In their November meeting, the BUSU Board of Directors (BoD) rejected a PACHRED referendum, altered BUSU’s wellness policy and discussed some of the BUSU executives’ goals for the 2024-25 term.
BUSU’s BoD had a lot to discuss on Nov. 26 during their nearly three-hour meeting. Here are some highlights from the BoD’s meeting, which you can see for yourself on their YouTube channel.
PACHRED Referendum
Sarah Pierson, an RA for the President’s Advisory Committee on Human Rights, Equity and Decolonization (PACHRED), and Monique Beauregard, the Manager of the Black Student Success Centre (BSSC) at Brock, filled much of the November BoD meeting with their presentation on a proposed student referendum.
Joined by students Tiffany Muhindi and Clement Chibueze, the presenters explained that their purpose was to increase the funding of programs and services at Brock for Black, Afro-diasporic and 2SLGBTQIA+ students.
This funding would expand the BSSC and establish a dedicated space for 2SLGBTQIA+ students: the QMUNITY Commons student centre. The referendum question they sought to ask the Brock population was:
“Do you support a $4.90 per credit fee to support (1) establishing a ‘QMUNITY Commons’ centre for 2SLGBTQIA+ students and (2) increasing the funds for the Black Student Success Centre (BSSC), as outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding?”
Pierson and Beauregard discussed the academic and professional importance of forming social networks during university, especially for those who face bias and discrimination based on their identity.
Citing that queer and racialized individuals face increased levels of unemployment, rental discrimination, mental health struggles and suicide, they said Brock must grow in order to meet the present demand of its students.
They pointed to an environmental scan of comparable Ontario universities which revealed that while Brock is ahead of the curve in providing services for Black students, the standard is relatively low and still leaves plenty of room for improvement to decrease the gaps between services for racialized and non-racialized students.
The same scans also showed that Brock is behind the curve in providing services for queer and trans students, with no dedicated space for these individuals even if a few services are available through the Student Justice Centre (SJC), like free chest binders and breast formers, and Brock Pride, a student club offering programs and events.
They cited “Brock’s institutional report on queer and trans students’ wellbeing and experiences on campus from 2019” — which isn’t readily accessible online — to confound this information, explaining that trans, queer and racialized students are predisposed to severe mental distress and therefore need specialized formal support services in a dedicated space.
Muhindi, a peer assistant at the BSSC and an international student, helped explain what exactly the BSSC does for students by highlighting mentorship programs, tailored academic support services, career development opportunities, peer support and culturally informed counselling specifically catered to the needs of Black and Afro-diasporic students at Brock.
Chibueze, a Senor Career Navigator at the CareerZone and Co-President of the Black Students’ Association (BLSA), provided some perspectives from students about the importance of the BSSC, focusing on the fact that everyone who utilizes its services has different experiences and perspectives, meaning the BSSC can always grow and improve to meet shifting demands.
In terms of precise details, the presenters explained that the nearly $400,000 of yearly funding would help expand the BSSC’s previous services and establish the QMUNITY Commons and its associated supports for queer and trans students. Both budgets allotted significant portions — $112,436 from the BSSC and $59,424 from the QMUNITY Commons — for student employment.
Pierson cited numerous global events as reasons for the necessity of these additional supports. These included: the international student caps in Canada producing uncertainty among international students; the 1 Million March 4 Children in Canada targeting trans and non-binary children; the Canadian public education sector targeting access to gender education in the classroom; and Trump’s presidential victory following a campaign built on transphobia, xenophobia, homophobia and racism.
The BUSU BoD had a few questions regarding how services from these organizations differ from those already provided by Brock and BUSU, like the Food First program or Brock’s mental health services, which are ranked first in the country. Pierson and Beauregard said that their goal was not to replace any services but improve them, especially considering that BIPOC and 2SLGBTQIA+ students often require specialized, culturally relevant supports that are not already offered, like personal hygiene products, cultural food or counselling with people who know their struggles on a personal level.
Board Chair Brielle Kaminsky wondered if they’d approached Brock for funding before BUSU; Beauregard said that the BSSC does receive funding from Brock, but this funding only covers so much. An example given by Beauregard showed that the BSSC was able to curate 60 care packages for students throughout the entire school year, but the BLSA alone has somewhere between 500 and 600 members. They just can’t meet the demands of students from Brock funding alone.
The presenters left the meeting after answering some concluding questions, and the BoD deliberated in an in-camera session that lasted from 8:20 p.m. to 8:57 p.m.
Due to the private nature of the BoD’s discussion, there’s no way of knowing why, but they ultimately denied the motion to send the request to a referendum in February with zero votes for, eight votes against and one abstention.
For now, then, the BSSC will continue to operate as it had before and the QMUNITY Commons space will not be established.
Wellness Policy
BUSU’s Director of Governance and Advocacy, Kayleigh Rossetto, explained that the proposed changes to BUSU’s Full-Time Staff & Executive Wellness Spending Account Policy were minor.
A benefit given to staff to help contribute to staff wellness, physical and mental health, the Wellness Policy was originally set at $400 annually per staff member — this being a fund additional to the standard student coverage — in 2017, and Rossetto explained that the proposed change to $500 was to account for inflation.
The other significant change would reduce student executives’ funds from $1000 to $500 to promote equality among full-time staff members.
Drop-in fees would be added to the list of eligible expenses under this change, a list that includes fitness centre memberships, personal trainers, exercise equipment like treadmills and weight machines, protective equipment like hockey pads and boxing gloves, vitamins and more.
There were other minor changes to the policy to represent shifts in the process by which staff members could claim these funds, and after they were all explained, the motion went to a vote, which passed unanimously.
Goals and Reports
BUSU President Anusha Pahuja then answered questions about the Executive Goals report that was distributed among board members before the meeting.
Her first planned goal aimed to help the Student Justice Centre (SJC) with the proposed student centre referendum, but since that motion failed, Pahuja skipped past it in the report. Other goals included: working with Brock’s Office of the Student Ombuds to increase student engagement; working with Brock’s Student Exchange program to increase student engagement; creating a resource bank to aid the process of club funding; conducting a “trending event” to increase student engagement with BUSU; preparing training sessions to help clubs maximize their budgets; and partnering with Niagara College to advocate on shared issue, among other goals that were not visible in the posted video.
The BoD had a question regarding BUSU’s involvement in the Ombuds program, which BUSU General Manager Robert Hilson answered was given up by a previous cohort of the board, and a concern about the $55 fee associated with Brock’s exchange program, which Pahuja said she could tackle as part of the goal to increase engagement.
Kaminsky inquired as to why this report had not been presented to the BoD earlier in the year, to which there were a few reasons including BUSU VPEA Mark Chrabalowski’s trip to Ghana in the summer and the variability of the executive team at the beginning of the term, but which a new accountability policy would prevent from happening next year.
Following a brief, six-minute session in camera, Hilson gave his monthly report.
Highlights of his report included an update on the new student space, which will cost an estimated $40.5 million and may begin construction in the summer; news of an agreement with Niagara Region Transit until 2028 with student fees increasing by 2.5 per cent each year; an update on Rossetto’s replacement in January when she goes on maternity leave; and an explicit reminder that The Brock Press had not yet posted their budget, audited financial statements, by-laws and meeting minutes on their website — most of which, save the by-laws which are in the process of revision first, have since been uploaded.
The BoD had questions about the parking situation at Brock, in which there will be no free parking in the winter term and paid parking in the summer. Vice-Chair Charlie Martin suggested that BUSU should share this info with the student population, but Rossetto countered that posting about something out of their control only prompts a flooding of comments asking why that decision was made when it wasn’t BUSU’s decision — BUSU has accordingly not posted about the parking situation on their Instagram or News feed.
There were some overlapping conversations about The Brock Press regarding its uploaded documents and BUSU’s concerns about its structure and operation. Rossetto mentioned a proposal she’d made with BUSU’s legal representative, but the board ultimately tabled any further discussions for their December meeting.
After this, President Pahuja gave her report, which included updates about Brock’s launching of the Strategic Plan and International Strategic Plan, her meeting with Brock about the Food First program, and a reminder of BUSU’s new IG Lives and Office Hours at Isaac’s to enhance student engagement.
Kaminsky mentioned her concern with the wording of VPUA Carleigh Charlton’s report, in which they said they were “not given the opportunity” to attend the OER Conference in person; she wanted to reiterate that while funding was not provided to Charlton for the conference, the opportunity to attend using their own funds was never relinquished. Board member Mohiz Imtiaz echoed these concerns, and Kaminsky asked Pahuja to discuss the matter further with Charlton.
The lengthy meeting was adjourned at 9:55 p.m. with the promise of a full agenda for the upcoming meeting in December.