UTM’s Campus Affairs Council voted on February 11 to increase compulsory non-academic fees by $14.44 per session for full-time UTM students and by $2.89 per session for part-time students. These fees will go toward student, athletic, and health services.

The council also ratified the 2.3 per cent increase in student levies and 7.5 per cent increase in U-Pass fees for undergraduate students proposed by the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) Board of Directors during their meeting last month.

All the proposed fee increases will be brought to the UTM Campus Council for further approval during its meeting on March 5.

Discussions and fee increases

Mark Overton, Dean of Student Affairs, relayed the UTM Quality to Service Committee’s (QSS) feedback regarding these increases.

The QSS consists of students and administrators who review proposed changes and increases in UTM’s annual budget and incidental fees, as well as offers its advice to the Campus Affairs Council.

“Following these consultations, the three proposed plans and budgets for the health services fee, the recreation and athletics fee and… the student services fee were passed by both a majority of QSS’s voting members and majority of QSS’s student voting members,” confirmed Overton on behalf of Nour Alideeb, chairperson of this year’s QSS committee, who was not present in person.

Alideeb is also the outgoing chairperson for the Canadian Federation of Students–Ontario.

The council voted to increase Student Services fees by $3.38 per session per full-time student and $0.68 per part-time student, increasing the total fees to $193.28 and $38.66 per session respectively — a 1.78 per cent increase.

Athletics and Recreation fees saw an increase of $6.55 — or 3.31 per cent — per session per full-time student and $1.31 per part-time student, totalling $203.84 and $40.77 per semester respectively.

The council approved an increase of $4.51 in the Health Services fee per full-time student, and $0.90 fer part-time student. This increase brought the total fee to $50.57 and $10.11 per semester respectively — an increase of 9.8 per cent.

“[The Health & Counselling Centre is] looking to include a mental health triage worker who will be able to speak with students who call in or present mental health support needs. We’re also expanding our addictions support for students with the legalization of cannabis,” said Andrea Carter, Assistant Dean, Student Wellness, Support & Success, Student Affairs.

This was in response to a question from UTMSU Vice-President University Affairs and Campus Affairs Council member Andres Posada, who inquired whether there were specific plans to justify these increases.

Carter elaborated that the funds will also go towards increased embedded counsellors within departments, as well as renovations to the change-rooms at UTM’s Recreation and Wellness Centre.

Dale Mullings, Assistant Dean Students & International Initiatives, Student Affairs, and Jessica Silver, Director Student Engagement at the Centre for Student Engagement, also said that the increases help pay for the 25 work-study positions that the International Education Centre and Centre for Student Engagement offer to students every year.

The council also approved an up to $7.06 and $11.58 increase in the MiWay U-Pass fee for full-time graduate students for the Fall-Winter and Summer sessions respectively, proposed by the University of Toronto Mississauga Association of Graduate Students.