Kwantlen University College Student Association
Annual General Meeting Agenda
Thursday, June 15th 2006@ 4:00p.m.
Surrey Campus- KSA Lounge
A. Introductory Procedures
1. Call to Order
2. Introductions
3. Confirmation of Chair
4. Adoption of Agenda
B. 2005 Audited Financial Statements (to be distributed)
C. 2006 Operating Budget (to be distributed)
E. Executive Reports
F. Campus Council and Liaison Reports
1. Langley Campus Council Report
5. Liaison Reports
G. Other Business
H. Adjournment
Attachment No. 1: Presidents Report
Prepared By: Danish Butt, President, Acting VP External, and Official Spokesperson of the Society.
The year 2005 for the Kwantlen Student Association (hereby referred to as the society) was nothing short of interesting. From the desertification of our staff from their union, the kick start of a federal election, as well as the wild world of confusion within the society as to what student group legally and rightfully represented them.
Through the course of 2005 many ups and downs have taken place for the Board of Directors and the society as a whole, but no obstacle has been great enough to stop us from achieving our goals and doing our jobs. Which is providing more student services, lobbying for lower tuition in solidarity with all Canadian Federation of Students locals, and ensuring all student rights are met within our society.
Below is a general summary of the year.
Desertification of staff from the union and other staff issues
Nearing the end of 2005 after nearly 10 months of collective bargaining with union leaders, society staff grew frustrated after feeling their demands were not being heard. Soon after staff had filed the paperwork to opt out of the union and successfully did so by an overwhelming majority vote. The executive board was then put in a position where we were able to negotiate with staff ourselves without an outside interference and in the end we feel it worked out well for both parties involved. The society is proud of all staff that has been hired; all these individuals are a joy to work with and are working hand in hand with the executive to aid in whatever capacity possible.
Services Update
Our wireless internet located in the Café Lounge was up and running full blast and students seemed to enjoy it, many students have appreciated the free service, and more and more students are utilizing it. In 2005 a technical whiz kid by the name of DeepKamal Sarang was hired and completely changed the face of the technological appearance the KSA once had. Not only has he updated our website masterfully, he also managed to update all the email addresses, which needed to be done due to the change in the positions. Our website now can be accessed at www.KUSA.ca. Also what was formerly known at the Centre, where all liaisons were located, is now the Surrey Campus Council office and is also shared with the liaisons, the office is located in the Lounge all students are encouraged to go and meet your campus council, someone is virtually always there. A plan was also presented by then and now Richmond Campus Director, Kulvir Gill, to expand the Richmond Campus KSA lounge to provide more space for the crowded areas so that students are able to enjoy themselves freely. Kulvir has been working very hard to perhaps present a floor plan to the University. Another new service presented in 2005 was the purchasing of the X-Box 360 in both Richmond and Langley, the proposal was put forth by Stafford Ritcher, then Langley Director, this service has proved to be a big one for students in their free time. If anything has been missed in this section, it will be thoroughly covered in the VP Internal report.
Federal Election
A collapsing House of Commons, a scandal plagued Liberal government, and angry Canadians all lead to a winter 2006 election. On January 23, 2006 Canadians from all the country went out and voted on who they wanted to represent them. But before that during the campaign the Surrey Campus held debates for the 3 major ridings in Surrey. Candidates from all the major parties attended with the exception of the HON. Penny Priddy from the Surrey North riding; strangely enough she’s NDP. In the short span the Board had we lobbied hard to try and make a material effect on the elections in our local ridings and for the most part we feel our voices were heard. A postcard campaign was set up in collaboration with all Universities and Colleges across the country in which students would sign the card stating the fact that tuition needs to be lowered, the card would then be sent to the Prime Minister and the respective Premier of their province. Unfortunately though, due to the timing of the election and the semester break getting students involved was a huge obstacle because of everyone’s busy schedules, therefore a rally that was planned did not go through nor did a political forum in which students were to debate on key issues pertaining to the elections. We hope that when the Conservative government collapses we’re there to see it.
The KSA and the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS)
Many students may not be aware but the KSA is part of a national student movement called the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), which fights for students and primary objective is to ensure the rights and needs of all students across the country are met. The reputation of the KSA has not been a good one within the CFS due to reasons that are really unexplainable. Previous boards have been nothing short of fantastic for both the CFS and our society. However, relations with the CFS have strengthened as the KSA is taking a more active role within the Federation, in November 2005, the KSA sent delegates to Ottawa for a week, to the CFS National Conference. Delegates had a chance to get familiarized with how the CFS works and what to expect in the future. The CFS traditionally has been a very valuable component to the fight against lower tuition and the KSA looks forward to working with them to learn key skills in how to lobby, and make a change for our membership. Also, the CFS chose a new National Chairperson at the November meeting; it is former University of Manitoba President Amanda Aziz, which, in a lot of senses is an advantage for our society given that Aziz is from the west and has strong ties with us, we will be heard a lot more and will be involved in many important decision making processes.
Café Lounge
The Café lounge is being constantly worked on in order to minimize its losses. Although we do our best to subsidize students as much as humanly possible, the executives must ensure too much money is not being lost. Therefore, two very capable advisors were hired from the Sheraton Guilford Hotel to guide us in terms of how to cut cost as much as we can as well as add new items to our menu to keep students coming back. More then anything we felt that students should have a good atmosphere to get away from the everyday stresses of school and just come and relax which is what we offer at the lounge. A pool table was purchased and has been used enormously by our membership. We also purchased a soccer table. More on the café lounge will be in the VP Internal report.
Relations with the Kwantlen University College
In the first half of 2005 and years before that, relations with the administration had been strained tremendously, tactics being used by previous boards were obviously not working. This board of directors openly takes pride in have by far one the best relationships with its administration; dare I say, in the country? A collection issue with our health and dental fees had been heavily disputed with past boards and the University administration, in 2005 when the new executives took office this issue was very quickly resolved with futile resistance, or bickering from either side. In mid 2005 the KSA was denied space at the newly constructed Cloverdale campus, once again though when new executives came in late 2005, negotiates quickly took off to obtain space and for the most part a positive response has been given to achieve this goal by the administration.
Looking Forward
The year 2005 was a very controversial one in the eyes of many, two students bodies that both felt they were rightful representatives of the society clashed time in and time again. In the end in May 2005, the B.C Supreme Court ruled that the R.A.F were rightful representatives of the society and ever since then we haven’t looked back. Although many people who claim to be completely dedicated to our membership have tried to make it extremely difficult for us to do our jobs, instead of suggesting what they would like to see, they have simply decided to oppose everything the R.A.F did and does. But we have learned that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks and are now looking forward to an impressive and promising year 2006 in which we plan on many things. The celebration of the 25th anniversary of the University College is something the KSA was involved in this year as well as successfully throwing a formal dinner and dance with 600 people in attendance, improving the health and dental coverage for students, applying for a temporary liquor license and renovating the fishbowl are all in the process. One of biggest goals though is to begin brainstorming some possible ways to raise funds to purchase our own building, which would be completely independently operated by the student association for the students.
Attachment No.2: VP Internal Report
Prepared By: Jaivin Khatri VP Internal
Overview
In the year of 2005, the Kwantlen Student Association went through a series of staff turnover and the creation of new positions with new job descriptions along with old jobs being phased out. Furthermore, 2005 was also spent in collective bargaining with CUPE for an agreement for the staff of our association.
Union Bargaining
The major staff issue of 2005 was the union agreement that was in collective bargaining for the majority of the year. We had completed approximately 90% of this agreement and all that was left was the monetary.
Then in late 2005, a Union Member from our staff forwarded a vote for decertification from the union. Following this a vote was taken place and the staff of our student association voted to decertify from the union. With this vote passing, our student association was not unionized.
Creation of Executive Assistant
The Surrey Business Office Staff position had been removed and replaced with the job of an Executive Assistant with new duties and responsibilities that exceeds previous office staff positions.
Society Structure
Overview
In November 2005, a special general meeting was held to put forth to students a new set of bylaws, raf2k5, which was presented to membership and passed bring forth a new set of bylaws that govern our society as well as a new structure.
Elected officials Structure
The voting members of the Board of Directors now consists of 9 voting seats. The voting positions are as follows:
1. President;
2. Treasurer;
3. three (3) Vice-Presidents;
i. Vice-President External Affairs
ii. Vice-President Internal Affairs
iii. Vice-President Events & Student Life
4. The Campus Directors, one such director elected for each campus of Kwantlen University College which total 4 positions.
The non voting members on the Board of Directors consist of members at large which work at specific campuses under the direction of the Campus Director. Furthermore, there are 4 liaisons for specific constituency that attend Kwantlen University College. There are:
1. Aboriginal constituency
2. Disabilities constituency
3. Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Tran gendered constituency
4. Women’s constituency
Association Services
The services of the Kwantlen Student Association have been static for quite some time, yet there are always attempts to diversify these services to better serve students. The society works in coalition with the Canadian Federation of Students to provide a variety of services as well. There services offered in 2005 are as follows:
1. Subsidized Binding and Laminating
2. BCBOOKWORM.com
3. Clubs
4. Extended Health and Dental
5. Faxing
6. Food Bank
7. Homes4students.ca
8. International Student Identity Cards (ISIC)
9. Subsidized Lockers
10. Ksa café Lounge
11. Subsidized Movie Tickets
12. Photocopiers
13. Subsidized PNE and Playland Tickets
14. Studentphones.com ( student cell phone plans)
15. Studentsaver Discount Card (many lower mainland retailers)
16. Subsidized Translink Services (tickets, passes)
17. Subsidized Whistler/Blackcomb Lift Tickets
Attachment No.3: VP Events Report
Prepared By: Bikram Gill, VP Events
Pub Nights
As for the year 2005 there were many events that happened on and off campus. At the beginning of 2005 couple of pub nights were held for the first time in the fishbowl and the turn outs for both nights was impressive, music system was set up for the entertainment, alcohol was served for the socialization, and the environment was kept under control by our great security. There will be another Pub Night happening at the beginning of next month.
Elections
Within the Year 2005 there were a few federal and provincial debates that were held in the fishbowl regarding the 2005/2006 elections. Many students questions were answered by our local Mps. The student involvement at these debates really showed the concerns our students had with our society and our economy. After our Kwantlen student elections a R.A.F appreciation day was held for the students for being part of our student elections. A BBQ was set up in the courtyard, had entertainment, and prizes were given out where the winners received gift cards to our local businesses. The students actually did appreciate the effort the KSA staff put on and asked us to put on more of these BBQs.
Welcome Weeks
At the beginning of every semester the KSA has put on a BBQ for the welcome weeks and the students have actually appreciated our efforts in making each one possible. After the success of our every BBQ we had another one regarding the welcome week for our 2006 summer semester, where some Djs were called down from Calgary to entertain the students while enjoying the great weather and hotdogs. Earlier the same day the surrey director gave out doughnuts and juice for the same purpose.
There were more events that were planned in the past but were unable to execute for some particular reasons, events included;
Moonshine Formal was supposed to be held during the winter but being unable to get the liquor license due to internal issues was the only problem the KSA had that got the event cancelled.
Barnyard Carnival was another event that was being planned, but also could not go through due to financial concerns with our budget and the logistics of holding the event.
The Vp of Events has many more great events planned for the year 2006.
Attachment No.4: TreasurerPrepared By: Joey Atwal, Treasurer
This year has been a difficult one filled with many obstacles and challenges throughout the road, however no problem has been left unsolved and 2006 is shaping up to be one of the best years since the inception of the Kwantlen Student Union. Here are some of the highlights of the 2005 year.
Revamped fishbowl
The Fishbowl café lounge from the outlook looked like a mediocre Java Hut approximately a year ago but thanks in part to a drastic makeover; the fishbowl has been turned into a respectable café that can be a staple in the college environment for years to come. After major renovations were completed, and the addition of a pizza oven and sandwich table had made its way into the kitchen, a very knowledgeable and experienced chef was hired on a consultant basis and worked miracles with the menu. The menu consisted of foods that were now geared more towards students. The menu was not only a breathe of fresh air for many students, the prices were affordable and customer satisfaction was quite apparent from volume of students purchasing from the cafe. Computers were also added that would allow students to use alternatives to the restrictions based KUC computers around campus.
2005 Audited Statements
As expected, the Audit of the society went through without a hitch and everything was completed in flying colors. Here are some of the main points of the audit.
- The amount spent on inventory in 2005 is down compared to the 2004 year; however more money was used for transit cards and passes due to a higher demand from students.
- The bursary fund was reestablished in 2005, and in part so was the Single Parent Mothers bursary fund. $14,000 was the appropriate figure determined by the Board of Executives for the program.
- The Donations line item was respectfully used to donate moneys for charitable causes. $1744 was used in the 2005 year, as opposed to $366 in 2004.
- Substantial amount of money was used to purchase equipment for the office and the fishbowl such as office furniture, pizza oven, squirrel system, and TV.
- The conference and travel line item had a slight increase compared to 2004 due to more people being involved in trips to Ottawa and Oregon for beneficial student conferences.
- The Wages, subcontractors and benefits line item were increased due to more hours given to KSA representatives in all facets. Executive and Campus Director pay were increased to match standards set by other businesses. Pay just slightly above minimum wage.
- Lower student turnout has affected some financial aspects of the KSA, such as locker sales and other miscellaneous products offered.
Attachment No.5: Newton Campus Council ReportPrepared By: Ajay Cheema, Newton Campus Director
This past year the Newton Campus Council has been involved in a number of events, projects and activities. At the beginning of 2005, Newton Campus Council, along with all other Campuses took part in a survey study to gain a better perceptive of what the students of Kwantlen University College thought of the events previously held and the effectiveness of such events. This survey provided Newton Campus Council with a great deal of knowledge on what was working as events and what needed to be improved. Students gave their feedback on what they would like to see more and less of. This provided Newton Campus Council with a better understanding of what kind of events to hold for the upcoming year.
Throughout the year of 2005, Newton Campus Council took part in a variety of intermediate and small events that were held in the Newton Campus Lounge. These types of events were held on a monthly basis where free food was distributed like donuts, coffee, pizza, samosa and hotdogs. Such events helped create KSA exposure to the students and created a better campus unity amongst the students and the KSA.
Furthermore, Newton Campus Council took part in large events as well in the year of 2005. There was a Halloween Bash that took place at the Lounge, where food was given out and prizes given for the best costume. A Christmas party was also held in the cafeteria, where the Newton Campus Council cooked the food and gave it out. There were BBQ and pizza days held during other holidays like Mother’s day and BC day. Newton Campus Council assisted the Vice President of Events with the Welcome Week that was put on by the KSA to welcome students to a new semester at Kwantlen.
Newton Campus Council worked hard to maintain and improve the KSA Lounge at Newton. A new foosball table was purchased, which has been very popular. Along with that the pool and ping pong tables have been preserved well with the equipment constantly being upgraded. Campus Council made sure that all equipment was up to par and replaced or made upgrades to any malfunctioning equipment.
Attachment No.6: Richmond Campus Council ReportPrepared By: Kulvir Gill, Richmond Campus Director
The Richmond KSA has been very easy for the last year working a lot of things to improve the student life. The 2005 year started with a hard fought election that saw the Richmond campus have a very mixed election slate win their seats. Steve Lee won the Richmond Director seat and had a lot of great plans and events planned for the campus.
His first order of business was to establish an internal checklist that he thought would work. He then planned some great events that worked in his favor. Mainly because he had a campus council that was very enthusiastic, in the beginning of the summer, Kulvir Gill was brought in as Richmond Campus Representative and was joining a great team of council members like Harvy Mann, Johnny Woo, and Kayce Hopwood, to go along with the Rumin Mann, Cassandra Diudene and Samantha Bliek as Richmond Officers.
The BC day event showed a lot of promise and had great turn out, but the event of the summer was a tie between the Canada BBQ event and the PUB Night all thrown by Steve Lee. Steve had a lot of great events to throw in the fall semester, his best fall event was the welcome week day BBQ event, where he rented a SUMO wrestling ring that showed a lot popularity. In the fall semester Steve and Johhny had made many proposals for some more KSA space. Then Steve had said in one meeting that he had got the idea that Richmond doesn’t have enough room at this time for more KSA space. In the month of November, Kulvir Gill took over as Campus Director and had some great ideas on how to improve on something that needed little improvement because of the great work left by Steve Lee. Kulvir then bought an Xbox 360 for the KSA lounge and the students had great enthusiasm for the next generation of games. Many students had said that it was the best thing ever bought by the KSA.
One of the Richmond’s biggest problems was the popularity of poker and the constant suspicion from KSA and Kwantlen Administration that there had been gambling taking place in the lounge. However through the months the poker popularity grew to grew a lot more unpopular thanks to great help from Kulvir and other KSA members. The next year looks very promising for the KSA especially in Richmond and the main reason for that might be for the great direction shown by Kulvir and his other KSA staff.
Attachment No.7: Surrey Campus Council Report
Prepared By: Ken McIntyre, Surrey Campus Director
This past year for the Surrey Campus council has seen a number of events and projects that have taken place. For the most part the one of the main projects that was undertaken in the early part of 2005 was a survey study done to gain a better understanding of how the student population at Kwantlen reacted to our events and what the overall effectiveness of our events were. Another project was that of an office relocation for Surrey Campus Council, from the main KSA office to a space located in the KSA Cafe We also conducted a variety of medium and smaller scale events around campus throughout the year, in order to improve exposure to student and foster campus community.
The Events survey that was undertaken provided Surrey Campus Council with a wealth of knowledge on what we have been doing right about holding events and what we need to improve on for making the events surrey campus council holds more effective. More then 200 students were surveyed from a convenient sample and the data was tabulated and a report was issued to the Board in the second half of spring 2005. Among some of the areas that needed improvement are advertising and ideal location for events around campus, with respect to high traffic areas for more student involvement in any events that campus council holds.
The Surrey Campus Council space used to be housed in the Main KSA office in Surrey; Surrey Campus Council relocated its office space to an office just inside the KSA café, which allows for more flexibility in hours that Campus Council can operate and improved exposure to students through a higher traffic area. Since the Surrey Campus Council office is located in the main lounge space on Surrey campus it allows for a more interactive atmosphere for members of campus council and students who use the lounge space.
Over the past year Surrey Campus council has put on several event throughout. We have conducted several types of events, Surrey Campus Council while assisting the Vice President of Events worked with the welcome week events that were put on to welcome students to a new semester of school at Kwantlen. Surrey Campus council has also put on several BBQ events and also a pizza day, some of these events were to assist with the promotion of the Canadian Federation of Students Reduce Tuition Fees post card campaign. Surrey Campus Council also assisted the Vice President of Events, with the DJ Music and BBQ that was held during the beginning of the summer semester and also put on a Donut day with raffle draw for gift packs.
