2021 GSAP Referendum

2021 GSAP Referendum Results

Following the release of the provisional results in the 2021 GSAP Referendum on 25 February 2021 please find below the official results of the 2021 GSAP Referendum:

Result: Continuation of the Graduate Student Assistance Program (GSAP) was approved in the 2021 GSAP Referendum.

More information on GSAP is available on the GSA website.

Background information on GSAP and the 2021 GSAP Referendum question can be found below.

Background Information

The Graduate Student Assistance Program (GSAP) was established by a referendum in 2009. Graduate students voted to establish the program at a cost of $12 per graduate student per year, with the fee assessed as $4 in the Fall term and $8 in the Winter term. Since 2009, the University has also subsidized the cost of the GSAP and will continue to do so.

The GSAP, which is accessible by all graduate students and their partners and dependents, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, includes, at no additional cost:

• Confidential counselling services and other mental wellness supports (note, as an external program, these offerings are additional to counselling services provided by the University and are available at off-campus locations);
• Legal and financial consultations;
• Health promotion programs, including smoking cessation and nutritional and fitness consultations;
• Child and eldercare consultations;
• E-learning opportunities;
• Career counselling; and
• On-line wellness resources.

More information about the GSAP can be found here.

While the cost of the program paid by graduate students has not increased since 2009 and the University continues to subsidize the program, utilization levels associated with the GSAP have increased steadily (from 4.36% to 9.4%). Since the cost of the GSAP is driven by usage, the continuation of the program now depends on an increase in the amount paid by graduate students up to a maximum of $21.80 per graduate student per year, with collection of equal installments of up to a maximum of $10.90 in each of the Fall and Winter terms (the actual cost to be assessed to graduate students, up to the noted maximum of $10.90 in each of the Fall and Winter terms will be determined annually based on billing for the GSAP and sent forward to the University Board of Governors to provide for collection).

In November 2020 GSA Council, pursuant to GSA Bylaw and Policy on referenda, approved the wording for the 2021 GSAP referendum question and the holding of the referendum.

GSAP Referendum Question

Do you support the continuation of the Graduate Student Assistance Program (GSAP), subject to the following conditions:

• The cost of the GSAP will be increased to a maximum of $21.80 per graduate student per year, with collection in equal installments of up to a maximum of $10.90 in each of the Fall and Winter terms, effective as of 1 September 2021;
• In accordance with GSA Bylaw and Policy concerning GSA membership (Section BYL.1), the GSAP fee will be collected from all graduate students while they are registered (where applicable) at the University of Alberta after being admitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research; and
• All GSA members, including their partners and dependents, will be eligible to access all GSAP services at no additional cost beyond that noted per graduate student per year, above.