SMU student union chooses business over politics

Changes to the structure of the student union are expected to be more efficient

Roughly 67 per cent of student voters approved changes to SMUSA’s constitution that give the president much more power. (Photo: Chris MacDougall)

A new student union governance structure designed to streamline the Saint Mary’s University Students’ Association and give the president more authority recently squeaked into reality by a narrow margin after a school-wide student referendum.

The new union structure, coming into effect for SMUSA’s spring election, allows students to elect their president, who will then hire the rest of the union’s executive members according to union hiring policies. Under the revised constitution, developed with the help of independent consultants, the union will hold one spring election for its board of governors representatives, who will replace the current Student Representative Council and will each serve for two-year terms.

Roughly 12 per cent of the student body – 850 students – voted in the Sept. 23 and 24 referendum. Of them, 67.33 per cent approved SMUSA’s constitutional changes, which needed a 10 per cent voter turnout and a 67 per cent majority to pass.

The referendum question simply asked students to accept or reject more than 10 constitutional changes, which included efforts to make the union more accountable by putting all student society levies up to a vote every four years.

SMUSA president Chris MacDougall, who encouraged students to vote in favour of the new rules, says these changes will make the union “more effective, more streamlined and more responsive to student needs.”

In the past, he says, the direction of the union has been “convoluted,” with no steadfast ability to get things done. Next year’s union will save thousands of dollars by only holding one election for the year and the president will have the authority to direct his hired executive according to student needs.

“It allows people to come into the position and hire for what areas they might need help in throughout the year so they can build a stronger team,” MacDougall says, adding that the president will remain accountable to the student-elected board of governors.

“If it was me, I’d be scared to death to hire my friends, because of the appearance of a conflict of interest,” he says. “When it comes down to it, you’re going to hire the best person for the job.”

Saint Mary’s graduate Mark Layman agrees that if implemented properly, the governance structure can improve student politics at the university.

“It gives the president an ability to hire a great staff and it’s not a popularity contest,” says Layman, who spent several years as a student union staff member before graduating in May with a human resources degree. But he expects the new executive will have quite a few kinks to work out next year.

“The people that wanted this change and worked toward this change are not going to be the ones working with it next year.”

He says lumping all of the changes together wasn’t a fair way to seek student opinion since students may have agreed with some changes and disagreed with others.

“I’m really disappointed that the student body didn’t consider this critically,” says Layman.

He says the union’s move to give the president power over the other executives makes SMUSA more like a corporation than a student council.

“I feel like SMUSA has been working to become a business more and more over the last five years,” Layman says. “The impact to students is that the student government is spending more money on its structure than on working for students.”

No such structure overhauls are in the works for the Dalhousie Student Union (DSU), which currently holds an election each spring for four of its five executive members, plus separate elections for council members and board of governors representatives. The DSU serves Dal’s 15,000 students while SMUSA works for a student body of about 8,800.

Mark Coffin, DSU vice president (education), says he’s followed SMUSA’s recent constitutional changes closely and he doesn’t think they’re all such a good idea.

“I don’t disagree with them that it’s going to be more efficient, but it’s going to be more efficient in achieving the goals of the president," he says. "And if the goals of the president aren’t in line with what students think or what the other appointed executives would think, then I think that’s a dangerous road to be going down."

Coffin agrees with the implementation of mandatory two-year terms for elected representatives at SMUSA, saying most student unions are continually plagued by high student turnover rates. The DSU’s board of governors representatives already serve for two-year terms and Coffin says the union is also considering implementing longer terms for DSU senate representatives. 

Though having only one annual election may make student union politics easier, Coffin says students may feel they have fewer opportunities to get involved with the union.

“I would say it would just make them less likely to want to get involved,” he says. “It would still be a student-run organization but it would be operating more like a business than your typical union.”

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