KSA fires executive director, legal counsel and speaker of council resign
The student association appointed a new executive director and their budget for the new year is still being discussed
The KSA will hold their next council meeting on Dec. 15 in hybrid format. (File photo)
The Kwantlen Student Association held a council meeting on Dec. 8 at 11:00 am in Birch 250 on the Surrey campus and hybrid over Microsoft Teams.
Timothii Ragavan was appointed as the new permanent executive director after the KSA fired Richard Hall, and he will be starting the role immediately. Ragavan holds a bachelor’s degree in business and managerial economics from Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and was a retail sales manager and payroll clerk at Ambika Jewellers in Brampton, Ontario for six years. During the council meeting, Ragavan said he followed under six branches of the company, managed their finances, and helped with the day-to-day corporation operations.
“I went to each branch and managed the systems as I followed. I have the following understanding of the executive directors and what you require,” Ragavan said.
The role of the KSA executive director is to manage the general business affairs of the association, ensure security and maintenance of the society’s buildings and assets, and other duties assigned by the association, according to the KSA’s bylaws.
The executive director should be appointed by two-thirds resolution of council when the position becomes vacant.
“I [would] like to send my sincere thank you to everyone that did vote for me, I appreciate it,” Ragavan said. “I look forward to helping each and every one of you.”
Since December 2022, the KSA has appointed three executive directors. After Ben Newsom’s resignation during this time, Parveen Sehra took the role of interim ED and she was later appointed to the position permanently. After Sehra resigned on June 2, Gagandeep Kaur was appointed as the new interim ED.
The KSA then announced Kaur’s dismissal during a council meeting on Sept. 15 due to allegedly not performing well in the position. Hall was appointed as the new permanent ED and started the position on Oct. 3. The reason for replacing Hall was not stated during the Dec. 8 council meeting. The Runner reached out to Hall, but said he could not make any comments.
It was also announced that the KSA’s legal counsel and speaker of council have resigned.
Armaan Dhillon, the previous KSA president, was appointed as the speaker for the council meeting.
“The executives, staff members, and members of council are looking forward to hire new legal counsel and speaker of the council,” Dhillon said.
“I’m honoured to be here today as the acting speaker of council,” he said. “I see this as a moment to give back to the KSA.”
The role of a speaker of council is to chair council meetings, help prepare the agenda, and deliver the notice of meetings, according to the KSA bylaws. The speaker should not “hold any other elected, staff, or appointed office in the Society or the university.”
In the absence of a speaker of council, the KSA can select an alternate speaker, as long as two-thirds of council approve of the new temporary speaker.
In addition to the council of speaker, KSA “council shall never allow the role of the Speaker to be vacant for more than thirty (30) days, even where an acting Speaker has been appointed to perform,” reads the KSA bylaws.
In Amitoj Singh’s report, he said the KSA is still working on next year’s budget. Singh said they are planning to add honorariums for people who are working in the women’s and pride centres and introduce new scholarships and bursaries.
Financial Controller Rolando Navarro said discussions about the budget need to be postponed as reports for the budget need to be properly presented and discussed with the governance committee. The new ED also needs to review the budget before approval. According to the regulations, the KSA has to adopt a final budget no later than Jan. 30.
A honorarium of $5,000 for Associate President Manraj Grewal and $2,500 for the Women’s Representative Gurnoor Kaur were approved during the council meeting. However, both motions were recalled due to confusion over reasoning behind the honorariums and how they will be dispersed. Randhawa said the motions will be sent back to the governance and finance committees for further discussion.
The next council meeting is scheduled for Dec. 15 at 11:00 am in Birch 250 and online through Microsoft Teams. Students interested in attending can email info@kusa.ca.
