Yesterday, URSU filed a lawsuit against the University of Regina for withholding fees and for terminating our Fee Collection Agreement. The University of Regina claims that they have taken these steps because it was not satisfied with URSU’s strategy to address concerns about financial sustainability raised in URSU’s 2023-2024 audited financial statements.
URSU is financially audited every year. URSU did suffer significant losses from 2021-2024. The Executive Committee and Board of Directors changed each of those years but the General Manager was the same. In the 2023-2024 audited financial statements, the auditor noted that URSU’s ability to continue as an ongoing concern was in question as URSU had suffered significant losses in three consecutive years and was now in debt. As a consequence of those losses, new management began around March of 2024 with the new board and executive beginning on May 1st. This team did significant work reducing out-of-scope headcount, restructuring our programming, and renegotiating fee agreements. As a result, we expect the 2024-2025 audited financial statements to show a net profit of approximately $400K and we have communicated that to the University. This is the first step in restoring financial sustainability to URSU.
URSU knows we need to take steps to restore confidence but we also cannot adequately represent the student body if we allow the University to dictate all terms and exclude student representation. URSU was in discussion with the University about taking steps to address their concerns, steps which may have included a new Fee Collection Agreement, a Governance Review, and a Forensic Audit. These discussions broke down because we could not agree on a timeline or on having student representation in the selection of firms. Rather than negotiate on this point, the University decided to terminate the existing Fee Collection Agreement. It should also be noted that the University has been withholding URSU fees for the Winter 2025 semester while making these demands, which we feel is not in good faith.
The University has implied that no core services will be lost. We note that the University has not indicated what services they consider core or not, nor how they will determine which services are core or not. It is not clear to us how they can simply take over agreements made between URSU and our Health & Dental provider, for example, or the U-Pass program, which is an agreement between URSU and the City of Regina. Any interruption in URSU’s ability to deliver these services will have a negative impact on thousands of students.
We also believe that the University is downplaying the necessity of having a student-led organization that exists to hold them accountable. URSU deals with hundreds of cases a year through the Student Advocate, cases in which the University has not treated a student fairly or per its own policies. Students need someone to support them when they have problems so that they don’t have to face the University alone. Without URSU, students will also lack representation at the Board of Governors and with local and provincial governments, and there will be no unified voice to resist further tuition increases. In addition, the Lazy Owl is a fixture of the on-campus community and we are concerned that the University’s desire to take it over will mean that the Lazy Owl, built and paid for by students, will no longer be for students and student-focused events, and will reduce employment opportunities for students on campus.
We are committed to good governance and sound financial management. We are further committed to continuing to make the changes necessary to better align our practices with our values. We are nonetheless concerned that the University is making unilateral decisions without any coordinated input from the student body. While the University indicates they are willing to work with a student union with fiscal and governance policies that satisfy them, any student union is required to satisfy the students first. It has been implied that the University would recognize a different student union but this understates the great difficulty involved in coordinating student politics and creating an effective organization from scratch. Any new student union will also be in a difficult position to negotiate with the University because they will lack the history and context necessary to understand the University’s demands. The most likely outcome of this decision is that students will completely lack independent support and representation for an indefinite period of time.
We note that even if every concern of the University is legitimate, termination of the Fee Collection agreement was not the only option. The University could come back to the table with URSU and resume negotiations. URSU’s existing governance structure allows the students to call a Special General Meeting of Members and make a motion to dissolve URSU or any other actions deemed appropriate for accountability. As we prepare for a new Board of Directors to begin on May 1st, we have several strategies we hope to announce soon that will improve our governance, engage more students, and increase accountability while staying financially solvent. We will also be releasing a separate statement about the status of the three Student Centres that were found non-compliant (Engineers Without Borders, UR Pride, and the Women’s Centre).
The University is an external party and should not intervene in student governance absent evidence of fraud. Despite unsubstantiated rumors you might have read on social media, we do not have evidence that anyone committed fraud or that admittedly poor decisions were made in bad faith. If we find or receive concrete evidence of such, we will act accordingly. Our prior record of losses likely reflects a need for changes to the governance structure or to internal spending policies, but that is a process that should be led by students, not University administrators.
If you have questions or concerns about this topic, please contact board@ursu.ca.
Sent by the URSU Board of Directors
About the University of Regina Students’ Union (URSU)
URSU serves more than 16,000 students as a conduit for student representation at the University of Regina and within the community. We provide students with opportunities to lead and be heard. Our services and programs contribute to a safe, healthy, and fulfilling university experience.
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