Why Does the Student Union Need More Money?
/Every year, an almost $200 fee appears on our StFX account balance, and we seem to have no choice but to accept it as a couple of hundred dollars to swallow alongside our tuition payments. However, an upcoming referendum on April 2nd will ask StFX to vote on the question: “Are you in favor of Increasing Students’ Union Fees by 10% per year, every year for the next 5 years?”
This proposed hike seems to have inflamed student frustrations regarding not knowing how their annual fees are spent and why the Students’ Union would supposedly need more money. Ben MacKay, a student at StFX University, is urging his fellow students to "vote no'' on April 2nd. His Instagram account (@stfxfightthehike) has garnered almost 140 followers in support of his cause.
Sophia Fabiano, an advocate for voting "Yes" on April 2nd, has an Instagram presence as well, with almost 60 people following her account @voteyes24. In a recent post, Sophia described how increases in Students’ Union fees will only be raised to $210.41 next year and will continue to be raised in small increments, reaching $308.06 by 2028-29—after almost all current students have already graduated.
In 2022, the Students’ Union collected $669,465 in student fees alone, and in 2023 charged additional renovation fees to support the Bloomfield remodel. If the proposed 10% raise per year goes ahead, in five years, the U will be collecting over 1 million dollars in student fees. That’s a lot of money. According to Sophia’s Instagram page, this hike is necessary to increase salaries and continue hosting events. But while some might perceive these increments to be small and manageable, the U is asking students to pay a compounding 50% hike in student fees over the next 5 years.
When you read the Student Union’s annual budget report, it is not obvious why they need more money. According to the 2022 Budget, Graduation, X-Ring, O-Week, and Frost Week all together made nearly $29,000 in profit. The Golden X Inn alone made $87,775 in profit in 2023. Even when less lucrative events, like society events, are factored into the balance sheet, the U was only $924 short of breaking even. If the Students’ Union is spending $200,000 on events, it should be entirely possible to cover the $900 deficit from within the budget without imposing additional costs on students. This is particularly important given the already significant expenses students incur for events like X-Ring. For example, this year's X-Ring Super Sub tickets cost students $42.25 per ticket. Considering that most university-hosted events generate profits, it seems reasonable to explore alternative solutions rather than passing the expense onto students.
Frankly, when @voteyes24 depicts the U’s capacity to “continue to host multiple fun events” as if it relied on the referendum passing, it makes no sense. The majority of U-hosted events help fund the U, and only a small minority don’t turn a profit.
Julianna Drake, the Students’ Union VP of Finance, offers some clarity on her Instagram page. In a post to her story, she writes that “if we paid everyone a minimum wage with our current budget, many valuable services would have to get cut to compensate.” When the U says they need more money to continue funding events, they’ll need more money to fund events—once they’ve begun paying their employees higher salaries.
But Drake brings up a fair point: Working for the Students’ Union doesn’t guarantee minimum wage. Many employees, including ourselves, are paid with an honorarium which does not compensate people for the hours their jobs demand. This does create a barrier to working at the U, as students without disposable time to volunteer can’t realistically work there—which is a huge problem if we want our student government to be representative.
However, that’s not to say that the Union is paying its employees zero dollars. In 2022, the Students’ Union spent $136,738 on honorariums, with $17,137 being spent on salaries for the Representative Council, and $76,732 being spent on the Executive Board’s salaries. Students might also be surprised to learn that Exec pay has been rising around 10% per year since 2019, and the 2022 President Academic was paid a salary of $13,689 for the year.
Outside of honorariums, the 2021-2022 budget provisioned $2,820 to be spent on cell phones for full-time staff, and a $60/day allowance that U employees could spend on meals when away at events. There is also a $10,000 budget for “professional development,” and a $1,500 budget to be spent on T-Shirts. Additionally, the budget indicated that $6,000 dollars was spent on an awards banquet catering to individuals affiliated with the Students’ Union.
StFX students already have been experiencing significant rises in various expenses at StFX. For instance, we face the third-highest tuition among 15 schools for domestic students in Undergraduate Arts and the sixth highest for Sciences in the Maritimes. Additionally, we have some of the most expensive residence fees, meal plan costs, and the second highest "other" fees in the Maritimes (which covers technology fees, administration services, and student service fees). While this is all distinct from the Students’ Union, this increase would further compound our already high and increasing fees.
This Tuesday, the Students’ Union is asking you to commit future generations of students to pay a substantial and steep hike during a cost-of-living crisis. We’re not saying that U employees don’t deserve to be paid minimum wage, but it is unclear how much work is involved in working for the U, and how much of it is going unpaid. While people campaigning in favor of this referendum have framed it as if events like X-Ring and Grad were at stake should it fail to pass, this referendum really seems to be an issue securing a higher hourly wage for employees of the Students’ Union.
Ultimately, we encourage students to investigate the budgets themselves and see exactly where our money is going before making a choice on Tuesday. Transparency is key in ensuring that decisions regarding the Students’ Union fee hikes are made with full understanding and accountability. While fair compensation for Students’ Union employees is important, it should not be used as a pretext to significantly increase student fees. It's important to prioritize informed decision-making and hold our student government accountable for their financial decisions.
2021-2022 Student Union Annual Budget
The Students’ Union Policy Manual
Financial Statements: Saint Francis Xavier University Students' Union, April 30, 2023. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ed00ab06a31e8750be7fd6f/t/655e3a67e3203141d1b9313e/1700674151714/STFX+Students%27+Union+-+2023+Financial+Statements.pdf
Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission. Table A: Undergraduate Arts and Sciences Full-time1 Tuition Fees and Provincial Tuition Rebates/Bursaries 2022-2023 http://www.mphec.ca/media/212618/Table-A_Tuition-undergraduate-2022-2023.pdf
Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission. Table C: Undergraduate Ancillary and Residence Fees 2022-2023 http://www.mphec.ca/media/212624/Table-C_Ancillary-and-residence-fees-2022-2023.pdf
