The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) and Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) held a joint virtual town hall on July 22 to discuss both associations’ ongoing initiatives and receive students’ feedback.
Town hall panelists were RRRA president Gialina Jiang, CUSA vice-president (student issues) Faris Riazudden and CUSA vice-president (internal) Davin Caratao. Attendance fluctuated between six and 12 people throughout the town hall, according to Caratao.
Participants first discussed the closure of the INS Market convenience store on the University Centre’s ground floor. The store had been renting the space from CUSA, which must now decide what to do with it.
Panelists proposed options including a new CUSA-run business, a storage space for clubs and CUSA entities, a recreational room and a meeting space for clubs to book. The third proposal received the most attention from the audience, with several questions posed about the specifics of the rental process.
Caratao said booking the space would be “as close to free as [CUSA] can make it,” but stressed that the decision for what to do with the space has not yet been made.
“We’re still in the planning stages of this space … I would say it would be good and ready by the winter term in the absolute latest,” he said. “It depends on what exactly we’re turning the space into.”
Jiang then spoke on RRRA’s plans for improving residences. Jiang said RRRA will be expanding the organization’s free period products program to more washrooms around campus and its Study Snacks program to include “basic living products” such as laundry detergent. RRRA is also expanding distribution of free COVID-19 rapid tests. Students will be able to request a test for any reason, rather than only when they have symptoms of COVID-19.
Jiang added RRRA and CUSA have been negotiating a new travel discount for Carleton students with various travel companies—similar to past agreements with Greyhound before the company shut down services in Canada.
“A big cost burden [for students] is often travel,” she said.
However, Caratao said these negotiations have been “inconclusive” so far.
Jiang also said RRRA will be granting $35,000 in scholarships and bursaries over the upcoming school year. This includes scholarships specifically for international, BIPOC and first-generation immigrant students. Finally, she said RRRA is in talks with campus safety on how to better protect students against sexual violence. Possible strategies include installing more security cameras and creating a sign-in-sign-out system for residences.
Caratao announced the return of Carleton’s Parliament Hill work program, where students can apply for part-time jobs working for Senators or Members of Parliament.
Riazudden discussed CUSA’s motion to establish itself as a pro-reproductive rights and justice organization. In response to a question from the audience, Riazudden said he did not expect opposition to the motion in council. The motion passed at CUSA’s July 25 council meeting.
As a final item for discussion, Riazudden said CUSA will advocate for Carleton to copy Brock University’s tuition guarantee program, where international students’ tuition does not increase after their first year.
However, Riazudden called this a “long-term project” that may not see results for a while.
The town hall ended after one hour and fifteen minutes despite being scheduled for two hours, due to the audience asking fewer questions than expected. Caratao said CUSA wants to conduct at least two town halls per term to gather “feedback and scrutiny from the student body.” He told the Charlatan he was optimistic attendance will increase when CUSA hosts in-person events.
The next town hall is not yet scheduled.
Featured image from Screengrab.
