Lovell: Dean’s List w/ Distinction & $10

Sydney, N.S.

Robert Lovell

Students’ Union drops $10 charge for Honour’s Banquet after student feedback.

The ten dollar bill. Designed by committee without a doubt.

The Honours Banquet is a celebration of CBU’s best and brightest; a reward for a year of hard work and determination. This left some students wondering why after many years of the banquet being offered free of charge, they received a letter in the mail saying their tickets would cost $10 this year. The following email from Bethany Martin to the Student’s Union highlights student concerns about the new fee:

“Good Evening,

To whom it may concern,

I am writing in terms of the annual deans list banquet. I am a 3rd year CBU student who made the deans list for the 2017-18 school year. I along with many others worked extremely hard and it paid off. I was and am very proud of my academic success as well as the success of my fellow classmates. However I received my official invitation in the mail today and I think it is absolutely ridiculous that as students who work hard all year and pay a lot in tuition/student fees in addition to books and parking, that we have to pay for our own tickets to come to what is supposed to be our celebratory event.

I know in previous years this was not the case and the charge was only for additional guests. I am wondering why the change and why this seems acceptable.

Thanks,

– CBU student.”

Fortunately, the Caper Times can now report Honours Banquet student tickets are once again free of charge.

We sat down with Dawn MacDougall, Administration & Health Plan Manager at the Students Union, to discuss the reasoning behind the charge and its subsequent elimination.

“The committee that meets to plan the banquet, which includes Student’s Union members and representatives from the Registrar’s Office, had made a decision to charge $10 for student tickets because over the past several years we’ve had students who pick up tickets, but don’t attend the banquet.” MacDougall said. “Last year we had 55 students that picked up tickets and didn’t attend.” That’s 55 vacant seats, and 55 meals gone to waste. “We have costs to cover such as meals … and more importantly we have capacity issues.” MacDougall explains that space in the cafeteria is limited to 420 students and guests. In the past there have been guests who wanted to attend but couldn’t as this number had already been reached.

“Initially we thought a small $10 fee might offset some of those problems, but after hearing concerns from students we thought it only appropriate to waive that $10 fee … We do recognize the hard work students put into achieving Dean’s List standing.” MacDougall said, echoing the sentiment of the email above. As for solving the problem of vacant seats, MacDougall implores students to only get a ticket if they plan on attending, and “…if you can’t attend please return your ticket because there will definitely be somebody who would like to attend the banquet.”

An image of this year’s invitation letter, sent out in mid-October.

Upon learning of the decision to drop the $10 charge, Bethany Martin had this to say: “I am just happy that whoever makes these decisions realized how hard we work all year and that it wasn’t right to charge us for a night in celebration of our academic success.”

The Honours Banquet will be Thursday, Nov. 22nd 6pm in the Cafeteria. There will be dinner with guest speaker Michael MacSween (Executive Director for Celtic Colours, and former CBUSU president) followed by the awarding of honours certificates and pins.

My honours certificate and pin from just a few years ago.

Student tickets will be available free of charge Oct. 22- Nov. 2. Additional guests may purchase tickets Nov. 5-15 on a first-come, first-serve basis and at a rate of $30 per ticket. If you are unsure if you are on the Dean’s List or not, you can check out the list online here.