Simon Fraser Student Society
Encyclopedia
The Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) is the students' union
of Simon Fraser University
in Metro Vancouver, Canada
. It was founded after the opening of Simon Fraser University in 1967.
The SFSS consists of over 26,000 students, with an annual budget of over one million dollars. Membership is mandatory, and all SFU students as members are charged fees collected by the university on behalf of the SFSS. The organization employs both permanent and student staff, and is located on the second level of the Maggie Benston Centre on SFU's Burnaby Campus. The student society also has an office and provides services at the satellite campus of SFU Surrey with Ed Deeks as the sole staff operating there. The SFSS does not own a student union building but there has been ongoing debates and discussion with the University pertaining to the possibility of including a Student Union Building (SUB) in future reconstruction on the Burnaby Campus.
The SFSS operates a copy centre where printing services are provided. Other services also include a soup bar, a coffee shop
, a pub
, a Women's Centre, and a LGBT
Centre on the Burnaby campus. It distributes dayplanners, and provides legal clinics and funding for departmental student unions, campus clubs, social events, academic events and political groups.
Forum is composed of elected representatives from all of the Departmental Student Unions and the constituent groups (Out On Campus, Women's Centre, Residence Hall Association, Students United for Disability Supports). The Board of Directors are Honorary Members of Forum as per the constitution of the Society. This body is responsible for the general direction of the Society, as well as advising the Board on a variety of issues relevant to students.
The Board of Directors is composed entirely of representatives elected directly by students. The Board is responsible for, and exercises full control over the affairs of the Society. In addition, it is the only recognized medium of communication between its members, the University and the general public. The Board meets bi-weekly year-round.
Since the creation of the SFSS in 1967, it has represented graduate and undergraduate students with one Society.
However, during the Spring 2007 election, Graduate Students voted to form their own society separate from the SFSS. This is the Graduate Students Society (GSS) at Simon Fraser University. The expected start date for full separation is May 1, 2008.
Like many student unions in BC, the SFSS also relies heavily on a permanent staff, who hold various bureaucratic positions and help assist board members and in some cases assist in the development of policy. SFSS staff are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees
Local 3338 after a merger from Local 5396.
, women's rights
, gay rights, First Nations, the disabled, and international students. The SFSS' membership in the Canadian Federation of Students
has been an enormously controversial, and has been debated in almost every SFSS election to date.
In 2005, members voted in favour of a graduate health and dental plan. The Student Society began providing health and dental plan services to graduate students in September 2005.
, and to eliminate the health plan. A student petition resulted in having three referendum questions decided in the 1997 general election. Of the three referendum questions, only the referendum question on axing the health plan passed.
of 500 members is required to make any changes to the Student Society's bylaw
s and constitution
at the Society's annual general meeting
. As the university has approximately 28,000 students, it means that only 2% of student population is needed to make wide reaching changes with regards to the SFSS. Despite this, quorum has been unattainable most years, In 2005, the Society proposed to change the bylaw for quorum from 500 to 100.
In the fall 2003 semester, the Society spent $15,000 hosting a free dinner for students to encourage turnout at the annual general meeting to achieve quorum. Although the quorum of 500 was met, students left part-way through the meeting, causing the meeting to lose quorum. As a result no voting was done, and an outcry ensued from students for allegedly wasting student fees. The 2006 special general meeting (see "Impeachment") marks the first time quorum has been effectively reached in 10 years.
On 10 October 2007, members of the Simon Fraser Student Society achieved the quorum
of over 500 at the annual general meeting
, three major by-laws changes occurred. Graduate students, who had previously voted for full independence in March, will as of March or September 2008 no longer be members of the Simon Fraser Student Society. Graduate students were, throughout the meeting, the majority of attendees, and had an interest in the above amendment, shown by their higher than usual turnout (Graduate students represent about 15% of all students at SFU). A motion to lower quorum from 500 to 250 passed with 77%, and another resolution passed giving members of the society the ability to vote on future by-law changes by referenda as well as at General meetings, also passed.
5396, and can not disclose the justifications for terminating the employee. However, they have iterated that they had just cause
and that they are prepared to go to arbitration
. These Directors later illegally disclosed the supposed reason during classroom speaking sessions which was recorded as part of the regular lecture recording.The fired employer was later reinstated and arbitration results included a full retroactive pay.
An organisation called Students for a Democratic University instigated a petition for a special general meeting under the SFSS's bylaws and the Society Act of British Columbia that called for the impeachment of seven directors and two bylaw changes that would alter funding and decision making authority within the SFSS. The petition had signatures from 9.8% of all students, exceeding the 5% required to call a meeting, according to an SFSS bylaw. Despite this, the directors up for impeachment insisted the petition was insufficient, quoting the Society Act, which says a meeting must be called if 10% sign a petition.
A special general meeting (called by Forum) of the SFSS was held on October 25, 2006 in the school's Convocation Mall. 1028 students attended overall (up to 760 at the same time) the Special General Meeting, and voted in favor of motions to impeach the seven directors (Shawn Hunsdale, Wei Li, Margo Dunnet, Vanessa Kelly, Erica Halpern, Marion Pollock, Glyn Lewis
) and to two amendments to the bylaws of the society.
In response, the seven directors claimed that the special general meeting was invalid by claiming the Forum meeting used to call the special general meeting itself was invalid, and issued guidelines to the staff of the society. They asked the Supreme Court of British Columbia
to declare the impeachments invalid. The bank account of the SFSS was frozen due to the controversy over who were the legitimate directors of the SFSS. This issue was resolved on November 23, 2006 with a court order enforcing an agreement between the impeached directors and the remaining directors.
While President Shawn Hunsdale has resigned after his impeachment, he maintained his claim that the special general meeting that impeached him is invalid. The President of the University itself, Michael Stevenson, stated that until the Supreme Court of BC made a decision, students, as well as the impeached directors, should respect the SGM.
In December 2006, the BC Supreme Court ruled that the special general meeting and impeachment were legitimate and there was no issue with the Forum. The court also stated that in the event that there was a problem with the Forum, the petition was sufficient and should have been followed, and assigned all costs to the individual impeached directors.
After this plebiscite the SFSS engaged in the regular defederation process, collecting over 3000 signatures during the summer semester for a defederation vote six months hence.
In the vote, which was held in March 2008, students again voted to leave by a 66% majority.
The status of the 2008 referendum remains disputed by both parties, with the SFSS maintaining it is no longer a member of the CFS and the CFS maintaining that it is . Both the CFS and SFSS are currently petitioning the courts to have their arguments legally upheld. SFSS has since recommended to other student governments that they avoid membership within the Canadian Federation of Students.
Students' union
A students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges and universities, and has started appearing in some high schools...
of Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
in Metro Vancouver, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It was founded after the opening of Simon Fraser University in 1967.
The SFSS consists of over 26,000 students, with an annual budget of over one million dollars. Membership is mandatory, and all SFU students as members are charged fees collected by the university on behalf of the SFSS. The organization employs both permanent and student staff, and is located on the second level of the Maggie Benston Centre on SFU's Burnaby Campus. The student society also has an office and provides services at the satellite campus of SFU Surrey with Ed Deeks as the sole staff operating there. The SFSS does not own a student union building but there has been ongoing debates and discussion with the University pertaining to the possibility of including a Student Union Building (SUB) in future reconstruction on the Burnaby Campus.
The SFSS operates a copy centre where printing services are provided. Other services also include a soup bar, a coffee shop
Coffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
, a pub
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, a Women's Centre, and a LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
Centre on the Burnaby campus. It distributes dayplanners, and provides legal clinics and funding for departmental student unions, campus clubs, social events, academic events and political groups.
Structure
The Simon Fraser Student Society has two major decision-making bodies (Forum and the Board of Directors) and a variety of committees.Forum is composed of elected representatives from all of the Departmental Student Unions and the constituent groups (Out On Campus, Women's Centre, Residence Hall Association, Students United for Disability Supports). The Board of Directors are Honorary Members of Forum as per the constitution of the Society. This body is responsible for the general direction of the Society, as well as advising the Board on a variety of issues relevant to students.
The Board of Directors is composed entirely of representatives elected directly by students. The Board is responsible for, and exercises full control over the affairs of the Society. In addition, it is the only recognized medium of communication between its members, the University and the general public. The Board meets bi-weekly year-round.
Since the creation of the SFSS in 1967, it has represented graduate and undergraduate students with one Society.
However, during the Spring 2007 election, Graduate Students voted to form their own society separate from the SFSS. This is the Graduate Students Society (GSS) at Simon Fraser University. The expected start date for full separation is May 1, 2008.
Like many student unions in BC, the SFSS also relies heavily on a permanent staff, who hold various bureaucratic positions and help assist board members and in some cases assist in the development of policy. SFSS staff are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees
Canadian Union of Public Employees
The Canadian Union of Public Employees is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector - although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well...
Local 3338 after a merger from Local 5396.
History
Since its founding in 1967, the organization has been highly politicized, generally led by left wing leaders. Main campaigns have centered around opposing tuition fee increases and increasing student financial assistance. In addition, the Society has also campaigned for student-dominated university decision-making, academic freedom, improved student services, social democracySocial democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
, women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
, gay rights, First Nations, the disabled, and international students. The SFSS' membership in the Canadian Federation of Students
Canadian Federation of Students
The Canadian Federation of Students is the largest student organization in Canada. Founded in 1981, the stated goal of the CFS is to work at the federal level for high quality, accessible post-secondary education.-Structure:...
has been an enormously controversial, and has been debated in almost every SFSS election to date.
In 2005, members voted in favour of a graduate health and dental plan. The Student Society began providing health and dental plan services to graduate students in September 2005.
Student health plan
In 1996, the organization imposed a mandatory health plan to the student population after passing a referendum question during an earlier election. The health plan sparked much controversy on campus. A group of students started a campaign to dissolve the student society, drastically reduce the student society membership fees, withdraw from the Canadian Federation of StudentsCanadian Federation of Students
The Canadian Federation of Students is the largest student organization in Canada. Founded in 1981, the stated goal of the CFS is to work at the federal level for high quality, accessible post-secondary education.-Structure:...
, and to eliminate the health plan. A student petition resulted in having three referendum questions decided in the 1997 general election. Of the three referendum questions, only the referendum question on axing the health plan passed.
Quorum
Until recently, a quorumQuorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group...
of 500 members is required to make any changes to the Student Society's bylaw
Bylaw
By-law can refer to a law of local or limited application passed under the authority of a higher law specifying what things may be regulated by the by-law...
s and constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
at the Society's annual general meeting
Annual general meeting
An annual general meeting is a meeting that official bodies, and associations involving the public , are often required by law to hold...
. As the university has approximately 28,000 students, it means that only 2% of student population is needed to make wide reaching changes with regards to the SFSS. Despite this, quorum has been unattainable most years, In 2005, the Society proposed to change the bylaw for quorum from 500 to 100.
In the fall 2003 semester, the Society spent $15,000 hosting a free dinner for students to encourage turnout at the annual general meeting to achieve quorum. Although the quorum of 500 was met, students left part-way through the meeting, causing the meeting to lose quorum. As a result no voting was done, and an outcry ensued from students for allegedly wasting student fees. The 2006 special general meeting (see "Impeachment") marks the first time quorum has been effectively reached in 10 years.
On 10 October 2007, members of the Simon Fraser Student Society achieved the quorum
Quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group...
of over 500 at the annual general meeting
Annual general meeting
An annual general meeting is a meeting that official bodies, and associations involving the public , are often required by law to hold...
, three major by-laws changes occurred. Graduate students, who had previously voted for full independence in March, will as of March or September 2008 no longer be members of the Simon Fraser Student Society. Graduate students were, throughout the meeting, the majority of attendees, and had an interest in the above amendment, shown by their higher than usual turnout (Graduate students represent about 15% of all students at SFU). A motion to lower quorum from 500 to 250 passed with 77%, and another resolution passed giving members of the society the ability to vote on future by-law changes by referenda as well as at General meetings, also passed.
Impeachment
In July 2006, the Board of Directors directed seven full time staff members to go on leave with pay and benefits to complete an investigation into internal issues. The investigation lasted 5 working days. Society keys and email passwords were confiscated, and computers were searched. Staff were directed not to enter SFSS property until directed otherwise. In August, a staff member was fired as a result of the investigation. Directors, in Board meetings on July 26, August 9, and 23, have outlined that they are bound by confidentiality in their collective agreement with CUPECanadian Union of Public Employees
The Canadian Union of Public Employees is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector - although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well...
5396, and can not disclose the justifications for terminating the employee. However, they have iterated that they had just cause
Just cause
Just cause or Bare sagen is a common standard in labor arbitration that is used in labor union contracts in the United States as a form of job security.-Use in Labor Union Contracts:...
and that they are prepared to go to arbitration
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
. These Directors later illegally disclosed the supposed reason during classroom speaking sessions which was recorded as part of the regular lecture recording.The fired employer was later reinstated and arbitration results included a full retroactive pay.
An organisation called Students for a Democratic University instigated a petition for a special general meeting under the SFSS's bylaws and the Society Act of British Columbia that called for the impeachment of seven directors and two bylaw changes that would alter funding and decision making authority within the SFSS. The petition had signatures from 9.8% of all students, exceeding the 5% required to call a meeting, according to an SFSS bylaw. Despite this, the directors up for impeachment insisted the petition was insufficient, quoting the Society Act, which says a meeting must be called if 10% sign a petition.
A special general meeting (called by Forum) of the SFSS was held on October 25, 2006 in the school's Convocation Mall. 1028 students attended overall (up to 760 at the same time) the Special General Meeting, and voted in favor of motions to impeach the seven directors (Shawn Hunsdale, Wei Li, Margo Dunnet, Vanessa Kelly, Erica Halpern, Marion Pollock, Glyn Lewis
Glyn Lewis
Glyn Lewis is a British professor of psychiatric epidemiology.Glyn Lewis was born in Wales. He studied at University College, Oxford, where he played saxophone with The Oxcentrics, a Dixieland jazz band....
) and to two amendments to the bylaws of the society.
In response, the seven directors claimed that the special general meeting was invalid by claiming the Forum meeting used to call the special general meeting itself was invalid, and issued guidelines to the staff of the society. They asked the Supreme Court of British Columbia
Supreme Court of British Columbia
The Supreme Court of British Columbia is the superior trial court for the province of British Columbia. The BCSC hears civil and criminal law cases as well as appeals from the Provincial Court of British Columbia. Including supernumerary judges, there are presently 108 judges...
to declare the impeachments invalid. The bank account of the SFSS was frozen due to the controversy over who were the legitimate directors of the SFSS. This issue was resolved on November 23, 2006 with a court order enforcing an agreement between the impeached directors and the remaining directors.
While President Shawn Hunsdale has resigned after his impeachment, he maintained his claim that the special general meeting that impeached him is invalid. The President of the University itself, Michael Stevenson, stated that until the Supreme Court of BC made a decision, students, as well as the impeached directors, should respect the SGM.
In December 2006, the BC Supreme Court ruled that the special general meeting and impeachment were legitimate and there was no issue with the Forum. The court also stated that in the event that there was a problem with the Forum, the petition was sufficient and should have been followed, and assigned all costs to the individual impeached directors.
Canadian Federation of Students
In March 2007 the Simon Fraser Student Society conducted a non-binding plebiscite where over 75% of voting members voted to leave the CFS. The power of this plebiscite to give a clear mandate was questioned by some . The referendum was held in conjunction with the general election of 2007.After this plebiscite the SFSS engaged in the regular defederation process, collecting over 3000 signatures during the summer semester for a defederation vote six months hence.
In the vote, which was held in March 2008, students again voted to leave by a 66% majority.
The status of the 2008 referendum remains disputed by both parties, with the SFSS maintaining it is no longer a member of the CFS and the CFS maintaining that it is . Both the CFS and SFSS are currently petitioning the courts to have their arguments legally upheld. SFSS has since recommended to other student governments that they avoid membership within the Canadian Federation of Students.