KSA council adopts 2025 budget amid staff member’s concerns, changes election rules to prioritize seats for certain students

The Kwantlen Student Association adopted its budget for the 2025 fiscal year during a council meeting on Dec. 27.

KSA Financial Controller Rolando Navarro expressed concerns about the budget by sharing an email he previously sent to the KSA executive and finance and operations committees in the meeting’s Microsoft Teams chat.

The Runner has requested a copy of the budget from Associate President Ishant Goyal, who sent it to councillors during the meeting before it was voted on. The Runner has not yet heard back from Goyal.

In his email to the KSA’s executive and finance and operations committees, Navarro wrote he was asked to join an in-camera session about the budget with the KSA council on Dec. 11.

“In that session I did not have the opportunity to present my views on the 2025 Proposed Budget for a variety of reasons, fundamental of which was the fact that I strongly believe that discussions about the Budget, unless specifically touching on highly sensitive and confidential HR and Legal matters, should be out in the open,” Navarro wrote in his email.

“After all, formulating the budget is a consultative exercise and stakeholders should be given ample chance to provide input and feedback.”

Regarding the third version of the proposed budget, Navarro wrote in his email that there “hasn’t been any meaningful consultation at the campus level and other constituencies which is required as per Regulations.”

“I strongly recommend that the Proposed 2025 Budget be posted online so as to give the general membership an opportunity to review and provide feedback before the Finance Committee’s deliberations and certainly Council passes a motion to approve it,” Navarro’s email read.

Faculty of Arts Representative Jasmine Kaur Kocchar wrote in the chat that the KSA’s finance and operations committee met in the morning before the council meeting, in absence of a minute taker.

“The committee members did go through the budget with no changes to be made,” Kocchar wrote.

According to the KSA’s regulations, the draft budget should be submitted to the finance and operations committee no later than Oct. 31. It should then be posted on the student association’s website and shared with the Kwantlen Polytechnic University community through advertisements and consultations at each campus to receive feedback. The committee should then submit its version of the draft budget no less than seven days before the first council meeting of December. KSA councillors are required to adopt a final budget no later than Jan. 30.

Navarro’s email also mentioned that the budget contains “concerning unresolved issues,” particularly regarding deficits, which he wrote include a projected shortfall of $439,000 for clubs and events and a deficit of $400,000 in the bursary section. KSA Peer Support is also short of $57,000.

“The Operations budget won’t balance if the projected revenues are adjusted to more realistic figures based on tenable assumptions.”

Within operations, Grassroots Cafe has a projected net income, which he wrote is “highly improbable” considering its “estimated loss of at least $100,000 this year” and past performances in 2022 and 2023.

Navarro also wrote there is “inordinate funding” for marketing and swag at the expense of core programs and services within the special purpose funds (SPF) — amounting to a total of $265,000 diverted from SPF to buy promotional items.

“For example, spending $26,000 on marketing and swag or promotional items rather than on projects that would help address academic issues and concerns seems to be unwarranted,” he wrote in his email.

“In 2024, preliminary estimates show almost $100,000 in expenditures on marketing and promotional items. $26,000 worth of T-shirts are left undistributed in storage. That’s just one example.”

In the past, staff have had spending authority over some budgets for operational efficiency and to recognize their expertise and experience with certain programs, the email read.

“The power of oversight held by staff (review, monitoring, supervision, implementation) has been taken away and shifted to [the executive committee]. This could mean further undue politicization of decision-making in the areas of program administration and service delivery.”

Navarro also wrote in his email that explanatory notes to the budget’s proposed funding allocations are needed to ensure they are “justifiable, reasonable and are truly reflective of the KSA’s plans and priorities for the coming year.”

“For example, what are the events and activities lined up for allocating $250,000 to KSA Events [budget]?” Navarro asked in the email.

The KSA council did not address Navarro’s views during the meeting.

Councillors also recalled a motion from their last council meeting on Dec. 20 that removed two changes to the KSA’s regulations they initially approved. Council members re-approved the two changes, which are regarding election rules. 

The first change gives priority to third or later-year students for two business representative seats, while the other requires students running for the students with disabilities representative position to provide proof that they are registered with KPU’s accessibility services.

“Has anyone confirmed from accessibility services that the registration requirement will be possible, and won’t disenfranchise students?” Advocacy Coordinator John O’Brian asked in the meeting’s chat.

No council member addressed his question.

During the Dec. 20 council meeting, O’Brian said he checked with the accessibility services director about providing proof of registration, to which she said the department can’t provide that due to its procedures and would consider it unethical to do so. The director also noted more than 20 per cent of students likely have a disability, but only about eight per cent are registered with accessibility services.

The next KSA council meeting is scheduled for Jan. 24 at noon in Birch 250 at the KPU Surrey campus and online via Microsoft Teams. Interested students can email info@kusa.ca to join.