Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) has not released levies to two student-funded groups for the 2013-14 year—the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) Carleton and the Carleton Food Collective. CUSA wants their financial records first.
CUSA vice-president (finance) Folarin Odunayo said they have an understanding with the university to disperse student fees in a financially responsible manner, yet this is not reflected in any written agreement. Rather, the agreement states CUSA has to pass on student fees to pre-authorized groups.
Sound familiar? It seems CUSA is taking a page out of the senior administration’s book.
Carleton withheld CUSA’s fees in 2010 due to disagreements over CUSA’s auditing process. University president Roseann Runte said the administration wanted to ensure “good governance and democratic representation.” CUSA argued they were an autonomous organization.
OPIRG-Carleton and the Carleton Food Collective argue the same now.
Perhaps CUSA has changed their position on this issue because they are a different executive than the one of 2010. This is understandable. This is the nature of student government.
What is not acceptable is CUSA changing their position without consulting students. Student-funded and approved groups should not have their levies given freely one year and withheld the next.
CUSA should not require financial records based on an understanding with the university administration. They should be asking students what they want through a referendum and have an explicit written agreement on the matter.
CUSA should be democratically representative of its members, not the university administration.
