Your UASU membership
Typically, your membership fees account for less than one-third of UASU revenue—one of the lowest proportions in Canada. This is because we have a variety of well-established revenue streams.
As a non-profit organization, your UASU must use its revenues in ways that directly benefit the student community. So most of our revenues go towards providing important services, maintaining the sustainability of our spaces, and paying people (many of whom are students!) to provide UASU businesses and services.
From past advocacy wins to current initiatives, your UASU saves students over $20M per year!
All undergraduate students are members of the Students' Union. As a member of the UASU, your membership fee gets you access to a ton of benefits like student services, access to student spaces, great events, student-friendly pricing at our businesses, and so much more.
So, what do I get out of my UASU membership fee?
As a member of the UASU, every semester you get access to a ton of membership benefits, including:
Student services like the Peer Support Centre, Safewalk, student advocacy and research, awards, and many others
Access to student spaces, including places to hang out, grab a drink, play some board games, or host your club’s next meeting
Events to help you take a mental break, from weekly trivia to large-scale events like Week of Welcome
Affordable student-friendly priced food, drinks, and grab and go lunches, as well as work and volunteer opportunities at your favourite UASU businesses and services on campus
Initiatives that are improving the campus community by contributing to campus sustainability and inclusivity
Your own UASU Perks dashboard, where you can take surveys, share your thoughts, attend events and more in exchange for awesome prizes, swag and gift cards!
How does the UASU save me money?
Through advocacy
Your UASU continually advocates for reduced fees. Sometimes we win short-term relief, and sometimes we win on-going, structural reductions.
In 2010, the University proposed a new Mandatory Non-Instructional Fee (MNIF), the Common Student Space, Sustainability, and Services fee. We successfully reduced the new fee from $285/term to $145/term. Adjusted for subsequent fee increases, the savings per term are now $153.65/term or, for a typical full-time student, over $307 per year. That's more than $10 million in savings annually for undergraduates!
Additional past wins against fees include separating increases in those fees from blanket tuition increases, meaning they've grown more slowly. If non-instructional fees had grown at the same pace as tuition, students would pay approximately $75/term more than they do now. That's an extra $5 million per year that stays in your pocket.
This year, your UASU successfully advocated for the removal of the installment fee for tuition payments. This is a $40/year savings that affects ~25,000 students, collectively saving students about $1 million per year.
Through initiatives
Here are a few ways that we've helped to reduce the costs related to being a student:
Zero Textbook Cost
Piloted in 2021 and initiated by UASU advocacy, the Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) program helps students choose courses that professors have flagged as having zero course material costs. We estimate the ZTC program has saved students from all U of A campuses almost $17M in course materials since it launched.
U-Pass
The U-Pass program was launched by your UASU in 2007 to help students save money on transit fees. We continue to negotiate the flat rate of the U-Pass to protect students from inflationary increases. Transit pass prices have risen approximately 3% since the last agreement, meaning that the flat rate saved each student an additional $10 in the past year above the discount that the U-Pass rate already provides.
Discount Programs
Your UASU provides students with access to various commercial discount programs, such as movie tickets and ski passes. Student groups also receive standard discounts through UASU operations and venue bookings.
At this time, Students’ Council has decided not to assess UASU membership fees to off-campus and Spring/Summer students at Augustana.
| Fall/Winter Fee Per Term (Full Time) | Fall/Winter Fee Per Term (Part Time) | Spring/Summer Fee Per Term (All) |
|---|---|---|
$61.37 |
$36.03 |
$37.27 |
Contact Information
All contacts listed can be reached at 780-492-4241 during the UASU offices' regular business hours of 8:30 A.M - 4:30 P.M.
You can also stop by the Students' Union Executive Office (2-900 Students' Union Building) and talk to reception regarding any questions that you may have.