referendums in 1987 and 1989 approved a long-term levy that funded approximately two-thirds of the $36 million capital costs of the MUSC.

The SRA is the MSU's highest policy-setting body and has the sole authority to approve and modify legislation and elect officers other than the President.

The executive branch of government is the Executive Board (EB), which comprises the President, Vice-Presidents, and five SRA members-at-large; as well as the General Manager, Marketing & Communications Director, Administrative Services Coordinator, and the Associate: Vice-President Services.

The board, chaired by the President, supervises the functioning of the union's services and bureaucracy and performs planning and priority-setting tasks in a manner somewhat akin to a Westminster-style cabinet.

In emergency circumstances and during the summer months it can operate as an executive committee of the SRA and exercise the powers of the full Assembly.

Functional authority for full-time staff and the departments they supervise lies with the Corporate Board of Directors (see below) rather than the EB.

Its more than 30 operational departments include a restaurant-bar (TwelvEighty), a professional production company (AVTEK Productions), Emergency First Response Team, First Year Council (FYC), Child Care Centre, convenience store (Union Market), print shop (Underground Media + Design), food bank (Food Collective Centre), newspaper (The Silhouette), radio station (93.3 CFMU-FM), Student Health Education Centre, and a first-year transition program (MSU Spark).

In March 2019, The Silhouette, the student-run newspaper, published an article displaying the numerous cases of sexual assault against the Maroons team.

After weeks of outcry, the MSU President released a statement condemning the incidents and promised an external review will occur.