ur pride says ursu 'withholding' 2024 student fees over non-compliance
"it should be a simple stroke of the pen. that has not happened yet," said board spokesperson style stenberg.
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style stenberg, vice-chair of the board for ur pride, sits for a portrait inside stone's throw coffeehouse on dec. 13, 2024 in regina.
kayle neis
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regina leader-post
ur pride centre for sexual and gender diversity says it has not received any student fees for last year from the university of regina students’ union (ursu), putting at risk the centre’s ability to keep its doors open in the future.
style stenberg, a spokesperson for ur pride’s board of directors, confirmed that as of march ursu has not dispensed any money collected from students on behalf of the centre for the 2024 winter, spring, summer or fall semesters.
the holdout is believed to be part of a dispute over ur pride’s non-compliance with its service and support agreement, which the centre has been attempting to resolve since last january.
“it’s going to be really, really tough to maintain having our doors open with a salaried employee who will be tasked to do a lot of this work and pay off debts” without those fees, stenberg said in an interview with the leader-post.
stenberg noted that ur pride came into compliance as of dec. 31, but ursu has not provided a clear reason for still “withholding” the fees.
“we have worked tooth and nail to get back into compliance (and) we are now in compliance. there is nothing holding back our 2024 funding,” explained stenberg. “ursu should be holding those fees in trust so, in theory, it should be a simple stroke of the pen. that has not happened yet.”
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ursu did not respond to questions from the leader-post regarding the fees for ur pride or the women’s centre, which also says it has not received funds for 2024.
the missing fees are noted in ur pride’s most recent financial statements by its contracted auditor, presented during its annual general meeting on feb. 28.
concern over ur pride’s compliance arose publicly in december after ursu’s board of directors voted last september to hold a referendum amongst students on continuing to collect fees for ur pride and the women’s centre.
full-time u of r students pay $5.25 per year in tuition fees to fund ur pride and $6 for the women’s centre. those fees are collected by the university and dispensed to ursu to then deliver to the centres, usually within 30 days upon receipt for each term.
ur pride agrees it was out of compliance with its service and support agreement for the majority of 2024, as claimed by ursu in a statement made this december.
but “there has been no communication” from ursu as to when the fees may be released since the centre came back into compliance, said stenberg.
he also noted that ur pride’s board isn’t clear on exactly how much in fees is being withheld, as ursu has not provided any fee schedules despite requests to do so. he estimated the figure is between $100,000 and $135,000, based on past years’ fees.
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“we don’t want to deal with this in public if we don’t have to,” said ur pride treasurer eve kinch. “but we are at a point where if people are asking questions, we will answer them honestly and transparently.”
kinch said the continued silence has made it “difficult” for ur pride to know how to move forward. at the end of 2024, the organization reported having just $1,026 in cash assets available and an operating deficit of $26,337.
women’s centre executive director jill arnott says there are discrepancies with ursu over her organization’s fees from 2024 as well, though their financials are not yet public.
the women’s centre will hold its agm on march 14, open to the public. according to its last financial report, the centre received just over $145,000 in student levies for the 2023 fiscal year.
“you can’t keep running indefinitely if there’s no money coming in,” said arnott.
in response to an inquiry from the leader-post on the amount of fees released to ursu in 2024, the university of regina said the transfers are not broken down into individual fees.
“ursu’s decision-making around financial support for ur pride and the women’s centre in 2024 would have been independent from the university,” added the emailed statement. “these agencies fully reflect and engage university of regina values of equity, diversity, and inclusion. our community is strengthened by their presence and services they offer, and the university will continue to be supportive of the efforts of these organizations to aid and assist students on our campus and in the wider community.”
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ursu chair tayef ahmed said at ur pride’s agm that an internal committee was established by ursu’s board in january to investigate the compliance issues at the women’s centre and ur pride. a final report is to be delivered this week.
both ur pride and the women’s centre said they were not made aware of this investigation, but they did receive same-day requests from ursu on feb. 10 to deliver five years of audited financials, board minutes and a list of board members.
the two proposed referendums to reconsider collecting fees for ur pride and the women’s centre will also not be on the students’ ballot when ursu’s general election takes place march 20-21.
no notice that the referendum questions would be taking place was included in the election announcement, as required by ursu’s election bylaws.
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