Notes from Council: Addressing transparency around student fees and affordability

“Notes from Council” is The Gateway’s ongoing series of recaps of noteworthy items from Students’ Council meetings.

During the June 30 meeting of the University of Alberta’s Students’ Union (UASU) Student’s Council, the executive committee gave presentations on their goals for their 2026–27 term, and what they have accomplished so far. Vice-president (student life) Paige Wall and Vice-president (operations and finance) Logan West addressed their plans for the future of HUB residents’ representation.

Executive committee presentation on 2026-27 goals

At the meeting, the executive committee briefly covered their goals for the term and what they have been working on currently. President Joseph Sesek spoke about his commitment to academic transparency and student success. Vice-president (academic) Susan Huseynova shared her accomplishment of moving the opt-out deadline for Course Materials Access (CMA) back by five business days.

“The original opt-out deadline was for September 16 and January 16,” which is the same date as the withdrawal deadline, Huseynova stated. This would have puts students who aren’t able to join the class until those dates at a disadvantage. The new date allows students to get into their classes and still have the ability to opt out of the fee. She has also begun to update the advising process so “students get the specialist help that they need.”

One of Vice-president (external) Angel Raina’s goals is to “make sure we present a co-ordinated effort to educate students on what the [10 fall] referendum [questions] will mean.”

West aims to increase the transparency of UASU fees by “developing and disseminating communications that are relevant to the wants and needs of students … [through] informational, plain language content.”

Another aspect of her goal for greater transparency is to get student voices involved in large-scale financial decisions. One example West gave was to put “forward a plebiscite question regarding the future of Dewey’s.”

Continuing the theme of transparency, Wall spoke of her goals to advocate for greater transparency around residence pricing and services. She is also working on stronger support for student groups. “That means improving community policy and process changes, providing clear expectation and more opportunities for feedback,” added Wall.

Question Period

During the question period, Board of Governors Representative Amaan Khan asked whether Dewey’s fries would make a comeback.

West responded by stating that until there is a “larger-scale conversation about the renovations, which is coming with the Dewey’s plebiscite,” there are currently no plans to bring them back. However, West added that she is willing to continue having conversations regarding the future of UASU fries.

Executive Committee Reports

Khan noted that he has been working to have conversations and raise points about SHAPE: A Strategic Plan of Impact. Specifically, about how the plan can better include student engagement through consultation.

Wall spoke briefly about beginning to improve mobility-related access on campus through way-finding and map accessibility.

West highlighted that she has updated the UASU handbook to further improve transparency regarding fees. She has also completed the French insert for Campus St. Jean students with help from faculté Saint-Jean councillor Sophia Sparks.

HUB residence representation

Following the May 19 meeting where the Council passed a motion to de-recognize the HUB Community Association (HCA), Wall and West brought forth their plan for representation. In order for HUB residents to receive effective representation, Wall and West moved to integrate them into the East Campus Students’ Association (ECSA).

“ECSA actually kind of represented HUB in the last two years,” added Wall.

The motion to officially integrate HUB residence into ECSA passed unanimously.