[GSA Council] Fwd: Referendum on Tuition fees to remove the CFS dues

[meeting facilitator]

Agreed Angelica, I just want to make sure that their are no issues in doing
so. I have emailed the president, VP internal and Service manager to make
sure I do not mess anything up. My understanding is that they already have
rooms booked for the next two meetings so I want to make sure that I do not
create any problems by rescheduling. I am sure I will hear back by tomorrow
and I will act accordingly. If their are issues with re-booking rooms from
Concordia we could just use the GSA house as a back up (its free!).

Will let you all know as soon as I can.
C

On Tue, Feb 27, 2018 at 7:22 PM, Angelica Restrepo <
angelica.restrepo1992 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Carlos,
>
> Thank you for forwarding this. Would it be possible to send out a doodle
> to select a new date for the next council meeting? I would also suggest to
> offer some dates that are not a month from now since it looks like we’ll
> have many things to address during the meeting and that appear to be
> time-sensitive.
>
> Kindly,
>
> Angelica Restrepo
>
> On Feb 27, 2018, at 6:40 PM, meeting facilitator <
> meetingfacilitator.gsa at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hello all, I am obliged to share this email with all directors as per this
> GSA members request.
> Thank you,
> Carlos
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Alex Ocheoha <alex_ocheoha at hotmail.com>
> Date: Tue, Feb 27, 2018 at 4:44 PM
> Subject: Referendum on Tuition fees to remove the CFS dues
> To: "meetingfacilitator.gsa at gmail.com" <meetingfacilitator.gsa at gmail.com>
> Cc: "president at gsaconcordia.ca" <president at gsaconcordia.ca>, "
> internal at gsaconcordia.ca" <internal at gsaconcordia.ca>, "
> external at gsaconcordia.ca" <external at gsaconcordia.ca>, Thufile <
> academic at gsaconcordia.ca>, Irmak Bahar <mobilization at gsaconcordia.ca>
>
>
> PLEASE FORWARD EMAIL TO GSA DIRECTORS
>
>
> Dear directors and executives,
>
> This is to remind inform you that the GSA was supposed to have a
> referendum last year to remove the CFS dues of $14.04 from the GSA fees.
> This referendum has to be called this year.
>
> When payments to the CFS was stopped, the additional $14.04 added to the
> GSA fee was supposed to be paid into a trust fund to pay the legal fees
> related to the CFS case. Payments into this trust fund was stopped in 2013.
> Last year 420 students signed a petition for a referendum to be held to
> reduce the GSA fee by this amount. The former president breached the GSA
> bylaws by not calling for the referendum.
>
> The CFS case has been concluded. Students never voted to add this amount
> to the GSA fee, and it was never supposed to be added to the GSA fee, and
> graduate students have a right to demand a refund of the excess fees that
> have been paid over the years.
>
> The GSA has not been abiding by its own by-laws and policies. Last
> semester 2 General assemblies, were supposed to be held, but there was only
> an attempt to hold one, which did not meet quorum. This semester there has
> not been any notice of a General assembly.
>
> GSA is supposed to have a compulsory annual audit. GSA had a notice to the
> reader for 2014-2015 because there was a suspected fraud on the GSA
> accounts during the 2014-2015 year. The finance manager email was erased
> and several documents were destroyed. The bylaw changes in January 2016
> that requested a compulsory added were not added to the bylaws which were
> supposed to be retyped. The last team voted not to have an audit and a
> notice to reader, which gives room for suspicion of fraud.
>
> GSA Council minutes which are supposed to be made available after 7 days
> are not being posted. The last meeting minutes which were posted was
> October 2017. Executive monthly reports have not been posted since October
> 2017. The financial statements have not been made available to students.
> This lack of transparency is unprecedented.
>
> Students decided years ago to make closed session decisions available to
> students. The practice of not disclosing closed session minutes started
> with the last team and has continued. Last year a closed session was held
> without the council chair, which was never supposed to happen. There has
> been no minute taker appointed by council. A minute take is supposed to be
> appointed among the membership if one of the GSA staff is not taking
> minutes, to ensure that there is no bias. A voting director who is supposed
> to be taking part in decision making should not be taking minutes.
>
> GSA representatives are supposed to be representing the interest of
> students. Students pay the GSA fee for a service and have a right to hold
> representatives accountable. As representatives you can always be held
> responsible for your actions or inaction even after you leave council.
>
> Regards,
>
> Alex Ocheoha
>
>
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>
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