News Brief: The KSA preliminary referendum results are out, programs stay and fees increase
The last time the KSA held a referendum was in 2019. (Claudia Culley)
The results of the Kwantlen Student Association’s 2024 referendum were released on April 16, where each item passed.
Kwantlen Polytechnic University students had the opportunity to vote “yes, retain the program,” or “no, eliminate the program,” for KSA Peer Support, Active KSA, REBOOT Computer Repair, Advocacy, Sustainable KSA, and the KSA Volunteer Program during the online voting process, which took place between April 9 to 11.
All programs on the referendum were voted yes to stay. Out of the 19,765 KPU student population, 749 or 3.8 per cent voted.
A referendum is a vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. In the KSA’s case, the electorate is all current KPU students, and voting pertains to the operations of certain programs and services. This year’s referendum was put forward and approved by the 2023-24 KSA council during a meeting on March 8. The last time the KSA held a referendum was in 2019.
KSA Peer Support received 444 “yes” votes and 295 “no” votes, Active KSA got 418 “yes” votes and 317 “no” votes, REBOOT Computer Repair received 415 “yes” votes and 318 “no” votes, Advocacy got 417 “yes” votes to 314 “no” votes, Sustainable KSA got 410 “yes” votes to 321 “no” votes, and the KSA Volunteer Program got 443 “yes” votes to 293 “no” votes. Between 10 to 18 students abstained from voting for each of the programs on the referendum.
In addition, clubs and events fee will increase by $0.55 per credit, pay a new bursary fee of $1.99 per credit, and index all KSA fees to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) beginning in May 2025.
For clubs and events, 393 students voted “yes” and 341 voted “no,” student bursaries won by 410 “yes” votes to 312 “no” votes, and there were 373 “yes” votes to 335 “no” votes for indexing KSA fees to CPI.
