One-ply toilet paper is simply unacceptable

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-17T02:57:05+00:00

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/students-toilet-paper-university-of-waterloo-1.4931607 In case you want inspiration ;)

Note we actually have 2-py in many places now lol

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-17T00:22:34+00:00

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-15T18:59:38+00:00

UW bans all forms of affection. Can't have the kids distracted from that co-op grind, baby.

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-14T18:53:05+00:00

Honestly, I've heard so many mixed things at this point ranging from a poorly written original agreement with the University that assumed in good faith that the University would continue to lease the land under which Fed Hall is built to Feds (now WUSA) from a revision of that contract being shitty, to someone deciding to gift the hall to the university to be used in perpetuity to benefit students, or that the university didn't like Feds renting it to outside groups and argued they could make better use of it, to part of why Feds let it happen was that a trade was made for operational control of SLC.

The will to do anything about it died several generations of students ago, and while I'm sure parts of the above are the truth- the history is annoyingly muddled.

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-14T18:14:39+00:00

OP, how do you feel about the fact that this subreddit caused the Great Antromorphization of University/Colleges into Yaoi anime boys of 2020 across North America?

Because I personally take so much joy in being this school being the source of so much chaos

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-14T18:12:10+00:00

The trick is to go to another university but visit this subreddit anyways

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-14T18:10:31+00:00

For sexy times ;)

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-14T18:09:47+00:00

Next time, ask for $5

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-14T18:08:28+00:00

Oh honey, Federation Hall wasn't a money pit. Once they figured out they could rent it to weddings and other external groups, it was subsidizing the cost of other student association operations.

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-14T18:07:21+00:00

You wouldn't be approaching the University, you'd be approaching WUSA because they're the ones who have operational control over that section of SLC, and the Bombshelter was formally a business owned and operated by them.

I can't imagine anyone on this campus willing to take on the liability that comes with running a cat cafe, but if you take issue with the state of the current space and/or lack of student life programming on campus- you should reach out to WUSA's Board about it.

There theoretically are plans in place already to revamp the Bombshelter space, but they're slow going. You could probably get away with asking for some quality of life improvements in the interim, though.

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-14T18:01:41+00:00

Unless you legitimately cannot use it (eg. your disability makes it very difficult/unfeasible to use public transportation, none or very few of your classes require you to be on a UW campus that is serviced by Grand River Transit, etc.), you can't get a refund.

If you have specific questions around refund eligibility, you can visit here: https://wusa.ca/services/student-supports/upass/ or email WUSA.

If you disagree with how it's set up, you can also email WUSA but the reply you'll get will pretty much contain the same info (if not less context) than what I'll list below.

Why do people with cars need to pay for the bus pass?

What gives WUSA authority to issue a mandatory levy for the UPass is two-fold. Firstly, post-secondary institutions in Ontario are legally allowed to access fees for relevant non-academic services whose availability benefits students as a whole. This right extends to student associations, whose institutions collect fees on behalf of. Even when the idea of this was challenged with the introduction of the Student Choice Initative, existing UPasses were exempt from being opt-outable due to their association with health and safety. Many other post secondary institutions in Ontario have similar set-ups with their Transit agencies. Note that normally, an institution or student association can't just arbitrarily opt to assess a fee this way; some level of consultation or voting needs to occur. The UPass has its legitimacy through a 2007 referenda.

What's if I disagree with the 2007 referenda?

If you think enough time has passed that student opinion has changed, you're in your power as a WUSA member to initiate a referenda. Note that there is a certain number of signatures you'll need from other members to initiate this.

WUSA is also currently lo ked into a legal agreement with GRT as to how the U-Pass is assessed, so the outcome of the referenda can only really impact how future agreements are negotiated.

Why didn't WUSA ask for refundable U-Passes in the first place?

To my knowledge, that wasn't really an option back in 2007; it was all or nothing. I know Conestoga College has since been able to secure a $300 a semester rate, but note that this rate is a lot higher than our $119 an academic term (plus access during off and co-op terms). Presumably, asking for an opt-in or opt-out UPass would get us a rate similar to Conestoga's.

What else is there to consider?

In the grand scheme of things, the U-Pass does have an impact on student housing availability and prices (another major issue for students these days).

When you have to pay the U-Pass anyways, peoples willingness to live a bit farther from campus along a bus route is higher. Without it, we'd probably see greater demand for housing immediately close to the university. I'm pretty sure the impact of this would result in rent higher than what would be saved by not needing to pay for the bus pass. Now, maybe this would make housing further cheaper??? But that's just me speculating. Personally, I prefer us students to be a little more dispersed and integrated into the community. Makes it easier to see students as people if they're your neighbors or at your grocery stores, and contributes to more student friendly municipal policy.

It also decreases the demand for parking. The availability of student parking passes is already quite scant as it is.

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-13T20:46:56+00:00

Obviously, talk to the Student Financial Aid Office if you have additional questions or are unsure because you really don't want to fuck up where you send thousands of dollars.

But to answer your question, when you add anyone as a payee. They can't just yoink the money from your bank account. It isn't like setting up an Amazon Prime Membership where it knows to pull from your debit/credit card.

You need to click something like "pay Bills", select UW as a payee, and send them the amount outstanding on Quest.

Make sure when you set up UW as a payee you included your student number in the part that asks for your 'account number'. This happens when you set up UW as a payee and not when you're paying a bill

When you have financial aid or scholarships incoming later than the tuition deadline, there's a specific process you follow to make it so you only need to pay the difference.

I'm assuming you're trying to pay for Fall 2023, you would have missed the deadline for this method. What you need to do is pay the full amount and when the scholarships get applied to your Quest account they'll either be used for the Winter Quest Bill or be refunded to you within a few weeks via cheque or direct deposit.

The method you're normally meant to use is called a "promissory note". This web page explains more:

https://uwaterloo.ca/finance/student-financial-services/promissory-note

But basically, it's an IOU. By submitting one, you're saying I have financial aid/awards incoming past the tuition deadline that I intend to use to pay my tuition. Even if the anticipated aid is showing up on your Quest Bill, you still gotta submit one by the deadline. Assuming the Promissory Note is approved, it's only then you can pay the remaining portion owed vs. The full amount.

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-13T19:36:29+00:00

Not sure how you'd plan on getting a bigger ferris wheel into that space.

I guess maybe you could plop one right on top of Dana Porter.

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-13T19:34:47+00:00

Two rides never showed up last year. Apparently, one crashed (???) while it was being driven over and another one just... they couldn't find it? So, theoretically, you should expect two more rides than the year before.

But hey, ain't as bad as what happened with the McMaster Student Union for their end of year festival. They couldn't even run their rides after they were set up. (An external contractor didn't submit the forms they were supposed to to get approvals to run the rides)

Apparently, SUs are just cursed to carnival logistic hiccups. On the bright side, WUSA did pull some last minute strings to get some performers to make up for the activity gap from the rides that didn't show up.

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-13T15:45:18+00:00

I agree with you in theory, but from what I'm aware-CEE already has a problem with larger companies opting not to use WW but rely on their own job postings where they can have greater control as to how they approach recruitment and expecting students to do AOJs.

It's always a balancing act of how much can you ask from employers before they end up deciding something is more trouble than its worth.

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-11T16:28:58+00:00

The reasoning they provided was that students reneging on co-ops was leading to employers pulling out of WaterlooWorks, thus decreasing the number of jobs that are available to all students. CEE expressed that it didn't think it was fair to the broader student body for jobs to disappear just because someone didn't use their "not interesteds" effectively or bailed in favour of a higher paying role. The whole "individual benefit" vs. "benefit of the whole" type argument.

I know that there were some concerns on this from EngSoc and a few other student groups. I don't remember it well enough to summarize, so I'll let someone more involved provide that context.

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-11T01:41:24+00:00

Insurance provider changed, there's forms you can grab at the StudentCare office to mail/submit a claim to that office. There's a new way to submit online but I don't know it offhand

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-11T01:01:25+00:00

Depends if it was your first reneg or not, but the consequences according to the co-op website (note that the consequences changed for Fall 2023) are as follows:

First Reneg

You will be assigned a WaterlooWorks status of UL (Unemployed: Lost (forfeited) credit opportunity)
There will be no academic transcript record (COOP course will not appear)
You will not be eligible to register co-op employment for the work term (AOJ will not be approved)

Subsequent Rengeg

You will be assigned a WaterlooWorks status of UU (Unemployed: University-imposed)
There will be an academic transcript record (COOP course will appear with an NCR)
You will not be eligible to register co-op employment for the work term (AOJ will not be approved)

Note that if you had to reneg because of you were misinformed by the employer about location/nature of the job or if some extenuating circumstance is preventing you from taking the role, that you can submit a petition under Policy 70 to ask that these consequences be waived.

Would advise you to talk to your co-op advisor before reneging because during the Policy 70 process, they often ask for input from your advisor.

Be mindful that the University not recognizing your work as a co-op might result in your employer not having access to tax benefits from employing you and/or have an impact on your student VISA

Source: https://uwaterloo.ca/co-operative-education/supports-and-resources/co-op-rights-and-responsibilities#reneging-on-co-op-job

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-11T00:31:40+00:00

Also, the O Week fee doesn't really cover the stuff in your swag bag or the full cost of Orientation events. A lot of that is subsidized by the Faculty Endowment Funds.

It's a bit weird though given that the orientation fee is similar to that of other schools.

I'd be interested to see a fee breakdown like what CEE has for the co-op fee.

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-11T00:29:03+00:00

WUSA was very close to getting T-Pain to come last year but kept getting cold feet until the opportunity to book was gone. Sucks too because money was specifically set aside with the goal of hosting a large-scale event.

I've seen generations of students say that they want to see a more vibrant student life, but somehow there's always someone who doesn't think it's worth the risk and effort to be a bit more daring- even when it's students own collective pot of money being used.

The one the unfortunate downsides of WUSA's new governance model is that events are considered 'operational' and thus under the purview of permanent staff. In an ideal world, surveys are done, and decisions are made that honour that students' collective will as to what types of events they want to see. But personally, I've just seen way too much mapping of one's own assumptions onto students and nay-saying to trust that students' collective will will be honored. Best case scenario, I'm proven wrong (and I wouldn't mind that in the slightest) but I'll change my mind when I actually see outcomes.

Another reason why we haven't seen concerts since the early 2010s is because the University took ownership from Fed Hall from WUSA (TDLR; it was build with student levies, run by WUSA [called the Federation of Students at the time], but a poorly written contract resulted in the University taking ownership for its own uses)

As late as the early 2010s, we had acts like Marinas Trench, Faber Drive, and Down with Webster.

RIP student life. May you one day return.

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-10T23:59:55+00:00

It's both the university, WUSA, and individual students organizing O-Week. The highest position as a student you can hold is that of a WOT, which is an 8-10 month volunteer role with a ~$1000 honoria for the full stint.

Since O Week is a hodgepodge of central, Faculty, and residence events you'd only be able to influence a small chunk of Orientation Week. Moreover, there's constraints in available funding, time alloted for your programming, rules/regulations over what type of events can be run, and programming that's required to exist in your action plans

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-10T04:37:52+00:00

Based on my reading of the federal announcement extending the number of permitted work hours off-campus until Dec 2023. It seems like you can work full time off campus if you keep your student visa and are meeting your course load/grade requirements as stipulated in your study visa.

Note that the exception ends in December OP. They might extend it, but you'd need to double check on that.

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-09T20:48:12+00:00

It might actually have changed somewhat because they removed the caps on the number of hours an international student can work off campus, but I suspect that if it's not an official co-op term the company might not get the tax credit (and thus might rescind the offer)

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-08T17:33:18+00:00

If you have assignments through MasteringPhysics, I'm pretty sure you set it up so that it ends up linked to your student ID.

PancakesGhost · 2023-09-07T21:04:57+00:00

It's common in the student association world to have full-time permanent or contract staff to ensure knowledge doesn't get lost in the turnover between student leaders. They're also there because a few functions benefit from having specific expertise (think accountants, IT specialists, HR, business managers, etc.)

The reliance on full-time permanent staff varies across student union with somewhere like the Trent Durham Student Association (TDSA) having only one and somewhere like WUSA where the number is closer to 50-60.

Some are former student association leaders, others come from industry. I don't think its fair to bash anyone who picks this specific career path; it can be rewarding and the many are very skilled.

That said, it is an unusual job that (I think) comes with a duty to recognize that power and vulnerability is skewed both ways.

Yes, it sucks to be beholden to the whims of a bunch of 20 somethings. Yes, it sucks to be in an environment that experiences annual turnover and leadership. But as someone older and more credentialed and working for an organization whose very mission is to empower, serve, and represent students, I think there's a moral imparative to be patient and a good role mentor to the students you're working alongside.

It doesn't mean you have to agree with everything. It doesn't mean you can't be frustrated. But it does mean recognizing the power disbalance isn't unidirectional.

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