Notes From Council: Hopes to remove Course Material Access for winter semester

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

At the University of Alberta Students’ Union (UASU) Students’ Council meeting on September 8, executives discussed plans to halt the Course Material Access (CMA) program, Week of Welcome success, and building repair updates. 

Michael Janz, the city councillor of Ward papastew, was also invited to discuss Edmonton’s current projects and prospective plans.

“We are looking to halt Course Material Access for the winter term or for next year,” Huseynova says

CMA is a program that includes textbooks and other course resources in an inclusive fee of $259 per term (fall and winter). The fee launched in September 2026 and is part of each student’s non-instructional fees. Students can either remain in the program or opt out of the fee and buy their course materials separately.

The delivery mode of the program raised concerns regarding Campus Saint-Jean. Students from the French campus need to travel to North Campus to pick up their materials. Students’ Council is working to make CMA more accessible to all students regardless of campus.

Another priority is to ensure all courses provide a no-cost alternative to paid platforms which assess students for grades.

Susan Huseynova, vice-president (academic), acknowledged hesitation from the UASU’s end to release information regarding CMA. This is to ensure the UASU is not associated with the fee.

A motion will be submitted to the university’s General Faculties Council (GFC) in attempt to have the GFC board vote on whether or not the fee should continue. 

“There is also the avenue of escalating this to the province,” Huseynova said.  

Students’ Council originally hoped to end CMA before it launched this September. However, they are now looking to pause it for the winter term. 

In the meanwhile, executives will distribute merchandise in the form of condoms to remind students to “pull out of Course Materials Access.” Stickers will also be included.

Paige Wall, vice-president (student life) said the merch will help the UASU spread awareness about CMA.

“We can walk up to [students] and go, ‘Hey, do you pull out?’ and then hand them a condom and ask them if they know about CMA,” she said. 

“Everybody gets a booklet or a bookmark,” but the condoms will be talked about and subsequently CMA will too. 

High student orientation attendance and building repair updates

President Joseph Sesek noted that New Student Orientation was a great success with incredible involvement.

He said that this year’s Campus Kickoff had its best turnout in university history since 2009.

Council highlighted the success of Week of Welcome as a whole, which gave them ample opportunities to talk to students.  

Regarding repairs at the Student Union Building (SUB) drainage stack, work is ongoing and expected to continue for some time. 

“It’s become apparent that there are further complications to the repairs that will extend the timeline into the winter semester,” said Logan West, vice-president (finance).

The university has begun more work into the drainage stack, said West. Currently, there is no clean drinking water in SUB above the first floor. Room at the Top (RATT) will also be closed for the duration of the fall semester. 

Plans to develop more housing and better transit near U of A

Michael Janz, the City Councillor of Ward papastew discussed Edmonton’s plan to provide increased housing near the U of A area, as well as introduce a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system to mimic the LRT experience.

Priority growth areas are “areas where we’re really trying to fast track housing,” Janz explained. Areas downtown, by the university, and by LRT are prioritized to receive more housing units.

The BRT is “cross between an LRT and a bus system.” Additionally, buses are longer in length and have dedicated lanes so traffic does not affect them.

Janz also brought up a winter priority map which will ensure routes around the university are cleared from snow. A large goal is minimizing the amount of cars out on the roads during the winters

Overall, he cited apathy to voting in municipal elections as a reason why student voices are not as represented, and called on the UASU to become more involved in the Edmonton budget.

Changing how Student Representative Associations receive funding

West outlined changes in how Student Representative Associations (SRAs) such as the Interdepartmental Science Students Association and the Nursing Undergraduate Association will receive funding via student fees. 

Instead of only receiving their money from the fees via two tranches in the fall and winter term, SRAs can receive funds in four tranches to make up for the funding gap between payments.  

“This ensures that student groups have more money in their pockets before students are fully back.” said West.