News Brief: KSA discusses 2024 budget and holiday party
The KSA will have their next council meeting on Dec. 8 at 11:00 am in a hybrid format. (File photo)
Editor’s Note: The article has been updated for accuracy. A previous version of this article stated that $80,000 was allocated for the KSA Christmas party. The $80,000 was the proposed budget for KSA Events in the new year, but was not made clear in the council meeting. The KSA is currently unaware of the party budget, but the KSA estimates between $25,000 to $30,000.
The Kwantlen Student Association held a council meeting on Dec. 1 at 11:00 am in Birch 250 on the Surrey campus and hybrid over Microsoft Teams.
Council members Destiny Lang, Usha Gunatilake, Jashandeep Singh, Manraj Grewal, Jasmine Kaur Kochhar, Gurtejpreet Kaur Kaliyan, Amitoj Singh, Gurnoor Kaur, Taranpreet Singh, Akashdeep Sidhu, Asad Husain, Jashanpreet Singh Maan, Nitin Aggarwal, Yugveer Gill, Jobanpreet Singh, and Abdullah Randhawa were in attendance. Jaspreet Shokar, Akashdeep Singh, Mehakdeep Singh, and Jashanpreet Sekhon were absent.
After a land acknowledgment, the minutes of the Nov. 10 council meeting were approved. The minutes for the in-camera sessions on Jan. 6, Feb. 10, March 10 and 30, and Sept. 15 council meetings were unavailable for approval.
The finance and operations committee recommended a budget for 2024 which was unavailable for adoption due to council planning to make a few changes. According to the KSA bylaws, the budget for the ensuing fiscal year should be submitted by Dec. 1.
The council is also planning to appoint a chief returning officer (CRO) for the upcoming elections, and the internal affairs committee is yet to consider candidates for the position. The item was thus moved for approval later in the month.
In his report, Randhawa said he is in discussions with the finance committee to amend the 2024 budget to add scholarships and bursaries for students. The criteria for scholarships depends on students’ GPA, with some for students in their first semester. There are also bursaries for graduating students, and they are keeping aside emergency funds for students who lose a loved one.
Randhawa also said the library will be operational 24/7 for the exam period from Dec. 4 to 14.
He also said the KSA is planning a Christmas party for sometime between Dec. 15 and 22, and increased the budget for events from $50,000 to $80,000. He also said they are expecting 600 to 700 people to attend the party.
The KSA is hiring an external events coordinator, Awaaz Production, to plan the party. Tickets are free for KPU students.
Jashandeep, the Cloverdale campus representative, said he has been receiving requests from several students for microwaves at the campus. The issue was recommended to Executive Director Richard Hall who said he will look into it.
The governance committee recommended an honorarium of $5,000 for the associate president, $2,500 for the pride office, and $2,500 for the women’s centre for their volunteer work. The committee had not decided on which budget to pull these funds from, so the recommendations got pushed to the next council meeting.
The next KSA council meeting is scheduled for Dec. 8 at 11:00 am in a hybrid format. Interested students can email info@kusa.ca to join the meeting.
