The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) awards committee has released its annual list of winners for the 2013-14 academic year.
CUSA gives out awards and scholarships whose recipients are determined by a committee. Many students are unaware of this.
Former CUSA president Alexander Golovko was the winner of the Henry Marshall Tory award, while current vice-president (student services) Adil Tahseen received the Jeff Healey award.
Three members of CUSA council, some of whom are executives, are on said committee. The list of members includes former and current CUSA vice-presidents (student issues) Gina Parker, Maddy Porter, as well as the engineering and design councillor Jonah Trevor-Deutsch.
Although CUSA may not be biased, it is always important, if not absolutely necessary to question the appearance of bias, especially when determining award recipients of this nature. If CUSA executives and councillors represent half of this committee, accusations of bias would be hard to put to rest.
Additionally, CUSA should also provide clear guidelines which are easily accessible to all Carleton students. These guidelines should outline what is needed to be eligible for each award and scholarship, how the winners are determined, and the exact monetary value attached to each award.
