At the 15 March 2019 meeting of the Board of Governors (BoG), the proposal to increase international graduate tuition by 2.77% for 2019-2020 passed. The GSA President, Sasha van der Klein, voted against this proposal. As a reminder, for 2019-2020, the Government of Alberta has mandated that post-secondary institutions freeze domestic tuition, and has also frozen any increases to mandatory non-instructional fees for both domestic and international students.
Over the past few years, the U of A GSA, through the Alberta Graduate Provincial Advocacy Council (ab-GPAC), has advocated to the Government of Alberta that international tuition should be regulated so that there is more stability and predictability for our international graduate students. In response to these advocacy efforts, in 2018, the government implemented new legislation through Bill 19. Starting in 2020, Bill 19 will require post-secondary institutions in Alberta to communicate to international graduate students, at the outset of their program, the maximum amount of tuition they will pay each year, for the duration of the standard length of their graduate program. It is the GSA's hope that this increased transparency will assist international graduate students by giving them a more complete understanding of how much they can expect to pay in tuition during their programs.
In 2019, important conversations will continue between the GSA, the Alberta government, and the University of Alberta regarding the implementation of the provisions of Bill 19. Specific issues to be addressed include: how the standard length of programs is defined and communicated to international graduate students, what will happen during the transition period, and whether current international graduate students will be grand-parented into the new model, as Bill 19 encourages predictability for current international graduate students.
The GSA President, along with the Students' Union representatives, also voted against the proposed 5% increase to University residence rental rates at the 15 March 2019 BoG meeting. In particular, the GSA President emphasized that residence rates should not increase for those living at Michener Park, given that this residence is slated to close in 2020. The GSA will continue advocating to the University that variable supports be provided to the graduate student residents of Michener Park, and their families, while residents move out of the property.
If you have any questions please email the GSA President at gsa.president@ualberta.ca or the GSA at gsa.frontdesk@ualberta.ca.