This week marks the opening of the campaigning period for the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) team for the next academic year.
On Thursday, March 19, contenders for each of the UTSU’s executive portfolios will participate in an open forum discussion to expand on their respective priorities and goals should they be successful. Equally important, however, is that this forum will offer the UTSU’s constituents — the students — the opportunity to interact with their would-be representatives, ask them questions, and judge their suitability.
In advance of this Thursday’s forum, The Varsity offers the following ideas for consideration. Selected from across the spectrum of the UTSU’s responsibilities, these are some of the issues that we believe are of the greatest consequence to students and the university for the foreseeable future.
FEES
The issue of ever-rising tuition costs has been at the forefront of recent executive platforms heading into the UTSU elections. Next year, incoming and continuing domestic students in the Faculty of Arts & Science will experience a three per cent increase in line with the province’s capped tuition framework. Most professional programs will undergo a five per cent increase.
International students have and will continue to bear the most significant financial burden — their fees are set to increase by five per cent for continuing students, nine per cent for incoming Arts & Science students, and an astounding 10 per cent for Applied Science and Engineering students.
The incoming executive team should continue the lobbying work of its predecessors in earnest, with a particular focus on student organization and mobilization in protest. Currently, lobbying efforts are in desperate need of new tactics and ideas. If our elected representatives are to attempt to effect change to our fee structure, they will need to focus on creative and bold strategies.
ACTIVISM
Addressing advocacy issues on campus must remain a top priority, particularly with respect to mental health and sexual violence. Large-scale university projects like the Advisory Committee to the President and Provost on Preventing and Responding to Sexual Violence, the Provostial Advisory Committee on Student Mental Health, and proposed Mental Health and Physical Activity Research Centre need to be supplemented with efforts that better provide for the immediate needs of students.
Whoever finds themselves in office following the last day of voting on March 26 should make continuing the work that current president Yolen Bollo-Kamara began with making the Mental Health Action Team a priority from day one.
Additionally, enhanced support for initiatives like U of T Students Against Sexual Violence and U of T Thrive could go a long way towards addressing community concerns and raising awareness.
This work needs to result in practical and immediate options for students that can fill the void and combat resource decentralization while we await future systemic change. If elected, candidates must be willing to advocate for students by pressuring the university to make progress on long-term promises.
STUDENT COMMONS
All full-time undergraduate students at U of T contribute $16.40 a year to the commons through their tuition fees. In light of recent developments that will enable the commons project to finally be built, the incoming executives need to be committed to seeing the project’s completion through to the end.
Executives must take pains to ensure that, once it has been built, the administration of the commons remains as professional and impartial as possible. They must also ensure that the composition of the commons’ appointed management committee is reflective of the U of T student population.
In developing the Student Commons, the UTSU is taking on unprecedented responsibility and control over student space on campus. It is imperative that any political disagreements that could, and inevitably will, arise between the union and clubs, colleges, or other student societies not influence the management of the space.
DEFERRED MAINTENANCE
Although not the most attractive topic to include in a platform speech, U of T’s staggering maintenance costs must be addressed in a timely manner. Candidates would do well to draw potential voters’ attention to the university’s $515 million in deferred maintenance costs, which, at this point, will require a $19.8 million annual investment on the part of the university to be resolved.
The state of U of T’s older and more frequently used buildings is measured using a Facility Condition Index (FCI) where anything above 10 per cent on the index is considered problematic — Sidney Smith’s index is currently at 47.8 per cent. Once in office, the executive team should actively petition the university’s Governing Council to prioritize delayed maintenance.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS RESTRUCTURING
A major point of contention this year was the potential restructuring of the union’s Board of Directors. Colleges do not want to lose their representation, while many on campus are calling for directors for underrepresented minority groups. Regardless of where you stand on how the board should operate, it is universally acknowledged that a new structure for the body will need to be agreed upon by next year in order to bring the union into compliance with Canadian law.
The successful candidate should address this topic in a meaningful way and have a sophisticated outline for addressing this issue. They must be open to compromise and consult with every stakeholder group before moving forward with a proposal. Ideally, the board would retain college and divisional representation while moving forward to address the underrepresentation of marginalized groups on campus — all within a structure that ensures the democratic legitimacy of its membership and remains an effective tool for governance.
CONCLUSION
While far from being a complete list of potential priorities for next year and beyond, each of these issues demands the immediate attention of the university’s student representatives. It is crucial that the union focus its efforts and energy on addressing points that affect students — we cannot afford to continue being distracted by bickering and politicking.
