EUS said the meeting was intended as an open forum for the administration to answer questions from the Engineering student body.

While much of the discussion centered on the administration’s role in the Engineering program, issues regarding the larger student body were also raised.

One such issue was the administration’s decision to remove the McGill name from a number of student groups. Last semester, EUS was forced to remove the McGill watermark from its logo.

Rafi Azari, equity commissioner and branding director for EUS, told the administrators that removing McGill’s name from campus groups alienates students from the University.

“Preventing us from branding with [the McGill name] shows that we are not part of the community,” stated Azari.

Mendelson responded that the administration’s efforts to force student groups to remove the McGill name were not malicious.

“It is a misconception that the administration does not want student clubs to use the name,” said Mendelson. Mendelson explained that the reasoning behind the decision was to eliminate ambiguities about who provides a given service. Mendelson pointed to the Legal Information Clinic at McGill – formerly the McGill Legal Information Clinic – as an example. “The McGill legal clinic makes it seems that McGill is offering legal advice, but this not the case,” noted Mendelson. “So we asked them to remove the [McGill] name.”

Mendelson added that more campus groups are using the McGill name than before. “There have been claims that 135 clubs had to drop the name – this isn’t the case,” stated Mendelson.

It’s a misconception and it will be great to get the facts out,” added Munroe-Blum.

It was reported last November that 132 student groups would be forced to change their name as a result of SSMU signing their new Memorandum of Agreement with McGill.

SSMU VP Clubs and Services Carol Fraser said, “We counted 135 clubs, that’s how we got the number.”

She admitted, however, that some have been “minor changes” – for example, the McGill Chapter of the Make a Wish Foundation became McGill Club for Make a Wish.

Students also raised concerns about the quality of teaching assistants and professors. Ethan Landy, president of the Civil Engineering Undergraduate Society, expressed his disappointment with the caliber of teaching. “Some professors are more focused on research over teaching,” Landy told Council.

In response, Munroe-Blum stressed McGill’s role as a research-intensive university that still puts high value on teaching. Both Masi and Mendelson agreed. “Professors are hired for their commitment to teaching,” noted Mendelson.

The remainder of the meeting was devoted to the administration’s role in improving the Engineering program at McGill. Council members described the University’s lack of connection with professional industries, as well as the relative shortage of equipment compared to other engineering programs in Canadian universities.

Munroe-Blum, Mendelson, and Masi all emphasized that many of these issues are dealt with on the faculty level. Nonetheless, Masi noted that the administration is planning to allocate $2 million towards improving engineering laboratories, though he did not provide a specific time frame.

Throughout the meeting, the administrators spoke to the importance of direct relations between students and the administration.

“The hallmark of this administration is to meet with students,” stated Munroe-Blum.

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Discussion centered on how students protesting against tuition increases do not properly represent the engineering student body. Ethan Landy, president of the Civil Engineering Undergraduate Society, noted that the views of most engineering students are not being heard.

“Radical action is not the best representation of students,” said Landy. “I don’t think most engineering students are against tuition hikes.”

VP Academic Harold Day agreed with Landy, stating that most engineering students have more pressing concerns. “We have to find a way to make [Principal Heather Munroe-Blum] understand that the majority of students don’t care about the issue,” said Day.

The Arts Undergraduate Society has held two General Assemblies (GAs) as part of mobilizing around tuition hikes. The Science Undergraduate Society also recently announced it would hold a GA on the issue on February 29. President Josh Redel later confirmed with The Daily that the EUS would not be holding a GA.

Redel also announced to council his intention to run for SSMU president this semester.

The meeting also featured a report on the CFES Congress. The CFES, which represents 60,000 engineering students across Canada, holds an annual congress meeting that brings together various Canadian engineering student associations. The CFES held the conference, which ran this year from January 4 to 12, in Whitehorse, Yukon. Redel, EUS VP External Myriam Desranleau, and former EUS President Dan Keresteci attended the conference.

During the Council meeting, Redel, Desranleau, and Keresteci noted some conclusions from the congress that could be applied to improve EUS in the future. Redel observed that schools in the CFES stress integrating engineering logos on their clothes, adding that the EUS needs “more widespread branding.”

“It identifies you as an engineer,” added Keresteci.

Nonetheless, Redel, Desranleau, and Keresteci all agreed that the CFES congress itself could be improved. Notably, Redel stated that the CFES fails to lobby to industries and the government on behalf of engineering students. “[CFES] will never budge on lobbying, because it is not what CFES believes what it is,” said Redel. Currently, lobbying is not included in the mandate of the CFES.

Last year, the EUS co-signed a letter accusing the CFES of mismanagement and questioning its leadership; holding the annual conference in the Yukon was one of the issues the EUS raised at the time, as well as the lack of CFES lobbying.

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A motion concerning amendments to the OAP bylaws passed. The amendments include a starker difference between the roles of VP Finance and the Chair of the OAP Committee regarding the execution and financing of OAP. The amendments also added a section on sponsorship, whereas up to three cooperate sponsors will be allowed kiosks per day. Previously, there had been no clause specifying a limit on corporate sponsorship. The event will now also serve non-alcoholic beverages.

The meeting included some general remarks from EUS President Josh Redel. Redel noted that the intramural broomball arena – termed the Iron Rink – will have its grand opening tomorrow, with various pick-up games planned.

Redel noted that the EUS was unable to carry out their previously planned improvements to the rink, due to McGill decreasing the amount of their funding. The University had anticipated higher performance from the fund financing the rink than it received.

“McGill went from giving [EUS] $55,000, to $15,000, to $1,000, but only if we really need it,” Redel said to Council. The installed improvements include an enlargement of the rink as well as new sideboards.

Discussion of the Jutras Report was limited. Ethan Landy, president of the Civil Engineering Undergraduate Society, said that, “[The report] was pretty well-balanced, and a lot of the claims that the students made in terms of the physical abuse were addressed and confirmed.”

“I didn’t find it biased,” Landy added.

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CFES represents 60,000 engineering students across Canada and offers services such as an annual congress focused on leadership development, a national student magazine, technical skill competitions and complementary education courses.

The letter points to the decision to hold the 2012 CFES Congress in the Yukon as a chief example of poor management.

“The cost of sending delegates to such a remote location will make the conference unaffordable for some schools…the executive made no effort to steer the organization away from such a careless action,” reads the letter.

Leading the complaint against CFES is EUS President Daniel Keresteci, who initiated the letter to CFES and contacted Queen’s and U of T after the 2011 CFES Congress.

The choice to hold the 2012 CFES Congress in the Yukon was headed by the “bloc” of ten schools in the Western Engineering Student Societies’ Team (WESST), including student representatives from all the accredited Western Canadian engineering schools.

The different WESST member schools under the umbrella of the made up University of Yukon will hold the congress cooperatively. This is the first time the congress will be hosted by a group of schools as opposed to just one, and the first time it will be held in Northern Canada.

“[This congress will] allow for cooperation between the different WESST member schools,” states the congress website.

According to Kevin Siu, president of the University of Toronto Engineering Society, the WESST’s decision will alienate universities with smaller budgets.

“Taking delegates to the Yukon for next year’s scheduled conference at a premium is counter-productive…the imaginary ‘University of Yukon’ joke was way past the point of being humorous,” he said.

Keresteci agreed, noting that the event in the Yukon is far too costly. “It is a waste of people’s money,” he said.

The CFES, however, maintains that the resolution to hold the congress in the Yukon was decided democratically by the members of the body, and therefore was in no position to reject the decision.

“They questioned our leadership in allowing the selection of Yukon to host CFES Congress, but this decision rests squarely in the hands of the members,” wrote CFES President Rob Stalker, in an email to The Daily. “The members voted in favour of Yukon.”

The letter also charges the CFES with failing to properly lobby the National Council of Deans of Engineering and Applied Science (NCDEAS). The letter states that the CFES has unique access to the NCDEAS, which it should use on behalf of engineering students across Canada.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the CFES denied that they are the only body with access to the NCDEAS.

“While we certainly have regular contact with these groups, we by no means run a monopoly on their time or lines of communication,” reads the statement. The CFES added that lobbying is currently out of its mandate.

All three universities agree that major changes must be made in the CFES if they are to remain in the organization. Both Keresteci and Sui believe that the CFES is long overdue for reforms.

“[At] no time in my memory was the CFES a successful organization,” said Keresteci, “It’s reached a watershed moment, and we must act now.”

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“The Board appears to have assumed the role of a modern-day star chamber, acting according to its own dictates, accountable and answerable to no one,” the letter reads.

The publication of the letter came on the heels of the Board’s dismissal of former Concordia President Judith Woodsworth on December 23. Her departure joins a series of unexplained shifts in the senior administrative ranks, including the removal of five Vice Presidents and one President in the last six years.

In addition to the letter, the Concordia University Faculty Association (CUFA) issued a motion at a January 17 meeting, calling for Kruyt and the vice-chair of the Board to step down. “This state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue,” wrote the CUFA on their website, “the reputation of the University has been tarnished and the morale of the university community has been eroded.”

Many members of Concordia’s academic community also question the Board’s management of university funds. Several of the senior administrators who have been asked to step down by the Board have received large severance packages.

“These dismissals and departures cost money that faculty members, staff and students are constantly told the university does not have,” read an open letter addressed to Kruyt, “it’s an abuse of power.”

In reply, Kruyt released a letter on January 12 to the Concordia community stating his reasons for withholding specific details surrounding Woodsworth’s departure. Kruyt wrote, “Notwithstanding our support of the principle of transparency, good governance requires, among other things, that the Board respect confidentiality agreements in conducting the business of the University.”

Free Education Montreal (FEM), a Montreal-based advocacy group formed to eliminate tuition, has insisted that the entire Board should resign. “The board is tainted by hubris,” says their website. “It has engaged in behaviour unbecoming of members of a collegial institution.”

FEM also calls upon Line Beauchamp, Minister of Education, Recreation, and Sports for the Quebec Liberal Party, to create an inquiry into the actions and motives of the Board.

In response to the events, Beauchamp expressed distress to the Gazette and said she is watching the proceedings at Concordia intently.

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Students gathered to hear the panel optimistically project the future of leadership roles for women. Panelists agreed that women have gradually become more important players in the business world, and that their roles will only increase in time. Ingrid Langlois, Director of Commercial Banking at Scotia Bank Montreal, stated that she has seen more women in prominent positions at Scotia Bank since she started her career. 
“Statistically speaking,” Langlois said, “the percentage of women in managerial positions is on an upward trend.” 
Yet some panelists stressed that while there certainly has been a noticeable trend of growing female leadership in the workplace, the progress is far from complete. 
“There still exists an old boys club,” said Langlois. 
Kirk Johnson, partner at the law firm Irving, Mitchell, Kalichman – and the only male member on the panel – pointed towards his own experience in seeing many women in his graduate class eventually opt out of the business world. 
“Business is a tough, competitive place,” said Johnson, “and females are worried that they will be unable to complete.” 
Panelists, however, were confident that the barriers toward women in leadership would finally be overcome by the current generation of students. Dana Ades-Landy, Senior Vice President of National Accounts at Banque Laurentienne, predicted that in twenty years talent will rise to the top, regardless of gender. 
“The younger generation will accelerate the change,” said Ades-Landy. 
Edith Luc, an associate professor in Psychology at HEC Montréal, agreed with Johnson, pointing toward academic scholarship that illustrates that women can help companies succeed. 
Nonetheless, members of the panel stated that the change is not inevitable. They all maintained that action must be taken now by the current generation. 
“You are the next leaders, it’s on your shoulders,” said Natalie Francisci, Executive Vice President at Mandrake Groupe Conseil, looking directly at the student portion of the audience.

“Women are an asset to any organization,” said Johnson. 

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The event, hosted by the AUS, was held in the Arts Lounge and was chaired by AUS VP Academic, Jade Calver.

Calver presented the panel with a host of questions, most pressingly on whether they agreed with Principal Heather Munroe-Blum’s commitment to raise tuition. In response, all four committee member agreed it is a smart decision. “We have a shortage of resources,” Manfredi stated, “and we can get these resources through tuition fees.”

Students also expressed distress about TA cutbacks and accountability.

Associate Dean of Academic Administration and Oversight, Suzanne Morton, responded that the problem stems from greater demand on resources. “Despite popular notion, the TA budget has not been cut,” said Morton. The problem, Morton added, is that the budget has not grown.

Students also raised the issue of teacher inaccessibility, saying that it was difficult to have sufficient contact with many of their teachers. Panel members pointed to office hours in response. Andre Costopoulos, Associate Dean of Student Affairs, affirmed that in order to build a relationship with your teacher you must also connect with your work, saying, “The surest way to engage with a professor is to engage with the material.”

Throughout the night, panelists encouraged students to use the resources available to them, such as course evaluations or their respective representatives to varying administrative bodies to raise any outstanding issues. “Students are well-represented in all levels of administration,” said Costopoulous. “Students don’t take advantage of this. People do listen to student bodies.”

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