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Good day,

It occurs to me that few of you may care about this topic, but I feel it is important.

I'm now in my fourth semester at MSVU, and one thing that has bothered me since I arrived is our terrible excuse for a student government.

Sure, the MSVUSU operates some services that are useful - the health and dental plan, campus pub, pride center... but at what cost?

In this brief note, I will attempt to share verifiable facts about the union the student body may be interested in.Any injection of my opinion will be clearly identified.

Financial Oversight

Of particular concern to me is the union's finances. MSVUSU collects over half a million dollars in membership fees from MSVU's 4,500 or so students. This fiscal year (24-25) the union's budget suggests over $650,000 in membership fees alone.

For the uninitiated, an auditor is an external unbiased party (CPA) that issues an opinion on the financial statements of an organization. The financial statements of an organization show the money in/money out, as well as what assets (property, cash) and liabilities (bank loans, accounts payable) an organization has. When all goes well, an auditor certifies that the financial statements are correct within a margin of error. [Audit opinions - Office of the Auditor General B.C.](https://www.oag.bc.ca/our-work/financial-audits/audit-opinions/#:\~:text=An%20independent%20auditor's%20report%20(or,provide%20a%20formal%20auditor's%20opinion.); How to Read Financial Statements: A Beginner’s Guide

The union has not published audited financial statements since fiscal year 2021!^(1) This means they are almost three years behind - fiscal year 2024 ended on April 30, 2024.^(1) Despite this, the union continues to ask us for more money every year, as seen in constitutional amendments to permit higher annual increases and the imposition of an additional food security fee which were passed during referenda last year.^(2, 3)

How can students be assured that our money is being used appropriately without timely audited financial statements? We have no way to know other than the union's assurance.

Facts:

• The union has not published audited financial statements since fiscal year 2021.
• Membership fees may increase by the greater for of the consumer price index or 5% each year without a referendum - the students' representative council may unilaterally decide.^(4 (Section 5.6.1))
• Mount students pay over $50,000 to the Canadian Federation of Students annually.^(5)
• In fiscal year 2019 (which to be clear, is outdated at this point), the last 'pre-covid' year we have an audited set of financials for, less than 1% of fees went to society subsidies - that's less that one cent per dollar.

Violations of Members' Rights

As a member of the union, students are guaranteed some fundamental rights. Most fundamentally: the right to vote in elections and referenda; the right to run for positions of the SRC (subject to eligibility requirements); and the right to speak at open meetings of the SRC. Section 4.1 of the MSVUSU constitution further guarantees members' rights to "reasonable access to meetings," and that members, all members, must be provided at least 48 hours notice of any SRC meeting.^(4)

Reasonable access in the constitution also refers to accessibility, as it mentions interpreting services. As a student with sight loss, I struggle to obtain any union documents, much less documents which are accessible to me. At an SRC meeting this fall when the budget was on the table for approval, I was not provided the full copy available to SRC members.

The notice requirement is not qualified based on the business to be transacted at the meeting. Further, the Distribution of Student Union Materials policy requires that the union publish a newsletter every seven days, and that meeting materials be distributed 48 hours prior to meetings. ^(6)

Policy: policies are passed by the SRC and are binding on the union's executives. Basically the SRC saying "you must do this." ^(6, 4)

Have you received a weekly newsletter this year? I sure haven't!

What's more, I have evidence (which I will happily provide upon request) that the students' representative council met six times from May to August 2024. The union did not provide any notice to its members of these meetings.

It is my view that this represents a violation of our most fundamental rights as members of a student government: to have a say. To have our voices heard. For the union constitution does read "All members of the MSVUSU shall be entitled to the following privileges [...] The right to speak at open meetings of the SRC." ^(4) Not only is this ethically wrong, but it amounts to breach of contract between the union and its members - us.

Facts:

• The SRC met six times this summer without providing due notice to students, in violation of the union's constitution and policy.
• Students have a right to attend all meetings of the SRC, except where proceedings are in-camera. The constitution does not qualify notice requirements based on whether the business of a meeting is in-camera or not.

"In-camera session" - the portion of a meeting where only members of a board, in this case the SRC, may be present.

Seriously Flawed Governance

Transparency

Repeated requests for documentation from the union - election reports from 2023, financial statements, have all been ignored by the union.

Further, students should be concerned by the SRC’s, in my view, overzealous use of the ‘in-camera’ session – you will see an ‘in-camera’ session at most SRC meetings. Some SRC meetings take place almost entirely in-camera, with no explanation.

This lack of transparency is worrying.

General Manager

This month marks twelve months the union has been without a general manager, or "strategic operations manager" as the role has been renamed.

Conflicts of Interest

Five of the SRC members are executives, directly elected by the union membership. The executive members consist of the President; VP, Advocacy; VP, Research & Graduate Affairs; VP, Student Life; and VP, Communications.

The five elected executives receive over $130,000 in compensation annually.^(10)

**This means that the executive, employees, who are receiving salaries more than $25,000 a year have voting power on the governing body of the union.**^(10)

This report does not advocate that students should not be compensated for their work, far from it. The concern is of the conflict of interest created by having staff as voting board members.

The SRC’s members have several fiduciary duties to the members of the union, including a duty of care and duty of loyalty. ^(9)

Duty of loyalty means SRC members must put the organization’s interests above their own. As an organization whose purpose is to represent students, this means members’ ultimate loyalty should be to the members of the union: MSVU students.

With this obvious conflict of interest, how can these paid executives, and by extension the SRC, reasonably fulfil their duty of loyalty to members?

Membership to CFS (opinion)

Our student union is a member of the Canadian Federation of Students, a national student group who claims to advocate for the student interest.

In reality, CFS hasn't logged a major victory in over five years.^(7) They further resort to litigation against members who attempt to leave the federation. MSVU students does not use most services offered by CFS: we have our own health plan through the Campus Trust; we do not receive planners; I do not know a single person with an international student identity card; and there are loads of other places to file your taxes for free than CFS' partner.

CFS spends our money on meetings and underutilized programs and I am not seeing the results or the value.

Of particular concern is the over $250,000 spent on litigation in 2020, and almost $200,000 spent in 2021. Like our union, CFS has not release its audit since 2021. In short, they are using our money to sue other students who try to leave. Should we be associated with a federation who must resort to litigation to retain members? CFS has a long history of lawsuits against its own members who try to leave,^(8) and is compiled particularly nicely here: Litigation and Legal Threats Involving Students' Unions.

I highly recommend checking out the extensive report prepared by the University of Toronto's undergraduate student union on CFS: UTSU Report on the Canadian Federation of Students [DRAFT]

My Final Thoughts

Thank you for reading through the end - or at the very least skimming this.

Collecting over $500,000 in student fees annually, students deserver more services and programming from the union.

Is an information booth, a one-day-a-week lunch program for 40 students, a breast-feeding room, a babysitting service, a noisy study space, infrequent and poorly attended events, a two-day-a-week food bank barely stocked with food, an LGBTQ lounge, and pool table in an often-empty campus bar worth over $500,000 of students’ money each year?

This isn't to say that no services offered by the union are valuable - far from it. In-particular I would like to acknowledge their Vice-President, Student Life for two successful orientation periods and continued work promoting student life.

I'm not against student government. I think as a concept it is very valuable, and we should all want to be part of a well-run student government. But clearly something is seriously wrong with the MSVUSU.

Mount Saint Vincent University students deserve better representation, better governance, better advocacy, and better services form a student government. Are students really getting their money’s worth from an organization that doesn’t provide meaningful services, fails at representing students, and doesn’t uphold its own governing documents?

I put it to students, staff and community of Mount Saint Vincent University whether the Mount Saint Vincent University Students’ Union is worth the cost.

References

1 - Financials | MSVU Students' Union

2 - Referendum | MSVU Students' Union

3 - MSVU Students' Union (@msvusu) • Instagram photos and videos

4 - MSVUSU-Constitution-Amended_2024_04_29 (4).pdf

5 - ddd487_f50add2ffc774867830e7efa996b4784.pdf (MSVUSU FY 2021 Financial Statements)

6 - PolicyIX_Updated_Clean_CPP_Approved_10_23_2019_SRC_Passed_01_31_2020 (Distribution of Union Materials Policy)

7 - Victories | Canadian Federation of Students

8 - National student organization sues U of Manitoba student union over $1M in membership fees | CBC News; Nova Scotia Students Disappointed by CFS Lawsuit Against Cape Breton Students — Students Nova Scotia; Litigation and Legal Threats Involving Students' Unions

9 - Ruth Armstrong, Terrance Carter, Lynn Eakin, Gordon Floyd, Linda Godel, Susan Manwaring, Lyn McDonell, & Deryck Williams. (n.d.). Board Essentials. Ontario Nonprofit Network. Retrieved January 9, 2024, from https://theonn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2021_ONN_Board-Essentials_final.pdf

10 - ddd487_62004d1f15c74936ae60b767f15c813a.pdf

EDITS: I made some edits to correct grammar and unfinished sentances - I couldn't give it as much time as I hoped when writing. :)

Interested in applying for the Bachelor of Business Administration online delivery program, wanting to know any students experiences with this program as well as the graduation rate for this program and the school overall.

Has anyone gotten into the Masters in School Psychology program without an honours degree in Psychology?

Does anyone know when final grades have to be out by, is there a strict date or does it depend?

Hello,
I am working on a project and require assistance from any of you to develop a WordPress website. I have the theme ready with me.

The only thing that needs to be done is design website and run it asap.

If anyone of you is interested, then please dm. I don't have much budget.
Thanks

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Plus students in NS, NB, and PEI save 50% off build your own pizzas all year with code 50stdnt . So spread the word to all your friends so they can all save. Prices start at just 5.99 for a small or 8.50 for a large and the special can be reused over and over until the end of May!

Today I spent 35 minutes going through each and every parking lot to see where I could park. I think this is unacceptable as someone who’s pays for the parking every semester, I’ve always had trouble finding parking even when I come early. I came an hour early for a quiz I had today and I was almost late for that quiz as I couldn’t find a parking spot and had to just eventually park illegally, probably ending up with a ticket when I got back to my car this afternoon. This is really unacceptable again considering the we pay and the price for parking. Who can I reach out to to raise this concern too? Are they planning to expand the parking lots anytime soon?

Looking to Carpool

Looking for someone driving, from Truro to (MSVU) and back

On Mondays and Wednesdays :) will contribute more than a fair share of gas

I'm transfering from NSCC to MSVU this fall for online BBA program. I'm working full time now so I wonder Are assignments, quizzes and exams online? Or I need to go to campus to do it? Is the workload heavy if I take 6 courses per semester? Thank you

Hello all! I am an incoming graduate student and I am on the hunt for teaching assistant positions. I have experience working at Dalhousie as a TA, so I'd love to continue that line of work as a student at MSVU. I know universities prefer to hire their own students as TAs, and I had no issue finding positions for Dal since they were funnelled through the CUPE website. I am wondering if anyone knows the union that MSVU TAs are under, and where job postings would be found? TIA!

Hello! I made a facebook group for BEd students starting this fall to join if anyone is interested!

https://www.facebook.com/share/syxmZPeLCgiAtEmz/

i’m planning on taking the business admin program in fall and was wondering when class registration opens up to first years?

Just wondering if anyone has made a Facebook group or page for anyone entering the BEd program at MSVU next fall. I don’t know anyone who is going into the program so it would be great to meet some people before school starts.

Seeking Participants with Bipolar Disorder We are conducting a new research study and need your help!

Scan the QR code or click the link below to complete the screening form! https://research-study.nshealth.ca/surveys/?s=4W7LPEJRANP7F4X3

While we will also be recruiting individuals without bipolar disorder, these sessions will be scheduled later this summer due to current calendar availability.

https://preview.redd.it/bsdoz60ew73d1.png?width=986&format=png&auto=webp&s=cb281815de16ba88b5b88ab62407ef300c1e8fb1

Got accepted to the Secondary Program and I'm waiting to receive my course schedule (I know they basically just send it to you and you get what you get), but are there any second year B.Ed students or graduates who would be able to advise on what to expect course-wise? There's so little information online, I have no idea what kind of classes I'll be taking and the department isn't exactly communicative.

My relative is super anxious. She applied for a tenure-track position earlier this year at MSVU and have not heard back yet. The expected start date is July of this year. No interview. We all know there was a strike earlier this year too, likely delaying everything.

Is it safe to say at this point she has no chance and should move on to other opportunities?

Has anyone who has been accepted into the program been contacted about registration?

Well, I have been corresponding back and forth with Financial Services, and even though during the entirety of the strike thesis students were unable to correspond with their advisors, if your deadlines were missed because it required staff during the strike, we are apparently not entitled to any refund. The last email I received ended with "sorry this is not the response you were hoping for but the decision is final."

My graduation date has now been pushed back to September instead of May because I was not able to hit the submission and presentation deadlines for my Master's Thesis because, of course, all the full-time faculty were on strike. I was on track to graduate in May and now because of this, I have to wait until September. But, you know, that didn't affect my class schedule so I don't get anything back. It may, in the end, also affect my PGWP application and timing. Thank god I am finishing a little bit earlier than I was initially planning and it won't affect my Student Visa dates.

Absurd and shameful for the University.

Just wondering typically how long does it take for the school to post transactions on your student statement? Paid my confirmation deposit last week and there is still nothing on my statement. Thanks!