A RUNDOWN OF EVERYTHING COVERED IN PREPARATION FOR UOSU’s AUTUMN GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
Following the deferral of the Autumn General Assembly (AGA), the University of Ottawa Students’ Union Board of Directors (UOSU BOD) held an emergency meeting on Saturday November 8. The AGA, originally set to take place on Nov. 23, has been pushed to Nov. 30, to accommodate the necessary agenda amendments from the recent BOD meeting. The main focus of the emergency board meeting was to approve the AGA agenda, the 2024-25 financial audit, and changes to the union constitution.
The union voted to include the Faculty of Education Students’ Association (FESA) to their constitution, following overwhelming student support in favour of creating the registered student government (RSG) during the recent by-election. With FESA now included in the constitution, they are eligible for RSG benefits including financial assistance through UOSU levies.
The Board then went on to review the 2024-25 financial audit conducted by Logan Katz LLP. This is the first year that the union is being audited by Logan Katz LLP since their switch from Hendry Warren LLP at the 2024 AGA. A rocky transition between the accounting firms led to some records not being transferred properly, which extended this year’s auditing process.
This year, the union ended with a $15 million cash balance and $276,000 deficit. The audit revealed discrepancies in financial management that led to the deficits, including overspending on 101 Week in 2024 and unrecognized restricted levies. These unrecognized restricted levies, mainly the printing levy and the student pub levy, are funds that are designated for specific purposes and cannot be used otherwise. The organization plans on saving the funds from restricted levies in protected reserves to ensure they are used properly.
The restrictions also extend to other UOSU reserve funds, namely their COVID Hardship Fund, which do not allow for flexibility in funding distribution. The Operations Commissioner, Elnaz Enayatpour suggested renaming some reserve funds to allow for better long-term financial planning as former fund names become irrelevant or restricting. Generalizing the names of specific funds will allow them to be more accessible for future use.
The audit also showed that some RSGs have been ineligible for UOSU funding as they have not provided their own audits. The union is in the process of implementing policies to better handle RSG funding and ensure they are funded appropriately.
The financial audit shed a light on the need for the union to conduct more frequent financial reviews, as advised by the auditors. Although the union already has an established finance committee, it hadn’t been acting in an auditing capacity in the last fiscal year. UOSU has charged the Director of Finance, Niba Suh and Operations Commissioner, Elnaz Enayatpour with presenting monthly financials to the committee to prevent future overspending.
In a statement to the Fulcrum, Enayatpour mentioned the organization’s plans to align their financial investments with their values, such as climate and social justice, through an ethical investment portfolio. She stated that “despite having to push back the General Assembly due to a slight delay in the audit, UOSU has a much clearer picture of how the student dollar is being reinvested and how we track our finances for transparency and honesty.”
After a two minute voting period, the audited financial statements were approved by the board with 8 voting in favour and 2 abstentions from Eyinojuoluwa Orolugbagbe, Faculty of Social Sciences Director and Emilia Bah, Student Life Commissioner. The full board meeting minutes and the financial audit are available on the Sharepoint accessible through the UOSU website.
The items discussed at the emergency meeting will be presented at the AGA on Sunday Nov. 30, where students will have the opportunity to raise questions and vote on motions to approve or reject proposed changes to union policy.
