Hopefully you participated in the ADSA referendum on student fees. The results are in and included for your reading enjoyment, as is the course of action for ADSA given the results.
1: “Since 2007, full-time students have paid $10/year (part-time: $5/year) to the Advanced Degree Students’ Association (ADSA) to fund professional development seminars, social events, travel bursaries, and since 2012, an annual student conference. However, because of changes in enrollment, the ADSA’s revenue has declined the past four years, and the ADSA Board has recommended an increase in the ADSA fee. Effective September 2015, shall we increase the ADSA fee to $16/year for full-time students and $8/year for part-time students?”
35 yea 3 nay What this means is that we (the ADSA board) have gone to TST to inform them that the students have okayed raising the fee for next year-we’ll keep you informed.
2 “The ADSA Board has also recommended a conditional increase in the ADSA fee of no more than $1 a year (part-time: $0.50/year) for future years. This increase would only take effect if enrolment continued to decline and a vote of the full ADSA Board authorized the increase. Shall we authorize future ADSA Boards to raise the ADSA fee by up to $1/year for full-time students and $0.50/year for part-time students, for the four academic years starting in September 2016 and ending in April 2020?”
32 yea 7 nay What this means is that the ADSA board, until 2020, will be able to consider raising the ADSA fee by the given amount without having a vote of the student body-anything more than this amount will have to come back to all the AD students for a vote.
3:” At present part-time and full-time doctoral students pay the same tuition, but starting in September 2015, part-time domestic students in Year 5 will save over $3,000/year compared to their full-time counterparts. Then in September 2016 part-time international students in Year 5 will also save over $3,000/year, with similar savings for every subsequent year. However, because part-time TST students are currently not members of a university student association, students who switch to being part-time lose their supplemental health and dental insurance. In contrast, part-time University of Toronto students pay $200 a year to the Association of Part-time Undergraduate Students (APUS) in membership fees and insurance premiums. The APUS health and dental plan is similar to our full-time plan with the following major differences: a 10% co-pay and $2,000/year maximum for prescription drugs; a 35% co-pay and $600/year maximum for dental work, excluding comprehensive oral surgery or any denture services; and no coverage for hearing aids or psychotherapy but added coverage for prescription contacts and glasses ($100 every 2 years) and vaccines. Therefore, shall we ask APUS if part-time students can pay the $200/year fee to join APUS and their health and dental plan, with the same options as full-time students to have their insurance premiums refunded if they have another plan or move out of Canada? ”
26 yea 1 nay 12 don’t care/doesn’t affect me What this means is that ADSA will begin looking into what would be required to join APUS. No one will be joining APUS in the coming year (2015/16), but more information will be forthcoming.
4: “Basic degree students at TST colleges pay the Athletics and Recreation, Hart House, and Student Life fees and, in exchange, receive access to fitness classes, equipment, and facilities, Hart House classes, clubs, and committees, the Career Centre, and other centres and services described at http://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/. Shall we ask TST and the University if full-time advanced degree students can pay the $800.36/year (part-time: $160.10/year) Athletics and Recreation, Hart House, and Student Life fees and receive these benefits?”
yea 16 nay 23 What this means is that ADSA will not be pursing the increase in student fees. It also means that as AD students we do not have access to these things (unless you pay for them personally, such as for Hart House).
As always, if you have questions please feel free to contact any member of the board.
