The University of Calgary’s Students’ Union (SU) says its Quality Money program will continue under student control following months of negotiations with the university over its proposed restructuring.
“The program is going to be able to continue uninterrupted, which we're really happy about,” said SU President Gabriela Dziegiewlewska in an interview with the Gauntlet. “We've still not signed the agreement. We've agreed in principle, essentially, to the program [and] what it's going to look like.”
The Quality Money program provides approximately $2 million annually from the university’s Board of Governors (BoG) to fund projects that enhance the student experience. Since 2004, the program has awarded nearly $25 million to initiatives including study spaces, bursaries, mental health supports and wellness projects.
Submissions to the program are assessed for their alignment with at least one of the three funding pillars: Quality of Education, Quality of Student Life, and Affordability and Accessibility.
The SU’s Quality Money Committee, composed of undergraduate students, can review and approve project proposals submitted each year.
“We’ve had this program for [...] 23 years now. It’s generations of students who got to enjoy the perks,” said Dziegiewleska, “It gives us a little bit of ownership and agency over the tuition dollars that we spend at this university so it really, it would be an indescribable loss if this program went away.”
Earlier this year, the program’s future came into question when the university proposed replacing Quality Money with a Student Experience Quality Program (SEQP), which would receive $2.6 million annually. Under the proposal, final project approval authority would rest with the Provost and Vice-President Academic, while a student working group would serve in an advisory capacity.
The proposal prompted concern from SU executives and faculty representatives about the loss of both student decision-making power and support for student-directed initiatives.
Dziegielewska said the SU’s negotiations focused on addressing the university’s concerns while preserving students’ authority over funding decisions.
“Last year, the team was working around understanding the concerns [...] how we can work together to mitigate those concerns, so that we come out in a spot where we're both happy with the program, but that students ultimately have the decision-making powers,” she said. “The administration did not want to necessarily take it that direction. They wanted to take the money for themselves to have controlling interest, at the very least, of the program.”
When she began her term in May as President, she said she continued those negotiations while making the SU’s position clear.
“Student control over the program is not negotiable in the slightest,” she said. “We can certainly work around other details if there are concerns around process, procedure, things like that.”
According to Dziegielewska, support from the BoG helped the SU return to productive discussions with the Provost’s Office.
“I was very happy to see that the Board of Governors had our back on this,” she said. “They really supported us on that and ensured that we could come back to the negotiating table with the university. They kind of help reset the negotiations. I’m very, very grateful for that.”
Dziegielewska said negotiations over the summer involved exchanging drafts and discussing provisions of the agreement.
“In terms of how we’ve worked over this summer since, it’s actually been quite positive,” she said. “We're getting to the tail end of that process. The latest draft is with the university, so we're just kind of waiting to hear back.”
The university declined to provide a comment for the Gauntlet citing ongoing negotiations.
“The only changes, to be honest, are going to be more so on the back end in terms of how the university and the SU work together on the kind of more boring aspects of transfer of funds and that kind of stuff,” said Dziegielewska.
For students, the program will largely continue as it did before the proposed restructuring.
“I would really encourage everyone who [...] has an idea that’s positive to just apply and make sure that we get to use the money that we fought so hard to preserve,” Dziegielewska said.
Submissions for the 2027-2028 Quality Money program are due by 4:00 p.m. on Nov. 27, 2026. Application details can be found on the SU website.
