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There is growing unease at the University of Regina over how its students’ union, known as URSU, is being run.
While the university is still investigating a recent UR Women’s Centre AGM that was quickly adjourned following a disruption, on Wednesday it also cut its fee collection agreement with URSU.
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University of Regina President and Vice-Chancellor Jeff Keshen said in a statement the agreement was cut due to a loss of confidence.
A Statement from President Jeff Keshen: pic.twitter.com/3sBnNDMJtR
— University of Regina (@UofRegina) April 2, 2025
Some students have spoken out in favour of the decision, but other students tell 980 CJME this isn’t the only problem students have with URSU.
Three students spoke with 980 CJME on condition of anonymity, and all three cited concerns about URSU finances, an inability to opt out of programs like bus passes and the Women’s Centre AGM disruption.
Call for financial transparency
A sixth-year student in the Kinesiology and Education joint degree program is concerned that its club is not receiving adequate funding from URSU.
The student is part of the Kinesiology and Health Studies Student Society and said the club’s PAC (Presidential Advisory Committee) funding was cut, despite an increase in undergraduate enrollment in the faculty.
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“URSU says that their funding is based on enrollment rates, but that just doesn’t quite make sense to us if we were approved for $5,000 last year and only $900 this year,” she said.
Despite many efforts to make contact, the group has never heard from the elected URSU member representing all kinesiology students.
“Since I’ve been in the society, we have never seen or heard from a representative,” she said. “We invited the representative to attend our AGM last year, but we heard no reply.”
At a board of directors meeting, the URSU chair told the club it was the responsibility of the elected URSU member to reach out to them.
“We do our best to represent our student body as a whole (and) this one person is sitting there at URSU representing all of the Kinesiology and Health Studies faculty yet they’re not connecting with the student society at all — and they’re being compensated for that,” she said.
She believes URSU has been in a cycle of mismanagement for years.
“The current councils are not doing an adequate job of dismantling the unfair systems in place that disregard the needs and opinions of the entire student body that they should be representing and advocating for,” she said.
According to its 2024 financial statement, URSU has incurred an operating loss of $1.245 million after losing $1.458 million in 2023. This has resulted in an accumulated unrestricted deficit of $1.368 million as of April 30, 2024
This means in 2024, URSU spent $1.245 million more than it brought in and in 2023 the shortfall was even higher at $1.458 million.
The kinesiology student said this is concerning and URSU should be more open and transparent about its financial situation. She said URSU should make this information easily accessible and present it in a way that students can understand.
She also has concerns over the lack of communication and promotion of URSU when it comes to elections and voting.
This student is hopeful that change will happen soon, but knows it’ll be an uphill battle for future URSU members.
“If URSU gets dissolved or if a brand new group of people come in and can reassess the situation, they are handling debt,” she said.
Difficulty opting out of URSU programs
In 2024, URSU collected $5.4 million in student fees. This includes programs like dental and health insurance, as well as bus passes.
Students have raised concerns over difficulties experienced while trying to opt out of these programs.
“There are huge loops to jump through,” the kinesiology student said. “It’s just a tedious process that a lot of students don’t go through because they are already under the pressure of being a student.”
Students at the University of Regina are raising numerous concerns over its student union URSU and how it is run. (Gillian Massie/980 CJME)
A first-year early education student is dealing with the same problem.
She had no idea the $90 bus pass was automatically included on her bill each semester. When she tried to opt out she learned she wasn’t eligible, despite paying for a parking pass on campus.
“You can only opt out if you live outside the city, if you live on campus or in a small portion near the campus,” she said. “So the rest of the city is not eligible to opt out, which to me doesn’t make sense.”
She said students should be able to opt out of the bus pass for a plethora of reasons, citing social anxiety and safety concerns.
The first year takes evening classes, and said she wouldn’t feel safe taking the bus at night.
She pays over $200 per semester for her parking pass, plus the $90 bus pass. When she asked URSU about opting out, she was told that a vote in 2015 added it to student fees and there was nothing she could do.
“Paying both of those fees, it adds up,” she said.
She said URSU needs to do a better job of making students aware of these additional fees and helping them through the opt out process.
“When you do apply (to opt out), it’s not like a quick and easy process, which is really frustrating,” she said.
She feels students are left with no choice but to pay up, even if they meet the requirements to opt out.
Students also see problems with misogyny
The third student 980 CJME spoke with said women’s voices are being silenced, in part by URSU.
The second-year psychology student attended the Women’s Centre AGM, along with some newly elected members of URSU. She said the disruption at the meeting has changed the way she sees the campus.
“The energy in the school was completely different,” she said. “It was like you could cut the tension with a knife.”
URSU put out a statement saying that it had no involvement in the events that took place at the Women’s Centre AGM.
But at a board of directors meeting on March 22, both the newly elected URSU VP and president raised their hands when asked by a female student who was in attendance at that disrupted Women’s Centre AGM, among a few other student union members.
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The URSU election was held shortly after the disruption at the Women’s Centre AGM.
The psychology student raised concerns with the newly elected URSU members who were in attendance at that meeting. She said knowing these people are there to represent the whole student body makes her feel “powerless.”
She voiced concern for other marginalized groups on campus, like UR Pride for example, who are dealing with their own issues with URSU.
“We unfortunately live in a province with some of the highest domestic violence rates, some of the highest sexual assault rates, interpersonal violence and so we need those services more than ever,” she said.
“When you take away things like the Women’s Centre that are going to be supporting women’s voices, it’s another level of oppression.”
The Women’s Centre is a space that is open to everyone. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)
The student acknowledges her privilege as a white woman and worries for other women on campus.
“I start thinking about those on campus who have multiple areas of oppression and if I’m feeling this way it’s inevitable that there’s going to be people who feel the same, if not feel these things more severely,” she said.
She wants to reiterate that the hateful speech on social media that has come out following the events at the Women’s Centre AGM is not okay.
“This isn’t about racism, it is about misogyny and it’s about the patriarchy and how women are being oppressed by many different groups,” she said.
She said lumping a group of people together is harmful to everyone on campus.
“I don’t want the fact that there are people who are just using this as a way to justify racism to overpower the real issues at hand.”
All three students are hopeful for change now that the university’s president is involved.
The psychology student also said this is the time for students to raise their voice.
“The student union is supposed to be our voice,” she said.
“As students, we do have the ability to do something about this. We are the ones who can call special meetings. We can call for referendums. We can call for dissolution.”
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