The McMaster Student Body, the original student government, was formed in 1890 when McMaster University's official first registrants began their studies. In 1911 McMaster women, protesting gender inequality and not being allowed to vote in the general student body elections, elected a female representative student body and formed the Women's Student Body. In 1925, the number of day students began outnumbering the number of residence students. To ensure that both day and resident students were properly represented, the student government split in two bodies, the Student Body and the Residence Council. In 1946 the McMaster Student Body was renamed McMaster Students Union. In 1971 the MSU was incorporated as a non-profit organization without share capital under the Ontario Corporations Act. The MSU's offices have been located in four buildings over time. First in the Alumni Memorial Building, then Wentworth House, Hamilton Hall, and the McMaster University Student Centre. Referenda in 1987 and 1989 approved a long-term levy that funded approximately two-thirds of the $36 million capital costs of the MUSC. Ground for the new building was broken in March 2000 and the official opening took place in September 2002. A student fee retired the remaining term loan in 2010–11.
Scope
The MSU works to enhance both the academic and extracurricular experience of its members by offering a wide array of resources, services and opportunities to McMaster students and through advocacy of student issues with the university administration and relevant levels of government. The MSU represents approximately 24,000 students, each of whom becomes a member of the students union when registering in a minimum of 18 units of undergraduate courses in an academic session. The University collects mandatory membership fees on the MSU’s behalf as a component of tuition/ancillary fees paid by students on registration. Fees, which are partially courseload-sensitive, are up to a maximum of $587.84 for the MSU, plus up to a further $760.71 in other university or student group supplementary fees which are approved by MSU referenda or General Assembly .
Governance
The MSU's and establish the political apparatus of the union and its component organs, while a separate collection of define the functions of service-providing departments and the operating parameters of the organization. The political leadership of the MSU is four officers—a President and three Vice-Presidents. These positions are filled by students, typically after completing three or four years of study, who take a year off classes to work full-time in student government. The president is elected directly by the student body in annual elections held in early February, while the vice-presidents are elected by the Student Representative Assembly in early April. Slates and/or political parties, though commonplace at many other student unions, are not a typical feature of the MSU's political culture. The MSU's chief legislative body is the Student Representative Assembly, a 35-member parliament comprising the president, vice-presidents, and 31 elected student representatives from nine academic divisions of the University. The SRA is the MSU's highest policy-setting body and has the sole authority to approve and modify legislation and elect officers other than the President. The executive branch of government is the Executive Board, which comprises the President, Vice-Presidents, and five SRA members-at-large; as well as the General Manager, Marketing & Communications Director, Administrative Services Coordinator, and the Associate: Vice-President Services. The board, chaired by the President, supervises the functioning of the union's services and bureaucracy and performs planning and priority-setting tasks in a manner somewhat akin to a Westminister-style cabinet. With the exception of the President, the EB's membership is elected by and responsible to the SRA. In emergency circumstances and during the summer months it can operate as an executive committee of the SRA and exercise the powers of the full Assembly. Functional authority for full-time staff and the departments they supervise lies with the Corporate Board of Directors rather than the EB.
Elections
MSU holds elections every year for the presidency and for the SRA positions. Elections are conducted using online voting. Voter turnout in presidential elections was above 40% from 2014 through 2017, but was 28.8% in 2018 and 26.8% in 2019.
Corporate structure
The MSU was incorporated in 1971 as a corporation without share capital. For corporate purposes, including major financial decision-making and dealings with full-time staff members, the political organs of the union can reconvene in a corporate rather than political format—the Student Representative Assembly serves as the voting members of the corporation, with the four sabbatical officers assuming the role of a corporate Board of Directors. The Board oversees day-to-day operations and an annual operating budget of over $13 million.
The MSU employs 36 permanent staff and over 200 part-time student staff. Its more than 30 operational departments include a restaurant-bar, a professional production company, First Year Council, Child Care Centre, convenience store, copy shop, food bank, games room, newspaper, radio station, Student Health Education Centre, and yearbook.
Maroons Investigation 2019
The Maroons are a student group created to help facilitate Welcome Week events and increase awareness surrounding MSU services and events. In March 2019, the Silhouette, the student-run newspaper, published an article displaying the numerous cases of sexual assault against the Maroons team. Such incidents go back to an annual ski trip. After weeks of outcry, former MSU President Ikram Farah, released a statement condemning the incidents and promised an external review will occur. In November 2019, current MSU President Joshua Marando released the results of the review with all recommendations being adopted by the organization.
Alumni
In 1986, former MSU activists established the McMaster Students Union Alumni Association – the first student leader alumni association of its kind in Canada – as a branch of the McMaster University Alumni Association.
