students’ union
March 15, 2012 • 12 March 15, 2012
REPRESENTATION.ADVOCACY.SERVICE Year in Review: Student Advocacy Zack Moline
ULSU President As I sat down to write this Meliorist article from Halifax at the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations’ (CAUS) Annual General Meeting (AGM) I thought it would be pertinent to write about some of the successes and failures of the ULSU’s advocacy efforts this year. It’s been a long and productive year, and after seeing my successor voted in last Friday I’m feeling nostalgic, so I’m going to write about what we’ve accomplished and what we must leave to our successors to finish. Successes: Participation Rates – At the beginning of our year last May CAUS developed the high level idea of improving our post-secondary participation rate. Currently Alberta is dead last in the country on this metric, and we felt that it provided a powerful message to Government leaders as to why we need to invest in post-secondary. It worked. Premier Redford (candidate at the time), picked up on this idea and made it a center piece of her Post-Secondary Education (PSE) leadership platform which she relased during the summer in our building. It has since remained in Government rhetoric on post-secondary. Now that that idea is in place, we have been using it as the theme for the majority of the other issues we advocate on. If the Government truly wants to increase PSE participation in Alberta, hopefully they’ll act soon on some of our other suggestions. Operating Grant Increase –During October and November of this year CAUS lobbied the Government to increase the base operating
grants provided to our institutions. For the first time in four years it happened. In the Budget announced last February, our Universities received an increase of a little over 2% to their operating funding. This will take the pressure off schools, such as the University of Lethbridge, to resort to raising student fees to collect much needed revenue and should allow them to maintain existing levels of quality. Get Out The Vote (GOTV) Campaign – I’m just going to assume that you’ve heard at least something about the preliminary phase of our GOTV Campaign right now. To date, we’ve collected somewhere around 2,000 signatures from students who are planning on voting in the upcoming election and have yet another month to go. If the end of the campaign continues as well as it has started, I’m confident that we can have a significant effect on the voter turnout in Lethbridge West. Mixed Success: Alberta Student Financial Aid Reforms – In February the Government streamlined a few aspects of student finance and made it easier for students to receive loans. Essentially, expected parental contributions, income from certain savings accounts, and part time earnings have been removed from the resource assessment and been replaced with a flat rate of a $1,500 contribution. This means that any student who would have previously been calculated to have received more than $1,500 from those three sources I listed will now be able to receive a larger loan. Along with these changes, the Government also eliminated the remission system and replaced it with a completion grant to the tune
of $2,000 for graduates with a degree who stay to work in Alberta. CAUS has long been advocating for the removal of parental contributions, increasing allowable part time earnings, and simplifying the remission system. From this perspective, this policy change was a definite win. However, we also expended a considerable effort this year advocating for increasing non-repayable assistance (89 million was cut the last three years) and combatting student debt. These changes don’t affect levels of non-repayable aid, and will likely only increase levels of student debt. CSLP Vehicle Exemption – At the federal level we advocated for the removal of a personal vehicle in the asset calculation of federal student loans. Right now, if a student owns a vehicle which is worth over $5,000 it counts against the loan they’re eligible to receive. We’ve been informed that this potential exemption has made it into the next level of federal budget discussions. We don’t know yet if it will be included in the upcoming budget, but it looks promising. If this happens, it will be a win for students, especially on a commuter campus such as ours. Failures: Non-instructional fees – The regulation of non-instructional fees has arguably been our biggest priority provincially this year and it has been an absolute frustration dealing with the Government on the file. For the past two years we have been dragged around by the Government of Alberta who first told us to solicit the support of the other student groups, and then to discuss our proposals with our institutions on two occasions. After we successfully jumped through these delaying tactics they have repeatedly told us
a solution is on its way. Unfortunately none have come, and I’m becoming less and less hopeful that a permanent fix will happen before the upcoming election. I see this to be the direct results of a lack of political will on behalf of the Government and the strongly entrenched influence of our institutions within the Ministry. I certainly do not believe that if CAUS had employed different tactics or ran with different messaging our results would be any different. While I haven’t completely given up hope yet, I think this will be an issue for our successors to secure closure on.
ULSU Mobile App Now Available! iOS Android
Blackberry
Check www.ulsu.ca for more details!
Student & Club of the Year Awards- Nominations Open Andrew Williams VP Academic
Do you know an outstanding student who has made the university and community a better place? Have you seen a club do amazing things this year? Then here is your chance to give them the recognition that they deserve! The Student of the Year, the Club of the Year and the Bill Chapman Students’ Union Certif-
icate of Distinction awards are open for ALL STUDENTS to submit nominations. The Student of the Year Award is an annual award presented to the student(s) who embody leadership, commitment, and contribute to the betterment of U of L students; this may be exemplified by involvement in clubs, non-profit organizations, student organizations, community, and volunteerism. The Students` Union Club of the Year Award is an annual award presented to the Students’
Union ratified club which has demonstrated the most outstanding effort and dedication in their endeavours over the past year. The Students` Union Club of the Year Award is an annual award presented to the University of Lethbridge student, or students, who has (have) shown the most innovation in the area(s) of student affairs, wellness, or another notable field, over the past year. All you have to do to show how much you value what these people have done this year
is send a quick email to Lisa Rodych, at su.internal@uleth.ca. Include your name, their name, and a paragraph or two detailing what they have done this year, and why they deserve the recognition by March 19th at 4pm. It’s that easy! Nominee recipients will be honored at the annual Recognition Dinner.
Upcoming Events:
- Karaoke in the Zoo - Mar. 13 at 8pm - Flames Game in the Zoo Mar. 15 at 7pm - St. Patty’s Day Dirty Bingo Mar. 16 at 5:30pm in the Zoo - Flames Game in thje Zoo Mar. 16 at 7:30pm - Flames Game in the Zoo Mar. 20 at 7pm - Karaoke in the Zoo - Mar. 20 at 8pm - ULSU General Assembly Meeting - Mar. 21 at 6pm - Flames Game in the Zoo Mar. 22 at 6pm - Flames Game in the Zoo Mar. 26 at 7pm - Karaoke in the Zoo - Mar. 27 at 8pm - Flames Game in the Zoo Mar. 28 at 7:30pm - Open Mic Night in the Zoo 5pm
The studying, the assignments, the papers, the exams... everything has been leading up to this single defining moment of your semester.
Are You Ready? LCB
2012
WED. APRIL 18