November’s UNA board meeting saw directors voting down a motion that would have removed a requirement for two elected directors from the board to sit on The Campus Resident’s Newspaper Editorial Committee.
The newspaper’s operations are currently overseen by a 9-member editorial committee that includes seven community members as well as two members from the UNA’s Board of Directors. All members are appointed internally during proceedings that are not open to the public. The committee’s structure is laid out in its terms of reference, which were devised by UNA staff prior to the paper’s relaunch in September 2023.
While addressing questions from directors during the meeting, UNA Communications Manager Glenda Ollero said the initial decision to includes directors on the committee was made in order to oversee the relaunch of the paper and ensure a smooth transition from the previous arrangement, when the paper’s production was outsourced to a contractor. Currently, the editorial committee sets the editorial direction of the newspaper and approves the content in monthly printed issues and the paper’s website.
Ollero said the system has worked well, but in a report prepared for the board, she wrote that “… it has become necessary to update its governing documents to align with current operating practice and strengthen editorial clarity, independence, and accessibility.”
Ollero added that the changes would strengthen The Campus Resident’s “… credibility while preserving Board involvement through TOR (terms of reference), policy, and required reporting.”
When asked about why the changes were being recommended, she said there have been instances where community members have questioned the newspaper’s independence from the UNA, and some residents have declined to contribute to the paper over questions about possible conflicts of interest.
Commenting on the recommendations, two directors said they were opposed to changes in the structure of the committee. One cited the benefit of having elected directors sitting on the board in an oversight role for a UNA-funded publication, while the others said as members of the public, they were able to provide a valuable contribution to the paper.
Eagle Glassheim, director and current chair of the UNA board and chair of the Newspaper Editorial Committee, said UNA directors serving on the newspaper committee have carried out their roles “cautiously” and have recused themselves on matters where there could be a potential for conflict of interest.
In addition to recommending the removal of UNA directors from the committee, staff also recommended a change that would allow the committee to recruit their own members, rather than the current practice of board-led appointments.
During voting, the motion was defeated 3 to 1, with two abstentions.
Directors Sandy Song, Ron Bourgeois, Yanbo (Paul) Li voted against the recommendations, while Michael Kerns was the sole director to vote in favour.
Directors Evan Luo, who sits on the Newspaper Editorial Committee with Glassheim, and Jake Wiebe abstained. As board chair, Glassheim did not cast a vote.
The Campus Resident’s budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year is $77,000. That figure doesn’t include the salary for the newspaper’s sole paid staff member, directors were told during the meeting.