MUNSU elections are coming up, giving students the chance to choose who they want to represent them. The deadline for nominations has now passed, and the nominations will be announced later this week.
All positions are up for election, falling under four categories: Executive Directors, Faculty Representatives, Constituency Representatives, and Housing Representatives.
Representatives running for any of the Faculty, Constituency, or Housing positions must be a part of the corresponding faculty, constituency, or residence.
Executive positions are paid at a rate of $22.99/hour, and require 35 hours a week, making the five executive positions full-time jobs. Positions from the other three categories fall under the Board of Directors and receive a biweekly stipend of $50.
On campus, MUNSU is responsible for the Attic, the Breezeway, 93.5 CHMR FM, and Health and Dental Insurance through GreenShield. They also provide services for ratified Clubs and Societies.
MUNSU also organizes the annual Welcome Week, Winter Carnival, and student advocacy events, including the Day of Action protest. Because of all these contributions, MUNSU is critical in the lives of many undergraduate students in one way or another.
The elections come at a time when MUNSU is between a rock and a hard place financially. Their latest audit totals a deficit of over $200,000, making cuts necessary.
The problem hasn’t been deciding whether or not they need to make cuts; that much is known; the problem is deciding where to cut.
A recent motion to remove the Executive Director course reimbursements failed by just one vote.
The five executives each get one course fully covered by MUNSU every semester, which can be especially helpful for international students, who pay over three times more for courses than domestic students.
With many services beneficial to different facets of the student body, cuts are a difficult question to address. Due to these economic challenges, the next Executive Directors will likely have their work cut out for them and may need to make difficult decisions.
The deadline for applications was March 16th. Once nominations are released, voting will take place using paper ballots – not the Self-Service portal like previous years.
Nominations will be released on the 19th, and the election will take place from March 30-31.
The Muse will provide updates as the MUNSU election cycle progresses.
