2013-2014 By-election Referendum Question

In the SUO 2013/2014 by-election, held in October 2013, UBC Okanagan students were asked to vote on the referendum question. The following question was brought forward to the Students’ Union by students with a signed petition of 10% of the student body, reviewed by the Chief Returning Officer, and approved by the Board of Directors.

Learning Centre/Library Building (also know as “The Commons building”) levied fee referenda question (October 2014)

The question reads as follows:

Do you support UBCSUO establishing a student society fee of $70.00 per academic year payable in the amount of $35.00 for each of term one and term two of the winter session for the purpose of supporting the construction of a new Learning Centre/Library space to be centrally located on campus?

Yes____ No_____

If approved:

• Informal learning and study space will be a prominent feature of the new Learning Centre / Library space.
• The new student society fee will be levied on all active UBCSUO members in each of term one and two in the winter session.  No fee will be levied in the summer session.
• The fee will be used to finance a loan from UBC of 1/3 of the total projects costs to a maximum of $10,000,000. The new student society fee will continue to be levied until UBCSUO has repaid the loan and interest on the loan.
• The contribution will be prominently acknowledged in the Learning Centre/Library space.
• The total cost of construction is estimated to be $24-30 million.  The remaining cost of construction will be the responsibility of UBC.
• The new student society fee will not be levied until UBCSUO and UBC reach agreement on the terms relating to the construction of the Learning Centre / Library space. 

• In the event the Learning Centre/Library space project does not proceed for any reason, any fees already collected will be directed to an alternative informal learning and study space project on the mutual agreement of the UBCSUO and UBC.
• The fee will be indexed annually to the BC Consumer Price Index (CPI) to ensure equity in real contributions over time.
• The UBCSUO Board of Directors will establish a process and criteria for active UBCSUO members demonstrating financial need to apply for a full or partial refund of the new student society fee.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the SUO Chief Returning Officer, chiefreturningofficer@suo.ca