Business student founders aspire to unite common groups

By Natalie Alcoba

Business students are creating a new umbrella group in hopes of bringing cohesion to student representation in the growing faculty of business.

The Commerce Society of Ryerson is being modelled after the Ryerson Engineering Students Society, an elected group that organizes events within its faculty.

CSR will act as an all-encompassing body for student groups and course unions in the program’s four schools: information technology management, business management, retail management and hospitality and tourism management. But, unlike RESS, it will work with RyeSAC and offer complimentary services.

“In no way, shape or form will we get out of any arrangement with RyeSAC,” said Justin Cook, one of the CSR’s founders. “We want to work with RyeSAC to formally address the goals of the whole school.”

The proposed structure of the CRS includes an executive of six to eight elected students and representatives from each of the faculty’s nine course unions. A $5 levy on top of tuition is also being considered to provide additional funding for student groups through the society, Cook said. However, any fee would have to be approved by students.

A committee, consisting of the dean of faculty of business and student representatives will be formed by the end of term to discuss structure and protocol. If everything is on schedule, business students will vote to implement the society by March 2003.

Given the size and rapid growth rate of the faculty of business, the creation of the CSR was inevitable, Cook said.

“Ryerson is getting bigger and organizing ourselves would enhance Ryerson and the school,” said the fourth-year business management student, adding that an umbrella body would encourage dialogue between the different student groups to organize join projects.

RyeSAC president Odelia Bay was involved in CSR discussions over the summer and doesn’t anticipate any obstacles once the structure of the group has been ironed out.

“Having school-wide representation is still important, but any faculty association that empowers students to get involved is good,” she said.