UTMSU President Adam El-Falou shares what UTM students can expect from IgniteUTM 
The union’s new governing body promises to improve student life by addressing issues in affordability and the financial burden that students face.

Listen to the audio version of this article here!*

Following the elections last winter, the UTM Students’ Union (UTMSU) is now led by IgniteUTM. The team consists of President Adam El-Falou, Vice President (VP) Internal Xingyi (Freya) Gao, VP External Rajas Dhamija, VP Equity Tiffany Da Silva, VP University Affairs Dana Al-Habash, and VP Campus Life Lois Ogunnibi-Oriade. 

El-Falou has a long history of serving the UTM student body. Having worked in the advocacy department for the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA), he played an integral part in improving campus life for Muslim students. 

He fought for larger multi-faith spaces and the installation of bidets on campus. This was the beginning of El-Falou’s student advocacy journey, which later led him to apply for the role of UTMSU president. 

In an interview with The Medium, El-Falou shared, “Stepping into the presidential position, which represents students across everything: faith, background and program…it felt like the natural next step.” 

Tuition affordability 

According to El-Falou, the main concern he aims to address in campus life is affordability. As the cost of living increases, more and more students are finding certain aspects of campus life to be unaffordable. 

One contributor to this issue is the recent increase in tuition fees. Tuition for domestic Ontario residents has increased by two per cent, while tuition for non-Ontario resident undergraduate students has increased by five per cent. Tuition for international undergraduate students has also increased by an average of 4.1 per cent. This places a huge financial burden on students, especially combined with the OSAP cuts that the provincial government has recently introduced. 

El-Falou commented, “Students are charged simply to participate in the academic process through unnecessary fees, such as transcript request fees, exam deferral fees, and exam re-grade fees.”

The UTMSU advocates that students should not have to choose between buying a meal or being able to review their own exam papers. 

“Education is a right, and every student must be able to exercise that right regardless of their financial circumstances,” said El-Falou.

Food costs on campus

In addition, the UTMSU is hoping to reduce the burden of food costs for students. Initiatives like Free Breakfast Wednesdays are hosted in the Presentation Room at the Student Centre. The UTMSU also hopes to introduce a grocery bursary, which aims to help students combat rising food costs.

El-Falou expressed his understanding that UTM clubs face financial roadblocks when it comes to the kinds of foods that they can serve at events. Currently, clubs holding events in buildings on campus other than the Student Centre are only allowed to provide food from Dana Hospitality. 

With clubs being essential to UTM’s student life, El-Falou said, “This limits clubs’ access to affordable and culturally appropriate food.” The UTMSU is hoping to change this policy so that clubs can purchase food from off-campus vendors, and remove the cost and diversity barriers.  

The UTMSU also has plans to support students in other aspects of their campus life. In the past, they have successfully worked with MiWay to increase operational hours on the 110 bus route and the 126 bus route. 

One of the upcoming goals is to do the same with the 199 Brampton bus route. “[This is] to ensure that [the bus route] fully aligns with the schedule of all students.” El-Falou shared. 

He also hopes to implement these initiatives through the operating budget, “This funding goes back into our three main pillars—events, services, and campaigns, to ensure that education is free, accessible and accessible for all.”

El-Falou concluded, “We want to create many spaces for students to actively be involved in the UTMSU this year, as students make up the UTMSU.” 

Students are encouraged to join the UTMSU Commissions, such as the Campaigns & Advocacy Commission, the Student Life Commission, and the Student Services Commission. 

There are many open committees as well, such as the Committee for Palestine, the Student Housing Advisory Committee, the WeChat Committee, the World University Service of Canada Local Committee at UTM, the Transportation & Parking Advisory Committee, and the Committee to Indigenous Justice and Collaboration.

*AI-Generated Audio Transcription Disclaimer

The audio transcription included in this article was generated using artificial intelligence (AI) technology with the purpose of improving accessibility for our readers and providing an alternative opportunity to engage with The Medium‘s content. Please note that AI-generated transcriptions may contain errors or inaccuracies in pronunciation, wording, or interpretation.

The original written article remains the authoritative version of the content. If you notice an error in the audio transcription, please contact social@themedium.ca so we can for further reviews and corrections.