GSAÉD elections underway
Graduate students set to vote on U-Pass and university ombudsperson in upcoming referendums
FEB. 25 MARKED the first day of the two-week campaign period for the Graduate Student Association (GSAÉD) elections that will determine the 2010–11 executive as well as the success of several campus initiatives.
Along with the executive elections, students will be voting on two referendum questions.
The first question, “Do you agree to pay $0.95 per student per semester to finance a dedicated levy for the Office of the Ombudsperson for the University community?” implies a mandatory financial contribution for the creation of an independent judicial office.
“It will play a crucial role when students and the administration or a professor are in a deadlock and are unable to come to an end of an issue,” said Gaétan-Philippe Beaulière, GSAÉD External Commissioner and head of both the ombudsperson and U-Pass referendum “Yes” campaigns. The are currently no official “No” campaigns for either referendum question.
The levy will ensure financial stability for the office of the ombudsperson, who will act as a representative separate from both the administration and the student federations in order to help mediate conflicts between students and the university. As a last resort, the office will aid in solving problems of contradictory documents in university policy.
“The ombudsperson is a position that the [Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO)] and GSAÉD have been working to create ... for a number of years,” explained SFUO VP University Affairs Ted Horton. “A student referendum in favour of the creation of such a position was passed [by the SFUO] in 1990, so it’s been a long time coming.”
The cost of the office will be approximately $200,000; however, it will be split equally between the administration and students, through GSAÉD and the SFUO. According to GSAÉD University Affairs Commissioner Patrick Imbeau, the contributions the ombudsperson office would make to the university community outweigh the cost.
“As someone who deals with student appeals, I can tell you we have seen issues between students and the administration or faculty where we would need a third party to provide an unbiased decision,” said Imbeau.
The second referendum question asks about the universal bus pass—specifically, “Do you agree with the creation of a mandatory universal student bus pass at a cost of $145 per full-time student per semester for both the fall and winter semesters?”
GSAÉD wants to promote sustainable habits and more environmentally friendly methods of transportation.
“We are taking the U-Pass as a pilot project. It is a trial that will allow students, the administration, and OC Transpo to see how it works, and after one year, we will sit down, reassess it, and see if anything needs to be done,” explained Beaulière. “I can guarantee that more students will find themselves using the bus more often.”
All full-time and part-time students are eligible to vote; however, only full-time students may vote for Senate representatives. Voting opens March 17 and runs through to March 19.
Look for further coverage of candidates running in the GSAÉD elections in the March 18 issue of the Fulcrum.
