It is not always apparent to students burdened by financial obligations synonymous with post-secondary education, but our semester-based student fees often include making payments to little known organizations.
A prime example is the $32 students pay per semester to the Student Life Levy (SLL) projects. The information on what this money contributes to is not promoted to students nor presented as a collaborative decision, despite the fact that it is student’s hard earning money funding SLL projects.
The SLL projects are determined by a committee made up of Wilfrid Laurier University Student’s Union (WLUSU) and members of the Laurier administration, but little to no information is available to who these individuals are and how they were selected to make such crucial decisions.
Surely students should have some say in what projects are funded with their own money. This is not to say that SLL funds entirely irrelevant projects as many of them do have an important value in enhancing student life and academic experience.
The 2013-14 year approved projects include valuable things like an Anti-Stigma video, Peace and Justice student conference and study space improvements.
However, this list also includes $25,000 being spent on the “Smile Epidemic Project” and close to $27,000 towards the WLUer’s time and priority management expansion. The primary issue extends beyond the actual projects that have been approved but the problematic issue that these projects have already been approved without any student input.
While funding important student life projects are an essential part of campus life, it is also important that students get the opportunity to contribute to discussions, committee meetings and ideas that ultimately impact them.