No official committee against an increase to the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) has been formed according to GSA vice-president (finance) Elizabeth Whyte.
An increase to the GSA is long overdue, president Kelly Black said.
Black said the student levy that goes towards funding the GSA hasn’t been raised since the 1997-1998 school year.
But on March 20 and 21, the association will ask students through a referendum question whether they will approve of an increase of $5.00 per term for every full-time student.
Those students would pay $59.32 per term, rather than $54.32.The increase would be indexed to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and pro-rated for part-time students.
“[The total amount] depends on enrolment, but it would be approximately $40,000,” Black said.
A total which, according to Black, is necessary for the GSA to keep operating at the same level it has in the past.
“It’s been over 15 years since the GSA had any kind of increase to its levy,” he said.
“The membership has increased, the tuition fees have increased, the demand for services has increased, and we’ve expanded services. It’s about time that we had a top-up to the levy.”
As for what the extra money goes towards should the levy pass, Black said that’s up to the incoming executives.
“What I would personally like to see is the hiring of another staff person, because of the amount of services the GSA has, particularly around grants and awards and things. It requires a lot of staff times,” he said.
“All of the GSA executives are full-time students, so having an extra staff person would really help us with our capacity to help students.”
Members of the GSA were not allowed to discuss details of the levy until campaigning began on March 12.
Since then, a committee has been formed encouraging students to vote “yes” to the increase.
The campaigning will include posters and class talks, Black said.
In order for the referendum to pass, a minimum of six per cent of graduate students must vote in favour. And Black said he hopes people do vote “yes.”
“Our full-time staff are overworked, our executive members are over-worked, and our services are constantly in demand. And so I really see the need for this levy, if we want to meet the demand that students have of the GSA, we need an increase in the levy in order to continue operating at the level we’re operating at now.”
The date to form committees has passed.
