Are student rights under threat in the UK?

Gemma Tumelty, President of the National Union of Students in the UK, writes in Mortar Board, the education blog of Guardian Unlimited, that students' rights to self-organise in the United Kingdom are negatively affected by the British government's indicriminate use of words like "extremism," "terrorism," and "radicalism." She writes:

"By creating an atmostphere of suspicion around innocent people, whole groups are being isolated. We will make campuses repressive rather than vibrant, polarised rather than plural. And by boxing together people under ill though-out labels we are demonising communities and fuelling the racism and Islamaphobia that our whole society should be rallying against."

Tumelty did not cite any specific plans or policies that put students' rights to self-organise in jeopardy, but seemed rather to be referring to the 'chilly climate' that students, particularly Muslim students, were facing.

This is not merely a European issue, however. FrontPageMagazine, a neo-conservative website based in the USA, has published several inflammatory articles about US Muslim students, with titles like "The Muslim Student Association: A Wahhabi Front;" "Islamic Radicals on Campus;" and "Islamism's Campus Club."

Board of Directors minutes posted - August 9, 2006

The minutes from the August 9, 2006 meeting of the Board of Directors of the SFSS are now online. Relevant notes from the meeting:

• The chair was Lucas Schuler, former Chairperson of CFS-BC. However, he was merely appointed as chairperson pro tem, not as chairperson for the semester. The failure of the Board to appoint a chairperson for the semester is a violation of By-Law 8, section 10 [a].
• Even though there were 35 guests in attendance, the Board nonetheless voted to go in camera (i.e. closed session), and stayed there for 2.5 hours.
• After the 2.5 hour delay, the Board voted to move into a "committee of the whole" in order to permit an open discussion. Grad At-Large Representative Benjamin Milne moved that this discussion should last for up to thirty minutes, but this was quickly amended to reduce this to twenty minutes. Treasurer Vanessa Kelly (who supported the reduction in the discussion period) started off the discussion by "stat[ing] that the Board is, in no way, attempting to curtail discussion...."
• Internal Relations Officer Wei Li stated that the decision to terminate the Graduate Issues and University Relations Coordinator (GIURC) was his. He offered no explanation as to where this authority came from.

Is Peace a 'Student Issue'?

In "World Peace Forum: Unions and Peace," an article written for the lefty UBC magazine The Knoll, Steven Klein reflects on his experience attending the World Peace Forum, and asks: "What is the appropriate role of the AMS in social justice and foreign policy issues, and what lessons can UBC take from the trade union experience in organizing against war?" Klein notes that in the United States, trade unionists are facing the same internal debates that students' unions are facing: namely, whether to take positions on foreign policy issues, particularly the War in Iraq.

CFS-Quebec Creates New Confusing Website

The Quebec component of the Canadian Federation of Students has created a new website, www.cfs-fcee.qc.ca. This replaces their old website, www.education-action.net.

However, a great deal of confusion remains. Their old website, www.education-action.net, has not been updated to redirect people to the new website. A great deal of content on the old website has not been transferred to the new site (such as issues of Ruckus magazine, published by CFS-Quebec).

One will also find contradictatory press releases. "CAPE [Coalition for Accessible and Public Education] is a province wide coalition that includes the Canadian Federation of Students (Québec), the Conseil Régional de l'ASSE à Montréal and the Front Régional des Associations étudiantes de la Capitale amongst other groups" proclaims one press release dated March 22, 2006; seven days later, another press release states: "The CFS-Québec is not a part of the coalition that is organizing the demonstration, the Coalition for Accessible Public Education (CAPE)." There was no "apology" or "retraction" issued for the earlier press release - simply a contradiction.

One possible explanation for the errors in the "new and improved" CFS-Q website may lie in its administrators. According to CIRA, the "Administrative Contact" for cfs-fcee.qc.ca is Joey Hansen (who is erroneously listed as the Treasurer of the Canadian Federation of Students) while the "Technical Contact" is Ken Marciniec. Mr. Hansen is presently the Services Coordinator of the Douglas Students' Union - in British Columbia! - while Ken Marciniec is the National Executive Representative for CFS-Ontario. Mr. Marciniec administers, on behalf of the Canadian Federation of Students, the domain www.casa-acae.ca, which just happens to be the bilingual domain name of CASA (as The Paulinian has documented). He also administers, on behalf of CFS-Ontario (!), the "new and improved" website of the University of Toronto Students' Administrative Council.

Kwantlen Student Association Lawsuit Settles

A settlement has been reached between the Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) and a group of Kwantlen University College students over a lawsuit over alleged KSA procedural violations, gaming fraud, and electoral fraud. The Vancouver Sun has provided a summary of the case.

Specifically, the petition [PDF] of a group of four Kwantlen students alleges the following:

• powers that the Bylaws specified were properly the domain of Council (such as setting the budget) and of the General Manager (such as managing staff) were delegated to the Executive
• the Executive increased their own salaries (by over 80%) without the matter going to Council
• various members of Council were removed from office through procedurally irregular means, and four members of the KSA were actually expelled
• a Special General Meeting was held in September 2005, but inadequate notice was given, and a motion to adopt a radically altered set of Bylaws was voted on in a confusing and undemocratic manner (debate was not allowed, and the 'no' votes were not called for)
• one Executive member was offered a bribe in exchange for his voluntary resignation
• the spring 2006 elections were conducted in an irregular manner - the Elections Committee was established by executive fiat, ballots were not secured, campus representatives were elected by students across all four campuses, etc.

The petitioners requested that a new election be held under the supervision of "the Chief Returning Officer of the Alma Mater Society of the University of British Columbia," trusting the AMS to be an "independent third party."

The final settlement [PDF] does not mention the AMS, but it nonetheless satisfies most of the requests of the petitioners. The September 2005 Special General Meeting was ruled invalid, a caretaker executive was established (including two of the petitioners), and new elections will be held on October 17-19, 2006.

For more information see Steve Lee's webpage and blog.

Eleven Universities Stop Participating in Maclean's Rankings

Eleven Canadian universities have sent a letter [PDF] to Maclean's magazine, informing the magazine that they "will not be participating in the 2006 Maclean's questionnaire." They objected to the "arbitrary" way in which multiple variables (such as class sizes, library capacity, and reputation) were combined together into a single ranking. They objected in particular to the "reputation" value, which is calculated from a survey that has been receiving a very low response rate.

However, Maclean's is not backing down. Tony Keller, managing editor of special projects for Maclean's, promised that the rankings would continue, and that data from the eleven withdrawing universities would be retrieved from "other sources" or from access to information requests. The latter strategy could prove to be expensive for the withdrawing universities, since all requests for information under freedom-of-information laws need to be processed by specialized staff. (Or at least that is the case at SFU....)

The decision by eleven universities to stop participating in the survey may seriously affect the survey. Nine of the eleven universities are classified as "Medical/Doctoral" universities by Maclean's university (according to their 2005 survey results), comprising a clear majority of "Medical/Doctoral" universities in Canada. Simon Fraser University, a "Comprehensive" school, and the University of Lethbridge, a "Primarily Undergraduate" university, make up the remainder of the anti-rankings alliance.

Hunsdale not a member in good standing

It has come to the attention of concerned SFU students that SFSS President Shawn Hunsdale is not a member in good standing of the Simon Fraser Student Society.

Members of the student body and concerned SFSS board members attempted to address the issue at the Wednesday, August 9 Board of Directors meeting.

Graduate At-Large, Ben Milne, put forward a motion at the beginning of the meeting that all board members prove that they are members in good standing. The motion was put as an agenda item at the end of the agenda, and the agenda was passed. Shortly after, it was requested by a number of students in attendance and staff personnel that the motion be moved to the beginning of the meeting, as the verification of members in good standing was supposed to have taken place at the first board meeting of the summer.

The chair, Lukas Schuller, declined the request, saying that the agenda had already been adopted and that it will stay at the end of the meeting.

Due to an oversight of sorts, the first board meeting of the summer passed without a call to ensure that all board members are members in good standing of the student society. Failing to pay student fees or, if you are returning to the board for a second year, failing to have completed an exit report for your previous term on board, makes one a member in bad standing.

Hunsdale, and several other members of the current Board of Directors, fit into this category. For the duration of the summer they have acted as board members but are not, in fact, allowed to be sitting on the board.

Hunsdale had failed to turn in his exit report for his term as External Relations Officer last year. When questioned during the board meeting, he claimed that he handed it in to Vanessa Kelly, SFSS Treasurer. She confirmed that this was the case. However, Sam Bradd noted during the meeting that it should have been turned into Brandy Zimmerman, a staff member (currently on leave). The exit report has since found its way to the proper location.

Past board members have noted that last year, Hunsdale wrote his exit report during the same board meeting he handed it in at.

If it should be the case that the board members who are currently thought to not to be members in good standing, all decisions made by the board over the summer will have been made out of order.

- See the second comment on this post for details on by-laws concerning members in good standing. (Thanks AVB!).

A quick rundown:

More votes of non-confidence
The list of student groups who have cast votes of non-confidence in the current SFSS Board of Directors has now expanded to include the following graduate student associations/societies:

English
History
Communication
Latin American Studies
Women Studies
Engineering Science
Math
Biology
Chemistry

The Graduate Issues Committee has also passed a vote of non-confidence, and the International Students' Group has written a letter of concern to the SFSS.

Dunnet answers (and doesn’t answer) the Education Graduate Student Association

Last Wednesday, August 9, Margo Dunnet, External Relations Officer of the SFSS, met with the Education Graduate Student Association to answer questions concerning the recent events at the SFSS.

For a cohesive list of questions asked and answered (or not answered, as the case may be) please refer to this PDF document.

Highlights of the session include:

- The computers were removed from the SFSS staff offices to “ensure the integrity of the investigation. Office locks were changed because the BoD is unsure how many keys are floating around from past years.” Because there was a delay in the changing of locks, the computers were removed.
- The Board has finally compiled all of their various answers to the question “was the Graduate Health Plan computer touched while Kathy was gone” into one cohesive answer: No, it was not. It stayed in Kathy’s office, and the only time her office was accessed was to change the fax paper in the fax machine of the office.

Appologies for delays in posting.
Further appologies for my inability to create headlines.
Titus, your blog is being strange at me.

- Amanda

Former Directors Speak Out

Thirty-four former members of the Board of Directors of the Simon Fraser Student Society have added their names to a letter to the SFSS [PDF] that was sent earlier today to the Board. The signatories include directors from nine different terms (ranging from 1995/96 to 2006/07).

And in other news, I'm going on vacation! Amanda McCuaig, Production Editor of The Peak, will be filling in during my one week absence from civilization.

The Latest at SFU

• Representatives of the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) have indicated that more information on the recent firing of the Graduate Issues and University Relations Coordinator will be disclosed at tomorrow's meeting of the Board of Directors
  
  
• SFSS Democracy Now is a new website on the present controversy. It has lots of information, including a comprehensive timeline and an online petition.
  
  
• CUPE 3338, the union that represents clerical, secretarial, and technical staff at SFU and that also represents staff in the Food and Beverage Services Department of the SFSS, has written a letter to the SFSS expressing their "grave concerns."
  
  
• The International Students' Group of SFU has also put information on the recent controversy on their website. They have also uploaded an extract of the minutes of a recent meeting of the Graduate Issues Committee (GIC) in which these concerns were raised, and in which GIC passed a motion of non-confidence [PDF] in the Board of Directors.
  
  
• The SFSS has made no efforts to remove the name or the email address of the fired staff person from its website.
  
  
• Coincidentally, SFSS President Shawn Hunsdale proposed the following as a new SFSS Administrative Policy at a committee meeting earlier today:

“All staff and elected representatives of the Simon Fraser Student Society shall make every reasonable effort to avoid conflicts of interest wherever they may arise, in accordance with standards of fairness, decency, and good sense.

“The Simon Fraser Student Society will take every precaution to guard against favouritism in hiring. All staff and elected representatives must be scrupulously fair and honest in assuring that positions are well advertised and that appointments are offered always to the best-qualified candidates.

“If a potential conflict of interest is identified in any dealings of the Society, the Board of Directors may, at its discretion, review the process followed to ensure that the standards of fairness, decency, and good sense have been strictly adhered to and the best interests of the Society have been sought in all dealings.

“In the event that a conflict of interest arises in any dealings of the Simon Fraser Student Society wherein the best interests of the Society have not been sought by either staff or an elected representative, the Board of Directors shall seek to implement appropriate disciplinary measures, up to and including impeachment or dismissal."

An Tricky Situation

Responding to a blog entry on SFU Students for Democracy, Vanessa Kelly, Treasurer of the Simon Fraser Student Society, speaks:

I would also like a chance to quote article 7(c) of the collective agreement between CUPE 5396 and the SFSS:
Confidential Information Reporting: The employer shall not give any confidential information about an employee to ANYONE without the permission of the employee concerned. The Employer shall restrict the transfer of all information related to the matter to seated members of the Board of Directors. If discussion is necessary in a meeting of the Board of Directors, it shall be "in camera"...

I'll tell you everything you want to know as soon as I'm allowed. Until then I would like to impress that this has will have ZERO impact on the Grad Health Plan. Grads make that decision, not me.

This comment mirrors a statement on her personal blog:

Message to the Membership

As of Wednesday, July 26, 2006, the Simon Fraser Student Society has been conducting an internal investigation. To ensure a smooth and thorough process, seven staff members were asked to go on paid leave for a period of four working days. I apologize for any inconvenience that may have resulted from this absence. However, this investigation was necessary.

The results of the investigation cannot, at this time, be disclosed in respect for the individual(s) involved. In addition, I have been advised by legal council [sic] not to disclose the findings of this investigation.

Again, I apologize for any inconvenience this investigation has caused.

These comments - which to date are (to my knowledge) the only written statements of any of the members of the Powers That Be - deserve a proper response.

In essence, the Board of Directors is stuck in a quandary: if they continue to refuse to reveal to the membership the reasons behind their recent controversial decision, then the members will be unhappy and reach conclusions that the Board would be unhappy with. But if they break radio silence and tell all, then CUPE 5396 will file a grievance for breaking confidentiality!

And so the (implied) response of the Board of Directors to the membership is simply this: "Trust us."

Unfortunately, I am sceptical. The fact is, many similar situations have happened at other student unions in Canada in recent years, under highly suspicious circumstances. OUCSAK (now known as UBC Students' Union-Okanagan) replaced its General Manager shortly after the CFS partisans took over; similarly at the Ryerson Students' Union. The same was true at the University of Saskatchewan (and shortly thereafter, a notebook was discovered documenting a conspiracy to "purge staff" and "replace" them with "good staff - CFS").

Most notoriously, UBC Alma Mater Society General Manager Bernie Peets was abruptly fired in December 2004, in a secret decision of the Executive Committee, over concerns with a different CFS service - Travel CUTS. The Executive Committee of the AMS tried as hard as they could to keep the issue as quiet as possible, warning Council members to speak nothing about the issue. They even brought in a lawyer whom they (incorrectly) claimed was a specialist in the removal of general managers - Don Crane (!) - neglecting to mention Mr. Crane's close connections to the Canadian Federation of Students (and lack of specialized experience in general-manager removal).

Now, it is entirely possible that the recent decision made today at SFU has no relation to these decisions at other student unions. But I think that I am perfectly within my rights to be suspicious of what has happened today. The Board of Directors must give us something better than just "trust us."

Fired!

The SFSS staffer who was "under investigation" by the executive was just fired.

But SFU students are not sitting idly by.

A new blog has been formed: SFU Students For Democracy.

An Update on SFU Situation

Six of the seven staff persons have been sent back to work. It has been noted that their computers have been searched during their absence.

Clement Abas Apaak, former SFSS President, former Louis Riel Tenants' Association leader, founder and chair of Canadian Students for Darfur, and current Teaching Support Staff Union coordinator, has a lot to say to the current SFSS leadership. Choice quote:

"Your actions have caused those of us who had faith in you and your abilities to reconsider our positions. I now find myself contemplating withdrawing my support for your BoD, and thinking of joining the advocacy for a separate and autonomous Grad Student Society. I am disappointed, but hope that the BoD has a good explanation. I hope and pray that your recent actions are NOT driven by personal agendas and the desire to please external forces. If my fears are confirmed, you can be sure I will lead students in demanding justice and accountability as provided in our laws."

... And on an unrelated note (except where SFSS President Shawn Hunsdale's near non-attendance at the Board of Governors meeting is noted), the Board of Governors of SFU has approved a temporary freeze on rental rates at Louis Riel House! Unfortunately, the freeze will only extend until September 30, at which point the Board of Governors will receive an updated "sustainability plan" (note the use of the buzzword "sustainability"!) for residences at SFU from the university administration. Watch as I completely mangle my interview with The Peak....

Great Moments in Human Resources Management

The Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) ordered seven key staffers to go on paid leave last Wednesday, pending an "investigation", the details of which are as yet unknown to the general student population. However, it is known that the Graduate Issues and University Relations Coordinator and the Graduate Benefit Plan Coordinator are being subjected to interrogations today. SFSS executives aren't talking to the press or to the general public, but the evidence points towards an attempt to leave the SFSS Graduate Health and Dental Plan with Gallivan and Associates, and possibly to join the CFS National Student Health Network.

Fortunately, The Peak has been covering this issue in great detail:

• [News] Campus Fiasco: Seven SFSS staff sent home (Amanda McCuaig)
• [News] Campus Fiasco: Senior staff questioned (Amanda McCuaig and Derrick Harder)
• [Opinion] Campus Views: SFSS Fiasco - start to a crazy year (Amanda McCuaig)
• [Opinion] SFSS’ “Night of the Long Knives” (Kevin Tilley)
• [Letter] What happened to SFSS staff? (Bryan Jones)

There is very little that I can add at the present time to what The Peak has covered - in either news or commentary. However, The Peak did leave out one important facet of this story. Both Financial Coordinators have been placed on leave, leaving the Society's Finance Office empty. However, the Society has not been shut down. This raises an important question: who is doing the accounting? Are the SFSS executives trying to do the accounting? Or are they just spending money without keeping track of what they are spending?

.............
UPDATE (2006-08-03): I can now answer the questions that I asked. I have been informed that the Society's auditors (who are qualified accountants) did some of the cheque writing for some of the Society's employees. Furthermore, both Financial Coordinators are now back at work.