A note from the President of the Students’ Law Society
And with that we are a month into the semester! After a busy start to the year, this is a brief update from the Students’ Law Society (SLS) on the events of the summer and some of our priorities for the year.
SLS is the student government representing all JD and joint program students at the Faculty of Law. SLS has two main branches: Student Affairs and Governance (StAG) and Social Affairs, comprised of elected representatives from each year of study. The SLS Executive appoints SLS Officers: Equity Officers, Treasurers, Communications Directors, Administrative Director, and CRO.
Welcome 1Ls!
You are an impressive group — we look forward to getting to know each of you. Kudos to all for sailing through the first weeks of class (including those extracurricular applications!). Keep in mind that there are volunteer opportunities throughout the year, as well as other legal opportunities outside of the law school. In general, take a breath and focus on your courses — we are all on our own path!
We are pleased that orientation week was a success. This is the second year that the mandatory blanket exercise was included in the schedule as part of the Faculty’s larger commitment to truth and reconciliation. We have also heard your constructive ideas to further improve O-Week next year.
Summer Update: The Impact of Ford’s Changes to Tuition Policy
In January, the provincial government announced major changes to the tuition and fee policies governing Ontario universities. The new framework: 1) cut tuition by 10 per cent, 2) reduced and re-distributed OSAP (from grants towards loans), and 3) made non-tuition fees optional (i.e. the SLS Membership Fee). These changes impact our community in significant and complex ways.
An optional Membership Fee means that the SLS budget cannot be finalized until the end of September. This has complicated the planning process for SLS-subsidized events and made it difficult to fulfil our commitment to increase funding for law student clubs.
According to a recent interim update from the Vice-Provost’s Office, 92 per cent of law students have paid the SLS Membership Fee. This highlights the large majority of students who decided to contribute to our community in this way. SLS believes that how we address fee paying and non-fee paying groups depends on the kind of community we want to be. Underlying this provincial government’s policy is the notion that individuals should contribute only to each specific service we receive, and less towards benefits for the greater community. We can say with confidence that this is not the environment we want to promote at U of T Law. This year, SLS will actively seek students’ feedback on an acceptable way to address these challenges.
SLS Priorities
With the arrival of our newly-elected members, SLS plans to discuss the year in an upcoming all-SLS meeting. Broadly speaking, our initial priority areas include:
1. Community Building and Inclusion
This year SLS will support creative events that are inclusive of more of the student body. We are building our relationships with law clubs, equity seeking groups, and staff offices (e.g., CDO, IIO), by seeking opportunities for collaborative events and coordinated communication. SLS Social made changes to our clubs funding policy and criteria in order to align with these priorities (and address budget uncertainty discussed above). We will prioritize moving the Law Ball budget toward clubs funding and more creative and inclusive events (with better food).
2. Focusing on Financial Accessibility in a Conservative Budget Year
The province’s changes to OSAP make this year particularly difficult for law students and our ever-increasing debt loads. With the release of law school financial aid assessments this week, students will have a more complete picture of their financial situation. If students have feedback and questions, we encourage you to come to the SLS Financial Aid Townhall on September 30th at lunch to provide input that will inform our response to the administration.
With the 10 per cent tuition cut, our focus will shift from calling for incremental reductions in tuition, towards running the program in a leaner way that still prioritizes student programming and financial aid/accessibility. In an October Faculty Council meeting, we will hear from the Dean about the impact of the tuition cut on the Faculty’s 2019-2020 budget.
We look forward to a fun and productive year!