On February 28, the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) held its second Board of Directors (BOD) meeting of the year. The board approved the union’s income statement for January 2025 and discussed concerns regarding elections and voting accessibility.  

January income statement

Vice-President Operations Jena Bah presented the SCSU’s income statement for January 2025. The union received a total revenue of approximately $57,000, with about $32,000 coming from tenant fees paid by food vendors in the Student Centre. 

Another major source of revenue, about $7,000, came from event sales for the SCSU’s Montréal trip alongside the UTMSU during reading week, and about $2,000 came from discounted Raptors game ticket sales. The remaining $14,000 came from returns on investments, grants, and scholarships that the union provides. 

In terms of expenses, the union spent about $100,000 in January. Of this, approximately $72,000 went toward full-time and part-time staff salaries, benefits, and honorariums. Around $13,000 was spent on event costs for Black History Month and other events, while about $4,600 went toward campaigns, the SCSU Food Centre, and the Racialized Students Collective. The final major expense, about $2,700, was spent on donations, bursaries, and club funding. The SCSU had a net loss of about $43,600 in January. 

BOD member Bianca Camacho, director for the Centre for Critical and Development Studies, asked how the phones and telecommunications section of the income statement amounted to a $600 expense. 

Bah explained that all full-time SCSU staff have their phone plans paid for because their numbers are publicly available. This charge also covers the cost of the SCSU’s front desk phone. SCSU Executive Director Sarah Abdillahi added that the charge includes internet costs for the 1265 Bistro restaurant staff. 

Election concerns

The Board then voted to approve the Elections and Referenda Committee’s (ERC) recommended voting days of March 4, 5, and 6 for the union’s 2025 General Elections, with members running in the election abstaining from the vote. 

BOD members raised concerns about the voting timeline and accessibility. Gayathri Siva, director of human geography, asked why voting is only scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, rather than throughout the week. Bah explained that past elections have typically followed this three-day timeline, as the campus is less busy on Mondays and Fridays. 

Siva also raised concerns about voting accessibility for co-op students, who may finish work placements in the evening and not have enough time to make it to campus before voting closes at 6:00 pm. 

Harry Xu, director of physical and environmental sciences, suggested exploring an online voting system, similar to the one used by the University of Toronto Students’ Union. Bah proposed having co-op students book appointments to vote based on their availability. 

“We’re going to have to discuss [this] with the ERC to see if that’s something that we can implement next year,” said Bah. 

During the BOD updates portion of the meeting agenda, Camacho shared additional points of discussion from the ERC’s last meeting. She said they discussed extending the campaign period next year to be three weeks, including reading week, and ensuring the chief returning officer (CRO) and deputy returning officer are fixed by the end of January. 

She also mentioned that the ERC had received reports from the CRO about aggressive language and is considering implementing an elections code of conduct.