The KSA council hasn't met for about three months, since September. (Photo by Hayley Woodin)

The Kwantlen Student Association council hasn’t met since September because they haven’t been able to meet quorum.

A sudden change in council chair that happened months ago left several council members unhappy because they were not consulted prior to the change.

Since then, some council members have been exercising their rights by not showing up for meetings.

Matt Todd, director of external affairs for the KSA executive board, said he has reason to believe council will be meeting soon.

The reason, he said, is that while some of the council members may still not be pleased about what happened, they felt as though they had made their point, and are now ready to move on.

But while part of council has been making their point, how has the lack of a student council this semester affected students?

The KSA doesn’t fall apart if council doesn’t meet, Todd said. It doesn’t rely on council to function on a day-to-day basis.

However, there are several items on the council’s agenda that have been postponed time and time again because they require council approval.

One of those items was the KSA budget approval to fund the 2011 Kwantlen Leadership Conference. If the event doesn’t receive the funding, it will ultimately have to be cancelled. But even then, there are provisions set up so that in the event council still doesn’t meet in January to pass the 2011 budget, it will essentially default to the same funding and expenditure decisions made in 2010.

And the KSA funded the Leadership Conference last year.

Other KSA projects that have been stalled include the official appointed of Melinda Bige to the role of Aboriginal Liaison. Bige assumed the position after the resignation of Roxanne Charles.

The KSA’s work on the multipass and developing a student health and transportation program have also been put on hold.

Eddie Lee, Health & Recreation Manager for the KSA, believes the new model for fitness classes on the Richmond campus will turn the budget around. (Photo by Matt Law)

The Blossoming Lotus yoga studio at Kwantlen’s Richmond campus took a financial hit during its first year of operation.

According to a June 24 budget update from the Kwantlen Student Association, the studio had accumulated a net loss of $6,855 while generating only $1,887 in revenue.

“We definitely took a loss this year; it was unanticipated. It was the first year of doing it, we’ve never really done fitness classes out here before. We were trying a couple of different models and it’s reflected in the losses,” said Eddie Lee, health & recreation manager of the Kwantlen Student Association.

Most of the expenses for the studio came from instructor fees which totalled $6,060. Other expenses included marketing and administrative costs, which came to $969, and general operating expenses (cleaning, signage, postage), which came to $1,713.

According to Lee, lack of student participation in the classes was a big factor.

Lack of student participation was a major factor in the Blossoming Lotus’ first year losses (Photo by Matt Law)

“Students want to take classes but it interferes with their classes, so for that reason they can’t participate. But it’s not for a lack of interest,” Lee said.

“We’ve priced ourselves to be affordable to students, which means we’re typically lower than the community centres, the studios, the fitness clubs, things like that. We’re not here to profit off the students.”

The cost for individual classes is $25 for students on the health and dental plan and $35 for students who are not. Community centres in both Richmond and Surrey also offer drop in classes at costs ranging from $4.25 (with student discount) to $5.50.

To help mitigate losses, the KSA has created an online registration system using Paypal. This will enable courses to be run when there are enough students to fill them. The KSA has also changed some instructors and opened classes to the community to make them more cost effective.

“With the reduction in instructor fees and going to this online registration, we’ve definitely seen a growth in the numbers and attendance, which obviously combined with the reduced instructor fees are taking us closer to that break-even point.” said Lee.

The next budget will be released in January 2011 and Lee is positive things will have turned around.

“I’m confident in saying that the losses have been significantly reduced and we’re hoping to break even or come in with a small profit margin by next year.”