REF NO.: 143

SUBJECT:

DATE: December 23, 2004

Undergraduate students at Memorial University’s St. John’scampus will be paying more in mandatory fees to their student unions next semester.

The undergraduate students’ union at Memorial, MUNSU, has increased union dues by $10 for all undergraduate students on the St. John’scampus. Total fees for full-time students will rise from $35 to $45, while fees for part-timers will rise from $9 to $19.

The MUNSU fees break down in this manner:

Full-time undergrads

• MUNSU membership fee – $35 (a $10 increase)
• Canadian Federation of Students (provincial) fee – $3
• Canadian Federation of Students (national) fee – $3
• CHMR-FM student radio fee – $2
• The Muse student newspaper fee – $2

Part-time undergrads

• MUNSU membership fee – $15 (a $10 increase)
• CHMR-FM student radio fee – $2
• The Muse student newspaper fee – $2

MUNSU’s council approved the $10 increase in membership fees at a meeting earlier this fall and requested the increases be ratified by the university’s Board of governing body of the university.

MUNSU’s request for the $10 increase was extraordinary because it marked the first time the students’ union has increased fees without conducting a broad-based referendum on the topic. The university had sought a legal opinion regarding the issue and received advice that MUNSU had the authority to increase the dues without a student vote and that therefore the university could appropriately collect the fee. Consequently, the Board ratified the increase at its December meeting.

The fee increase is not applicable to undergraduate students at Memorial’s Corner Brookcampus, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, who are members of a separate student union.