With over 300 active clubs and societies at Carleton, it can be hard to understand what each student group actually does on campus.
To ease some of the confusion, here’s a breakdown of Carleton’s major student governing bodies and their goals for the 2019-20 academic year.
Carleton Academic Student Government (CASG)
Who are they?— CASG allows student voices to be heard on academic issues by communicating with students, faculty, and Carleton administration under the Carleton Senate— the highest decision-making body on campus. Four executives, as well as student representatives from each academic department on campus, are elected annually in the winter term.
What are they responsible for?— CASG provides student input into academic policies for undergraduate students such as late assignment policies, plagiarism, and exam accommodations. The organization is non-political and not-for-profit. Last year, CASG helped include accommodations for sexual violence survivors in course outlines.
What are their goals for this year?— CASG has not released specific goals for this year. Traditionally, their annual goals include advocating for faculty issues, providing scholarships and study snacks for students, and helping clubs on campus financially through the Academic Initiative Fund.
Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA)
Who are they?— Made up of six executive positions elected annually during the winter term, CUSA represents all of the 27,152 undergraduate students at Carleton—making it the largest student organization on campus. It’s non-political and not-for-profit.
What are they responsible for?— CUSA advocates on behalf of undergrads and manages over 300 clubs and societies on campus. It runs 11 service centres and four on and off-campus businesses—Ollie’s, Rooster’s Coffeehouse, Haven Books and Café, and The Wing. It manages students’ health and dental plans as well.
What are their goals for this year?— Each exec has goals under their portfolios and collectives ones shared by CUSA. Some of these include saving students money by subsidizing career-related training and certifications, making parking on campus more affordable, creating networking opportunities, and increasing community partnerships for clubs and societies.
Graduate Students’ Association (GSA)
Who are they?— The GSA is a non-political, not-for-profit organization that represents Carleton’s 4,050 graduate students. It is run by five executives elected annually in the winter term.
What are they responsible for?— The organization represents graduate students on all levels at the university, providing needs-based grants for the graduate community, and creating campaigns for various social issues. The GSA also runs Mike’s Place— an on-campus pub. It manages graduate students’ health and dental plans.
What are their goals for this year?— This year’s GSA execs hope to lobby for lower tuition costs and continue campaigning for social issues such as combatting Islamophobia, creating accessible public transit, and ending sexual violence. They also want to educate students about the Student Choice Initiative (SCI), a policy which allows students to opt-out of ancillary fees deemed optional.
Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA)
Who are they?— RRRA has been representing undergraduate students living in residence since its inception in 1968, making it the oldest and largest university residence association in Canada. The non-political, not-for-profit organization is lead by a team of three executives elected annually in the winter term.
What are they responsible for?—3,500 undergraduate students living in residence are represented by RRRA at every level of the university, which lobbies on residence-related issues. It also holds events and runs a convenience store in Residence Commons called Abstentions.
What are their goals for this year?— RRRA execs want to collaborate with other campus groups this year such as CUSA. They want to incorporate clubs and societies into residence and split costs of events, hiring more mental health counsellors with extended hours, and host new events this year.
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