Students' Union, UCalgary

The SU continued its advocacy efforts at the university level and provincially throughout March. In March the Minister of Advanced Education put out a statement expecting post-secondary institutions to return to in-person classes for September. This was unexpected and came with few details. The province did not outline how it expected institutions to do this nor did they provide any funding to support UCalgary and other institutions to cover additional costs associated with re-entry, such as cleaning. The SU put out a statement and spoke to media about the need for a detailed plan from the Minister or from Alberta Health. You can read that statement here.

More recently, the SU learned that the university was in discussions with Follett to privatize the campus bookstore. The SU firmly believes that this would be a bad move for students. Follett has a history of increasing textbook prices and restricting student choice on where to buy textbooks. The SU is disappointed that the university has chosen not to consult with students over any potential change to bookstore operations.

Since the bookstore story broke, the SU has requested a meeting with the senior university officials involved in the privatization discussion. Those requests have been declined with the university only agreeing to meet after a decision on the path forward has been finalized.

This is not acceptable. The SU feels strongly that student concerns and voices should inform that path forward and not be excluded from the decision-making process. In addition, if the university feels they cannot sustainably run the bookstore then the SU is interested in entering into discussions with the university to operate the bookstore on a cost-recovery model.

The SU met with City Councillor Jeff Davison on what the City can do to keep students and young people in Calgary. Many young people are looking to leave the city and the province given the poor job climate combined with annual deep cuts to post-secondary education on the part of the provincial government.

The SU advocacy team also met with MLA Rachel Notley and NDP Advanced Education Critic David Eggen to discuss the fallout of the provincial budget and other student issues.

Later in March, the SU VP External, Marley Gillies, attended the virtual AGM of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA). CASA is the federal student advocacy group and supports student associations when it comes to advocating to the federal government on student issues. Discussion centred around the federal budget coming out next week as well as plans for GOTV in case of a federal election later this year.

The SU has continued its institutional advocacy on issues around the USRI and a permanent credit received option. A new Provost has been hired to replace Dru Marshall and we look forward to building a new relationship with the new Provost and continue our work on these issues.

Recently the SU found out that the university was in some level of discussion with an American company, Follett, to privatize the campus bookstore. These discussions were only brought our attention by bookstore staff who were told about the looming changes to bookstore operations. Students were not consulted whatsoever on potential changes.

Follett has a negative reputation on many campuses where it operates bookstores. It has raised the cost of textbooks on students while also often decreasing student choice on where to purchase books by having students pay for books up front when they pay their tuition. The bookstore currently sells textbooks as close to cost as possible and maintains a book loan program. The SU is concerned that this is at risk if the university pushes forward on privatization.

While a final decision on the future of the bookstore hasn’t yet been made, the Students’ Union has repeatedly asked for meetings to get an understanding of the status of discussions with Follett or any other company involved. The SU has also asked for a meeting to present student concerns on this issue. These meetings have been declined. The university has refused to meet with student leaders until after a decision on the path forward has been made.

This is unacceptable.

Students deserve the opportunity to present their feedback for administrators to consider in their decision-making process on the bookstore. It makes little sense to solicit feedback only after a decision has been made.

Bookstore privatization may not seem like a big deal but it could further increase student costs at a time where many students are looking at paying 22.5% more in tuition than when they began their studies.

If the university is serious about ensuring affordability, then it should scrap its risky privatization plan and it should certainly ask for student feedback and ideas. If the university feels it cannot sustainably run the bookstore, the SU would be happy to enter into discussions with the university to take over operations on a cost-recovery model.

However, at the very least students deserve a voice before any decisions are made. The SU calls on UCalgary administration to sit down with students while they are still exploring options rather than after a decision has been made.

Hey everyone, SU President Frank here.

Since finding out late on Wednesday about a possible deal between the university and an American company to operate the campus bookstore, the SU has been digging around to find more information.

My colleagues and I are deeply concerned about a company with a less than stellar reputation operating the bookstore. In particular, I am concerned that we will be paying more for books because of this deal, the transparency of the deal itself (why is this the first time we’re hearing about it?), and ensuring that we continue to have choice about if and where we purchase our textbooks.

Considering the continued increases to tuition, and the already huge amounts we pay for course materials, it makes no sense to follow that up with an increase to textbook costs. I brought student concerns forward at the U of C Board of Governors meeting this morning. My counterpart at AUPE (the staff union on campus) was very concerned about this as well, and members of the board vented some frustrations about this potential move.

All this to say we are going to continue investigating this and will fight to ensure that student interests are reflected in any potential outsourcing of the bookstore. This affects all of us and students should have been informed prior to discussions like this taking place. We are hearing conflicting views on how far along in the process the university is in this deal but we will find out. So stay tuned and I will update you as we get more info.

Frank Finley

SU President