Candidates – BE 2017

Hello Faculty of Medicine, my name is Jameson Dundas and I am running to be your Student Union Representative! I am a second-year health sciences student with an intimate knowledge of the SU through my attendance of SLC meetings and interactions with past Med Reps. This intimate understanding of the SU, along with my knowledge of the BHSc as an HSSA executive make me a uniquely suited candidate to represent you as the Medicine Representative.

Study Support

I will continue advocating for the introduction of the PASS program to the foothills campus, working closely with the Student Success Centre and you – the student body, to ensure you are provided adequate support for the courses you want and need it for most.

Open Textbooks and Resources

I aim to expand upon the work done by my predecessors and develop a more comprehensive open textbook program in the library for the faculty of medicine. This program, would allow for accessible and low cost or even free textbooks being made available to all students in the faculty, reducing the exorbitant amount we spend on textbooks.

De-stress

As your Medicine Representative I hope to bring about more engaging activities at foothills, including Stressless Week at Foothills, pet therapy and ping pong tournaments. I will engage the community to ensure there are activities that you want. I will advocate for upgrades to Feasby Lounge, because do we really need to have broken chairs and a broken pool table lying around?

Program Interconnectedness

I have always been a strong advocate for the interconnection and representation of BHSc, MD, and the often underrepresented CRDS. Unfortunately, these programs remain isolated and I hope to bring together these programs through activities and events such as Ping-Pong, movies, and barbecues.

Instagram: @jamesonformedrep
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamesondundasformedrep

Students are individuals in the pursuit of education. Faculty of medicine students are individuals who want to apply their learnt skills in real life; now. We are givers, and so, the two programs gave us platform such as research and health policy improvement to give at the undergraduate level. For those who dedicate their lives to give to others, I want to offer an enjoyable student experience. If elected, I will make spirit building activities such as our own “Medicine Games,” “Academic Olympics” or student recognition a reality. I will bring to the programs a platform to facilitate healthy academic and extra-curricular competition that will in turn, improve us all. I will, and I mean will, keep these givers as my priority in every position I take, and every initiative I work on. After all, they should get what they deserve.

The Student’s Union Medicine Representative is tasked with a great responsibility pertaining to the daily environment of hundreds of students. They need to have an extraordinary portfolio and an extensive list of references. Why am I a great fit? The truth is, I am not. I am not the cream of the crop; I am the crop. I am the average. The average first-year who couldn’t be happier to be accepted. The average student who planed on procrastinating, but ended up preparing weeks in advance, and still blanked out when they went to present. I am the average high school researcher, volunteer, and leader. I am not going to try to make myself the perfect fit for this seat. I am going to make this seat the perfect fit for us. After all, this is our student experience, our education, and our trait to give. This coming election, don’t vote for me, but rather, vote for us.

Hello!

My name is Jarin Thundathil, and I’m a 4^th year Health Sciences student running to be your Cumming School of Medicine representative! As a senior BHSc student and a founding member of the student engagement committee (SEC), I’ve had the opportunity to interact with various students and faculty within the Cumming School of medicine. This has translated to the development of actionable platform items I believe will benefit student success:

1. Review Sessions for MD Students

Medical school content is challenging and comes in large volumes. MD students agree that review sessions held prior to exams would be well received and beneficial in lowering exam stress. Currently, upper year MD students lead review sessions based on their memory of the exam content. However, question formatting and style are subject to change year-to-year.

I will engage with course instructors to deliver detailed review sessions prior to exam dates. Ideally, these will highlight major concepts and frame them in the context of clinically relevant information.

2. Enablement of the SEC

The SEC was established to promote involvement in BHSc events and improve the social culture of our program. In its pilot year, securing both immediate and long-term funding is a primary concern. I will explore all possible avenues of funding for the SEC and continue to work with it in providing events and services to the student body.

3. Med school Mentorship

Many BHSc and CRDS students wish to pursue medical school. Despite proximity to MD students, we lack connections with them, and thus cannot utilize them. I will create a group mentorship program to facilitate communication between MD and BHSc/CRDS students that doesn’t conflict with administrative interests. There are a few possible ways to implement this idea, including:

1. Integration into the new house system, where interested MD students are assigned to a house and hold a small group session each semester.
2. Enlisting MD students to participate in our existing career panels.
3. Creating a separate event once per year which functions as an information session for prospective medical school students.

In addition to this, as med rep I will ensure that BHSc/CRDS students are aware of resources available from the UME office and from external organizations.

4. Online resources for research/volunteer opportunities

It’s easy to lose track of volunteer callouts and research placement opportunities among all the emails we receive, and the stress of the school year. I will work through both administrative and nonsupervisory channels to create regularly updated online resources for research and volunteer positions as they become available. The primary objectives here are organization and centralization. As such, this resource would not function as an application system, but rather as a bulletin board to inform CSM students of opportunities and deadlines.

5. DataCamp subscriptions for BINF students

Bioinformatics majors do not have many stream specific courses. Many of the skills they develop in data processing/manipulation are self-taught. DataCamp is an interactive online data science learning resource that teaches coding languages, among other relevant skills for bioinformaticians. DataCamp’s structure is organized into different learning streams with instructors from accredited institutions. The goal here is to establish a DataCamp pilot program for bioinformatics majors to test the efficacy of the service. Depending on its success, sustained funding can be sought in the future.

6. Miscellaneous

There are various miscellaneous issues at the foothills campus that could be resolved. These include restoring deteriorating equipment at our lounges, and replacing damaged equipment in our gym facilities.

My platform as the Medicine Representative is built on three pillars to improve and engage the Faculty of Medicine in the SU. A strong voice in the SU, an accessible and transparent representative style, and advocacy for SU quality money projects for our Foothills campus.

As your Med Rep, I will be a strong outspoken voice at SU meetings. Our quality of life is directly impacted by our SU’s decision-making process. It should not matter if our faculty is smaller, I will make sure that we are represented no matter the size of the decision.

As Med Rep, I will ensure that our Representative team is well recognized and easily accessible to answer your questions and concerns. I will make sure everyone knows where to look for my email and cell to get in touch. Electing a transparent and well-recognized Representative will promote greater discussion between the student body and the SU to further improve our Faculty.

Finally, as your Med Rep, I will be an advocate for SU Quality Money proposals for our Faculty to raise their chances of approval. If elected, I will be consulting students and our student organizations to promote more application proposals from our faculty. It is imperative that we find ways to better our Facility’s student services to have the best student experience possible. Taking a serious approach to increase applications for grants will be vital to reaching that goal.

Thank you for taking the time to read my platform. For questions or feedback, get in touch at siavash.zarezadeh@ucalgary.ca or text me at 403-680-5089. I look forward to being your best Med Rep.

Hello! My name is Brian Gilbert and I am a fifth-year concurrent Science and Education student that would like to be your 2017/2018 Werklund School of Education representative! Over my time at the University of Calgary, and through my involvements in various areas related to the concurrent program itself, I have come to find that many of us could benefit from the following initiatives:

My Election Platform:

Community:

1. Establish a social/academic community for concurrent students to get to know other Werklund students from around campus before entering their years in EDUC courses
2. Promote working between disciplines to see the skills of peers or to hear the experiences of students in other academic worlds

Communication:

1. Create a Werklund Program Portal on D2L for the university to communicate about upcoming education initiatives without sending out spam
2. Perform surveys and focus groups with students at various points in the program to determine areas of strength and areas of growth in each of the programs

Research:

Research in teaching and learning is a huge field right now at the University of Calgary that I feel many of us Werklund students could get involved in that would greatly benefit us once we are out in the workforce. To promote this, I would like to:

1. Work with the faculty members of Werklund to create an EDUC course on research so that students can get course credit for the work that they do
2. Work with the faculties of Arts, Science, and Kinesiology to find faculty members that would be open to having a student do educational research with them
3. Work with the Faculty of Science Reps to start an end of the year research symposium so education students can see the types of research that other undergraduate/graduate students are doing

My name is Megan and I am a second year student in the After-Degree Program at the Werklund School of Education, specializing in Elementary Science. Last yearI participated in various education classes, service learning placements, volunteer and club opportunities.. These experiences have given me a greater understanding for the needs of education students across varying streams and allows me to be an informed advocate.

I would love to continue the work I started this summer as the Education Representative: making connections. Education is a faculty built on connections with peers, students, mentors, the community and society as a whole. As your Education Representative, I plan to support pre-service teachers in developing and sustaining connections that will be an integral part of your education career.

Expert Resources – My goal is to create a platform that allows students and teachers to look to other members of the university for consultation as experts. Classroom projects can often be transformed into applicable, real-world learning with the mentorship and collaboration from experts. By increasing accessibility to these experts, I aim to increase connections among faculties for a richer learning and teaching experience.

Indigenous Resources – With the implementation of Indigenous education in our curriculum, teachers are searching for additional resources to supplement in-class learning. My goal is to provide pre-service teachers the confidence to teach Indigenous education in their future classrooms through communication channels with the Indigenous community.

Inclusive Advocacy – Many student groups are often underrepresented and overlooked in the Faculty of Education. As an advocate for mature students, LGBTQ+ students, and international students, I strive to hear the needs of all students in the faculty. Through an increased understanding, I look forward to connecting these students to available resources, or developing resources where gaps exist, to support their university experience.

My name is Jonah Secreti and I’m a 2^nd year education and history student, I would be honoured to represent student interests as a senate representative. Volunteering for the convocation ceremonies and as an orientation leader gave me invaluable experience within the student community that informed on various issues that are important to students. In this position, I would work hard to represent student’s interests on the senate and share with the wider community the amazing achievements by the student body at the University of Calgary.

The key points of my platform are as follows:

1. Increasing external community awareness

Student achievement at the University Calgary can measured by much more than grade point average or receiving a degree. Students put in a strong effort into fostering community through athletics, clubs, research, and volunteering. Even the little things like holding the door open for a stranger contributes to the environment of this university. These aspects that are key to the fabric of campus life need to be shown to those outside of the university community.

2. Inform students about the Senate

A large portion of students are unware of the work that the senate does or even that the university has a senate. As a senate representative, I would promote the work done by the senate to the larger student body and insure that its representation in the campus-community is more prominent than ever before.

3. Create strong connections

An important part of university is the connections you can make during your time here. Some of these connections should be with outstanding community members that can offer a wealth of experience. By fostering more interaction between senators and student organizations I hope to create more direct interaction between students and the senate.

Hello UofC, my name is Anayat Sidhu and I am running to be your Senate Representative. For the spring and summer semesters I had the honor of serving you as your appointed senator, and hope to continue to do so. My goal is to leave a long-lasting impact not only on students today, but students of tomorrow!

If elected I want to represent YOU by doing the following:

EMPOWER

I will increase efficiency in student funding in order to maximize impact and benefits to students from ALL faculties to mediate financial burden.

I also plan to have the Senate Mentorship Club Program finalized. I worked on this during spring/summer and believe it is an essential component to not only improve club performance but student experience(s) too!

ENGAGE

The senate is all about enriching the connection between the community and the university. From lecture of a lifetime to entrepreneurial events there are tons of ways to get involved! I want to hear from YOU and understand what kinds of events you NEED and would like to attend; building on input, and ideas to provide an innovative outlook on student engagement that benefits US all.

EDUCATE

Let’s face it, no one really knows what the senate is. I want to break this barrier and ensure that students can FULLY LEVERAGE their senate representatives – coming to know and understand their role.

Therefore, creating a sense of inclusion and connectivity on campus. YOUR voice deserves to be heard through proactive dialogue and relationship building. To broaden the horizons and knowledge of students is critical to me.

YOU deserve a senator who was most recently engaged in this position and who is an informed, passionate and effective representative of OUR university. For US.

Don’t forget to vote October 11, 12 & 13. Let your CHOICE be your VOICE!

Hello UofC! My name is Briana Stallcup and I’m campaigning to be one of your Senate Representatives. I’m in my 4th year of International Relations and Economics, but my passions stretch far beyond my degree. I’ve spent my past years learning this campus inside and out through working on it, holding executive club positions, volunteering in multiple departments, competing on behalf of it, and meeting the most amazing people throughout all of this. It is because of these experiences that my desire to represent all of you continues to grow. I’ve shown in the previous election that I am not afraid of confrontation and will always vocalize student concerns no matter the cost. My top priority is making sure the student voice is the loudest on campus- and I will walk the line between fearless advocacy and diplomacy in order to make sure yours is heard. Here are my ideas:

1. Ensure Student Voices are Represented in Financial Matters
   • Make it mandatory for at least one student at large to sit on the scholarships and bursaries committee
     • It is not currently required that an undergraduate student sit on the committee that handles these awards. In order to make sure the student voice is heard by the university, I will push for this to become a bylaw.
   • Broaden the qualifications for scholarships and bursaries
     • Lobby the Senate to create scholarships and bursaries that are not solely based upon merit or available only to Canadian citizens
       • Share statistics regarding the link between poverty, race, gender, and workload and their effect on GPA in order to showcase the need for more variance in funding.
2. Bridging the Gap: Fostering Student Engagement With the Senate
   • It’s no secret that the majority of students do not know what the Senate is, what it does, or why it matters. Attempts at raising awareness of the senate have been made each term with little success.
     • Meet with all faculty representatives to understand the specific needs of their students to better articulate these concerns to the Senate.
     • Host a MacHall event with all Senators in order to promote them to student organizations and the general population.
3. Aligning the Senate’s Core Vision With Student Priorities
   • The Senate’s Strategic Plan highlights the” Eyes High” vision as a major focal point. I will ensure all students find a place within this plan.
     • All areas of academia are to be recognized and benefit from UC’s desire to become a leader in research. As well, fields that do not center on research should be validated at an institutional level.
     • Implementing a variety of surveys to find out what “Eyes High” means for the average student, and bringing this information to the Senate.

My name is Marissa Bennett and I’m applying for the Students’ Union Social Work Representative position. This is my 5^th year as a student at the University of Calgary and throughout that time I have cultivated a collection of diverse experiences by continually seeking out new opportunities to become involved on campus. I have been an Orientation Leader, a participant of the UCalgaryCares Building Healthy Communities project in New Orleans, a participant of the Kaleidoscope Project, a peer counsellor at Camp Lead, a Day of Service leader, an executive of Campus Community Kitchen, and the Vice President of Internal Affairs for the University of Calgary Debate Society (UCDS).

I was hired into this position in the summer and am now running to keep the position for the rest of the academic year so I can continue working on the goals I set out in my platform. These goals include:

• Addressing the issues associated with a program that has mandatory practicum requirements.
• Educating students about this position and making it more accessible so that the Faculty of Social Work continually has a representative in the Students’ Union.
• Collaborating with the Social Work Students’ Association (SWSA) to become more informed about what the students see as the biggest priorities that need to be addressed.
• Providing easier access to paid work opportunities for undergraduate students in the Faculty of Social Work.
• Creating a greater sense of community in the faculty by promoting and holding events tailored to students’ interests and needs.

Over all, my aim is to be an engaged member of my faculty and an advocate for my fellow students. I am confident and committed to rising to the challenge of this position and would like to thank everyone who has already showed me support.