KSA appoints associate president, passes honorarium increase for meeting attendance

Jan. 20 executive meeting

The Kwantlen Student Association held their first executive meeting of the spring semester on Jan. 20 in hybrid format. 

President and VP University Affairs Armaan Dhillon, VP External Affairs Karan Singh, VP Finance and Operations Lesli Sangha, and VP Student Life Guntas Kochar were in attendance. 

After a land acknowledgement, minutes from the executive meeting on Dec. 9 were approved. Club and Outreach Coordinator Gurnoor Virk presented the constitution and roster of the KPU Brew Club and KPU Role Play Club (RPC), as well as proposals for an International Student Club (ISC) and Self Development Club. 

ISC representative Rashminder Singh attended the meeting and said the main idea for the club is for students to have volunteer opportunities outside Kwantlen Polytechnic University and the KSA. The KPU Brew Club, KPU RPC, and KPU Model United Nations club (MUN) were approved. No constitution for the ISC was available for review. 

There were no updates on the Student Union Building (SUB). 

Singh reported that he attended the University of Regina for a conference and said their student union is similar in terms of its operating budget and students. He said he got some ideas to implement to Grassroots. 

Sangha said she is in discussion with Gallivan, provider for the health and dental plan, about coordinating a presentation to answer questions the council has before renewing the contract.

Kochar attended the info sessions and Welcome Week on KPU campuses and met with students. She said most councilors attended Welcome Week, and she is encouraging students to attend volunteering sessions to get involved with KPU. 

Dhillon said he attended the Christmas Open House by Surrey-Newton MLA Harry Bains on Dec. 16 and attended an information session with council members on how they can improve the KSA. He met with students on Jan. 4 and had a tour of the KSA offices on Jan. 6. Dhillon has also been working with Alliance of BC Students (ABCS) and signed an open letter about introducing policies on campuses reducing sexualized violence. 

In Sehra’s report, she said she’s had a fast paced start, and has been focused on the operations of the KSA and getting to know the staff and familarizing herself with the association’s bylaws and Regulations. The meeting moved in-camera for an hour to further discuss her report. 

Funding for clubs were approved including $1,924 for the Kwantlen Creative Writing Guild’s Spring 2023 Slampalooza, $1,395 for the KPU Music Club’s religious event, $1,033 for the KPU Marketing Association for their 2023 Social Meet, tablecloths, and one banner stand, and $611 for the Kwantlen Gaming Guild Level Up! 2023 event. 

Funds of $5,000 was approved for Welcome Week. Funding was also approved for three legal invoices: $4,619 for Borins & Company, and $840 and $147 for Moore Edgar Lyster. 

Civic Plaza Representative Navpreet Singh was appointed to the new volunteer position of associate president. The associate president is to assist the president in his duties including “appointment by the executive committee and nomination of the president; removal from office is by a resolution of the executive committee; reports to and takes direction from the president; and must be a council member.” 

“By being the associate president, it would give me enough authority to reach out to organizations and advocate for the best opportunity for the students,” Navpreet said. 

“The main problems which students face is they don’t know much about what facilities are available to them by KPU and the KSA. So, my intention is to let them know that they [have] various opportunities.” 

Kochar is planning to have a body positivity event through a fashion show in March and is planning to work with Sangha. They are hoping to have design students contribute to the event. 

The next executive meeting is scheduled for Feb. 3 at 10:00 am in the KSA board room at Surrey campus and through Zoom. Students can email info@kusa.ca to join the meeting. 

Jan. 27 council meeting

The Kwantlen Student Association held a council meeting virtually on Jan. 27. 

Council members Armaan Dhillon, Lesli Sangha, Karan Singh, Guntas Kochar, Navpreet Singh, Adbullah Randhawa, Divya Sachdeva, Diljot Singh Narula, Destiny Lang, Karan Kaushal, and Rupinder Hundal were in attendance. Earndeep Singh Kandola, Dilnoor Kaur, Manroopbir Sidhu, Henry Chang, and Gurjot Singh were absent. 

After a land acknowledgement, the Jan. 6 meeting minutes were approved with an amendment to include a footnote clarifying that Kwantlen Polytechnic University has a Regulated International Student Immigration Advisor (RISIA).

The meeting agenda was amended to remove a presentation by Harman Singh about SIFU Immigration, a service under the Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC), because legal details needed further discussion. Harman left the meeting afterwards. 

Council moved in-camera to discuss a “volunteer presentation.” It’s unclear if this is a presentation about volunteering with the KSA, a presentation by a volunteer, or related to a complaint council received last month. Cory Wright and Sean Gallivan from Gallivan health and dental plan gave a presentation in-camera. 

In his report, Dhillon congratulated student board of governor representative Ishant Goyal for his advocacy to extend Surrey KPU campus library hours. The library will now be open for two additional hours on weekends. 

A motion was passed to create a search committee for a permanent executive director under the terms that those nominated should not be an executive council or staff member. Randhawa, Kaushal, Lang, and Navpreet were nominated and approved to the search committee. The deadline is March 17. 

Sangha proposed a motion to increase attendance honorariums from $75 to $100 for council meetings, $75 to $125 for the committee chair role, and $50 to $75 for special and standing committee meetings. The changes were approved to apply retroactively to meetings attended after Dec. 2. 

According to KSA Regulations, changes to the honorarium or pay structure do not come into effect until April 1. 

“This motion that I had brought forward was in review of the fact that it hasn’t been looked at for a number of years, and during my term last year there were several discussions and at that time I did not know that as a VP I had the ability to put in place this type of recommendation.” Sangha said. 

“It’s really important to me to recognize that we make our positions accessible and … attract good talent to the positions. This is to continue on for further council, not restricted only to our term, but to compensate our student members that provide their time for committee work moving forward,” she said. 

In her report, Kochar said she is organizing a Valentine’s Day event called “KSA plays cupid” on Feb.1 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm in the Conference Centre at the KPU Surrey campus. She said there will be food, board games, and dancing. 

“It’s going to be … like matchmaking, but [a] speed friendly event,” she said. “We’re making friends not partners…. What I’m planning to do is have pronouns there, so that they can pick up the sticker and then put their pronouns on it and then stick it on themselves.” 

The meeting adjourned after four hours at 1:59 pm. 

 The next council meeting is scheduled on Feb. 10 at 10:00 am in Birch 250 at the Surrey campus and through Zoom. Students can email info@kusa.ca to join the meeting.