The school year for post-secondary students could soon look a little different due to new legislation from the province.
Students are now being given the option to 'opt-out' of some services that were once considered mandatory, and some say it's threatening campus culture at some institutions.
On Sudbury's Laurentian University campus, you don’t have to walk very far to find a student who has 'opted-out' of something.
Kate Van Hezewiik is an education student at Laurentian.
"Anywhere I can save money, and if I didn’t think I needed it, then I didn’t use it, yeah," said Van Hezewiik.
And she wouldn’t be the only one. Estimates show the student opt-out rate to be about 80%.
Opting out can save a student some money, but it's forcing groups like Pride, the Indigenous Students Circle, the campus radio station and paper to make do less money.
Ashley Thompson is a board member of Lambda, Laurentian's student newspaper.
"It's going to be devastating for the student experience and I guess the challenge for the rest of us is going to be figuring out ways to improve in different areas," said Thompson.
Eric Chappell is the president of the university's Students' General Association.
"The university is working really hard with us on how we can come to a model,” said Chappell.
He says the university and the SGA came up with a model that allows students to opt-out at registration, making it easier to do than at some other schools.
Both sides have been working to highlight the impact this decision has on campus life.
"It’s about explaining how this works to people, articulating the value of each service to the student, so they understand when they choose to opt-in to something that what it does to our community and how they’re supporting our community,” said Chappell.
Bradleigh Trudeau is a student that says he was unaware how opting out could affect a program on campus.
"I didn’t know. I didn’t know at all when I opted out that it would be affecting something on campus here. I feel like that’s something that should be shared,” said Trudeau.
Robert Hache, the president of Laurentian University, says it is important that the fees are explained.
"I think that's part of it, and making sure they truly understand that, but also that they appreciate the value of these ancillary activities, the club activities and so forth, that really add to the educational experience," said Hache.
Groups at the Laurentian campus, such as the radio station, newspaper, and others are vowing to carryon, albeit with less resources.
In the meantime, work is now underway at informing the student body on just how valuable some of the campus programs are.
