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Student concerns addressed in Ryerson’s 2016/17 budget

By Alanna Rizza

Ryerson released its budget for the 2016 – 2017 school year and, for the first time, it includes student feedback from a Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) survey conducted last January.

According to the budget, Ryerson will fund two additional full time counsellors, as well as create online counselling modules. The university will also invest in a campus-wide accessibility audit and all-gender bathrooms, with goal to update 40 bathroom signs by Fall 2016.

A proposal for government funding to increase student group space is in the works.

“Nothing like this has happened before,” said former vice president education Cormac McGee. “What I noticed when I started on the RSU and Ryerson’s Board of Governors is that admin genuinely care about students’ input, but didn’t really know how to directly reach them.”

McGee added that in past years, the budget process hasn’t been accessible. The purpose of the survey was to try and involve students so they have some say in how their money is being spent.

The survey showed that students wanted to see improvements in four areas: mental well-being, all gender washrooms, physical accessibility and student group space. These results were discussed in a Board of Governors meeting and Ryerson’s first budget town hall.

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