Rumblings Within Arts and Science Student Associations

ASFA Member Associations Seeking More Independence

NewsVince Morello — Published February 7, 2017

This federation is not independent: it does not receive its own funding, it does not have a permanent office space and it’s not legally recognized in the eyes of the Quebec government.

But, this could be changing very soon.

The Geography, Planning, and Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Federation, which consists of the Urban Planning Association, the Geography Undergraduates Student Society and the Geography Graduate Student Association, is seeking accreditation through an online referendum that will run through Feb. 13 to 17.

The perks of getting accreditation would be a positions book to properly represent their students, a guaranteed office space and, as a federation, the ability to represent themselves at the academic level, within their departments, when seats are made available to students.

Leaving the Arts and Science Federation of Association—of which they are still a member—is not why the federation wants to gain accreditation, according to GUSS President Miles Barrette Duckworth. If accredited, UPA and GUSS will remain in ASFA, and therefore continue to receive funds from them.

This year, GUSS received $9,038.14, while UPA received $5,260.50. Duckworth said that they wouldn’t be pursuing a fee-levy at the time, but it can be something that they look at in the future. Accreditation would allow them to do so.

“If ever in the future, people think we’re doing a great job as a federation, and they want to see a lot more of the events that we do, we can vote and raise money on our own,” Duckworth said.

The Geograds receives $13 per student from the Graduate Student Association, and they received $1,700 this year, according to Geograd Treasurer Etienne Guertin.

“For us being a part of the federation is part of being this cohesive community in the Geography Department that’s kind of always existed,” said Kiley Goyette, President of the GGSA.

In order to reach quorum, 25 per cent of all students, who are eligible to vote, which is about 1100, need to be in favour, and a majority of the votes cast, need to vote “yes” as well.

Talks of seeking accreditation have been going on since 2013, according to Duckworth.

Time for an ASFOut?

In February 2016, the Political Science Student Association overwhelmingly voted in favour for accreditation, and for a fee levy of $1.60 per credit. The fee levy applies to all undergraduate students with a major or minor in human rights or political science. Their budget for the year is $56,000, according to PSSA president Nora Molina.

On Feb. 13, PSSA will be holding a special general assembly to discuss the possibility of leaving ASFA.

Talks about leaving ASFA have been going on since a referendum vote to restructure ASFA, which included reducing the size of its executive team from six to three, failed in March 2016.

The special general assembly is for PSSA students who want to voice their opinions on the relationship between ASFA and PSSA. Molina said that no final decisions will be made there, but there will be talks about bringing it to referendum. In order to make a motion to bring the question to referendum, PSSA will need to meet a quorum of 40 people.

“We’re going to need to reach a wider portion of our membership,” she said, explaining the need for a GA. “So for now the focus is not so much taking a stance, but opening up discussions.”

The PSSA were not given any money from ASFA this year because they failed to submit their budget on time. Since then, they have been financially independent.

“Every single expense that we have made this year has come from our own funds, not from ASFA funds,” said Molina. “We’ve run quite successful events, so I think it’s a model that is sustainable.”

Each member association sends a budget to the VP of Finance, Christina Massaro, and ASFA disperses the money as they see fit. This year, ASFA set aside $200,000 for their member associations.

Molina said that ASFA reached out to say that they were supportive of the movement, but she added: “They have been speaking out quite strongly against us in public to other students.”

In a post on the “PSSA General Assembly- Time for an ASFOut” Facebook event, ASFA VP External and Sustainability, Agunik Mamikonyan, wrote that “[ASFA] are more than happy to help out! We only encourage autonomy and only want the best for your member association!”

Molina said that they have already reached out to lawyers to discuss the legal aspects of the secession.

Correction: The previous version of the story did not accurately state the requirements needed for quorum for GUSS, UPA, and the GeoGrads to get accredited under their new federation. The Link regrets the error.