First on Agenda: Board Game Night (tonight!)
Budget Stuff
Every January the McMaster office emails all master of coins for a budget increase
There was a mix-up: they reached out to Griffin last week instead of Ahastan. They have figured it out
Current SASS fee is $34.95
Consumer price index is 1.7%
Advised that we increase current fee by said number, or keep it the same
Proposed change is $35.50 for 2026-2027 ($200 difference)
Couple things to keep in mind
Do we go for the 50 cent change (In theory we would get $200 more?)
Accessibility: making everything accessible for students
We would have to reduce price on events (formal and semi formal, musical)
Do we think having more budget would allow us to have better quality events (is budget a hindrance? Is the current budget sufficient?)
Program size seems to be increasing
If the trend increases, we get more money, we would not need a significant price increase
283 people total
Rushan: good idea to raise it, $200 is was the budget for first year reps last year
Having more money allows for more possibilities and an open mind when planning events
If we were to raise fees, that should align with the quality of event
Elena: our year is really small, our current budget seems sufficient, both events have been under $100 so far
More money would be nice though, especially considering the class size of the first years
Lauren: agree, ticket pricing has been a barrier for a lot of people, making them hesitate more, even in terms of getting a ticket in time. If program is increasing, budget should increase
Leah: $200 doesn’t seem like a lot in the grand scheme but it adds up
Ahastan: in 2019, next year (in the near future) they have proposed a $5.00 increase in the fee (which is significant, went from $28-33)
This was mainly for the bursary (extra funding), it is around $1000.00
Not a lot was used for the bursary last year ($40 was used)
Will change when formal comes around
Talking with formal convenors, musical ppl, level reps, etc. is necessary
Need to determine turnout. Turnout should be considered as well
If having a larger budget deeply affects the quality of events, that should be considered
Should send out surveys to students to figure out how they feel about events
Leah Question: who was aware of the bursary, most people were not
Making financial assistance more accessible to people is key, there is a level of embarrassment associated with reaching out to level reps for aid
Elena: Is there an additional $1000 per year added to the bursary?
Ahastan: the bursary resets every year, the budget is allotted for a lot of things that include more than jus the bursary
Leah: Why can’t we use the extra bursary to make formal cheaper for everyone? We should use it as a safety net and use the excess for the last ticketed event
Ahastan: The safety net would only be able to be put to use at near the end of the year …?
Leah: it feels icky that we have money that we can use to promote students yet we hold onto it for technical reasons
Elena: we could bring it up at winter general meeting
Lauren: making it known that we have these resources incentivises those in ended to actually reach out
Rushan: keeping it as an option for people to make use of during the year, and at the end of the year using the excess on ticketed events (formal)
Ahastan: priority is for those who need financial assistance
Jack: how would it work if we were to use the remaining budget for formal? Would we reimburse everyone who has bought a ticket? That seems like a lot of work
Elena: send out a form for those who might need financial assistance, so we would be able to reimburse only those who may need it
Lauren: maybe have a predictive range of price for formal convenors to put out?
Julia: people aren’t really proactive with forms early on before the event
Leah: would paying at the door help?
Jack: more formal, we have to have a seating plan made 2 weeks in advance so paying at the door (not buying tickets) wouldn't work
Leah: reserving table without paying
Julia: a lot of people paid for semi without showing up though
Josh: people might show up without money to pay
Rushan: for general bursary, thinking about other ways of using the money for the same purposes, other general bursary, community events, supporting community, other events that go towards those who need financial aid
Leah: this could go towards events or supplies, which go towards the same cause
Ahastan: There's a lot of money that does not go to use. How much do we actually want to carry over? Formal and musical are unpredictable, prices can vary, which makes having a safeguard very important. We need to determine what we really need and what we can have to spend on other things
Graeme: Was the bursary advertised poorly or did people just generally now know?
Ahastan: the bursary last year was only used on formal and semi formal
Leah: people typically don’t know about it, we might be able to market it really hard next year and see if it ends up being used
Graeme: would more people attend formal if they knew about select bursaries going towards it, rather than a general bursary all across the board?
Julia: Most people were saying that they would love to go formal but $60 was out of their price range, money was the main factor hindering people from getting tickets.
Ahastan: 2/3 years ago, $775 was used, from the bursary. 2021-2022, $220 was used - what it says in the books though
Sarah: application for the bursary sounds like people need to provide very personal information to their peers
Julia: We send out an anonymous form. 50 percent reimbursement (up to 50%). Provide student number or e-transfer information
It was the same email as the general formal announcement
Sarah: maybe we should emphasize the anonymity of the bursary
Julia: issue of wondering if people had just filled out the bursary form thinking it was the ticket form. A separate email for the bursary might be better for confusion
Jack: reimbursement happened after semi
Graeme: Should we disclose how much money we have?
Leah: yeah!
Graeme: the amount of money we have plays into whether or not people apply
Julia/jack: people probably wouldn't abuse the anonymity of form
Formal Stuff
Julia: we are looking for a different venue option because of price concern, we are potentially lowering formal prices to $40-$50
They are touring a new venue tomorrow (Carmens)
It is about $20 cheaper for food per person
Jack: the new venue has been very fast, last year they didn’t hear back from Liuna until pretty late on
Leah: we should see what happens and figure it out afterwards
Aaron: people seem (first years) reluctant to read the whole email on formal, so reps should send out announcements regarding this in the group chats
Art & Science Seat on Senate
Kiran: Artsci doesn’t have a senate representative… Priya is an observer, not a voting member. Would the SRA or SASS be able to do something about this?
Rushan: People have been saying that we need a representative. There are by-laws that outline representatives. We would need to file a motion to amend the laws.
Leah: great direction to go! #artscionsenate
Jack: I asked Dr. Marquis why an Artsci voting member doesn’t exist on the senate. We can approach Marquis as SASS
Other student representatives also thought it was weird, so we can probably seek support from them
Rushan: Can observers speak to business during meetings?
Jack: You aren’t allowed to speak if you’re an observer in senate meetings.
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