favour of contributing $1 per semester to the Carleton University Students’ Association bursary fund, which helps students in financial need?”
Odunayo said the questions were about raising more money to improve CUSA’s services.
He said the number of clubs and societies has been increasing from year to year, and the money is needed to manage all the clubs on campus.
Odunayo added the health plan has been offering the same services for 10 years, and it is time for an improvement.
“We are now at a point whether we can keep going or we can make some changes to the plan and give more students more services and more bang for their buck,” he said.
The wording of the clubs was protested by CUSA public affairs and policy management councillor Gennesse Walker-Scace and CUSA public affairs councillor Dan Crich.
“The way that the question is worded and how it passed does not inform students how much they’re currently paying,” Walker-Scace said. “It does not give any sort of clear direction for how often that levy should be applied.”
