Lakehead University Student Union Annual General Meeting 14B-08 MINUTES October 31, 2014 AGORA/ OA3041 PRESENT: 1. Ian Kaufman, President* 2. Daniel Bacsa, Vice-President Operations & Finance* 3. Matthew Quick, Vice-President Advocacy* 4. Ian McRae, Vice-President Orillia* 5. Sophie Kurucz* 6. Jeffrey Churchley 7. Niharika Shahi* 8. Joel Kennedy 9. Kent Spiers* 10. Brett Starrs 11. Robert Humby 12. Marcie Wong 13. Christopher Legg 14. Heidi Howells 15. Yu Zhang 16. Andrew Melro 17. Vinicius Belem Falcao Rabelo 18. Kyle Fediuk 19. Tanner Winchester 20. Wesley Weima 21. Taslim Alani* 22. Hannah Brunklaus 23. Christopher Yip 24. Helen Otterman 25. Amy Stather 26. Thi Thai 27. Aaron Craig 28. Jessica Moore 29. Matthew Nguyen 30. Ryan Swaggert 31. Kevin Liu 32. Guohao Li 33. Connor Mantey 34. Tyler Cunningham 35. John Berube 36. Alison Carson 37. Ahmadullah Khanjer 38. Emese Boyko* 39. Elysia Petrone 40. Jonathan Giles 41. Liam Kelly 42. Jeremy Hughes 43. Michael Hillcoat 44. Jahnicia Williams 45. Jeff Pascua 46. Tyson Bouchard 47. Sasha Vereecken 48. Stephen Dzuryk 49. Jonathan Vergara 50. Patrick Penner 51. Sean Botelho 52. Alexander Johnston 53. Mark Lee 54. Brendan McCarthy 55. Sean Mac Arthur 56. Jen Hsieh 57. Shirish Karveer 58. Anuj Sharma 59. Kyle McIntyre 60. Jonathan Morrow 61. Benjamin White 62. Ronald Copeland 63. Samuel Frisby 64. Molly Tilden 65. Alexis Lajambe 66. Janet Martin 67. Li Kang 68. Christopher Syposz 69. Kian Mirshahi 70. Laurin Haak 71. Samantha Kerekes 72. Sarah Moreth 73. Meghan Cahill 74. Mark Suffak 75. Samantha Belluz 76. Tyler Meloche 77. Sara Sadeghi Aval 78. Brittany Kavcar 79. Michael Roman Jakubowski 80. Sandy Boyd 81. Rachel Oosterhof 82. Sebastian Murdoch- Gibson 83. Nicholas West* 84. Riley Braunstein 85. Lauren O Neill Lakehead University Student Union Annual General Meeting 14B-08 Archive Date: October 2019 Page 1 of 7
ALSO PRESENT: Michael Sobota, LUSU Chairperson Emily Lauzon, Recording Secretary Leigh Castle, Orillia Campus Coordinator Trevor Waytowich, LUSU Communications Officer Michael Bird, LUSU Sustainability Coordinator Candi Badanai, Outpost Manager GUESTS: Kristin Spidoff, BDO Canada LLP 1. The meeting was called to order at 1:17pm 2. Confirmation of Quorum Quorum was confirmed with 84 members present 3. Adoption of Agenda MOVED that the Agenda be adopted Elysia Petrone/ Emese Boyko 4. Approval of Minutes MOVED that the minutes of the November 7 th, 2013 Annual General Meeting be approved Emese Boyko/ Jeff Churchley 5. Presentation of 2013-14 Audited Financial Statements Kristin Spidoff presents a brief overview of financial statements ending April 30, 2014. Copies were made available at the AGM. CARRIED CARRIED BDO Canada LLP Page 2: Independent Auditors Report This page gives opinion on financial statements for the year. BDO has provided a clean audit opinion for the financial statements stating that they are in accordance with Canadian accounting standards for not-for-profit organizations. Highlights for the year: Page 3: Statement of Financial Position snapshot of assets and liabilities of the organization at April 30 th 2014 with comparatives for April 30 th, 2014. Pages 4 & 5: Statement of Operations for the year (p. 4 - Revenues and Lakehead University Student Union Annual General Meeting 14B-08 Archive Date: October 2019 Page 2 of 7
p.5 Expenditures). Revenues sources: Student Fees, U-pass fees, revenue from Outpost and Study. Expenditures: wages, health plan, u- pass, supplies for Outpost and Study. Overall surplus: $81,000 as compared to past deficit of 20,000 Opens floor for questions: no questions MOVED that LUSU s 2013-2014 financial statements be approved. Jeff Churchley/ Taslim Alani CARRIED 6. Appointment of Auditor for 2014-15 MOVED that BDO Canada LLP be appointed as the auditor for the 2014-15 fiscal year. Daniel Bacsa/Kent Spiers CARRIED Discussion: Member asks if there been any evaluation of competitors, is BDO the best and most frugal option? VP Bacsa states that LUSU has been with BDO for a number of years, the Finance & Operations Committee will open up the audit to tender sometime next year. A recommendation will come to the Board of Directors and at the next AGM there will be a recommendation for the members to make a decision. 7. Presentation: Year in Review President Kaufman gives an overview of May 2014 to present. LUSU Executive Committee Presentation highlights: students evaluation of Lakehead President, Brian Stevenson results of a LUSU survey showing students are overwhelmingly unsatisfied with WiFi upcoming survey on library hours discussion of a fall reading week Provosts Task Force on Excellence and Innovation in Teaching, Learning and Technology Kaufman states that he will address improvements to LUSU later in Lakehead University Student Union Annual General Meeting 14B-08 Archive Date: October 2019 Page 3 of 7
agenda under item 9 LUSU By-Law Changes. Vice-President Operations & Finance Bacsa provides an overview of projects undertaken since the summer. Presentation highlights: major changes occurred in the Outpost, including table service, new paint job and, new furniture major changes to The Study include changes to hours of operation, remaining open over the summer, a full-time permanent staff position, new food/drink options request for Proposals for the Health and a Dental Plan to ensure LUSU is getting the best deal for students new websites, with movement to electronic forms for club applications, opt-outs etc. Vice-President Orillia Ian McRae gives overview of long-term projects at the Orillia campus. two gardens on paid Marketing Assistant position has been created Student Centre project - will create report to be shared with student body by the end of this semester Orillia Advisory committee Orillia Department Councils. LUSU has been successful in lobbying for a seat on business and interdisciplinary studies council Community partners U-pass service to be extended to include summer months Vice-President Advocacy Matt Quick provides an overview of his work. Presentation highlights: Orientation programming and upcoming 50 th anniversary Senators and Senate committee positions, currently 40 positions are available, 6 positions are vacant The floor was opened for questions: Roman Jakubowski from the Argus inquires as to whether or not VP Quick s moustache is real. The membership is assured that indeed, it is. Members ask general questions about the financial statements and status of campaigns. Answers are given by the Executive committee. Lakehead University Student Union Annual General Meeting 14B-08 Archive Date: October 2019 Page 4 of 7
8. Where the $ @?! LUSU Fees Overview Chair states that LUSU manages a $5,000,000 operating budget on behalf of members. LUSU is an independent free-standing corporation, not part of Lakehead University. President provides overview or presentation. LUSU President Presentation attached as Appendix A The floor is opened for questions. Members ask questions regarding how fees are decided, set, and reviewed. Executive committee respond. LUSU By-law changes Motion for Organizational Improvement Constitutional Review Baca presents overview of the motion for organizational improvement. LUSU Vice- President Operations & Finance Kaufman presents governance committee review. Major change is the change to quorum from 5% to 10% in elections. Quorum for referenda from 10% to 20%. The constitutional document is posted online for members to see. MOVED that constitutional changes passed by LUSU Board of Directors since the last annual general meeting be ratified. VP Bacsa/ Roman Jakubowski CARRIED The floor is open for discussion. Summary of discussion: The budget has been altered to allow for a slight deficit to fund the Executive Director position. Also, some of the centres budgets have been reduced, and the Executive Discretionary. Funds are also coming out of operational accounts. The position requires experience in the field of nonprofit management and student union experience. Full job description is available in LUSU website. The centres will benefit as the ED position will ensure centres fulfill their mandate support the centres. Lakehead University Student Union Annual General Meeting 14B-08 Archive Date: October 2019 Page 5 of 7
Member asks which committees are slated for dissolution. The following committees were dissolved; Thunder Bay clubs committee, Outpost and Study management committees, campaigns committee and events committee. Member asks if the motion can be split. Chair states that it cannot be split. Member asks if it is fair that a small group of students is going to vote on paying another staff person when vote is also to change quorum from 5 to 10%. It is suggested that everyone should be able to vote. It is stated that this decision is not being made here, it s being ratified here. This is a standard motion, the board does the work on behalf of the membership. They assess and review the by-laws, hours of work are put in and everything is looked at extensively by committees Bacsa states that the position must be a staff person. This is a full-time position which requires a level of qualification. A part-time or student position was not considered. The position will help with transition of Executives and Centre coordinators. Presentation: Fossil Free Lakehead MOVED that Lakehead University be called upon to divest its holdings in the dirty 200 fossil fuel companies. Elysia Petrone/Jonathan Jiles CARRIED Summary of discussion: A list of the dirty 200 can be found at fossilfree.ca. This motion is asking Lakehead to reinvest the 8% of 40 million into clean energy projects. It is suggested that when universities are seen doing this, alumni tend to invest/donate more. 9. Presentation: LUSU Strategic Plan Kaufman and Spiers presented on the LUSU Strategic Plan. Presentation attached as Appendix B 10. Next Annual General Meeting Lakehead University Student Union Annual General Meeting 14B-08 Archive Date: October 2019 Page 6 of 7
MOVED that the Directors of the Lakehead University Student Union be called upon to set a date and time for the 2015 Annual General Meeting. Sophie Kurucz/Jeff Churchley 11. Adjournment 3:17pm MOVED that meeting adjourn Kent Spiers CARRIED CARRIED Lakehead University Student Union Annual General Meeting 14B-08 Archive Date: October 2019 Page 7 of 7
THE BACKGROUND LUSU founded by students 1981 Separate Corporation Fully democratic For Students, By Students How to fund operations? STUDENT FEES
WHO SETS LUSU FEES? OVER 5% INCREASE Referendum of all LU students Needs 20% quorum to be valid UP TO 5% INCREASE LUSU Board of Directors vote
WHAT ARE MY FEES PAYING FOR? Services Advocacy & Campaigns Student Support Events & Programming The Outpost & The Study
LUSU FEES - UNDERGRAD Programming, Funding, & Operations $67.51 The Argus $6.53 Capital $47.25 The Outpost & The Study $23.85 Centres $27.61 Health & Dental Plan $318.00 Social Action $15.00 U-Pass $88.00
3 RD PARTY FEES - UNDERGRAD Nanabijou $5 LU Radio $10 Canadian Federation of Students $15.76
APPENDIX B 1
} Helps to define our purpose } Gives us a roadmap and direction } Provides insight into future needs } Allows us to measure success If you fail to plan then you plan to fail 2
} Indications LUSU is not seen as relevant Low voter turnout in LUSU Elections Declining student involvement in committees, campaigns & events, etc. } Address Internal Challenges High turnover in staff, leadership & volunteers Financial instability at LUSU businesses } Realize LUSU s Potential 3
} Membership: President Vice-President Orillia 3 Directors General Manager 1 Staff Member + Strategic Plan Facilitator 4
} Students ~ Membership (769+17) } Internal Stakeholders (Board, exec, staff, Centre Coordinators) (31) } External Stakeholders (President, Vice Presidents) (3) } Orillia (106+6+2) and Thunder Bay (680+25+1) 5
} In your view, what is the one most important issue facing LU students today? } List the 2-3 most important things you need to help you achieve academic excellence and personal growth. 6
How the heck did we do it?
What are the issues facing LU students? Social Inclusion and Equity Related Issues, 23 Lack of pride in Lakehead, 14 Recommendations to add a fall reading week, 2 Safety issues, 6 Issues related to LUSU, The Outpost and The Study, 16 Misc. Other, 28 Lack of academic support, 28 Concerns about professors and courses, 32 Lack of preparation from High School, 4 Lack of employment post completition, 17 Basic needs, 36 Lack of Life skills education, 17 Lack of Personal Balance and Wellness, 17 Lack of Study space and lack of campus resources for studying, 61 Facilities, 28 Food, 18 Exercise, 1 Other: child care, transporation, etc., 4 Housing, 2 Finance issues and solutions, 252 9
Social Inclusion and Equity Related Issues, 23 Pride in Lakehead, 14 Safety Issues, 6 Issues related to LUSU including, The Outpost and The Study, 16 Misc. Other, 28 Academic Related Issues, 81 Study space and lack of campus resources for studying, 61 Personal Balance and Wellness, 72 Facilities, 28 Basic Needs, 25 Finances, 252 10
Lack of pride in Lakehead, 6 Safety issues, 2 Social Inclusion and Equity Related Issues, 1 Basic needs, 4 Lack of Life skills education, 1 Issues related to LUSU, The Outpost and The Study, 1 Misc. Other, 5 Lack of academic support, 4 Concerns about professors and courses, 12 Lack of employment post completition, 1 Lack of Personal Balance and Wellness, 3 Finance issues and solutions, 16 Lack of Study space and lack of campus resources for studying, 29 Housing, 2 Facilities, 17 11
} Academic support. } Improved and expanded study space. } Updated equipment. } Expanded workshops (Health center, academic, library, etc.). } FOOD! } Financial support. } Social and physical needs (campus events and sleep). } Feeling included and being treated equal. } Campus community spirit. } Expanded LUSU opportunities (leadership and events).
13