The Dalhousie Student Union

By Jamie Arron, Dalhousie Student Union President

“Free Tuition?” appears as just one hidden tab on the website of the Quebec student federation CLASSE, but for many strikers it’s the ultimate debate.

Until lately, free education was somewhat of a forgotten discussion at the national level, but in years prior it was perhaps the most hotly debated topic of Canadian student movements in general. And now it’s back on the minds of students.

Yes, it is true that Quebec students pay some of the lowest tuition fees in the country (though not all that different from Newfoundland, Manitoba, and until relatively recently BC), but this reality exists precisely because of student activism that has been deeply rooted in Quebec history since the 1960s. Quebec students’ demands for universal access to free education have yet to be met. Inevitably, their position raises other questions for campuses across the country: What are our expectations of our government and our public services? What is the role of post-secondary education in the world today? Outside of Quebec, should we hold the same expectations for tuition fees?

For the students who remain in the streets, unyielding and uncompromising after 100+ days, this debate cuts to the core of their vision of the world. For them, free education is not about saving a few bucks for themselves. Free education is about creating and maintaining an enlightened society through education and life experiences that inevitably go along with it. One of the driving ideas behind decommodifying post-secondary education is to encourage students to pursue their deepest passions. Job practicality takes a back seat to learning for the sake of learning.

It is easy to criticize the idea of decommodifying post-secondary education as totally unfeasible and utopian. Indeed, given the current Canadian business landscape, it is. However, if we accepted the premise that what we need isn’t necessarily about high-tech innovation and economic growth but rather more time, healthier lives, and stronger relationships/communities then we can begin to understand what Quebec students are fighting for.

Of course, it’s unfortunately not that simple.

I remain undecided on exactly where I stand in this debate, and perhaps that is the point. But what I do believe is that this discussion is amongst the most important that our generation will have when it comes to our collective vision for where we want to take our country and our global community. It would be close-minded to dismiss the situation without giving it some proper thought and research. I would love to hear what you think.

Our generation seems to be committed to something beyond a stable job to bring the proverbial bread home to the family. So, what would you study if your education was free?

“Solidarity does not assume that our struggles are the same struggles, or that our pain is the same pain, or that our hope is for the same future. Solidarity involves commitment, and work, as well as the recognition that even if we do not have the same feelings, or the same lives, or the same bodies, we do live on common ground.”

-Sarah Ahmed

*photo cred: Graham Hughes, The Canadian Press

Like most of you, I understand student debt. What burns me (a bit) is that I’m no longer a student and I’m still swamped with tens of thousands IOUs dedicated to the Bank of Montreal. I’ve sent flowers, but I guess my charm won’t get me out of this.

Nevertheless, I feel fortunate to have scored a job that matters to me. Post-graduation, some of my friends are now hobnobbing with big shots and refusing sleep in order to succeed. That type of pace just wasn’t my style. I came back to the Maritimes for a reason- community.

In addition to being surrounded with fresh and fancy folks constantly, I also have the pleasure of knowing that I can seek out big-city experiences here, in Halifax. On Sunday, I went on an adventure with my partner. After strolling down Hollis, in the sun, we arrived (semi-sweaty) at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. For only 7 bucks each we were admitted into the Skin: The Seduction of Surface exhibit. The exhibit was unlike anything I’ve seen!

Here’s what curator, Sarah Fillmore, has to say about Skin.

Last week, I had to do the grown-up thing and build a budget (yawn). It took me about forty-two seconds to realize that I have no savings. When faced with the possibility of giving up all of my vices (including but not limited to indie-rock, maple walnut fro-yo, and anything black-polka-dotted), I thought: so much for fun. I was wrong.

For $7, I spent two hours with exceptional Canadian and International artists. My mind went on an idea vacation. I left the AGNS feeling inspired. Go out. Explore. Without breaking the bank.

Amanda Jardine is the Marketing Manager @ Dalhousie Student Union. You can usually find her scribbling, reading underrated philosophy texts, or sipping a triple shot espresso.

Yesterday, the new DSU executive pitched some critical questions to the full-time staff and outgoing exec. We spent a part of the afternoon tossing ideas back and forth and brewing action-oriented strategies that will make great changes possible and visible to all Dal students!

Some of the hot topics included: O-Week, the budget, extending the hours of the SUB, leadership, and relationship building across DSU societies.

Fancy yourself a creative cat? The Dalhousie Student Union (DSU) wants to work with you! We have big plans brewing for next year and our number one priority is to work with our students, alumni, and friends in the community. The best part? We pay competitive rates for top quality design.  As a member of the DSU Creative Crew, you’ll connect with other artists on campus and beyond, share resources, and grow your network! As DSU marketing projects arise, you’ll have the opportunity to build your professional portfolio while gaining the practical experience of pitching your design ideas to a marketing manager.

Fields of interest:

• Graphic Design
• Photography
• Filming & Editing
• Visual Art
• Writing
• Digital Art
• Music

Your dreams don’t have to start tomorrow. Live them now. Send your artist CV and a sample of your BEST work to: dsumarketing@dal.ca, subject: DSU CREATIVE CREW.

*If you have a website please include it in the body of the email.

What is an ‘artist CV’?

This is basically a resume, but rather than telling me about all the spelling awards you won in tenth grade, mention: recent creative accomplishments, collaborations, inspirations, history of creative project involvement, and your creative dreams. Describe how your artwork has evolved and what your strengths and weaknesses are as a creative thinker. There is no set format, so feel free to wander outside of the lines. Max 2 pages.

What is a ‘sample’?

Visual Entries: (Graphic Design, Photography, Film, Painting, Sketching, Collage, Digital Art): Include a maximum of five, high-resolution images with titles; links to your original YouTube videos; or video clips (max 5 minutes) in digital format.

Writing: Any genre will be considered, but special attention will be given to creative non-fiction. Send 250-1000 of your best words.

Music: Include links to your songs, YouTube videos, or audio files (max 10 minutes total)

And round two of budgets-that-affect-us — the Nova Scotia Provincial Budget for 2012-2013 was announced today!

So just like last week, go here: http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/politics/story/2012/04/03/ns-budget-your-vote.html to check out the CBC’s summary of it

And take a peak at http://www.anssa.ca/ to read our press release regarding the impact on students. Cole’s Notes — there was $5.5 million announced to go into Student Assistance, with more specific details to be released later this week, so keep your eyes peeled!

And as always — thanks for reading and please email me (dsuvped@dal.ca) if you have any questions or comments!

Peace,

Sarah

Greetings all :)

That’s probably the last time I will insert a smily emoticon in this message :(

Yesterday, the Federal government released the budget for 2012-2013. Here’s a CBC summary with a bunch of internal links with more information: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/03/29/federalbudget-flaherty-hilights.html Additionally, here is CASA’s take on the budget: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4IKjyf7W6etMEFIdEduVElTeEc1M1EydmxBOFRQZw/edit?pli=1

What are your thoughts on the budget? The big things that pop out at me are: no dedicated spending to PSE, cutting Katimavik, and eliminating the penny!

Also — the province is releasing its budget next week, so keep your eyes peeled…

Ciao!

Sarah

Hey DSU!!

Just a quick blog post to let you all know that Chris and I are away at the CASA (Canadian Alliance of Student Associations) Annual General Meeting this week — and by the away, I mean we are down the street at Saint Mary’s :)

For those of you who may be unaware, CASA is the federal advocacy group that the DSU belongs to; essentially, CASA is the organization through which all DSU student interests are represented at the federal level. Some things that CASA has made some headway on this year include progress towards our ask advocating for a vehicle exemption in the Canada Student Loan assessment, promoting the need for students to vote in the last Federal election, the elimination of part-time studnet loan interest (saving students $17.5 million over the next five years!), advocating for better student visas for international students, numerous partnerships and meetings with decision-makers/politicians, and much, much more.

Something things that we will be working on this week include reviewing and adropting our new strategic plan and reviewing this year’s policies and advocacy asks and brainstorming for next year. Please check out http://www.casa-acae.com/ to learn more about the organization and as always, email Chris or myself (dsupres@dal.ca and dsuvped@dal.ca) if you have any questions or comments. Additionally! Fun Fact! Chris is the National Chair of CASA this year so he is the ultimate expert on the organization :)

Until next time,

Sarah

You are sitting patiently in your class, waiting to be enlightened by this week’s lecture, when you notice a small huddle of well dressed, fidgeting students standing in the corner. As you are wondering who they are and why they appear to be lurking at the front of your class, your professor announces that there are a few candidates here from the DSU elections who would like to speak with you.

This again.

It happens every year; you get through 6 months of minimal DSU contact, maybe you showed up at the Grawood a few times, and saw some posters while you were waiting in line for Tim’s, but now everywhere you go you are bombarded by posters, handbills, over eager candidates stopping you on the streets, and the ever dreaded class talks that take up the first 5-10 minutes of your classes for the week of campaign period.

I think this just about sums up most candidates posters.

Of course, each candidate is trying to convince you to vote for him/her, but in light of our dismal voter turn out every year, mostly candidates are just trying to get you to vote. It only takes 2 minutes and you can even do it from the comfort of your own bathroom (see last year’s don’t vote video), so why don’t you just reward the efforts of these hard-working campaigners and vote?

For those of you who don’t know me, I pride myself on being a problem solver, so I took it upon myself to use my Google searching abilities to solve this problem. I found this NYT article which taught me two things:

1. We are asking the wrong question.

2. As usual, the Swiss have the answer.

Just as we use online voting to make voting more accessible, the Swiss decided to try ‘mail out’ ballots so you could vote from the comfort of your own home. Surprisingly, voter turnout went down. Why, you ask? Because being seen at the polls by your friends and neighbors is more important than the actual voting itself.

An American study backs this up. A controlled experiment sent out a number of different personalized messages to individuals, asking them to vote. Which message increased voter turnout the most? The one which listed everyone on your street, and their voting record and which promised an updated list after the current election. 

‘Vote or I will think less of you’ may have been a better idea

The question we should be asking is not ‘why aren’t students voting’, but ‘why do any students vote?’ From my personal observations, the first people to vote are those with a personal connection to the candidates, whether they are friends, have worked together on societies or other DSU initiatives- a personal connection counts. But this connection can also spread, friends tell friends to vote for their friends, and the circle continues on until it hits about the 20% mark which we can’t seem to break.

While to me the issues are very important, I understand that to most students they are not. Don’t get me wrong, I hope that students appreciate the services the DSU provides, the events we host and the advocacy work we do, but when it comes down to it, none of this heavily effects the day to day life of students. I do not believe that low voter turnout is a result of apathy. The amount of students involved with the DSU via council, the leadership program, student societies and part time employment is higher than the number of students who actually vote. Students care, they just don’t care to vote.

Often, the DSU is seen as the 5 executive. When elections roll around the CRO, elections committee, and candidates also get added to the group. That’s usually about 30 people. We now know that peer pressure is the key to voting, so it is not really surprising that the numbers are so low when all we have to rely on is 30 people and a handful of ‘regular DSUers’ to get the word out. So what do we need to do to increase voter turnout? Councillors, and members of our 200+ societies need to take individual responsibility to pressure their friends to vote. And not just to vote, but to learn about the issues and make an informed decision. If you have 2,000 people committed to getting the vote out instead of 30, I don’t need to tell you what the results will be.

Let’s drop this image of the ‘5 person’ DSU and change it into an image of the ‘2,000 person’ DSU, or better yet the ‘17,000 person’ DSU. So if you are my friend, or on Council, or an executive of DASSS, or have attended philosophy bagel Tuesdays, take 2 minutes to tell your friends about your society, and the DSU and tell them to vote- February 14-16 at www.dsuelections.ca

Hey All!

First of all — welcome back to school! I hope you all had a fantastic winter break :D

Second of all — not everything greeting you upon your return to school is as fun and cheery as those friends, bars, and books you may have longed for while you were away from campus. I’m talking about the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the funding agreement between the Province and Universities here in Nova Scotia. (ie it affects YOUR tuition and funding dollars for the next three years!). Below is a guest blog from the Executive Director of our provincial lobby group — Mark Coffin of ANSSA. Feel free to contact Mark or myself if you have any questions or comments.

“The Province of Nova Scotia and it’s publicly funded universities have reached their third Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) since 2004. In a perfect world, the MOU is an agreement that acts like the rulebook for universities to follow in order to receive their operating grant from the government. Like the previous agreements, it represents a three year commitment to working together, but unlike the other agreements, this one will not lead to a stronger university system. It’s bad for Nova Scotia, it’s bad for our universities, and it’s bad for our students. To explain why, we need to look closely at the previous two agreements.

Note: Having been a part of the negotiations for the new MOU, I’ll do my best to decode the jargon as we go.

How we got to MOU III

The main purpose of the previous two Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) was to give universities sustainable and predictable levels of funding for three years at a time. This is common practise across Canada. In fact Nova Scotia had become considered a leader in these Multi-Year Funding Agreements. So much so, that ours had been the model for the development of a multi-year funding agreement in New Brunswick, one of the few provinces that didn’t have a long term funding plan for its universities. 

When MOU I began, Nova Scotia was chronically underfunding its universities. The first two MOUs guaranteed steady increases in government funding for six years. Still, by the end of MOU II, Nova Scotia’s government was funding our universities at a per-student rate lower than most, if not all other provincial governments in Canada (the last year we have national data for was 2008, and at that time we were dead last). This year (2011-12) the universities have been in limbo, without a formal funding agreement, but received a reduction in their operating grants from government of about 14 million dollars.

Now comes MOU III, which makes no mention of funding levels at all, other than noting that they’re too high and universities will be given at least four months notice of future year’s funding levels before they take effect.

It’s a good time to remind ourselves that universities really only have two revenue sources to fund their general operations: government support and tuition fee revenue. They also get a fair chunk of research dollars and donor contributions, but those types of dollars are solicited with a specific purpose. Research money is project based, and universities typically don’t solicit their alumni asking for support to pay the heating bill, hire a new professor to teach first year English or to pay the saintly custodial staff that keep our schools so squeaky clean.

Tuition Regulation

Instinctively, as the purse strings of taxpayer funding are tightened, the universities have put pressure on the government to loosen regulation on tuition fees. You might recall that about this time last year, the Minister of Advanced Education announced that she would be enforcing a three per cent cap on tuition increases for all students, except for those in Law, Medicine and Dentistry who saw their tuition fees balloon from 6 – 14 %.

We first saw the minister weaken her stance on capped tuition increases when Dalhousie asked to increase international student differential fees by an additional seven per cent, on top of the planned three per cent increase. We reminded her that allowing this would be breaking her commitment to students, and she compromised by only allowing a 3.5 per cent increase.

In MOU III, announced today, we’re seeing some definite bad news for students and plenty more mixed messaging from government on tuition regulation. In Section 11, the government’s oft-stated commitment to keep tuition for “Nova Scotia students” at or below the national average is weakly repeated. In the same section we read that annual increases in tuition rates will be limited to three per cent “pending the outcome of the Tuition Policy Review.” Other language in the same section suggests that out of province students can expect to see the cap on their tuition lifted or loosened by 2013. In programs where students have tuition fees lower than those of programs at “comparable” institutions, you can expect the administration to be working hard as bricks to raise those fees to match “comparable” programs.

The universities have said that they want more “flexibility” on tuition fees. That’s not really true. They want flexibility on tuition fees as much as students do. They want flexibility in the upward direction, while we want flexibility in the downward direction.

The province has also cleared the way for universities to freely increase tuition fees as much as they please for students of Law, Medicine and Dentistry programs, where tuition and fees amount to tens of thousands of dollars per student annually. Students of upper income families are already overrepresented in the professional faculties. For example, a 2002 survey of Canadian Medical Schools demonstrated that almost half (43.5 per cent) of medical students came from neighbourhoods with median family incomes in the top quintile of Canadian earners. Deregulation of tuition fees in the professional programs will only further this trend.

International student fees have also been completely deregulated. When it comes to international student fees, some university presidents will say that tuition fees will only be increased “as much as the market will bear”. Meanwhile, other presidents will tell you that low international tuition fees prevent us from being competitive in the global market. You should read that last line again, there aren’t any typos in it.

For at least the next three years, international students should consider their wallets the only release valve that the universities will draw significant revenue increases from, for two reasons. First, compared to professional student tuition fees, international student fees are much easier divert to any area of the university that needs money. Second, not every school has professional students, but they’ve  all got international students.

Accessibility

Language in each of the three MOUs would lead you to believe that accessibility has been a major priority of this government and the previous two governments that signed MOUs with the universities. The only MOU that really did anything about access was MOU II, which froze tuition fees and was  administered alongside a tuition reduction program. 

To be clear, this MOU is just plain bad for accessibility. Considered as a whole, this MOU and other policies introduced by this government only make university education less accessible. Of course observers are bound to say something like “Yes, but it could have been a lot worse.” That’s true. But compared to previous MOUs, this one is a lot worse. Things can always get worse.

Know this: while tuition prices will continue going up for the foreseeable future, the purchasing power of a student loan has steadily declined each year since 2006. Last year, over 2,200 students on student loans were an average of $3,054 short of what they needed to pay for tuition, books, rent and groceries. 

ANSSA has been asking the government to increase the cap on student assistance grants to ensure that the neediest students are able to afford to attend university.

Innovation Fund

The core purpose of MOU III is “to achieve a System wide cost structure that is sustainable relative to the fiscal capacities of the Province”. To assist universities in achieving cost reductions, the province has offered an innovation fund of $25 million dollars to the universities, available over the next three years. The purpose of the fund is to assist universities in reducing their operating costs by 25 million dollars while maintaining quality before the fund disappears entirely at the end of 2014.  The magnitude of the fund compared to operating grant cuts are demonstrated in Figure 2. Even before the rising costs of goods are considered (which won’t be fully covered by the allowed tuition increases),  there is a significant shortfall. And in 2014, the innovation funding disappears, leaving what is surely, by that point, a greater than $25 Million shortfall between expenses and revenues.

This part of the plan is just plain wonky, it reminds me of an older sibling stealing my supper, chewing it up, swallowing some and spitting the rest of it out on my plate before telling me “It’s still good.”

While I’m all ears if someone has a plan to enhance collaboration and eliminate redundancy from the university system, I’m doubtful that a 25 million dollar savings can be found while the system absorbs almost all of three years worth of inflationary costs.

The Change Mandate

The last major piece of this agreement is that the parties agree to “work actively over the three years of the agreement on a change mandate” which will address issues like accountability, funding formulas, tuition policy, research, affordability and accessibility. To be honest, we thought these issues would be directly addressed by the work of the MOU negotiating committee we’d been apart of. However, due to some serious foot-dragging, the issues were never addressed.

Our first reaction to this was “Great! When can we start?”  Then came the news that students wouldn’t be a part of the “Partnership” of university and government officials charged with executing the initiatives. 

We told the government and the universities that we, as student representatives, want to be part of those discussions, we want to be proactive contributors on government policy for the universities we fund. We don’t want to be forced into the position of being reactive, negative student groups, but if we’re not invited to the table, we’ve really got no choice. We reminded those around the table that while the Province contributes over 320 million dollars annually into the university system, so do students.

Some language around the partnership board guarantees that students will be kept abreast of the work plans of the MOU, and that we will be invited to give input on specific issues and working groups. The sentiment was clear, however, that there were certain issues for which the government and universities were not interested in having us around the table.

This isn’t surprising, however, as soon into the process that lead to this MOU we were told that, while we would be invited to all meetings of the MOU negotiating committee, we would not be invited to the meetings of the working groups comprised of government staffers and university executives.

Wrap Up

So, to sum up:

Since 2004, Nova Scotia has made stepwise improvements by using MOUs I & II to increase funding to a chronically underfunded university system, and eventually freeze and reduce tuition. Over the next three years the government will cut funding by about $25 Million dollars annually, while the expenses facing the university system will grow by $30 Million each year. Tuition will “sort of” be capped at three per cent for most students, but no ones going to betting their MLA pension on it.  International students will pay oodles more than they ever did for tuition, and some presidents think that will make us a more attractive place to study. Out of province students will likely soon face a similar, but not so extreme version of what international students will face. While most universities are busy shaking students by the ankles to get every last penny from their pockets, their presidents will be attending regular closed door meetings with government, most likely asking for looser regulations on shaking students by the ankles.

a halftime reflection from your VP Student Life…

——————

I first took on this job because I was fascinated by the idea of helping foster a powerful sense of belonging and connectivity among a collective of thousands of people. I wanted to see if we could take the feeling of community we had amongst the 100 or so of us involved in last year’s Brains for Change program and replicate that on a mass scale. That was my mission. To strengthen the feeling of common identity, pride, and collective strength at Dal to create an environment that was open and welcoming to everyone, and supportive of big and beautiful ideas.

I’ve worked tirelessly on this for 7 months. I’m pleased to say there is a lot to celebrate as tangible successes. By most accounts I think many would say I’ve been doing pretty alright at my job - O-week was a smash hit, The Grawood has a renewed identity, the SUB lobby is very much in the midst of its transformation, and The Sandbox is soon to be up and running. Yet, for at least the past month I’ve been feeling a lot of self-doubt, confusion, and lack of direction, without being able to figure out why.

After a few weeks of heavy personal introspection and hefty conversation, this feeling crystallized while standing in the middle of Zuccotti Park in NYC. There I relearned a lesson that I’ve learned a thousand times over during my life.  “Community” can’t be built. It can’t be designed. It can’t be understood or analyzed through any so-called “theories of change”, no matter how intelligent or abstract. It can only be experienced as a feeling, and despite the many events I’ve hosted that have brought together hundreds of people each week I’ve been missing that feeling for the past few weeks. I’ve been so focused on trying to transform systems that I’ve forgotten about my day-to-day interactions with people. It’s not just about what you’re doing, but the manner in which you’re doing them. Every interaction is an opportunity to learn, to inspire, to be rejuvenated.

You can build the most inclusive, supportive, and empowering “system” in the world, but still systems are not the same as community. You can’t build a community through ANY system. Community is built through the feeling you share with people in your day to day interactions. I’ve sometimes forgotten it’s often the simplest things that matter most. You can plan a dozen events but often the power to cheer up a friend when they are down is 10 times more important, and 10 times more powerful. In way too cases I feel I’ve lost track of that. 300 people partying together every week doesn’t equal a community. It begins with waking up in the morning excited to be in this crazy cosmos, and excited to share that journey with any passerbys you have the privilege of connecting with in a day. Those simple, seemingly innocuous interactions are how we communicate what we are collectively, who we want to be, what we believe, and what kind of culture we are creating together.
 
It’s not an easy thing to remember. I’ve learned its way different working on a scale of 15,000 students instead of 100. There’s so much pressure from so many angles, so there can be a compulsion to turn inwards, to rush through interactions focusing on “what needs to get done”, or to revert to rules, policies, and procedures. Then when our fantastical dreams don’t quite come true we get worn down instead of celebrating the new friendships that have emerged. We can get burdened by the 8 million things we have to do and forget to look people in the eye when we’re talking to them. Forget taking that extra few moments to ask genuinely how they are doing, and to really listen to their answers. We can get so caught up in our grand visions, in our passionate and tireless efforts to better the “system”, that we forget what it’s all about: humanity. The feeling of being alive. The experience of existence. Having an awe, appreciation, and gratitude for the people and planet around us; for me, that is the root of true transformative leadership. I really hope over the next 6 months I will have the strength and wherewithal to remember this feeling and carry it with me everyday.

Dalhousie student, you hereby have the right to call me out on it if at any time I don’t stay true to that.

thanks for listening

Much love y’all.