KSA Student Rights Centre Reports Discussed at Council Meeting, Still Not Released

Multiple iterations of a yearly report from the Kwantlen Student Association outlining student-reported issues with the university’s structure and policies remain unreleased.

The reports detail anonymous case studies of students who have gone to the KSA’s Student Rights Centre for assistance, and offers recommendations for improvement to Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

“What we want people to do after reading this report is say, ‘There’s more that, as a university, we can do,’” KSA President—at the time, Vice President Student Services—Tanvir Singh told The Runner in November 2016, shortly after the SRC completed the 2015 edition of the document.

Versions of the report now exist for both 2015 and 2016. The 2015 report was originally tentatively scheduled to be published last November, but the KSA opted to delay its release pending further review and consultation with the university administration.

The KSA has remained tight-lipped about the process of releasing the reports. They were discussed in camera—meaning the discussion took place privately without minutes being taken or members of the press present—at the KSA Council meeting on Oct. 27. Few details about what was discussed regarding the report while in camera are available. However, Singh says that the 2015 report was recently seen by the KSA’s legal counsel.

“Due to [the SRC report] being a draft document, it’s very sensitive in nature,” says Singh. “When it comes to very sensitive documents, I think, rightfully so, we have the ability to go in-camera to consider those and we choose to do that every time we talk about the reports until they’re released.”

The full contents of the reports are currently unavailable. What is known is that they detail, among other things, student experiences and issues with the Services for Students with Disabilities office, the Faculty of Health, and the university’s academic appeals system. Particularly in the case of the earlier report, some of the points outlined may have already been addressed by the university.

“We definitely don’t want the report to be seen as kind of a blast towards the university,” says Singh. “The report itself does have a couple sensitive topics in it … [and] the document itself is supposed to be more of an internal use instrument.”

Singh explains that part of the reason for the delays is that the 2015 report is the first of its kind and the KSA is still perfecting the system of putting these documents together. He says he hopes that, once released, the reports will act as guides for future councillors, staff, and executives of the KSA.