Despite being located on the same campus, Humber College and the University of Guelph-Humber have had an on-again-off-again relationship.
Their student governments are no exception. In the latest turn of events, the Humber Students’ Federation began talks with the Guelph-Humber Student Association with regards to merging the HSF with the GHSA to form a sort of super student government.
Currently, student fees go towards the HSF which, in turn, funds the GHSA which is categorized as a “club” but with specialized powers.
Guelph-Humber students are able to run for and hold positions for either the HSF or GHSA.
The HSF says that it represents students across the entire campus, while the GHSA represents solely the GH student body.
According to the HSF website the student government is “acting on behalf of full-time students at both the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning and the University of Guelph-Humber.
If the GHSA were to be dissolved , three students, instead of the current one, would represent Guelph-Humber on the HSF board of directors.
They would have representatives from all three of the Business, Media and Science schools. As it stands right now, only the president of the GHSA is on the HSF board.
The HSF already believes it represents the Humber and Guelph-Humber student body so it makes sense they feel it would be beneficial to dissolve the GHSA and give them representation instead in the form of three board members.
After going through the necessary motions, a representative from GH put a stop to the proposed combined government, saying that the combined government wouldn’t properly represent the values of Guelph-Humber students.
Initially GH students felt they would be losing out on opportunities, but some representatives feel they would only be losing organizational bulk.
Since the GHSA is volunteer-based, some members felt that cutting positions was a good way to see who was really passionate about representing Guelph-Humber.
Humber and Guelph-Humber are only separated by hallways and a skywalk. There are currently two Guelph-Humber students holding executive positions on the HSF.
If Humber and Guelph-Humber hope to move forward in an amicable fashion, combining the student governments is a great place to start.
As a GHSA member I do not categorize our organization as a club and in the eyes of the University of Guelph-Humber administration, we are the legitimate student government representatives for the university’s programs and students.
Members of the GHSA sit on a number of committees that are integral to the functioning and operation of the university, such as the Academic Management and Programs Committee or the Program and Curriculum Review Committees.
The GHSA Program Representatives, in addition to their committee requirements, are required to hold events each semester for their programs (they are allocated a budget to use for this) and to be overall advocates for their program by addressing their peer’s concerns, issues or comments in an appropriate and relevant manner.
Program representatives also meet on a weekly basis with the entire GHSA membership to collaborate and facilitate discussion about the issues in their programs, initiatives they are working on, or ideas for the overall student population at the University of Guelph-Humber.
To reduce all that the GHSA does by stating we are a “club” is to show a fundamental lack in understanding of what we do in the broader scope of things and the representation we provide to our students.
At the GHSA, we believe in developing student leadership and providing students opportunities to learn and grow. This is why our members do everything from organizing town hall meetings for their Program Heads to meet and discuss issues happening in their programs, to organizing extracurricular activities for students, as well as advocating student concerns directly to the university administration or acting as a student mediator/liaison, we believe strongly in giving students these opportunities to build these skill sets and develop holistically during their academic experience.
The HSF proposal for take over and dissolution of the GHSA would of removed many of these student positions and leadership roles. We viewed this as one of the fundamental flaws in the HSF proposed terms, which in the interests of student development—were unacceptable.
GHSA members are also all volunteer. Let me repeat that again. They are all volunteers. The countless hours that go into planning, organizing and facilitating events, all the committee meetings we attend, the various initiatives that we get involved in with the university and so on — all of it is done based on the willingness and commitment of members to the organization that is the GHSA and for students, first and foremost.
To suggest that because the GHSA is all volunteer-based, that some members are not that “passionate” — is inappropriate and erroneous.
It is true that the HSF does many other things for all students that we simply cannot do because of our inherent limitations and resources. However, although the HSF does mostly the corporate stuff better than us, the GHSA can reasonably argue that we do the student governance aspect far more efficient and reliably than the HSF does.
This is why we have a working relationship with the HSF to provide services such as the extended Healthcare and Dental plan for University of Guelph-Humber students and other services, because looking out for the main interests of GH students is our primary concern.
The HSF proposed structure failed for a number of reasons, but one of the main arguments against it is the reasoning that we have a superior student governance structure in function compared to the HSF.
To agree to the HSF proposed terms would of eliminated a number of student leadership positions, displaced a number of relationships we have developed with the various departments and the administrative staff at the University of Guelph-Humber, and taken away valuable student representation and input into various functions of the university.
This should never be allowed to happen.
Regards,
______________________________________
Anthony Narine|Vice President Academics
Guelph-Humber Student Association
University of Guelph-Humber
Room GH 119
207 Humber College Blvd.
Toronto, ON M9W 5L7
I am a GH student who sits on both the GHSA and the working group and reading this article questions how many facts were checked before publishing. This article was written in a very one sided manner, without expressing correct information about what took place in the working group, and the decision made to put the group discussions on hiatus. In the future, I strongly recommend having the reporters question both parties before publishing.
Sincerely,
-Danielle Gallowitz