On January 17th, 2019, the Government of Ontario announced an initiative to give students the option to choose whether to pay or not pay the non-essential supplementary fees. This is the Student Choice Initiative or SCI.

McMaster University has determined the Fall 2019 optional opt-out period to be between September 12th to 20th, 2019. This can be performed through Mosaic.

To read more, click here.

Essential Fees

(As Determined by the Government)

These are mandatory fees that the students have to pay and do not have the choice to opt-out from paying. These fees include:

• Athletics and recreation
• Career services
• Student buildings
• Health and counselling
• Academic support Student ID cards
• Student achievement and records
• Financial aid offices
• Campus safety programs, and
• Student transit passes

GSA Non-Essential Fees

These are Fees that students will have the option to choose to opt-out. These fees include the following:

• GSA Grad Recognition Awards
• GSA Club funding
• GSA Social Events
• GSA Community Enhancement
• GSA Advocacy.

It is recommended by the GSA to pay ALL non-essential fees as the GSA represents the students and through these resources, the GSA strives to make the grad student experience better at McMaster.

How to opt-out –

STEP 1 – Log in to MOSAIC and click on the Student Choice Initiative tile.

STEP 2 – Read and review all the information before proceeding to opt-out.

STEP 3 – Review the non-essential fees to make an informed decision. Click on the slider if you want to opt-out of paying certain fees.

STEP 4 – Click next to proceed to the payments page.

FAQs

I do not think I have used or intend to use any of the above-mentioned services, why should I opt-in then?

The GSA advocates on behalf of the students to the Administration of the University and the Government. This advocacy might not seem to directly impact you individually but many facets of Graduate Student life are actually influenced. For instance, the negotiation and subsidization of the Health and Dental Plan and the HSR transit pass fee. Through the GSA, you can also get academic research support and funding.

How much am I paying for the non-essential fees?

The GSA has budgeted less than $20 to be paid in order to use the above-mentioned services.

I already opted out, how do I opt back in?

By opting out in September, you will NOT have the opportunity to opt back in when you wish to use any of the above-mentioned services by the GSA.

I do not agree with a few of the GSA’s initiative which makes me want to opt-out. What should I do?

The GSA is by the students, for the students. Because of the democratic nature of the organisation, we need to function in a way that benefits all our students collectively. However, we do not shy away from any concerns or criticisms brought forward to our attention by our students. If you have any issues you would like us to address please feel free to email us.

For more questions, please email gsaext@mcmaster.ca.

The results for the 2019-2020 GSA Election results are as follows:

GSA Executive Positions

President: Shawn Hercules
Vice President External: Unnati Trivedi

Open positions

GSA Executive Position

• Vice-President Administration
• Vice-President Internal
• Vice-President Services

GSA Faculty Representatives to the Council:

• 2 Business
• 2 Humanities
• 2 International
• 2 Social Science
• 2 Health Sciences

Please make your best effort to attend the upcoming Annual General Meeting where the election results will be ratified. AGM will be on March 21 at 9am at the Phoenix.

The new executive and council will officially begin on May 1, 2019.

Elections for GSA will take place Tuesday, March 12th at 10:00 am- Thursday, March 14th at 6:00 p.m! Find out more about the candidates’ platforms by click this link.

To register to vote, kindly click msumcmaster.ca/vote and your ballot will appear when voting opens on March 12th @ 10AM.

Some executive and FRC positions are still open. Click this link to find all vacant positions. Nomination deadline for these positions is Monday March 11th at 6:00p.m.

The GSA invites all members to the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Click here to view the agenda for the AGM. Additionally, please find minutes from March 2018 GSA Council meeting  and other important documents attached below which will be discussed at the AGM:

• GSA 2018-2019 Year in Review
• 2019 AGM Agenda
• Minutes of April 11th 2017 AGM
• VP- Internal Report AGM 2019
• VP- External Report AGM 2019
• Bylaws Amendments
• Balance Sheet – GSA
• Balance sheet -Phoenix
• Profit and Loss- GSA
• Profit and Loss Phoenix
• Fee Schedule 2019-2020
• Proposed GSA budget 2019-2020
• Financial Statement 2018
• Phoenix Budget – 2019-2020
• Statement of changes in equity – GSA
• Statement of changes in equity- Phoenix

 

Nomination Form – Executive Committee, FRCs and Board of Directors positions
Nomination period begins February 5, 2019 at 10:00am and ends February 26, 2019 at 6:00pm. The Executive Committee and FRC nomination forms can be found here and Board of Directors nomination form can be found here.

To be eligible, candidates must submit this nomination form to the GSA office by Monday, February 26, 2019 at 6:00pm. Candidates may submit a nomination form for only one of the listed positions. Completed forms can be emailed to the Chief Returning Officer (CRO) directly at gsacro@mcmaster.ca or dropped in at our office.

For any questions about the elections, please contact the Chief Returning Officer, Kara Tsang by email at gsacro@mcmaster.ca, or the GSA office at macgsa@mcmaster.ca.

During the 2018 GSA Election process, it was brought to the CRO’s attention that there were concerns from our members about using Google Forms as an election platform. The members’ concerns were considered and the CRO decided that the election would be redone via SimplyVoting for Friday March 23, 2018 at 10am until Sunday March 25, 2018 at 6pm.

If you made it to the AGM, thank you!

Unfortunately, we were shy of a few students and were unable to meet quorum; however, it was voted among the present current council members to move the AGM agenda to the council.

All the membership (you) are invited to our March council meeting taking place today, Thursday March 22nd 2018 at 6:00PM in our GSA Boardroom. You can find our boardroom opposite the entrance to The Phoenix. Enter through that door and walk up the stairs to enter.

We will be voting on items found in our agenda here from the AGM today. Click the link below to get access to our AGM documents.

Please come out if you are interested! The existing council will vote on the agenda items but you can let your voice be heard.

Elections for GSA will take place Sunday, March 18th at 10:00 am- Tuesday, March 20th at 6:00 p.m! Meet and greet the candidates today at The Phoenix Bar and Grill at 5PM! Hear about their platforms and how they are interested in representing you over the next academic year.

If you can’t make this event, you can find out more about the candidates’ platform here.

The GSA invites all members to the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Click here to view the agenda for the AGM. Additionally, please find minutes from 2017 AGM and other important documents attached below which will be discussed at the AGM:

• 2018 AGM Agenda
• Minutes of April 11th 2017 AGM
• Presidents Report AGM 2018
• Executive Reports
• Balance Sheet – GSA
• Balance sheet -Phoenix
• Profit and Loss- GSA
• Profit and Loss Phoenix
• Fee Schedule 2018-2019
• Proposed GSA budget 2018-2019
• Financial Statement 2017
• GSA Board of Directors Nomination (2018) – Dave Moore
• GSA Board of Directors Nomination (2018)- Avijit Malick
• Phoenix Budget – 2017-2018
• Statement of changes in equity – GSA
• Statement of changes in equity- Phoenix

Free pizza will be provided, and we need 39 members to meet the quorum!