By Prapti Bamaniya
The Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) increased the base funding for course unions and student groups by $50 at the Aug. 30 Board of Directors (BoD) meeting.
Previously, student groups had a base funding amount of $600 and course unions had $500, according to the meeting minutes.
President Marina Gerges said student groups and course unions will be granted the extra money for new banners and other materials to reflect the new name of the university.
Student groups and course unions can also request an extra $50 for a maximum of $100, but only after they provide a brief explanation to the campus groups coordinator, Danielle Beckford.
Additionally, a motion was passed for the Lincoln Alexander School of Law Students’ Society (LALSS) to appoint a representative of their school onto the board for the remainder of the 2022-23 academic year.
The LALSS will hold a referendum to add a student levy fee for law students in order to increase funding for future endeavors. The referendum is expected to take place in the 2022-23 academic year.
“It’s about time that we sort of expand our borders past the Podium building and intermingle with the rest of the students at TMU,” said Kian Rastegar, president of the LALSS.
The School of Law is currently located on the fourth floor of the Podium building.
Here’s what else you missed at the BoD meeting:
Filling vacancies and electing a new director
After the resignations of vice president education, Umar Abdullah in July, and vice president operations, Salar Syed earlier this month, Gerges will coordinate to set up a job posting in order fill the vacancies for the remainder of the 2022-23 year. The application period will last two weeks.
She said she will present her recommendations for the position in the next meeting in September.
Sahil Kumar, a board director from the faculty of Ted Rogers School of Management, was ratified to sit on the student groups and course unions committee for the 2022-2023 term. He was elected with 60 per cent of the vote from the board.
Student Campus Centre furniture
The TMSU announced last month that it will pay 50 per cent of the cost for common area furniture in the Student Campus Centre, but initially said that amount did not include HST additions.
An additional $19,500 was approved by the BoD to reflect the tax amount on furniture.
Executive updates
President Marina Gerges announced she will be creating a supervisory position to manage all TMSU employees.
Additionally, vice president equity Areesha Qureshi said following the resignation of SHIFT centre coordinator Gabrielle Samson, they will be looking for replacements.
Ozioma Molokwu, the vice president student life, and executive director Reanna Maharaj, gave their updates in-camera.
The next BoD meeting will be held in September.
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