Impeachment is being pursued for GSA president Izabela Vlahu.

Graduate student group issues non-confidence declaration.

Citing a number of concerns including budgetary spending, lack of transparency in governance as well as a mishandling of her position, a group of graduate students from the University of Saskatchewan issued a motion of non-confidence on Oct. 28 toward the president of the Graduate Students’ Association, Izabela Vlahu.

Supported by 13 people, the motion will be brought before GSA councillors during a special general meeting scheduled for Nov. 17. The date was chosen in accordance with GSA bylaws, which dictate that at least two weeks’ written notice be given to all council members in advance of such a meeting. A two-thirds majority vote is required in order for the motion to pass.

Should the motion of non-confidence fail to garner enough votes from council, the group of graduate students also has the option of organizing a referendum to impeach Vlahu. Such a referendum may be received at any time by council and would require supporting signatures from a minimum of two per cent of GSA members.

The Sheaf has obtained a copy of an email drafted by the group outlining 12 specific reasons for their pursuit of the motion, with accompanying supportive documents attached, alongside some further general complaints.

The following points were outlined in the email as examples of alleged misconduct: improper handling of graduate student travel bursaries; the use of the GSA logo in conjunction with academic freedom events without proper approval from GSA staff; the alleged forced resignation of former vice-president operations and communication Krystal Caldwell; a lack of response to requests for councillor contact information, which must be posted on the GSA website according the association’s bylaws; the calling of an illegal SGM during the summer months; the drastic changing of the U-Pass implementation structure, including shortening of hours for U-Pass pickup as well as the purchase of U-Pass-related equipment without recorded voting from the executive committee; a lack of transparency in GSA governance decisions; alleged bullying tactics in order to quell disagreement from councillors; suspected censorship of motions from GSA council agendas; and the request for the resignation of Rajat Chakravarty from his position as vice-president student affairs over alleged personal issues.

Caldwell, who resigned from her position as she would be out of province for the greater part of the summer, said in an interview with the Sheaf that she felt she was not forced out of her position, but did acknowledge that she was not wholly comfortable with the way discussions of her time away from office were handled by the other executives.

According to Caldwell, a meeting was called among the executive in order to discuss her scheduled absence. However, she said that immediately prior to the meeting, vice-president academic Ranjan Datta informed her that Vlahu had approached each executive member beforehand in order to discuss the matter at hand. Vlahu alledgedly did not show much support for Caldwell.

“She basically told them all the negatives of me leaving, and I believe influenced their opinion about it,” Caldwell said. “She told me that she spoke to them to set up the meeting, but she didn’t tell me that she spoke to them in this kind of fashion.”

“It felt like I was being ganged up on, essentially. I definitely cried after the meeting, because it was really, really — it was a lot. It was stressful. I was just kind of sitting there as they all told me how I wouldn’t be able to do my job and that it would really affect how they did their job.”

Caldwell is among the members who signed the petition in favour of the scheduled SGM.

Though their problems with Vlahu’s leadership are many, the group’s areas of greatest worry appear to be those concerning the spending of GSA finances, including the costs associated with U-Pass implementation and executive travel, and general allegations of poor governance.

A referendum set during the winter of the 2013–14 academic year saw graduate students voting in favour of a $3 increase to their student fees in order to cover the costs of U-Pass implementation for the following academic year. This amount was chosen in order to budget for one month’s worth of in-office staff to assist graduate students in picking up their U-Pass as well as for appropriate promotion of the new service.

The group alleges that Vlahu unilaterally shortened the timespan for U-Pass pickup from four weeks to only nine days and that regular GSA office staff has been paid out of the U-Pass budget line. They also claim that $1,700 in office equipment was purchased with no recorded voting from the GSA executive.

In an email correspondence with the Sheaf, Vlahu noted the reasoning behind shortened U-Pass hours.

“The highest volume of U-Pass pick ups occurs within the first two weeks of administration. To account for the drastically reduced number of students and to avoid unnecessary expenditures, the U-Pass pickup was shortened to two hours per day,” Vlahu wrote. “The GSA Office reported that the demand was completely satisfied with the implemented administration model.”

Vlahu also wrote that $1,268.14 of the alleged $1,700 was spent on the purchase of a new laptop with hardware capable of supporting U-Pass infrastructure, and that the item chosen “was the cheapest one available at the university computer store satisfying the hardware requirements.”

A lack of appropriate minute-taking in executive meetings is another point of contention for the group. The GSA executive minutes, available on the association’s website, confirm that voting on issues has by-and-large not been recorded. Though the GSA executive does not appear to follow Robert’s Rules of Order, current vice-president student affairs Chakravarty said that the lack of voting is indicative of Vlahu’s leadership style and not procedural process.

“There were never any votes. She [Vlahu] just informs,” Chakravarty said. He also expressed concern that the minutes may not be an accurate reflection of what occurs during executing meetings.

“I, as an executive, do not have faith in the minutes anymore, because I sort of feel the minutes are being tampered with… There are items in the minutes which — I asked four different executives, ‘Did we actually discuss this?’ and they had no memory of it. That creates extreme suspicion of the fact that we don’t discuss stuff in the minutes and she just adds them.”

Vlahu said that executive minutes are taken in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order, and that this practice is in line with GSA governing documents.

In response to the motion of non-confidence, Vlahu said an impeachment would only weaken the graduate student community, and that she plans to take steps to restore harmony and productivity to the GSA council.

“Now is the time for the graduate student community to come together as one, using our differences as an advantage to support the GSA Executives in working for the advancement of all graduate students at the U of S,” Vlahu said.

This article was originally published on Oct. 30 without comment from Izabela Vlahu. It has since been updated to include her response.

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Photo: HenryTye Glazebrook/Senior News Editor