The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) is a large part of campus news and campus life, but many students donít know too much about it beyond the organizationís logo. With the annual CUSA elections fast approaching, The Charlatan’s Jane Gerster takes a look at what students should know and think about before they cast their ballots Jan. 30 and 31.
Mandate/Overview
CUSA represents all undergraduate students at Carleton and is supposed to help with student co-operation, education, and in the creation of an abuse-free campus, according to the CUSA constitution.
Membership in CUSA is not optional, costing students roughly $55 each semester. This comes out to roughly $1.3 million in student fees.
CUSA is also a member (Local 1) of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), a national advocacy group for students.
CUSA council
CUSA’s council meets at least once a month and is made up of elected students representing the different faculties at Carleton, as well as representatives from the Carleton Academic Student Government, the Graduate Students’ Association, and the Rideau River Residence Association.
Although the meetings are a chance for councillors and students in the audience to catch up on the latest news from the executives, it’s also the place where councillors and students can make changes to CUSA’s legislation. In recent years, meetings with controversial motions have lasted from early evening to early the next morning.
The meetings are regulated by Robert’s Rules of Order, rules of conduct designed to maximize participation and minimize possible intimidation.
Although many council meetings have only a small audience, previous meetings have been packed for motions dealing with a CUSA policy on encouraging the university to divest from companies, motions calling for solidarity with Idle No More and aboriginal students, among others.
The Constitution
The constitution is CUSA’s most important and binding document. When other documents contradict, the constitution is CUSA law, spelling out the organization’s purpose, policies and how to make amendments to CUSA policy, according to the constitution.
The constitution enables students to attend, speak at, and propose motions and amendments at council meetings. It also gives students the power to challenge any council member who has gone against CUSA’s own policies.
CUSA & the CFS
CUSA is Local 1 of the more than 80 student unions that are part of the CFS.
The organization was created in 1981 to provide a unified voice to present to governments, particularly on issues like tuition fees and other issues related to accessibility to education, according to the CFS website.
Students paid a combined $93,000 in 2012 according to CUSA documents and in turn have access to campaign materials and buttons. As well, CFS representatives have been present in the Unicentre to raise awareness and get students involved in campaigns directly with the CFS as opposed to through CUSA.
This year, members of the executive have voiced their disdain for the organization, denied attempts to join CFS campaigns, choosing instead to create their own, and removing all CFS campaign materials from CUSA service centres.
Will they leave the CFS?
If CUSA wants to defederate, or leave the CFS, there are still several factors to consider and several steps that have to be taken. First, the CFS requires a certain number of students’ signatures on a petition.
The petition gets sent to the CFS, who then decides if the petition was done correctly. Then a campaign takes place at the university. At that point, students in favour of defederation inform the rest of the student body why they should defederate and members of the CFS are also invited to campaign on behalf of the organization. Students then vote in a final referendum.
Financial statements also show CUSA owes the CFS roughly $143,313 – a debt CUSA’s current executive says has been paid, but the CFS says hasn’t been.
Until it’s paid off, leaving the CFS isn’t an option, said CFS national deputy chairperson Adam Awad in an interview last spring.
“Our bylaws are specific about that,” he said. “Our bylaws say that in order for a referendum to take place, all outstanding fees have to be paid.”
According to a current agreement, the debt will only be paid off by 2040. Past CUSA executives agreed to pay off the debt in 30 annual instalments of roughly $5,000.
— Sources: CUSA’s constitution, bylaws, policies, comity rules and 2012-2013 operating budget, the CFS-National website
What do executives do?
President:
The job description: Be CUSA’s primary representative, be the chief executor of CUSA Inc., do the vice-presidents’ jobs if they’re absent, keep in touch with local politicians, ensure all CUSA staff are properly trained, primary responsibility for CUSA’s collective bargaining.
Time commitment: Current president Alexander Golovko said he works an average of 60 hours a week.
Learning on the job: “Being president you need to know how to manage all different departments within (CUSA), be it the offices of the vice-president, the finances offices, maintenance and so on,” Golovko said. “It was a very gratifying experience to learn how the different departments work, specifically being a non-for-profit and a business at the same time.”
Vice-president (internal)
The job description: Keep everyone in the loop about council and committee meetings, take care of all council’s administrative needs as well as documenting all amendments made on the CUSA website, oversee all clubs and societies, responsible for CUSA’s front office as well as raising public awareness about what happens at CUSA, help organize frosh week, oversee scheduling of councillors’ office hours.
Time commitment: Current vice-president (internal) Maher Jebara said he works between 50 and 60 hours a week.
Learning on the job: “There wasn’t really that much training, there wasn’t that transition between the last exec and this exec so there was a lot of stuff that I had to learn first hand… while I was running for elections I read up about what the job is but the job description and what you actually do are two different things.”
Vice-president (finance)
The job description: Primary signing authority, chief financial officer, ensure fiscal responsibility and the creation of a budget, make sure all money is distributed appropriately, approval of advertisement and sponsorship agreements, met regularly with financial managers.
Time commitment: Current vice-president (finance) Michael De Luca said he works 50 to 70 hours a week.
Learning on the job: “The main thing I’ve learned is how to work harder,” De Luca said. “I had a very solid understanding of the organization (before coming into office).”
Advice for future executives: “Be ready to work hard,” he said. “Those who are coming in need to be ready to work hard.”
Vice-president (student issues)
The job description: Replacement spokesperson after the president, responsible for organizing lobbying efforts related to tuition fees, book store prices, student services, sustainability, combating oppression, etc. “aggressively” ensure student issues are dealt with in any elections, chair CUSA awards committees.
Learning on the job: “I think one thing that you really learn to understand is the process behind how everything works not just CUSA-wide but university-wide,” current vice-president (student issues) Hayley Dobson said. “When you have an idea and you want to implement something, often times you’ll find that there are a lot more processes just through different departments, different areas within the administration . . . in order to get the most done the best thing is actually to work with all of these other groups instead of against them.”
Advice for future executives: “Take into account different view points,” she said. “Just
because someone doesn’t agree with you doesn’t mean their opinion is any less valuable
and that means sometimes you’ll have to make decisions that maybe you don’t agree with
personally, but if it’s for the best of the student body… that’s exactly what you have to do
because that’s what you were elected to do.”
Vice-president (student services)
The job description: Manage CUSA’s service centres, hire and supervise staff, help co-ordinate events, also responsible for safe space training.
Time commitment: Current vice-president (student services) Fatima Hassan said she usually works around 40 hours a week. “You’re never working less than 40 hours a week,” she said.
Learning on the job: “I was a (service centre) co-ordinator before so I think what changed completely is I thought it was going to be me just being a co-ordinator and the only difference was payroll,” Hassan said. “I didn’t think it had so much to do with planning but being that listening board you have to deal with all these employee relations.”
Advice for voters: “Don’t listen to a lot of the negative stuff that comes out of these campaigns,” she said.
Vice-president (student life)
The job description: Manage advertising both on social media as well as in the Charlatan, the Resin, and CKCU, create a monthly events calendar and keep students up-to-date on activities, serve as primary contact for the CFS’ Student Saver Discount Program, primary contact for any advertisers.
Time commitment: Current vice-president (student life) Tomisin Olawale said he works “well over 40” hours a week.
Learning on the job: “I feel that my job is the hardest job in the office because on a daily, if not a monthly, basis you have to find something that pleases almost every single demographic in the school and Carleton’s a very multicultural school,” Olawale said, adding he thinks he’s been about 50 per cent successful at pleasing everyone. “It’s a tough thing to do, you have to go to things that you yourself don’t even like.”
