WLUSU board meeting update: Dec. 4

In the last meeting of the fall semester the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union board of directors met for just over 90 minutes, and among other things discussed referendum questions to be put forward to the student body in the WLUSU annual general meeting (AGM), which will be held on Feb. 4.

The board approved to put forward a question from student publications asking for a $0.75 per half-credit (up to 4 credits) fee increase to offset rent being charged for space on campus and expenses of services such as The Cord, The Sputnik, Blueprint Magazine, WLU’er and Orbiter (student planners), The Keystone and Carnegie (yearbooks) and Radio Laurier, as well as future capital projects.

After some discussion regarding the phrasing of the question, what the fee would be going towards and why student publications didn’t simply hold the referendum at their own AGM, the board approved the question with an amendment to the phrasing.

A submission from a professor in Brantford asking for students to pay a non-tuition fee for the contemporary studies program was rejected by the board because of concern that it was too similar to one proposed, and overwhelmingly rejected, by the student body in Brantford last year.

At the meeting several updates were provided by WLUSU president Laura Sheridan and the management committee including that:
-All students will be e-mailed a copy of the WLUSU mid-term report on Dec. 4.
-WLUSU will be hosting open houses in various faculty buildings in January.
-Union businesses will not cut their hours of operation during exams as they usually do
-LSFL has been moved to the campus clubs department (previously it has operated under student services); this change will take place starting in the 2010-11 year.

WLUSU finances were also discussed, including the loss of revenues at the Turret and William’s in Brantford.