BUSU has uploaded the recordings of their August and September board meetings. Here are the highlights.
Every month, BUSU meets to discuss and vote on various matters that concern the student body. The Brock Press recently reported on the meetings BUSU held over the summer, stating that they met four times in total.
BUSU also met on Aug. 28, but as the public recording of this meeting was not uploaded until Oct. 1 — after the September meeting was uploaded — our article was technically incorrect in that statement.
As this recording is now available, The Brock Press can now report on the decisions the Board made just before the school year kicked off, as well as their first meeting of the fall term.
Aug. 28 Meeting
Following the call to order at 7:03 p.m., the BUSU Board of Directors’ first topic of discussion was a request from BUSU Director of Governance and Advocacy Kayleigh Rossetto regarding the BUSU Green Levy. Rossetto reminded the board and anyone watching that earlier in the year, the board approved approximately $45,000 of funding for waste sorting, supplies for the patio at Isaac’s and sustainable swag, leaving about $55,000 left in the budget. Rossetto also reminded the board that the levy had a $330,000 surplus.
Like last time, Rossetto’s proposal had three parts. The first requested $8,600 to support recycling pickup. Before this year, Brock covered these pickups but is now billing BUSU. Rossetto noted that this cost was somewhat higher than usual because they recycle everything, and nothing ends up in the trash.
The second request was $1,500 to support Brock’s Seed Library and to run a seed-planting workshop in the spring. The Seed Library is a free service allowing students, staff and community members to pick up vegetable, herb and flower seeds for planting at home. As their source of funding dried up, they requested BUSU’s assistance; as part of the agreement, BUSU would be allowed to distribute seeds from their desk and as a bonus, the Seed Library fits in with their Food First initiative.
The final request was $46,416 to purchase, brand and market 50 coffee cup recycling bins across the main campus and the Marilyn I. Walker building. Rossetto explained that during their yearly third-party waste audit, Brock University was flagged for only capturing 2.4 per cent of coffee cup waste, the rest of which was improperly disposed of. As Brock Sustainability did not have the funds for a purchase of this size, they turned to BUSU.
Rossetto noted that while this was an extraordinary cost — each unit costing $780 — she would not recommend it if not for the $330,000 Green Levy surplus, which is intended for large initiatives like this one. As a bonus, BUSU would be allowed to put their logo on each of the bins, the cost of which was $750 of the total request, and run a marketing campaign, the cost of which was $575 of the request.
Before the vote, there were a few questions. Charlie Martin asked who would be in charge of the upkeep of these bins. Rossetto said Brock would be; BUSU’s only responsibility would be the initial purchase and perhaps the labelling.
Mohamed Ahmed asked where the high demand for 50 units came from; Rossetto said the thinking was that if they had the money now, they should simply do it in one fell swoop. Moreover, she said if there is a convenient unit by every garbage container, students will be more inclined to use them instead of just tossing their waste in the trash.
Finally, Mohiz Imtiaz asked if BUSU supported or was a signatory on any strategic sustainability plans. General Manager Robert Hilson explained that Brock subscribes to the STARS initiative, which is standard for post-secondary institutions, and that while BUSU cannot be a signatory, it is committed to sustainability, especially regarding the new student centre.
With no further questions, the motion passed with the majority in favour, two abstentions and no oppositions.
The board moved in-camera at 7:33 p.m. and moved out of camera at 8:57 p.m.; no motions were reported in the minutes.
Concluding the meeting were reports from the General Manager and the BUSU President.
Hilson highlighted only one part of his report, regarding employee contracts: moving forward, all BUSU employees will receive employment contracts, no matter how many hours a week they work. He described that this is becoming a standard in the HR industry, and it is a standard BUSU needs to move toward.
President Anusha Pahuja’s report featured some general updates, including that the new VPSS, Shinaya Peiris, had been fully briefed and was doing “absolutely fantastic”; that the VPEA, Mark Chrabalowski, returned to the office after his travels abroad on Aug. 19 and was brought up to speed; and that Badgerfest and the Community Fair were all planned and ready to go.
Following her report, Ahmed asked about the then-recent parking development, in which Parking Services established a $6 fee for students parking on campus after 6 p.m., a service which used to be free.
Pahuja responded by explaining the situation, describing how they — like students — did not directly receive the news from Parking Services but first saw it online. At the time, she was working with VPUA Carleigh Charlton and Hilson to find a potential solution to the situation and advocate for students.
Hilson explained further that the main issue with this development was that neither BUSU nor the student population were consulted in advance about the decision, nor were they notified in any public manner. As students may have planned their schedules around the fact that parking was free after 6 p.m., he said it was a big problem, and they had already escalated the discussion up the university ranks.
Board Chair Brielle Kaminsky appreciated their effort but said it would be a “miracle” if the university went back on its decision, as this is one way it’s trying to make up for its financial deficit.
Hilson said that Charlton was being very professional in her argument, focusing on the fact that students were not consulted or informed; moreover, as this decision may discourage students from attending the gym, participating in intramurals, joining clubs and more, he said it was not conducive to student life on campus and student retention. He said the university had an obligation to tell students and failed to do so.
With no concrete developments at the moment, Hilson said they would keep the board updated. This being the final discussion point, the meeting adjourned at 9:08 p.m.
Sept. 24 Meeting
BUSU’s first in-person meeting was called to order at 7:06 p.m. Filling most of this meeting was a presentation on BUSU’s audit report through Grant Thornton for the year ending on April 30, 2024.
Grant Thornton had no significant findings in BUSU’s statements regarding fraud or anything else that would be “funky.” While the Grant Thornton representative provided plenty of information on auditing in general, potential risks for a non-profit like BUSU, and minor changes in the company’s statements, there was very little to note here.
There were some findings regarding BUSU’s internal controls, which the representative said were consistent with an entity of its kind. Grant Thornton recommended that book entries be reviewed by a treasurer or someone of higher ranking. They also recommend that BUSU create a formula risk register for itself to consider all of its potential risks and think about how to mitigate each of them. They also noted a super user in their account — who had both bookkeeping access and access to the creation and deletion of users — which is frowned upon but seems to have occurred by accident.
Next, the representative went through a copy of BUSU’s draft statements, another unqualified and clean report. He discussed some general qualities of BUSU’s investments, its cash flow and more.
Following the presentation, there were a few questions, though due to the nature of the video, it is difficult to discern who asked what. Someone asked if there were any risks that the board should closely monitor, to which the representative responded that an open dialogue between the board and management was important and that they should volunteer to monitor BUSU’s statements once a week to strengthen its internal controls.
Someone also asked for clarification on an increase of $1.2 million in Brock’s investment income, to which the representative responded that Brock simply made good investment decisions, something that was out of BUSU’s control. Somebody also asked if the statements could be forwarded to the board members, which the representative said would be all right so long as the statements didn’t leave the circle of the board.
With no further questions, the Grant Thornton representative left. The Board approved the current draft of the report, but not the final draft, as it was technically not complete yet. They agreed that their complete approval should wait until a later date.
The board then moved in-camera at 7:41 p.m., where they remained until 9:01 p.m. No motions were reported in the minutes as they appeared in the video.
Hilson then provided his General Manager’s report, in which he noted that he met with the architect of the new student centre for the third time, that 8,000 U-Pass stickers were given out as of reporting, that the Health and Dental opt-out deadline was approaching on Sept. 30 and that Rossetto was pregnant and would be going on maternity leave at the end of January.
Finally, Pahuja gave her President’s report. This included general updates, like the beginning of Senate and Board of Trustees meetings, a reminder of the upcoming OUSA fall General Assembly at Brock, Charlton’s victory of the 2024 Open Education Award for Excellence, BUSU-AC’s first meeting and the beginning of the BUSU Clubs Advisory Committee.
Pahuja also mentioned that as a follow-up to the parking fiasco, they had successfully advocated to make parking at Lot 2 free after 6 p.m., making it the only spot on campus to park for free at night. This deal only applies to the fall term, but she said further conversations will be held to discuss options for the winter term.
Finally, Pahuja concluded by saying that the fall term is her last semester at Brock, and she will be graduating in April 2025.
After the report, Kaminsky requested that the other BUSU executives provide their own reports, even if Pahuja is the one presenting them, so the President isn’t reporting on their behalf. Pahuja said she would ask the executives for the next board meeting.
With that, the meeting was adjourned at 9:08 p.m.
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While this article provides the highlights of these meetings, the only way to get this information in its raw, original form is to watch the BUSU videos yourself.
Currently, despite the 19,000 students at Brock, the August video only has nine views as of writing, and the September video has 16.
Voting decisions are often brought up at least one meeting in advance of the actual vote, meaning students can have a say in them — if they can watch the videos, of course. If a referendum is held, or an election is held, the only way to make an informed decision is to stay informed.
All BUSU board meeting recordings can be viewed on their YouTube channel. If students want to attend meetings in person or contact the board, they can email chair@brockbusu.ca,