Opt-out deadline set for September 19
Students across UofT have until September 19 to opt out of optional incidental fees, a decision made by the Ford government earlier this year in an attempt to cut costs for post-secondary students. The Student Choice Initiative introduced in January 2019 gave students the option to opt out of “unnecessary” student fees, such as social events, programming, and student projects.
As of September 2019, resources and initiatives such as academic support, athletics and recreation, career services, campus counselling, Caffiends, and the Cat’s Eye Pub are all considered mandatory. Other VUSAC levies, programming, and clubs, however, are at risk of losing funding from the Student Choice Initiative.
The Strand interviewed Vice President of Student Organizations, Cameron Davies, on the potential impact of the SCI on Vic student life.
What have you been doing in your role as VPSO to consult with student levies on the SCI?
As VPSO, I’ve been working with levies to ensure that they are adequately consulted on the Student Choice Initiative. This has meant that, alongside VUSAC President Alexa Ballis, I’ve met with each levy to discuss the Student Choice Initiative, and to relay the impacts of that policy on their student fees. I’m also strongly in support of the work which has been undertaken by VUSAC as a whole to support the Choose UofT campaign. I also want to extend kudos to Alexa and VUSAC’s Communications Coordinator Holly Johnstone on their continued promotion of Vic’s levies through VUSAC’s social media, and I encourage you to reach out to VUSAC’s President Alexa Ballis to get the full picture of what work VUSAC members have been doing to counteract the Student Choice Initiative.
What are your plans if VUSAC loses a significant amount of funding?
I won’t mince words—if many people opt out of their student fees, the Student Choice Initiative has the potential to decimate club and levy budgets. I have utmost faith that our clubs and levies will do the most they can, whatever resources they get, to ensure that student life can continue to thrive at Vic. However, with the significant cuts which may occur as a result of the Student Choice Initiative, Vic’s clubs and levies could have much fewer resources to work with when doing their magic. In my role as VPSO, I will encourage clubs and levies to collaborate with each other to ensure that they reach out to as many students as possible, and to ensure that we can maintain the lively ecosystem of programming which we see at Vic. One particular priority of mine is to advocate to preserve equity and sustainability programming during the budgetary process. However, I can’t support clubs and levies all by myself – and VUSAC can’t all by itself. That’s precisely why it’s so important for Vic students to stay opted in to their Vic fees. One silver lining which I’ve noticed so far is how well the Choose UofT campaign has been received by Vic students. Vic students see the value in our communities, and recognize that, in their hour of need, they need our support to thrive.
What would you say to a student debating on opting out of incidental fees?
If you’re a student who is considering whether to stay opted in to your student fees, I ask you to consider the community you’re a part of at Vic or at UofT—the people you live with, the people you see at Caffiends, the people you study with. Regardless of how you’re involved, you are a part of a community on campus. By opting out of student fees, you erode this community, harming everyone involved, either directly or indirectly. To me, that’s what opting out of student fees means. Even if you don’t read The Strand, or go to Highball, or belong to a club, you’re still embedded within the Vic community, and damage to one of our subcommunities hurts us all. By remaining opted in to your fees, if you are in the financial position to do so, you support a myriad of services and communities at our college. And the “non-essential” fees which fund our levies and clubs, as well as VUSAC, total only $22.38 per semester. By paying those fees you support everything from literary journals and newspapers, to social events, to equity programming and advocacy, to sustainability programming and advocacy, to arts and culture and clubs and drama!
