- York Federation of Students
Infobox Canadian Student Association
name = York Federation of Students
established =
institution =York University
president = Hamid Osman
vice president = Gilary Massa, Loveleen Kang, Nila Zameni, Krisna Saravanamuttu
location =Toronto ,Ontario
members = 45,000
affiliated = CFS
colours = Red & White
homepage = [http://www.yfs.ca/ www.yfs.ca]York Federation of Students (YFS) represents over 45,000 students at
York University inToronto ,Ontario ,Canada . The York Federation of Students (YFS) is a member of theCanadian Federation of Students (Local 68).History
The student government was founded in 1968 as the York Student Council. Around 1975, the student government had become the Council of York Student Federations. By the early 1990's the name changed to York Federation of Students.
About
The YFS is a democratically organized, dues paying student union representing over 45,000 full and part-time undergrad students at the York University.
The purpose of the YFS is to bring together the elected representatives of all the college governments on campus. The YFS also has appointed members of campus organizations into a single body. The YFS provides services such as a health plan, the discounted metropass, and the Student Advocacy Services. Unlike other Student Governments, it does not own or operate any campus pub, however, it does have a controlling stake on the Board of Directors for the Student Centre. All Campus Organizations and Clubs are recognized under the YFS, and together with the different club offices, occupy of the majority of the Student Centre.
Administration
The student government is administered by five full-time undergraduate executives, along with several full and part time staff members. Other part-time staff are mostly made up of undergrad students.
On multiple levels, the YFS is controlled by student volunteers and paid employees. The Day-to-day operations are overseen by the elected Executive, who also run the various campaigns and provide advocacy for all undergrads and are assisted by the full-time long-term staff.
The elected and appointed Board of Directors holds open meetings almost every other week each school year. The general membership (all York Students) meets to ratify the decisions of the Board of Directors as well as provide ground level participation to the operation of the YFS.
For a list of employees, check the [http://yfs.ca/index.php?section_id=78 Staff Listing Page] .
Elections
Elections are held every March to select the next years Executive and Board. Along with this, all the part-time positions are re-staffed. Volunteers also assist the YFS with campaigns and referendums on issues like the rising cost of tuition, the environment and globalization.
Board of Directors (Councillors)
CSA Board of Directors meet regularly. All the Board meetings are open to the public, and are traditionally begun with a motion to extend speaking rights to all present, so that visitors may contribute to the process. Only members of the Board of Directors hold voting rights.
All votes for the YFS Board of Directors are held by the Executive, and 16 college and faculty seats (College Councillors).
Information and Members of the [http://yfs.ca/index.php?section_id=7 YFS and its Consitiution] .
ervices
The YFS offers a wide selection of services and advocacy programming.
*Cell Phone Deals
*FreeISIC
*Free Studentsaver
*Free Essay Printing Service
*Photocopy and Fax Service
*Home4Students
*TTC Discount Metropass
*Work Abroad Program
*Discount Auto Insurance
*Student Minutes
*U-File
*Student Advocacy Services
*Food BankHealth Plan
All undergraduate students at York University (with the exception of Atkinson & Osgoode Hall students) participate in a health plan ( [http://yfs.ca/index.php?section_id=2 YFS] ). 65.5% of voting Glendon College students voted to join the health plan during their 2006 Spring Elections ( [http://yorku.ca/studgovt/results.php#Union Elections York] ). Glendon College was a previous non-participant in the plan. Students with alternative extended health coverage are permitted to opt-out of the plan.
Clubs
There are over 50 accredited clubs by the YFS. The wide variety of clubs range from cultural, religious, political, and social. For a list of clubs, check the [http://yfs.ca/index.php?section_id=8 Club List] .
Controversy
In January 2005, 5 students were arrested and beaten in Vari Hall for having a 'disruptive' demonstration. The YFS and York University Senate condemned the administration's decision to invite police onto campus.
The YFS has also come under scrutiny for its support of the right to assembly, protests and other events in Vari Hall, one of the main classroom buildings on campus and a traditional centre of student gatherings. However, many others agree that the YFS is credible in organizing democratically oriented events in a centralized area of the university.
In the March 2007 election, York Undivided contested Reality Check for a majority of the positions. Offical results disclose that the York Undivided team won all but 6 councillor positions. The integrity of the electoral process was contested by the Reality Check team. Nevertheless, to this date, Reality Check's claims have not been verified by any governing body, and thus their accusations are unsubstantiated. In the last elections, a number of YFS positions went unopposed. Reasons given for the lack of candidates varied from lack of publicity by the YFS, to a lack of infrastructure to compete against Undivided, who have the backing of a national organization and agents at other universities in Toronto for help. [http://www.excal.on.ca/cms2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5807&Itemid=2] [http://excal.on.ca/cms2//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3159&Itemid=2] [http://www.excal.on.ca/cms2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5756&Itemid=2]
In summer 2008, the York Federation of Student chose to ban funding to any pro-life groups on campus in an attempt to protect the dignity of women who have had abortions. [http://www.financialpost.com/scripts/story.html?id=550860] The ban is alleged to not pertain to student groups who oppose abortion due to religious doctrine; rather just banning groups who had moral objections to abortion. [http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=547129]
ee also
*
List of Ontario students' associations External links
* [http://www.yfs.ca/ York Federation of Students Website]
* [http://yfs.ca/index.php?section_id=75 College Councils]
* [http://yfs.ca/index.php?section_id=76 Faculty Councils]
* [http://www.yorku.ca York University]
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