News Brief: New club constitutions reviewed at KSA executive meeting, funding for club events delayed
The KSA's first executive meeting of the month was held on Nov. 17 in hybrid format. (Kyler Emerson)
The Kwantlen Student Association held their first executive meeting of the month on Nov. 17. President and VP University Affairs Armaan Dhillon, VP External Affairs and VP Student Life Karan Singh, and VP Finance Lesli Sangha were in attendance.
The executives received a presentation from Sarbmeet Singh Hayer about Red Star Immigrations services. He discussed the increase of international students in Canada and the necessity for immigration advice about study permits, visa extensions, and work and study hours. Dhillon requested a quote to review at the next council meeting.
Non-meeting motions that received unanimous approval on Nov. 7 were disclosed, most of which were funds for club events.
The constitutions of the new KPU Music Club, Kwantlen Bhangra Club, and KPU STEM ROOTS Club were reviewed.
In Singh’s report, he said there were disputes at the Canadian Federation of Students conference which resulted in the suspension of the closing plenary. A new date has not yet been set. Sangha later said Singh stepped down from the election for national treasurer for an Indigenous student to run unchallenged.
Singh also said he is connecting with the RCMP Langley Detachment to arrange an event at the Langley campus. He had no report for the VP of student life duties.
In Sangha’s report she said she met with Vaishali Vinayak, former VP of finance and operations, to discuss an online app service package.
The app bundle includes a one year premium subscription to Calm, Grammarly, Udemy, Nimbus Learning, and Aaptiv at $17.56 per semester, per student. Sangha is exploring the possibility of providing the service to Kwantlen Polytechnic University students.
Dhillon noted in his report that the Nov. 4 meeting was a council meeting, despite himself and Singh being unable to attend due to the poor Wi-Fi connection on the plane, as the official byelection results were presented.
“That was an official council meeting because it was called on that particular day, however, quorum was not met so there was no business that took place in that council meeting,” Dhillon said.
According to Article 10 in the KSA bylaws, if quorum is not met within 30-minutes of the scheduled time for a council meeting “the Chair shall declare the meeting of Council to be dissolved.” The bylaws mandate that a council meeting be held once a month.
In their report, Executive Director Ben Newsom said they are still waiting for an update from KPU’s legal counsel on the Student Union Building. They also met with some of the new elected council members on Nov. 18 for legal training.
An hour into the meeting, Newsom left for an appointment, and Singh messaged the other executives privately that he had other commitments and left as well.
With Singh’s absence, quorum was no longer met for the remainder of the meeting. Agenda items left were funding requests for club events, including the Our Bodies/Our Minds event being hosted by KSA Peer Support on Nov. 23. Executives would have to approve the funding in a non-meeting before the event date.
Other items included $4,480 for a legal invoice and funds for the Pop with a Cop event held in September.
The event cost $3,800 in total, with $1,800 designated for gift cards, according to the meeting agenda. However, the poster for the event listed six gift cards worth $50 each to Uber Eats or SkipTheDishes. The amount listed on the agenda includes funds for an additional 30 gift cards.
Items for discussion were also pushed, including the menstrual product dispenser in the bathroom adjacent to the KSA office on Surrey campus and the banners of photos of executives.
A council meeting is scheduled for Dec. 2 at 10:00 am in hybrid format, and the next executive meeting is scheduled for Dec. 9 at 10:00 am in hybrid format, due to a conference Dhillon and Singh are attending this week. Students can email info@kusa.ca to join.
