President Jeff Keshen says students union failed to fix financial problems
These are uncertain times on campus, with the University of Regina announcing it is terminating its money-collecting agreement with the U of R Students’ Union (URSU).
U of R president Jeff Keshen made the bombshell announcement April 2, citing “significant concerns” over URSU finances.
The details of what happens next are not completely known at this point.
Right now, the university levies and collects student fees on behalf of URSU. Student fees are assessed at a flat rate of $44.60 per student, plus $5.70 per credit hour.
URSU then spends that money on various services, programs and on-campus organizations, including the Regina Public Interest Research Group, UR Pride the Women’s Centre and The Carillon.
In the 2023-2024 fiscal year, URSU’s income was $8.9 million, but its expenses exceeded that amount and it finished the year with a loss of more than $1.2 million. According to the most recent URSU financial report covering May throughDecember 2024, the loss for those seven months was an estimated $500,000.
A particular sore spot has been the Lazy Owl, the URSU-run campus pub that has been bleeding red ink for years.
While the dire state of URSU’s finances is nothing new, at some point the university must have decided enough is enough.
In a letter to students, faculty and staff on April 2, Keshen announced the agreement to collect student levies on behalf of URSU would be terminated effective Aug. 31, 2025.
“After reviewing URSU’s 2024 audited financial statements, the University raised significant concerns with URSU regarding its financial situation,” Keshen said.
“This is a matter we take very seriously because the University’s highest priority is the best interests of our students.”
Keshen said for several months, the university tried to work with URSU leadership, offering financial and governance assistance.
“Unfortunately, URSU has not undertaken the steps recommended by the University to improve and address these matters. As a result, the University has lost confidence in URSU’s ability to serve and represent the University’s students.”
Keshen said that despite the change, the university will continue to collect student fees so that “core student services will continue.”
He said the necessary changes will be made in the coming months.
“These are complex situations to navigate, and this is a decision we do not take lightly.”
URSU has been in the news recently over a conflict with some of the group sit distributes student levy money to.
The URSU board took preliminary steps last year to defund groups like UR Pride and the Women’s Centre, saying they were in violation of their commitments.
An URSU proposal for a student referendum about defunding the groups never came to pass, after URSU said it wanted to give the groups more time to get their affairs in order.
Student fees collected by URSU currently support a range of student services, including the transit U-pass, health and dental insurance and the emergency bursary fund. The future of these programs is uncertain as the university transitions away from URSU fee collection.
In a statement posted to its Instagram page, URSU said it is looking at its options, but for the time being it will be business as usual and continue to provide services on campus.
“This means that URSU fees would no longer be collected after the spring/summer 2025 semester and student representation on campus would cease to exist,” read the statement.
URSU still hopes to negotiate a resolution with the university “that restores confidence to the student body and our partners on campus while ensuring the independence of student governance.”
One of the groups weighing in was the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
The union was critical of the University’s announcement and said it should have had a more “robust” plan in place to protect students and workers.
Members of CUPE local 1486 are employed by URSU to deliver services like the student U-pass as well as the health and dental plan.
They are also employed at the Lazy Owl.
“In light of this shocking news, we are calling on the university to take on the payroll of all in-scope students’ union workers to ensure student services can continue, and ensure the hardworking staff are not unjustly laid-off,” Kent Peterson, president of CUPE Saskatchewan, said in a news release.
Peterson also said that CUPE has been aware of the “financial and governance issues” at URSU for some time.
He said CUPE wants to be part of the solution to ensure “student services continue, workers keep their jobs and proper accountability measures are put in place and followed.”
