Students engaged in provincial politics
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS KEEP TABS ON DECISIONS THAT IMPACT THEIR FUTURE
According to outgoing University of Lethbridge Students’ Union president Hailey Babb, it has never been more vital for university student politics to be engaged with the larger political discussions taking place across the province than it is today.
“It’s been a very interesting time to be a student leader in Alberta,” said Babb. “The political environment is interesting.
“Obviously, we have been under an NDP government as opposed to the very long-serving, former P.C. government. So obviously, there have been a lot of changes, and we have been keeping a close eye on some of the projects the NDP has had with regards to post-secondary education. Students are going to have to be up on their political engagement, for sure.”
The U of L Students’ Union executive election results were expected Friday, but Babb expects a couple of issues will continue to be top-of-mind for whomever is ultimately elected.
“The NDP government has done a review on tuition which has not yet been released,” says Babb. “They have been hinting toward some plans to unveil a new model for tuition, and we have been keen to see that.
“Student mental health is a big issue. We have seen a sizeable investment from the government for student mental health, but we want to see that translate into services. We want to make sure students feel comfortable accessing those services, and there is stigma reduction in place as well.
“I know parking and campus accessibility has also been a big issue at the U of L for some time. We would like to see our campus reps getting some movement on that.”
Babb also wonders what will happen in the next few years with Alberta’s current tuition freeze.
“Obviously, we are not antituition freeze,” she explains, “but the ultimate goal we would like to advocate for is tuition rolled back to 1990 levels and tied to CPI (Consumer Price Index). We are happy students are not having to pay more and more each year, but with the price of education continuing to rise, and a set amount of money coming into institutions, we have seen a reduction to some of our student services here on campus. That is not necessarily ideal, either.
“The tuition freeze also does not apply to international students. Their fees have been hiked to make up for what has been frozen for domestic students. We are seeing them being a particularly sticky situation right now, and we want to make sure that is regulated.”
Whoever is elected to be the next Students’ Union president and incoming executive officers, says Babb, will also have to work closely with U of L administration to navigate the challenges of projected campus growth.
“We are growing as a university, and once the new Destination building is opened we are going to see a spike in enrolment,” she said. “And with more students, that is going to mean a demand to provide more, and more effective, services. We will have to spend as student leaders more time on the ground weighing what students want and advocating effectively for those things.”
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