Concordia Student Union

Concordia Student Union
CSU Logo
Abbreviation	CSU
Formation	1979
Extinction	n/a
Type	Student Union
Legal status	Accredited Association, Not-for-Profit
Purpose/focus	Student Representation
Headquarters	Hall Building, Suite 711
Location	1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. Montreal, Qc, H3G 1M8
Region served	Concordia University
Membership	~33,000 Concordia undergraduates
Official languages	English
President	Lex Gill
Main organ	Council (Board of Directors)
Affiliations	FEUQ
Budget	4.5 million CAD$
Staff	~35
Volunteers	~200
Website	CSU Website

The Concordia Student Union (usually referred to as the CSU) is the organization representing undergraduate students at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its membership totals more than 33,000.^[1]

History

Origin

The CSU was founded in 1979 from the merger of the Sir George Williams Day Students’ Association (DSA), the SGW Part-Time Students’ Association (PTSA), the Loyola Evening Students’ Association Inc. (LESA) and the Loyola Students’ Association Inc. (LSA).^{[citation needed]}

The impetus for the merger was the previous merger of Sir George William University with Loyola College, which had taken place at the initiative of the Quebec Government in 1974, that had resulted in the creation of Concordia University.^{[citation needed]}

The CSU was originally named the Concordia University Students’ Association (CUSA). It was incorporated in 1982 as the Concordia University Students’ Association Inc. The name was changed to Concordia Student Union Inc. in 1994 and the “Inc.” was dropped from the name in 2002.^[2]

Strike of 1999

As the 1990s progressed, students began growing . Recently, in the heart of downtown Montreal, gangs became more militant, coming to a head in 1999 with the election of the first in a series of radical slates to the Concordia Student Union. Under the presidency of Rob Green, a referendum regarding of another strike garnered 2,284 votes of support.^{[citation needed]} This was an unusually strong show of support, as student governments at Concordia are often elected on the basis of less than 1000 votes in their favor.^{[citation needed]} The strike lasted from November 3 to 5th and targeted a range of issues, including student representation in the university senate, corporate presence and advertising on campus, and government became evident.^{[citation needed]} There were several demonstrations in which both protesters and police were reported to be injured.^{[citation needed]}

Accreditation

In 2001, CSU undertook an accreditation drive, to legally represent all undergraduate students at Concordia, and was successful in its endeavour, though heavily opposed by the accredited faculty undergraduate student associations for Engineering and Commerce.^[3]

In Quebec, the Act respecting the accreditation and financing of students' associations provides for the accreditation of student governments by way of referendum, which requires the educational institution to recognize the association as representative of the students and to collect the membership fee from all students. The Act allows for separate accreditations at different levels in an educational establishment (e.g. departments, faculties or institution wide).^[4]

At Concordia University, the CSU is the university-wide association.^{[citation needed]} There are both accredited and un-accredited faculty associations on campus.^{[citation needed]}

Orientation

The CSU has hosted many popular musicians at the Orientation (Frosh) at the beginning of each year, including the Violent Femmes, Wyclef Jean, Snoop Dogg, The Wailers, K-OS, Matthew Good, Metric, Finger Eleven, Kardinal Offishall and K'Naan. The 2011-2012 CSU Orientation hosted almost exclusively local musicians under the banner of "Your Montreal."

Speaker Series

The CSU has also brought many prominent figures on campus to speak to students on various issues, including Nobel Peace Prize winnersElie Wiesel Wangari Maathai and Shirin Ebadi, political figure and activist Al Sharpton, director and actor Spike Lee, 2008 U.S. Presidential candidate Ralph Nadar, Liberal politicians Justin Trudeau and Michael Ignatieff.

Netanyahu Protest

On September 9, 2002, a scheduled visit from former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was cancelled after protesters supported and organized by members of the CSU clashed with police inside the building.^{[citation needed]}

There were indications prior to September 9 that the speech would face opposition.^{[citation needed]} Organizers were warned by campus security against allowing the talk to proceed. A security assessment done for the university administration deemed the event an unmanageable risk and recommended it not be held.^{[citation needed]} However, a second assessment was later performed and the event was allowed to proceed, albeit with extraordinary security measures.^{[citation needed]}

Before the speech was to take place, protesters inside the building stormed barricades which had been set up to block access to the building's lobby from the inside and were stopped at the escalator leading to the lobby by police in riot gear.^{[citation needed]} Protesters outside the building began banging on the windows.^{[citation needed]} For the duration of the standoff, ticket-holders pushed their way through a thick crowd of protesters outside the building and entered through a secured access point complete with metal detectors, and were then escorted to the auditorium where the lecture was to take place.^{[citation needed]}

Approximately one hour later, a large exterior window separating the protesters from the police inside shattered, prompting a police officer to immediately discharge pepper spray through the window.^{[citation needed]} The spray entered the building's ventilation system forcing an evacuation.^{[citation needed]} At approximately the same time, a second window on the building's first floor, on the western side and away from police was broken when protesters threw a metal barricade into it.^{[citation needed]}

The immediate result of the protest and subsequent evacuation was the cancellation of the lecture.^{[citation needed]} The university instituted additional measures to avert future incidents, including the temporary banning of any events related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as enabling the use of new student disciplinary rules in case of emergency.^{[citation needed]}

Five demonstrators were arrested and an additional 12 faced internal disciplinary hearings under the University's Code of Rights and Responsibilities^{[citation needed]}.

Following this in November of the same year after accusing Jewish group Hillel of violating policy by handing out flyers that recruiting for the Israeli Defense Force on campus the CSU suspended the club's activities.^{[citation needed]}

Following the Netanyahu protest and banning of Hillel students on campus, a new administration was elected in March 2003 called Evolution Not Revolution.^{[citation needed]}

Governance

Council

The CSU is governed by its Council of Representatives (its board of directors).^[5] Voting members of the Council are elected annually by the undergraduate students of Concordia University, with seats reserved for representatives of the four faculties at Concordia University and for representatives of independent students.^[6]

Each year the total number of seats is set by Council and the distribution is adjusted to match enrollment. ^[7] There are currently 30 seats for voting members of Council: Fourteen (14) from the Faculty of Arts & Science, six (6) from the John Molson School of Business, three (3) from the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, three (3) for the Faculty of Fine Arts and four (4) for Independent students.^{[citation needed]}

The Council elects its non-voting Chair and secretary from the members of the CSU.^[8] The members of the Executive are ex-officio members and can present and move resolutions and speak, but cannot vote.^[9]

Executive

The CSU is managed on a day-to-day basis by the Executive, composed of the President and between 3 - 7 Vice-Presidents. The Executive is elected by the membership as a slate in an annual election held in March concurrently with the elections for Council.^[10]

CSU Executive 2011/2012 ^[11]

• President Lex Gill
• Vice-President External Chad Walcott
• Vice-President Student Life & Sustainability Laura Glover
• Vice-President Academic Hasan Cheikhzen
• Vice-President Services & Loyola Melissa Fuller
• Vice-President Clubs & Student Space Gonzo Nieto
• Vice-President Finance Jordan Lindsay
• Vice-President Outreach & Advocacy Morgan Pudwell

Judicial Board

The Judicial Board is appointed by the Council to act as a domestic tribunal to resolve internal disputes. It can be overruled if Council overrules the decision by a four-fifth majority, and only if the board's decision was racist, sexist, homophobic, exhibiting a conflict of interest, or manifestly unreasonable.^[12]

Services

Off Campus Housing and Job Bank

The CSU Off Campus Housing and Job Bank provides support for students look for jobs, housing and those with problems dealing with the same. It is regarded by some as one of the best source of housing for students in Montreal ^[13]

Advocacy Centre

The CSU Student Advocacy Centre is committed to the promotion and preservation of undergraduate student’s academic rights at Concordia University. Their efforts are aimed at helping students who find themselves in difficult situations by accurately identifying their needs and determining and executing the necessary course of action. Essentially, the Center acts as the grievance office of the CSU and assists undergraduate students with internal problems, complaints, and requests (for example, defense against plagiarism charges). The Center also provides access to external resources and occasionally will support students with off-campus issues.

Legal Information Clinic

This has been a service provided by the CSU as of September 2007. The legal clinic offers legal information on issues that pertain to human rights, consumer rights, immigration rights, and discrimination cases. The clinic hosts a large number of volunteer law students from several universities who assist greatly in serving the needs of Concordia students. Since its inception, the clinic has played a vital role in defending the rights of students and has been essential to several cases that received city-wide attention.

Loyola Luncheon

The Loyola Luncheon is a program operated through the CSU on the Loyola Campus which provides several hundred free vegetarian meals daily to students. It is located in the Hive, a student-run venue.

Health and Dental Plan

All undergraduate students registered for more than 3 credits and paying tuition fees at either the Canadian or Quebec rates are automatically covered by the CSU Health and Dental Plan through ASEQ, a Quebec company specializing in administration of student health care. The plan is intended to be an affordable service which fills the gap created by provincial health care coverage. Students who are covered by another private insurer are able to opt out of this fee through the MyConcordia portal generally within the first month of the semester. Health benefits (prescriptions drugs, chiropractors, physiotherapy, travel coverage, medical equipment, vaccinations etc.), Dental benefits (cleanings, checkups, fillings, root canals, gum treatments, extractions, etc.) and Vision care (eye exams, glasses or contact lenses, etc.) are covered by the cost of the plan.

References

1. ^ http://www.csu.qc.ca/
2. ^ Quebec Public Registry https://ssl.req.gouv.qc.ca/slc0110.html NEQ Reference Number 1141094392
3. ^ Concordia's Thursday Report
4. ^ An Act respecting the accreditation and financing of students' associations, R.S.Q., chapter A-3.01
5. ^ Section 6.1 of its General By-Laws : http://www.csu.qc.ca/index.php?module=Downloads&func=view&cid=6&start=0
6. ^ Section 6.2.1 and 6.2.2 of its General By-Laws : http://www.csu.qc.ca/index.php?module=Downloads&func=view&cid=6&start=0
7. ^ Section 6.2.2 of its General By-Laws : http://www.csu.qc.ca/index.php?module=Downloads&func=view&cid=6&start=0
8. ^ Section 6.4.1 of its General By-Laws : http://www.csu.qc.ca/index.php?module=Downloads&func=view&cid=6&start=0
9. ^ Section 6.2.3 of its General By-Laws : http://www.csu.qc.ca/index.php?module=Downloads&func=view&cid=6&start=0
10. ^ Section 7 of its General By-Laws : http://www.csu.qc.ca/index.php?module=Downloads&func=view&cid=6&start=0
11. ^ http://gov.csu.qc.ca
12. ^ Section 9 of its General By-Laws : http://www.csu.qc.ca/index.php?module=Downloads&func=view&cid=6&start=0
13. ^ http://www.montrealmirror.com/2008/082808/survivalguide2008.html

External links

• Concordia Student Union