KSA executives appoint non-councillor as associate president, discuss budget in-camera

The Kwantlen Student Association’s executive committee appointed a former councillor to the associate president position during a May 7 meeting.

Rohit Uppal, a science and horticulture representative and vice-president (VP) external affairs from the 2025-26 council, is the KSA’s next associate president. He is a non-voting member of the executive committee.

On Feb. 20, the previous council changed the KSA regulations to allow the associate president to either be a part of the current or former council. Before, the associate president role could only be filled by a current student representative.

Also at that February meeting, the associate president’s honorarium was changed from $12,000 per semester to $1,500 biweekly. An associate president now earns $39,000 annually, rather than the previous $36,000 — an extra $3,000.

Uppal moved the motion to add the regulation changes to that meeting’s agenda.

President and VP Finance and Operations Gurdit Singh said only two people put their name forward for the associate president position after nominations opened during a council meeting on April 23.

While one was Uppal, Gurdit said the other was Indigenous Students’ Representative Elysia Ritchotte.

Gurdit said interviews were set up with both candidates, but Ritchotte didn’t show up or respond to followup emails.

In an email statement to The Runner, Ritchotte wrote that she is no longer a part of council to prioritize her well-being.

“After attending a handful of meetings with the KSA council, I felt quite discouraged and overwhelmed with the nature of how council was operating,” Ritchotte wrote.

“I study full time, I work two part time jobs and I live on my own. I have a lot of future goals I am working towards while studying as a mature student and unfortunately fighting this fight on my own is just too much to add to my plate.”

The executive committee spent around 40 minutes in-camera with Executive Director Timothii Ragavan and Financial Controller Rolando Navarro.

Navarro said he discussed his concern of the associate president’s impact on the budget, especially in light of the finance ministry’s investigation into the KSA.

“Unfortunately, I can’t speak any further,” he added.

Gurdit said in his report that both last week and during the in-camera session, he discussed with Ragavan the importance of proper budgeting and financial planning for budget line items (BLI).

“We’ll discuss more further once the finance committee is appointed,” Gurdit said. “I also reviewed general budgeting approaches and discussed the need for a clear financial oversight moving forward.”

Ragavan said he’s had conversations regarding the 2026 budget and the upcoming appointment of the finance committee.

“We are hoping to have each VP talk to the respective coordinators in regards to how the budget will be spent, what their budget would look like, and what they would require for the budget for the year — and that will be reflected towards the 2026 budget,” Ragavan said.

Gurdit added that he also attended online meetings with legal counsel regarding the three ongoing civil lawsuits involving the KSA and received “updates on current matters and next steps.”

“That I can’t discuss here,” he said.

Ragavan said he also had a meeting with Kwantlen Polytechnic University regarding the shuttle bus service and students petitioning to increase its Richmond-Surrey service.The meeting he attended was a followup to an earlier discussion between KPU and the petitioners, which Ragavan was unable to make.

“We did inform the students that we will do our very best to get in contact with BC Transit to determine if there is a possibility of having additional services,” Ragavan said. “We explained to them that there are different outcomes that can proceed from this, and we will keep in contact at our earliest convenience.”

VP University Affairs Harwinder Singh said in his report that he is learning new things in the position and is reaching out to the university and students to learn the issues they’re facing.

VP Student Life Sukhdev Singh said students have been asking when the KSA will host events and considering the association is “facing difficulty” with its budget, the executives are discussing how they can do something for students.

In the meeting’s Microsoft Teams chat, VP External Affairs Sukhmandeep Singh wrote that he is planning to reach out to external parties, such as local MPs and MLAs, for student advocacy, adding that he is also reaching out to students regarding concerns that can be addressed externally.