In case you haven’t heard, the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) is having an election coming up from the 9th-11th of February. This election will determine who will make up the SFUO executive next year and which students will sit on the Board of Administration (BOA), Board of Governors (BOG) and Senate for the University. In addition, there are three referendum questions being asked to students about the U-Pass, Health Plan and possibly supporting another refugee student.
Each of the roles being selected during this election are key to the smooth operations of the university. The SFUO executive is responsible for ensuring undergraduate university students enjoy their university careers and facilitate the operations of various student clubs and businesses. The BOA members are elected by their faculty, and represent their specific faculty needs, while informing other students of the work of the SFUO. The student elected to the Board of Governors is responsible for deciding financial and contractual matters for the university, changing the government and administration as necessary, among other duties. Finally, the Senate deals with the educational requirements of the university, and is in charge of determining standards of admission, handling matters related to scholarships, and much more.
Although deciding who will be elected into these roles is important, I think the most exciting part of this election will be to see the results of the three referendum questions. The questions are as follows:
- Do you agree that each student registered full time in a summer session contribute $192.70 with a maximum increase of 2.5%/ year for a summer U-Pass, which will be valid from May 1st to August 31st, beginning on May 1st 2016?
- Do you support each undergraduate student contributing an additional $0.50 per semester to the student-run World University Services of Canada (WUSC) local committee so as to sponsor a third refugee student to resettle and attend uOttawa annually?
- Do you agree to allow the SFUO the ability to maintain current benefit levels of the Health and Dental plan, and to ensure financial sustainability of the plan, by increasing the Health and Dental Plan levy by $29 for the upcoming fiscal year, while maintaining the option to opt-out with full reimbursement and authorizing the SFUO Board of Administration to increase the fee up to 8% per subsequent year?
Last election, the question about the Health and Dental plan was asked, and failed by 64 votes. Will the second time be the charm? In addition, will students be willing to increase their tuition in order to fund a refugee student and the U-Pass? Only time will tell!
Be sure to come out to the polls and have your say about the administration for next year!