Matt Gagné is the current president of the Carleton Academic Student Government.
Over the last few months, there has been a lot of debate on the FundQi referendum held by the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) in January, during the 2020-21 election. Issues over the opt-out period, the value it brings to our community, and whether the referendum should have ever happened in the first place are all in the midst of debate.
While the program might be a valid service for Carleton students, making its opt-in mandatory for all students isn’t fair.
For those who aren’t familiar with FundQi and its relationship to CUSA, the service helps students find grants, scholarships, and bursaries to help them pay for their schooling. Obviously, lacking the financial means to attend school comfortably (or in some cases, at all) is something many Ravens can relate to and sympathize with as the cost of university continues to increase. Scholarship matchmaking services can be an asset to any student’s quest to secure the funding they need to continue their studies.
In last year’s CUSA election, students voted on whether or not FundQi should be automatically charged to students as a $10 per-semester levy—with the referendum passing by a narrow margin of just over 600 votes. While a service such as FundQi can bring value to our student body, CUSA failed to properly approach the issue of making FundQi eligible for opt-out on inquiry—making it an almost mandatory fee through the union’s lack of transparency.
Charging every Raven $20 a year for a service they may or may not use, then making it inconvenient for those who don’t want it to opt-out isn’t right. Students must opt out through FundQi’s website, rather than through Carleton Central, which more students are familiar with.
Also, this referendum was held during a ethically questionable election. A poorly communicated opt-in rule resulted in 15 per cent of the student body being ineligible to vote until the very last day of the voting period. Thus, even CUSA’s actions regarding FundQi’s introduction to the student body have been problematic at best.
There is no doubt that student financial aid is a very real issue, and our student union should be finding ways to address it. However, relying on FundQi to fill the void of scholarship services is not the right approach.
As an alternative solution, I propose the creation of a virtual student financial service centre. This kind of endeavour has been seen before: just look at the University of Alberta’s student union, which has created and continues to maintain a financial aid office.
Through a financial service centre, students can choose to pay for FundQi’s services for the semester or year, thus paying the fee upon their own volition to use the program to find funding for their schooling.
This office could tackle more issues than just scholarships and bursaries. It could provide subsidized financial advice on investments and long-term savings plans. Not all Carleton students are Scotiabank clients and would like to still have access to a service like this on- or off-campus, with virtual meetings available as well.
This solution would also create more jobs for students within CUSA and efficiently tackle the needs of Ravens that will use its services. Unlike FundQi, my proposal would ensure that students who choose not to use the service are not being mandated to pay into it nonetheless.
It will also allow for more accountability on what the funds are spent on. As of today, there hasn’t been much dialogue from CUSA or FundQi regarding what those funds are going towards this year.
For a concerningly long time, CUSA has relied on ancillary funding to prop up many of their on-campus institutions. In response, students have been vocal about the need for greater transparency from their student representation, and rightfully so. Students deserve to know where their money is going.
Now more than ever, CUSA should be there to support its undergraduate student body, not to tax them unnecessarily and often under the table. If CUSA wishes to restore students’ trust, students need to raise their voices and demand better, and our CUSA executives need to listen.
Featured image from file.
