Matt Hirji
BoG ruling robs students of rightful input on fee decisions
Alexandria Eldridge
Editor-In-Chief
Feb 15, 2012
In what Students’ Union President Rory Tighe rightly called a “step backwards” last Friday, the University of Alberta Board of Governors passed a motion to remove a requirement for student referendum on mandatory noninstructional fee increases. This move effectively silences the voice of students when it comes to fee increases that they ultimately have to pay for.
A bylaw in 2001 previously required that if the BoG wished to increase MNIFs beyond the Consumer Price Index, it would have to be approved by Students’ Council or student eferendum. This motion has now been rescinded.
Instead, the BoG will opt for student consultation through a newly created MNIF budget advisory committee, which will have two student representatives from the Students’ Union and two from the Graduate Students’ Association on a committee of eight. Together, this committee will advise the BoG on whether or not a fee needs to be brought to student referendum or whether it can be implemented without further consultation of the student body.
SU Vice-President (External) Farid Iskandar said that this committee may not make any decisions by vote, meaning that the student representatives will not actually be able to have any real power, and their concerns could easily be pushed to the side. Regardless of what happens on the committee, their role is only advisory, and the BoG will essentially be able to do whatever it wants, making the committee entirely unnecessary and useless.
This doesn’t mean that there will never be another referendum for an MNIF. But it does make it unlikely, and it certainly takes power away from students by giving the committee, and by extension the BoG, the final say on what students must pay. Rather than the final say coming from a vote of the student population, there’s a very real possibility that student voices get completely lost in the shuffle
Provost Carl Amrhein explained that the reasoning behind this motion was that it reflected proper governance structure, in that the BoG should “treat all constituencies equally.” He did not think it prudent that the sole constituency that would actually be paying in the case of an MNIF increase — students — should receive extra consultation on such issues.
Not only will we be the only constituency dealing with the repercussions of these potential increases, but we’re also the ones with the least money to give. In most cases, students can’t afford a substantial MNIF increase, such as we saw with the Common Student Space, Sustainability and Services fee in 2010, without either borrowing extra money or working more hours. But the BoG wants to gloss over the unique position of students for the sake of “equality.”
Worse, this change to MNIF regulation came in the face of a motion that Students’ Union President Rory Tighe intended to forward that required any new MNIFs be brought to student referendum (as the 2001 motion only applied to increases). However, Tighe was told he could not table his motion unless Amrhein’s failed to pass, which it did not.
Tighe challenged the BoG on Friday that the university was using MNIFs to get around tuition regulations — a claim they obviously denied, but it certainly looks that way. President Indira Samarasekera has said that the U of A requires a four per cent increase to its base operating grant from the province. However, the provincial budget announced Thursday contained only a two per cent increase, albeit guaranteed for three years.
It looks as though the BoG is positioning itself to use students to bail themselves out of a budget crisis once again, just as they did with the the CoSSS fee two years ago. They can now increase MNIFs as well as create new ones, all without the pesky hassle of a student referendum.
When it comes to MNIFs, students deserve a more powerful voice than a representative on a committee. Their representation on the board itself obviously had little impact. There seems
no reason to expect their presence on a committee will either.Hopefully, this latest move from the BoG will prompt the provincial government to finally regulate MNIFs — something the SU has been pushing for — before the BoG once again relies on students to solve their money woes.
Comments
Fuck.
This sucks.
Posted by Big Bill Bixby on Feb 17, 2012
I can’t believe this, the students need to speak out and let the BoG know that this is not what we want. So much for democracy…
Posted by Geordie Nelson on Feb 18, 2012
Thank god I am graduating this semester. Between CoSSS, installment fees and now this to bolster a poorly performing portfilio. Rough.
Posted by Austyn on Feb 21, 2012
I entered university with big dreams of the educational system always sticking to what I was paying so much for, my education. Instead the university’s top priority is ensuring bigger paycheques for whoever’s practically stealing our money. I’m not naive, but come on, how much more power, how much more of our RIGHTS, do they need to simply take away from all of us before we’re completely powerless? Don’t I pay some useless student fee where my best interests as a student are always supposed to be represented and given a voice? Where does all that moeny go, or is simply meant for someone like Rory to have some half-assed “official” position worthy of mention in the Gateway? No offence to Rory, you’re giving us a chance to speak, but really? How much authority and respect does the Students’ Union really have? I’m thinking none, according to this article.
Posted by Nicole on Feb 22, 2012
There is nothing we can do really, it happened because the Board of Governors are the supreme governing body in the university and refuse to answer to anyone. They have centralized power and thanks to the successful CoSSS fee ($40 Million to date) they have precedent and now impetus to eliminate budget deficits with students’ wallets.
I have had the pleasure of meeting the SU executive, and I guarantee that they neither agreed to this measure nor allowed it to pass without debate, in fact they attempted to block it. However, I do think they have failed students by allowing this to occur, for it will do untold damage to countless future students.
Fees are not like taxes, they ARE taxes. Once taxes are paid they are accepted, once they are accepted they are forgotten, and once they are forgotten they are raised. I predict that there will be a new fee (exceeded $100 per term) introduced by May 2014, if not earlier. It is as gloomy as it is unavoidable, and the only thing we can do now is embarrass them into never using this power.
Word to the wise: keep an eye on Augustana.
Posted by Samuel Whittleton on Feb 25, 2012
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