Nipissing University Student Union
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| Institution | Nipissing University |
|---|---|
| Location | North Bay, Ontario Muskoka, Ontario Brantford, Ontario |
| Established | 1988[1][2] |
| Members | 6,300 |
| Affiliations | Canadian Federation of Students |
| Website | nusu.com |
The Nipissing University Student Union represents undergraduate students at Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario & Muskoka, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Canadian Federation of Students. Along with the Canadore Students' Representative Council, the Student Union is the joint owner and operator of the student centre at Canadore College.[3][4]
Background
The council
The Nipissing University Student Union Council comprises mainly of two parts: the executive council and the student representatives.
Within the executive council, there are four positions: the President; the Vice President External – whose responsibilities include representing the student body and its interests outside the university, as well as, managing the student health plan; the Vice President External – whose responsibilities include managing the clubs in the university; and Vice President Student Life – whose responsibilities include organizing events on campus.[5] The General Manager, a non-elected employee of the Student Union, has a vote on the Executive Council.[6]
The student representatives, or NUSU Delegates, are members of the student population who represent different areas of study, campuses, and residences at the university. There are a total of 7 delegates. They represent students from Sciences, Humanities, Social Sciences, Professional Schools, the Muskoka Campus, Residences, and the Faculty of Education.[7]
Internal power struggle
In November 2006, Kyle Marsh, president of the Student Union at the time, was ousted from office as a result of a vote by the Student Union's executive.[8] The decisive vote in a 3-2 decision, removing the president from power, was cast by Todd Fearnley, the general manager and a non-elected employee of the Student Union.[6]. In response to this situation, university president Dr. Dennis Mock stated that Nipissing University will not intervene in the situation and that university will respect the students rights to self-govern.[8]
On November 29, the then-Ryerson Students' Union vice-president of education, Nora Loreto, wrote a letter stating:
“Todd Fearnley, General Manager, had involvement that goes beyond what the scope of a students’ union general manager should be. As a staff member, no General Manager should have voting rights within an organization with elected students at its helm.”[6]
— from a letter by Nora Loreto, as reported by the The Eyeopener
In reaction to this, Todd Fearnley filed a lawsuit against Nora Loreto, Kyle Marsh, the then Nipissing Student Union vice-president external Kyra Knapp, the Canadian Federation of Students and Ryerson Students' Union, alleging that in protest of Marsh ousting, Loreto, Marsh, and Knapp began a "campaign specifically targeting Fearnley and contending that he has acted improperly, illegally and without authority" as well as alleging that the three "planned and collaborated amongst themselves to initiate a campaign, in the public forum, designed to damage and defame Fearnley".[6]
As of February 13 2007, General Manager Todd Fearnley, former President Kyle Marsh, and his immediate successor, Sean Feretycki, had reach a settlement.[9] As such, the infighting was considered over.
New corporate by-laws
On March 18 2008, the student body ratified a new set of Corporate By-laws at the concurrent General and Annual meeting, in which the voter turnout was 1413 students or 33% of the entire student population.[1][2] It passed 1277 to 136.[2] Of the 1277 ballots that were in favour of the new by-laws, over 1200 of them were cast by proxy.[1] The entire vote was criticized by former student union president Kyle Marsh, who stated that the outcome of the concurrent General and Annual meeting was an insult to the student population at Nipissing University.[1] He alleges that the students, especially those casted their ballots by proxy, were misled by the Student Union.[1] Marsh also alleges that at the meeting, it was admitted that a vast majority of the proxy ballots were partially incomplete.[1]
References
External links
- Nipissing University Student Union
- The Student Centre
- Nipissing University Student Union Governance Analysis
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- ^ a b c d e f "Marsh calls outcome of NUSU AGM an insult" — BayToday.ca (March 22 2008)
- ^ a b c "MEDIA RELEASE–Nipissing Students Overwhelmingly Pass the NUSU Corporate Bylaw" — Nipissing University Student Union (March 26 2008)
- ^ Canadore Students' Representative Council
- ^ Nipissing University Student Union — The Student Centre Staff
- ^ Nipissing University Student Union — Executive Council
- ^ a b c d Loreto sued for $425,000 while supporting Nipissing president — The Eyeopener (January 23 2007)
- ^ Nipissing University Student Union — Delegates
- ^ a b "NUSU president removed from office" — Nipissing University News (November 21 2006)
- ^ North Bay Nugget Archives(To see the summary, click the second button that states "from 01 Jan 1980")