Senate supports day of action

Amended UMSU motion passes at Senate

JENELLE PETRINCHUK STAFF

Students may find it easier to participate in the upcoming National Day of Action thanks to a motion recently passed at a University of Manitoba Senate meeting. Submitted by University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU) president Garry Sran, the motion resolves that the Senate endorses and is aware of the event to take place on Feb. 7, 2007.

The Day of Action is held by the Canadian Federation of Students, of which UMSU is a member, to promote awareness and provide information to both students and the provincial and federal governments on lowering tuition fees.

Issues in Manitoba include international student differential fees and the tuition fee freeze that has been in place for the past six years. Students from the University of Winnipeg, U of M and the Collège Universaire de Saint-Boniface will be meeting at the Manitoba Legislature on the Day of Action to voice their opinions on funding and accessibility for post-secondary education to the government and Premier Gary Doer.

The majority of senators endorsed the motion at the meeting, including Douglas Ruth, dean of engineering and member of Senate. “I certainly support any motion that has our students talking to politicians about increasing money to the university,” he said. “Anything that gets the message to the governments is a good thing.”

The original motion submitted to the Senate executive committee was not endorsed when presented to Senate because of concerns “regarding the implications of according academic amnesty from logistical, administrative and philosophical perspectives.”

The original motion stated “that Senate declares February 7, 2007 to be a penalty-free day for which no student shall receive an academic penalty for not attending classes or labs,” and added that academic staff should not set exams or assignments on the specified day.

Sran said he was expecting a lot of debate for the motion considering the problems that arose when he first met with the Senate executive. “It was a very time sensitive issue,” he said.

The main problem foreseen by various senators and deans was that they were not informed of the motion before course syllabi were put together at the beginning of the year.

“Feb. 7 is quite soon so I’m not exactly sure how all faculty members will deal with it, but we certainly will comply with the motion as adopted,” commented dean of arts Richard Sigurdson.

Sran met with university secretary Jeff Leclerc as well as various professors and deans and amended the motion so that it was less restrictive and offered more leeway for professors who have already scheduled assignments.

After the amendments were read to Senate, the motion was passed with virtually no debate. The official motion states “that February 7th, 2007 be a day of student protest, and that all academic staff shall be made aware of this fact; and be it further resolved that where reasonable, members of the academic staff be asked not to set exams, assignments or other academic requirements used for grading purposes on February 7th, 2007.”

This means that students may miss class, but must plan ahead for the event.

Ruth explained that the wording of the amended motion was more appropriate than the first, which he felt was too restrictive because in his faculty it may not be completely possible to defer all exams and assignments.

“You really can’t postpone a lab, because there’s only so many days and so many labs.”

David Witty, dean of architecture, also preferred the amended version. He pointed out that commitments would have already been made for the date in many classes throughout the faculty of architecture, though he still endorses the idea. “By and large, I support the idea of students being active in promoting their education and lobbying their support for it,” he said.

The UMSU Day of Action organizing committee has been in full swing for the past few weeks, gearing up for the big day. A recent project has been the creation of white scarves, which represent the solidarity with the cause.

Sran stated that receiving the endorsement of Senate is very encouraging for UMSU.

“It’s been a long time since a motion has been put forth by the students,” he said.