It’s your call: One click could save you $55 per term in athletics fees

Should students pay for a new athletic facility with a “new” $55/term fee (in addition to the current $73/term fee)?

You will be asked to vote on this question October 19-23, 2009 on webvote at https://webvote.uvic.ca

The Graduate Students’ Society is opposed to this fee increase. Here are some of our reasons:

Is this fee increase legal?

The GSS is concerned that the fee increase is not permitted under BC’s tuition limit policy, which caps increases of tuition and fees for current programs at 2% per year. This new fee will be a 75% fee increase for students.

The GSS has sent UVic a letter (PDF) asking UVIC to account for this, and will post any reply we receive on our campaign site here: http://gss.uvic.ca/2009athletics.htm

Who uses and who pays?

In the January 2009 term alone, contribution by students to the Athletics and Recreation budget was $1,082,939.00—without including additional fees paid by students for intramural, weight room, and program fees.

According to UVIC data for January – March 2009, which assumes average usage of 1-3 visits per week, about 30% of undergraduates and 8% of graduate students are using the Ian Stewart Complex (the most popular recreation facility on campus).

Athletics fees: the goal posts keep moving!

Until UVIC purchased the Ian Stewart Complex (ISC), athletic fees increased at a rate almost identical to inflation. Since the purchase of ISC, students have been paying a greater proportion of the cost for Athletics at UVIC each year. In the past decade, the proportion of the Athletics budget covered by student fees has risen from 20% to 38%.

Mandatory fees can be a benefit—if they are less than market rate

Compare this fee proposal to the U-pass... the U-pass costs one quarter the cost of buying a monthly buss pass. Every student pays in, but the cost is kept lower than market rate. In return, transit improves bus service to Victoria campuses.

Now compare the proposed athletics fee proposal to other recreation passes in Victoria *:

No. of terms	Current fee	New fee
One term	$73	$128
Two Terms	$146	$256
Three Terms	$219	$320*
COMPARE
Sannich Rec student pass	285/year
Oak Bay Rec annual pass	$345/year
YM-YWCA pass - family pass	$444/year $780/year

* graduate students will have the option to opt out of the summer term; summer term will be charged at 50%. 60% of graduate students and 20% of undergraduates pay 3 terms of fees per year.

What are the other options?

UVIC says mandatory student fees need to cover 36.7% of the cost of the building—but what are other options? UVIC’s consultation process suggested selling the Ian Stewart Complex as one revenue source. Other options include bigger donor campaigns, a stronger lobby for government support.

UVIC’s facility analysis indicates UVIC will seek to cover costs of the building with the following revenues:

1. New students Mandatory Fee

2. Program revenues

3. Donors

4. Government funding

5. UVIC contribution

What are the arguments in favour of the fee increase?

UVIC made a presentation to the GSS Grad Council about the proposal. It can be found here.

UVIC’s facility analysis (500 pages) can be found here.

UVIC’s/vikes website supporting the fee increase is here

Student facebook group in support of the fee increase is found on the vikes website here

Visit open houses

Help the campaign

Visit the GSS campaign site, download a poster, learn more: all here

Working during a reno

Well, I never really believed the office part of the reno would be done exactly on time. Looks like it will take two weeks, rather than just the one week we all took off and closed the office.
As such, the staff are camped out amongst our haphazardly boxed office supplies and records.

Here's Juliet valiantly checking her email at the one internet-connected computer!

It's all for the good, however, as the result will be a better workspace for the staff.

We are adding two private office spaces, which will mean (for me) I can talk to students in private when they come for advice or support, and for our bookkeeper, she can have some quiet and order in a room also used for Executive and staff meetings.

Here's a peek at the main GSS office thus far:

This is the view in from the door. Directly ahead students will see the person to talk to, and there will now be a waiting area for students to sit down if there is a line.

Perhaps we should get a video game terminal in the waiting room like my son's dentist?

One thing about this renovation, you can really see how dirty our office carpet is. Yech!

Opening the bids

So... nothing is settled yet, but the latest update is there was an "opening of the bids" June 5. Larry (from Facilities Management) made fun of me for bringing a camera so of course I have to put his picture up. Here is Larry, Carl and the other fella:Larry is in the middle--he's our project manager from UVIC. Carl has the fancy tie--he is the architect who is overseeing the reno (and who designed the Halpern Grad Centre in the first place!). The other fella is the other fella.
More news Monday.

Renovations update

IQ has been closed since mid-May. I thought it would be interesting to have some before, during and after shots during the renovations. These were taken by Al (the GSS Food and Beverage Manager) a week after we closed, midway through a big cleanup.

I don't think many people who eat at IQ realize just how small the kitchen is right now--and how excited we are for it to increase in size.

Contractors interested in bidding on the job have been coming through and whenever we give them the tour they are shocked at how tiny it is. Designed to nuke fish sticks and make nachos, this kitchen was certainly not meant to make the wide ranging menu our kitchen staff create daily.

After we closed, Al (the manager) and Pete (the sous chef) spent a week pulling out equipment and cleaning it up for resale.

And now we wait... but just for one more day. On Thursday, June 5 there will be an "opening of the tenders"--a formal meeting where bids from various contractors (we hope) are opened and reviewed to make sure all is in order. The GSS Executive will attend the opening of the tenders and then meet to decide on which bid to accept, and also how much to spend on related capital changes. I won't breath easily until we have sealed a deal, and I know it is within budget!

All going well, the crowbars are out on Monday June 9, and the old IQ kitchen will start coming apart.

Building expansion goes ahead

At the February 26 Special General Meeting, grad students held a two hour discussion about options for expansion.
Architect Carl Peterson was there to answer questions about his proposed design, and then members of the GSS exec fielded questions about financing options.
In the end, members have decided to expand the kitchen, as well as make some minor changes to the offices, but not to create the student lounge proposed in the expansion plan.
The executive was empowered to borrow up to $100,000 if needed, but the goal is to pay for the rennovation out of existing savings.
Full minutes will follow soon.

Upcoming important GSS decisions! Building, CFS, budget, elections!

1. NOTICE OF Special General Meeting considering expansion of Halpern
Graduate Centre

Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Time: 5pm
Location: Grad Centre Room 112-108

All graduate students are encouraged to attend with valid student card.

Special GM Agenda

1.    Approval of agenda
2.    Approval of Building Expansion Plan

If approved, an expansion of the Halpern Centre could proceed Summer 2008.
Proposal includes creation of dedicated grad student lounge, expansion of
kitchen and a minor office renovation.

If approved, financing options could include one or a combination of the
following:
-borrowing from UVic**
-re-distribution of a portion of Capital Fund membership fees to the
Building Fund
-establishment of a line of credit**

Architect’s diagrams, financing options, and sustainability plan for
the proposal will be posted at http://gss.uvic.ca and outside the GSS
office by February 13, 2008.

SGM followed immediately by a regular meeting of Grad Council.

**requires special resolution (75% members present in favour.)

2. OTHER UPCOMING GSS EVENTS:

Referendum on Defederation from Canadian Federation of Students:
March 18-19-20. Have your say on whether we should stay in the CFS.
NOTE: There will be NO WEB VOTE on this referendum.
Instead, there will be polling at two on campus polling
stations from 9-5 each day. Polling station at the University
Centre has been confirmed, but the other is TBA.
This referendum is governed by CFS Bylaws found here.
For ongoing updates on the CFS referendum watch this site for
info: http://gss.uvic.ca/cfsreferendum.htm

GSS Elections: Nominations: March 10 to March 17.
Voting: March 26, 27.
Your chance to get involved in the GSS and work on
everything from finances to special events to the restaurant!

GSS Semi-Annual General Meeting:
Tuesday April 1, 2008, 5pm in the Grad Centre.
This meeting passes the budget for the upcoming year,
ratifies the election, and receives the report of the
outgoing Executive Board.

Info: http://gss.uvic.ca

Upcoming issues for grad students at UVIC

At the beginning of each semester I start thinking about what the key priorities will be at the GSS office. I am always a bit overwhelmed at the broad range of subjects I am expecting to deal with, and a bit nervous I am missing something. So here is my list, and I am wondering if others see some I don't?

GSS members have some major decisions to make about our internal affairs.

Building expansion:
Should we expand our building, and if so, how much should we invest in expansion (and how will we get the money?!) Watch for a Special General Meeting in February to look at architects plans and to give your executive board direction on what you want your building to be like, and how it should be financed.

CFS Membership:
March 18-20 graduate students will go to the polls an decide on whether to continue membership in the Canadian Federation of Students. The referendum will be governed by CFS bylaws so the GSS so my big concern at the moment is whether our familiar processes can be used--most of our members use web vote in GSS referenda and elections, but it remains to be seen whether the CFS will agree to that process.

Beyond our student union, grad students also continue to face many other issues in their studies:

Office space continues to be a big concern for students on campus. Perhaps the engineers, with so much experience stuffing themselves into beetles could offer advice on sharing an office with 10 other students (and two desks!)

Expansion of the graduate student population through new provincial funding also poses some problems for our members--what if there aren't enough resources in your department already, and now your population is doubling? Some students are worried they may never find a supervisor.

Funding. After much pressure from both students and university administration, the BC government created a graduate scholarship program in 2007 and redesigned some others, like MITACS. Great news! But is the program design working for graduate students? I would like to hear more from students who are involved in the various funding programs established this year.

Most frustrating to me is that fellowships administration continue to be a problem... and so we continue to be a thorn in the side of the administration. Check out our original report on fellowship policy if you don't know about this issue.

For many students, poverty, housing, immigrant/international students rights and lack of adequate childcare are problems faced in their lives outside of school--but that cause problems academically. Generally support for these campaigns comes in the form of writing letters in support of agencies lobbying effots. For example, the GSS has been active in supporting the BC childcare campaign.