CSA Referendum 2021-2022
Do you support the implementation of a new student association ancillary fee, to collect $12.20 per full-time student and $7.22 per part-time student (considered members of the Communication Student’s Association as defined in section 1.2 of the Constitution), per academic term, to be adjusted annually by the cost of inflation (Consumer Price Index) at the discretion of the Executive Committee?
On February 07, 2022, all Communications students will receive a ballot through their uOttawa emails to participate in a student-body-wide vote. Your vote will determine whether or not the student association will be able to use student-sourced funding to support student life programming. This new fee will go directly towards improving the quality and range of events and benefits such as scholarships, social and professional networking events. The fee will also serve to support clubs and student initiatives/projects in our department, and it will improve our equity aims to make our programming accessible and affordable for more students.
What Does My Vote Mean?
YES
A yes vote means that starting September 2022, the CSA will collect a levy paid through a new compulsory ancillary fee in your tuition. If available to you, this fee can be covered through OSAP, UofO scholarships or other financial aid.
NO
A no vote means that students who wish to participate in our events such as CommProm or 101 Week, will have to pay higher costs out of pocket to attend our events. Additionally, significantly less students and student groups will benefit from the CSA resources such as scholarships as we can only afford to offer a very limited amount of awards.
Why Hold
A Referendum?
Currently, the Communication Students’ Association (CSA) is the only student association within the Faculty of Arts which does not receive funding though a student association ancillary fee. Seeing as Communications students represent almost a third of students registered in the Faculty of Arts, we believe that this additional funding is both helpful and necessary to better address the needs and traditions of such a large student body.
We receive our primary source of revenue from levies distributed by the University of Ottawa’s Student Union (UOSU). The association has found that the UOSU levy is insufficient to provide enough equitable programming to serve the number of students we represent, who wish to be more involved in the campus community and benefit from our student resources.
This new student association ancillary fee would allow the CSA to receive continuous, bi-annual levy payments directly from the University’s administration, but it can only do so with the knowledge and permission of its students.
The CSA supports and funds CLUBS
The CSA is happy to support a number of student clubs within the department, including the University of Ottawa’s Public Relations Association (uOPRA), Jeux de la Communication (JDLC) and the UOCMN Conference. As representatives of the student body, these clubs which start in our department turn to us for financial and general support. Furthermore, the executive council has been wanting to create clubs directly associated with the CSA such as a “media club” to learn practical digital skills such as graphic design, content creation and web writing.
These groups need more support to plan events, invite professionals to their networking events and workshops and gain more visibility among our students to grow their memberships. With additional funding we fully intend to continue supporting these clubs who are doing the work to develop special interests in the field of communication and create more opportunities for students in the department to connect professionally and socially.
1
The CSA supports and funds SCHOLARSHIPS
The CSA offers academic scholarships which are available to all students in communications. Every year, we receive numerous applications for our limited bursaries, with awards ranging from two hundred dollars to a thousand dollars with up to three winners every year.
Recognizing that financial support is an important piece of a safe and happy student life, with this new fee, the CSA will offer better priced scholarships for a greater number of students. We want to not only offer more awards in the academic category but also consider students facing systemic barriers to affordable education, for example, students in the LGBTQ, black, Indigenous and disabled communities, as well as any student in need of general financial assistance.
2
As students, we acknowledge many students are looking for an exciting and memorable social experience. We hope to improve the events that we know and love like CommProm and Camp Commie and make it so that we can accommodate more students at lower costs to them. We are also looking forward to planning new events with a budget that allows us to reinvent our traditions and cater to new and different interests. These could be a special welcome week events open to all years, sports events, outdoor activities (e.g. skiing) and finding a better balance between nightlife and more casual social evenings.
3
The CSA supports and funds EVENTS
How Do I Vote?
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Voting will be open Monday, February 7th to February 9th.
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Electronic ballots will be sent to students via ElectionBuddy.
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To be eligible to vote, you must be a Communications student enrolled in a Major, Honours or Joint Honours program.
Quick Details About the Student Association Fee
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Date of Implementation: Fall Term 2022
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Applicable to: All part-time and full-time undergraduate students in Communications enrolled in a Major, Honours or Joint Honours program.
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Associated and Inflationary Costs: This fee may be adjusted annually by the cost of inflation (Consumer Price Index) at the discretion of the Executive Committee.