Students' Union, UCalgary

April was a busy month on the advocacy front for the SU. The Alberta 2030 initiative was released, the new executive team began their orientations to be able to hit the ground running, the SU continued to push the provincial government on the issue of a poor job market for students, and the SU continues its advocacy and campaign on the potential privatization of the campus bookstore.

The SU met twice with Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides to discuss Alberta 2030 and other issue of relevance to students. Alberta 2030 was released at the end of April. Thanks to SU advocacy and advocacy through CAUS, the final product was a watered down version from what was expected early in the UCP term. The final Alberta 2030 initiative remains a net negative for students and the SU is remaining vigilant on how the UCP government implement it. You can read the SU’s news release on Alberta 2030 here.

In mid-April the SU put out a news release on the lack of a student job program from the province. The UCP government cancelled that Summer Temporary Employment Program (STEP) in 2019. STEP provided a wage subsidy to employers to encourage them to hire students for the summer months. The news release garnered a lot of attention over the following two weeks. The government responded by saying the Jobs Now program announced in the budget, along with Mitacs, will help get students employed. Unfortunately, Jobs now isn’t creating any jobs now for students and Mitacs is largely focused on graduate students. The SU will continue to push the government to better support students.

Finally, the SU has put out a survey on the potential privatization of bookstore operations by the university. The SU is very concerned about a potential plan to outsource and privatize operations of the campus bookstore to Follett or to any private company. Universities who have done this have seen textbook costs rise and agreements rarely have any student benefit. The survey closed on May 7 and results will be compiled and released. Stay tuned as we continue to work hard on this issue.

As we move into the summer months, our advocacy efforts will continue and we will be sure to keep all students up to date.

Calgary – University of Calgary students are finished their classes and writing their exams but don’t yet know what the next few months hold for them as they prepare for the summer. Many students work through the summer to save money for tuition, textbooks, and their living expenses. However, this year the pandemic and a lack of support from the provincial government once again means many won’t find work and will go further into debt.

Last summer nearly one-third of UCalgary students surveyed said they couldn’t find work at all, with another twelve per cent saying they had opportunities cancelled at the last minute due to the pandemic. This scenario is very likely to repeat itself this summer unless the UCP government steps up.

“In less than two weeks students will be done exams. Students want to work and we know many employers want to hire, both sides just need a little help. At a time when students are paying more thanks to provincial cuts and resulting skyrocketing tuition, students are also being left out in the cold when it comes to finding a job.” – Frank Finley, SU President

For the last year, the Students’ Union has called on the provincial government to implement a student-focused job program to support both students and employers. These calls have fallen on deaf ears. No provincial support for students was identified in the Alberta budget and federal support for student jobs is very limited. Many employers simply can’t afford to hire summer students or new grads thanks to the pandemic, but that could change with provincial financial support.

The Summer Temporary Employment Program (STEP) was cancelled by the UCP government in 2019. STEP provided a wage subsidy to employers to incentivize the hiring of students or new grads for the summer months. This program supported thousands of students to work, pay their bills, and gain skills and work experience they need for after graduation.

The SU has called for STEP to be re-implemented or a similar program created. The SU has called on both Labour and Immigration Minister Jason Copping and Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides to bring in a program.

The SU renews its call on the UCP government to take action on the student jobs crisis. Students can’t afford two consecutive summers without work.

Media inquiries may be directed to:

Mike Brown

External Communications Specialist

University of Calgary Students’ Union

Cell: 403-560-0577

Email: Michael.brown1@ucalgary.ca

SU President Frank Finley and VP Operations and Finance Mohammad Ali met with university administration yesterday evening on the topic of the privatization of the campus bookstore.

Going into the meeting, the SU was concerned about increased costs on students not only for textbooks but for supplies and apparel that are sold at the bookstore. In addition, programs like the Book Loan Program and even student ability to shop around to find the best price on textbooks could be at risk.

The university informed the SU that they are considering all options. However, when asked about considering a partnership with the SU or allowing the SU to run the bookstore itself, university administration said they would not consider this option, despite the SU successfully running Bound & Copied and several other Mac Hall businesses.

However, the SU did receive several important verbal commitments from the university:

• Students will not be forced to purchase from the bookstore
• Students will be able to purchase second-hand books from Bound & Copied or elsewhere
• The Book Loan Program and the Book Buyback Program will be maintained
• Costs for other materials sold at the bookstore will not rise unreasonably

The university has previously committed to not allow textbook markups to increase and will include that in any contract signed with Follett or another vendor.

While this is positive, it remains unclear how the university would enforce these commitments and it’s worth asking why this hasn’t occurred at other institutions with Follett bookstores. In many cases, other institutions realize very quickly that making a deal with Follett is a mistake and try to exit the contract. By this point, however, the damage is done.

It still remains unclear at this point what will happen to current bookstore staff, including student employees who work there. This is concerning.

The university is planning to survey students and the university community. The university did not commit to share the survey results with the SU or make them public. In order to understand student concerns better, the SU will be putting out a survey on the bookstore as soon as possible.

The SU will continue to hold the university to account and press the university to demonstrate the benefit to the institution but also, more importantly, how students will benefit from any agreement with Follett or another provider.

Students stood up and the university took notice. Today the university has agreed to meet with SU representatives to discuss the bookstore and will be launching a survey on the bookstore in the coming days. This is thanks to unrelenting student pressure since the bookstore privatization plan broke nearly two weeks ago.

While this is good news, the fight is not over.

SU President Frank Finley and Operations and Finance VP Mohammad Ali will meet with university VP Finance and Services Linda Dalgetty tomorrow, April 15.

In a public statement today, Ms. Dalgetty confirmed that the university will not sell the bookstore but are still considering privatization of operations with Follett or another company. While this privatization will include university oversight, questions remain. The statement also committed to no increase in the current markup of textbooks.

This is good news. After first declining a meeting with student leaders until a path had been chosen, the university is sitting down with the SU sooner than expected. The university actively seeking student feedback through a survey is also a new development and is unlikely to have happened without student pressure on the university.

There is still much more work to do if we are to save the bookstore from privatization and inevitable increased costs on students. While textbooks may not increase in mark-up, what does this mean for other products the bookstore sells like apparel and school supplies such as notebooks, pens, and pencils? Will students still be able to purchase textbooks from wherever they want including online or second hand?

A number of questions remain and these will be asked of Ms. Dalgetty at this meeting. The SU does not believe that an institution that considers itself an entrepreneurial university should throw up its hands and outsource operations to a billion-dollar American company. What risk to the university’s reputation does such a decision carry with it?

These concerns will be raised at this meeting and students can expect a further update from the SU on Friday.