Carleton University’s Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) filled four vacant executive positions, announced the closure of grants and awards and the renewal of its health plan in a virtual meeting on May 31.
Council appointed Hayat Elfazani, Apoorva Sangavarapu and Meg Lonergan as the Graduate Faculty Board (GFB) representatives for the upcoming academic year.
The board reports to the Carleton University Senate and oversees the administration of graduate studies at Carleton. Two GFB positions remain vacant following the general election in April.
Council appointed Mason Rodney as a GSA Senate representative for the upcoming year.
GSA president Milan Sanghani announced the association’s office space will reopen this summer to GSA executives and members for the first time since its closure at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The plan is to “cautiously” resume in-person work while following health and safety measures to ensure all members, including those who are immunocompromised, are safe, according to an email from Fa’Ttima Omran, GSA’s director of communications.
Vice-president (finance) Evans Boadi said GSA’s grants and awards are closed during the summer term for a budget audit to ensure funds were allocated effectively during the last year.
Once council approves the new budget for the 2022-23 school year, a reopening date for the grants and awards will be announced, according to Omran.
The association also plans to move its application process to an online portal. The current process is “tedious” and may discourage some students from applying, Omran said.
GSA normally provides a travel grant covering 50 per cent of travel costs for students presenting research, but the grant is currently closed.
Boadi clarified that students receive the grant after expenses are incurred. Students who travel this summer are welcome to apply in September to be reimbursed, Boadi said.
The association renewed its health and dental plan with Green Shield, a health insurance company, and implemented some changes, Boadi added.
Green Shield now manages the program’s opt-in and opt-out portal. The change is meant to “reduce GSA’s liability and to maintain accounting consistency,” Omran wrote in the email..
However, GSA still “holds all the decision-making power” and will ensure students can access the health plan services, the email read.
The new health plan includes additional benefits such as five hours of free counselling through any professional practitioners and a 50 per cent fee reimbursement on subsequent sessions. Students will also benefit from free medication delivery at home.
In addition, graduate students who opt-in to the plan for only the winter term will now have their fees readjusted to reflect a single term of use. Previous policy meant students had to pay for the full year of service, despite only receiving care from the winter term onwards.
GSA council is scheduled to meet again on June 30.
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
