Council Forum — November 5, 2009

“Now's not a good time to go to government with one's hand out; it's likely to get cut off.”
— Doug Dawson, Executive Director of Ancillary Services, on finding alternatives to boosting residence prices

Raising the Rent

Council heard a presentation from Doug Dawson and Dima Utgoff from ancillary services about residence rates for 2010/11. This year's proposal is a 3.8 per cent increase in residence prices, compared to an eight per cent increase last year. Dawson explained that numbers in a range of 1.5 to 5.6 per cent were “stress-tested,” and that 3.8 realistically met the goals of creating dependable capital and operating reserves for deferred maintenance and unexpected repairs. Dawson explained that a number of strategies have been implemented in an effort to keep residence finances sustainable, including consolidating mortgages using an internal loan, proposed development of a predictable 10-year capital plan that renews annually, and a focus on revenue during down-times like the summer through rental of facilities.

Students on the move

Vice President (Student Life) Nick Dehod and Chris Henderson of the SU advocacy department outlined details of the new U-Pass agreement which will see students pay $92 per term for the service in 2010/11, $104 in 2011/12 and $116 in 2012/13, the last year of the agreement. Its implementation will depend on it passing in general referendum in March. Dehod explained that prices necessarily went up after ETS needed to facilitate the estimated 54 per cent increase in campus ridership that resulted from the program. In addition, city council wasn't willing to accept the same levels of financial loss it took with the original agreement. The U of A administration will continue to subsidize the prices at the rate of 15 per cent, as was done with the original program. Some issues that are yet to be addressed in ongoing discussionsare overcrowding on buses, late-night transit, students outside the service areas, improved park-and-ride infrastructure, and a spring/summer option for the pass as well.

Governing Groups

Council also debated Bill 12 that would lay out rules governing student groups. Board of Governors representative Steven Dollansky was vocal about his opposition to the bill, arguing that the mandate of Council isn't to lay out policy for operational procedure. The bill was defeated by a narrow margin.

Question Period

Vice President (Academic) Leah Trueblood fielded a question regarding the Faculty of Science Leadership Group, which is responsible for developing a replacement to the defunct Science Students' Association. Although the FSLG prefers to focus on what went wrong with the SSA, Trueblood hopes that they also examine best practices set out by other faculty associations, like the Collective Body of Arts Students and the Engineering Students Society. The FSLG will exist until April 10, 2010.

Mathewson and Trueblood answered questions regarding ongoing tuition discussions with the administration. Mathewson discussed an upcoming "back meeting" with the administration to take place on November 4, noting that they often hold out on giving important information until those kinds of meetings. The SU is having more lower-level discussions like with faculty associations, deans and professional associations. Issues discussed include establishing stronger financial aid programs to offset increasing tuition. Mathewson said that the conversations FAs are having with deans are different than discussions between admin and SU, as they are carefully looking at cost-benefit analysis of their programs.