From the Editor: Welcome to the last volume of The Runner

The Runner’s first editorial of each volume has typically celebrated what the newspaper has accomplished in the last year.

We welcome new faces and honour the old, highlight key stories, and tell students how they can become involved.

This volume won’t be like others, so it’s not fair to just celebrate and ignore the impending doom that has hovered over our — and your — student newspaper.

The Runner has faced significant financial challenges for nearly four years. If our petition and referendum to increase our fees don’t pass, The Runner will end with Volume 19.

Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society (PIPS) operates both The Runner and pulp MAG, KPU’s literature and visual arts magazine, and it receives student fees to fund both.

Unless they have opted out, students pay $0.75 per credit. For a student taking three classes or nine credits, this totals to $6.75 per semester — less than $20 for three semesters.

The decline in international student enrollment has significantly impacted our operations. Less students means less student levies which creates instability for both The Runner and pulp MAG. 

It resulted in cutting staff positions for students — which has significantly reduced the reporting we are able to do, the number of pages in our issues, and decreasing the number and quality of issues we print from 1,500 to just 500 copies.

The Runner’s issues are available at newsstands across all five of KPU’s campuses, but you may have noticed that our stands have stood bare for nearly two months now. We’ve had to reduce the number of issues we’re publishing, which means big gaps between the end of a semester and the start of another.

We also had to publish our first online-only issue this summer — something we haven’t done since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Runner is required to print at least 18 issues through PIPS’ autonomy agreement with the Kwantlen Student Association. This agreement is supposed to be revisited and revised annually, however, it hasn’t been for years.

Reducing the number of issues we are required to publish would significantly help The Runner operate until a fee increase, but the KSA hasn’t responded to PIPS.

Nearly 20 years of student journalism, investigations, and accountability could cease by next year.

The Runner has maintained its commitment to keeping students informed. From investigations into sexual harassment allegations against the then-KSA president to the KSA’s operations and finances, and our award-winning coverage of Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s faculty and staff layoffs.

Both The Runner and pulp MAG also provide a place for students to be paid for their work, gain experience, and build community.

PIPS has not raised its fees in the almost 20 years it has been operating, and is petitioning for an increase from its $0.75 per credit fee to a $1.25 per credit fee. For a student taking three classes or nine credits, it would cost $11.25 — or less than $20 for an entire year of courses.

At least 250 signatures are required to call a referendum, through which students can vote to increase PIPS’ student fees. These fees, like our current student levy, would be optional.

Sign PIPS’ petition so your student newspaper doesn’t shut its doors too.

PIPS has been working on a digital petition, however, the KSA has delayed or not responded to communication from PIPS. We began the process for a digital petition in early June, and have been waiting for approval since.

Want to support The Runner while our petition and referendum are in process? Share our stories, run ads in our print issues, and make the value of your student newspaper known in your circles.

Protect literature and the arts. Protect student journalism. Protect your right to know what’s happening on your campus — with your money.

Advocate for a digital petition, and if you’re a student, sign our print petition outside of Birch 106 on KPU’s Surrey campus.