Students’ Council to debate SU membership fee increase

News Staff - Mon Feb 01, 2016

Dear students,

The Students’ Union’s Executive Committee intends to increase your membership fees by 7.7 per cent annually for each of the next three years. This fee increase is required to fund wage increases that are a direct result of the Government of Alberta’s proposal to increase the minimum wage. Students’ Council will discuss and vote on this motion to increase membership fees on February 2nd, 2016 at 6pm in Council Chambers.

In order to comply with the new legislation, the Students’ Union must either increase revenue or make cuts to existing programs essential to undergraduate students. While any increase in fees is of concern to students who already pay a significant amount in tuition and University fees, we believe students value existing programming and services. Additionally, a higher minimum wage will benefit the many students currently working for the Students’ Union.

The Students’ Union currently employs approximately 300 people, 60% of whom are students. 65% of our employees currently make less than $15 an hour. In order to finance wage increases for these and other SU staff, we estimate that the SU will require an additional $1,000,000 for its annual operating budget by the end of 2018. 50 to 60 per cent of this increase will be covered by the additional membership fees, with the rest coming from optimizing departmental efficiencies as well as moderate increases to prices in our businesses, in line with those of our competitors.

Mirroring the gradual increase to the provincial minimum wage, the proposed increases will be staggered over the next three years, as follows:

• May 1, 2016: Fall/Winter Term fee increases by $3.00 per term for full-time students and $1.50 for part-time students; Spring and Summer term fee increases by $1.50
• May 1, 2017: Fall/Winter Term fee increases by $3.25 per term for full-time students and $1.63 for part-time students; Spring and Summer term fee increases by $1.63
• May 1, 2018: Fall/Winter Term fee increases by $3.50 per term for full-time students and $1.75 for part-time students; Spring and Summer term fee increases by $1.75

The motion to increase Students’ Union fees will be debated by Students’ Council on Tuesday, February 2, 2016. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Navneet Khinda
President
navneet.khinda@su.ualberta.ca

Cody Bondarchuk
VP (Operations & Finance)
cody.bondarchuk@su.ualberta.ca

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