With less than two months left in the school year, Health Sciences Society (HSS) President Sara Pollanen is considering using her personal credit to front the money for HSS end-of-year events.
The HSS, alongside two other smaller faculty societies—the Computer Science Students Association (COMPSA) and Physical Health Education & Kinesiology Student Association (PHEKSA)—are waiting to receive their 2023-24 student activity fees from the AMS. The money was supposed to be paid in part on Nov. 15, according to the memorandums of understanding (MOU) signed between faculty societies and the AMS.
The AMS fronts the orientation cost for all faculty societies, holding student activity fees as collateral until faculty societies settle their bill. If faculty societies spend more on orientation than they generate in student fee revenue, the AMS isn’t obligated to transfer any money to the faculty societies pending payment for orientation. The remaining balance is settled at the end of the year when orientation expenses are finalized.
According to the AMS, HSS, COMPSA, and PHEKSA all spent more on orientation this year than students paid in faculty society fees. None of the three faculty society presidents ed by The Journal knew their orientation expenses exceeded their student fees until they were ed for comment on March 7. Faculty societies thought the holdup was due to invoicing delays by the AMS caused by orientation vendors.
Larger faculty societies, including the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS), the Engineering Society (EngSoc), and the Concurrent Education Student Association (CESA), all received most of their fees in November, having sufficient fee revenue to cover their orientation expenses. A second payment for the remaining student fees is supposed to be made by the AMS later this semester.
The MOUs stipulate final invoices should be sent by the AMS to faculty societies before Dec. 15, despite payment being required a month prior. They set a Feb. 15 deadline for faculty societies to settle their balance. This year, invoicing was delayed, furthering the HSS, COMPSA, and PHEKSA’s financial limbo.
In the dark, Pollanen went to the Registrar’s Office in December to uncover the HSS’s student fee revenue—$17,578. In February, the HSS received its invoice from the AMS totaling $19,473.98, which included an error in the t-shirts and tams budget line.
Orientation registration fees paid by first years are collected separately from student fees, Pollanen explained. While the HSS student fees can’t cover the costs, the HSS has another pool of money to pay for orientation; it’s the invoice discrepancy stopping cash flow between the faculty society and the AMS, Pollanen said.
COMPSA’s orientation spend came to $21,702.91, but President Akash Singh has no idea how much the society made in revenue. Unlike other faculty societies, only $1.18 of COMPSA’s student fee is mandatory, meaning students can opt-out of the other $18.00. Singh said the AMS hasn’t disclosed how many students opted-out of the fee, making budgeting for next year’s executive nearly impossible.
“We were never able to make this payment on Nov. 15 because we had no idea who to pay, what to pay, if we even had to pay them anything. That’s why we didn’t send them any money and they can withhold our faculty society fee,” Singh said.
COMPSA and PHEKSA have been using their reserves from past years to fund this year’s activities. The HSS has run all its events and initiatives relying on approximately $7,000 in funds leftover from last year.
Stuck in a negative loop, COMPSA and PHEKSA can’t receive their student activity fees until they pay the AMS, but they can’t pay the AMS until they receive their student activity fees, even if they have a separate orientation fund. Both presidents say their next step is to meet with the AMS.
For Singh, the situation is frustrating. With student enrollments doubling during his time at Queen’s COMPSA is expanding fast, using every penny to pave its way.
AMS executives Victoria Mills and Michelle Hudson said the AMS is communicating with faculty societies.
All three presidents refuted having clear communication with the AMS. In emails obtained by The Journal, follow-ups from society Presidents as recent as March 4 have gone unanswered by the AMS executive.
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