[alert]HISTORIC DOCUMENT! Any dates, links, or other information contained in Past Election Platforms are not guaranteed to work and do not represent any current election, candidate, or representative of The Students’ Union governing body. This information is made available for reference and historic purposes only.[/alert]
Get to know your candidates for the positions of Vice President External and Faculty Representative, Schulich School of Engineering by reading their election platforms.
Voting will take place on the 10th, 11th, and 12th days of October, 2018. Locations and hours are as follows:
- Wednesday, October 10 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., MacEwan Student Centre, ICT, and the Education Link.
- Thursday, October 11 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., MacEwan Student Centre, ICT, and the Education Link.
- Friday, October 12 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., MacEwan Student Centre, ICT, and the Education Link.
Online voting will take place at myUofC Student Centre beginning at 9 a.m. on October 10 and closes at 4 p.m. on October 12, 2018. All University of Calgary undergraduate students registered in the Fall 2018 session are eligible to vote.
Vice President External Candidates
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[subheader]Caraballo, Laura[/subheader]
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Dear U of C students, my name is Laura Caraballo and I am in my second year here at the University of Calgary majoring in Political Science. I would like to be the VP External in order to represent your voice and ideas. I will be a person who voices your concerns and suggestions to all levels of government. As a fellow student I see your problems on an eye level and you will be able to use me as a step ladder to our government. Student welfare must improve in these areas:
1.Creating A Standard Equity On Campus
As tuitions continue to increase in Alberta, students are having to combat this issue by obtaining jobs which is taking away a considerable amount of time that should be used to study. Under the principle of cause and effect grades are being affected negatively. As students, we know that we cannot escape the importance of our GPA and this is why we need to solve this struggle between work and school immediately. We must work on reducing the amount of work time that a student needs to works in order to be adjacent to their fellow non- working student.
2. Expand textbook options
Textbooks is an expense that students are not able to claim while filing their taxes. In order to make prices accessible for every student I plan on proposing different methods for purchasing textbooks such as digital copies that can provide us with the same material at a lower cost. This plan is also in line with the University’s policy of sustainability.
4. Improve Student Voice
This section is for you, the student, to decide what you want me to bring to our government because I don’t only want to bring my ideas to the governments. My plans are revisable and malleable to fit your tastes as well.
Advocacy as per definition includes accessibility, a person-centered approach, empowerment and equal opportunity. I am pursuing a VP external position because I want to hit on all these areas in order to improve the wellbeing of our community and student body.
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[subheader]Sidhu, Anayat[/subheader]
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Hi, my name is Anayat Sidhu, and I’m running to be your VP External.
As a two time elected Senator and executive on several UofC clubs, I’m tired of seeing students struggle to get their voices heard. I have done advocacy work for 6+ years, and in that time, I have learned that advocacy is key to meaningful change. I’m confident that my passions and experiences make me the most equipped candidate to fight for student voices to be heard on all levels of government.
Here’s what I’ll do for us:
1 . Fight to keep school affordable!
- Fight for affordable and predictable tuition for domestic AND international students.
- Work to implement educational materials that are FREE to use and FAIR to access.
- Advocate to the government for more funding, and establish a Scholarships-101 seminar at the beginning of every semester to inform students on how to locate/apply for scholarships, bursaries & awards (so many go UNCLAIMED!)
2. Make sure we are heard!
- Reach out to politicians to highlight issues affecting students, ensure they speak to those issues, and most importantly, understand the value of engaging with us.
- Increase consultation with students/clubs before lobbying efforts through surveys that will assess students’ top priorities.
- Ensure students are well-informed about election dates, polling stations, and procedures through Get Out the Vote!
3. Get the supports we need!
- Push for increased funding that supports mental health and sexual assault resources on campus.
- Make certain that students are well-aware of their rights through information is readily available in SU channels, and workshops.
- Advocate to Canada Student Loans to review its definition of “permanent disabilities,” to meet the diverse needs of students so that everyone can thrive in university.
Students’ needs are my top priority! Thus, I hope that you believe in my ability to advocate for you to decision-making bodies to ensure that your student voice is effectively heard and represented. My core operating values will be transparency, accountability, and consultation to represent students in the best possible way!
Don’t forget to VOTE Anayat 4 VP External October 10, 11, & 12 on MYUOFC. #ABrighterFuture
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Faculty Representative – Schulich School of Engineering
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[subheader]Atkins-Appledoorn, David[/subheader]
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Hi engineering students,
I’m David, a candidate running to become one of your Engineering Faculty Representative in the Student’s Union. Currently completing my last year of mechanical engineering, I have faced many of the challenges familiar to you all, from tough courses to finding internship; I know what it’s like going through engineering. I am passionate about professional development and believe extracurricular opportunities are vital to student development throughout university. As a former leader of the electric motorcycle team, I am familiar with the challenges our student groups face and I have experience advocating for their priorities.
As Faculty Representative, I would focus on the following measurable objectives:
- Encourage and facilitate communication between engineering technical teams, student societies and student professional development organizations. With greater collaboration, these groups can reach a larger audience and students will gain more exposure to the various opportunities for development offered by our student teams and societies. Success would involve bringing together student clubs, teams and societies to organize inter-organizational professional development events.
- Regularly meet with engineering students and student groups to collect feedback and make our engineering program stronger. I believe the largest component of being your Engineering Faculty Representative is to insure students have strong effective representation with the university. This would take the form of regularly scheduled events, where students and student groups could bring up issues important to them with various faculty, department heads and the Dean’s office.
- Work to eliminate mandatory textbooks and access codes required for assignment completion. I plan to work within existing initiatives to research and propose course structures that do not require the use of subscription-based assignment services. With the availability of online resources and open source textbook projects, it does not make sense to be obligated to buy textbooks for most courses. I propose working with the engineering department to include the cost of course materials in course outlines, adding visibility to the extra cost students are expected to take on and helping to identify outlier courses.
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[subheader]Elrafie, Mohamed[/subheader]
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I’m Mohamed Elrafie, a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering Student at the University of Calgary. Over the past couple of years at the university, I’ve had the pleasure to be a part of clubs that promote youth academic progression, mentorship, and raising social awareness. After being involved in numerous initiatives and projects, I decided that it’s time to serve my academic community in its best interest. It would be an honor to represent the Schulich School of Engineering in the Students’ Union Legislative Counsel (SLC), to enhance the experience of the engineering student body with the countable years we have at the university.
As the Engineering Faculty Representative, I hope to achieve the following goals and objectives:
1. Raise Awareness in Mental Health
Letting students know that they are not alone in a very stressful and emotional time is to be held paramount. This is a serious matter that must be constantly taken into account, and I hope to raise awareness by doing the following:
- Educating faculty members and students on Mental health and back its legislation through seminars and other effective forms of communication
- Continuing to work towards having guidance counsellors provide mental wellbeing support tailored for engineering students as well as wide-ranging counselling
- Working with the Dean’s Office and Faculty to offer technical electives in the spring and summer semesters to reduce course loads
2. Foster Career Development
Over the past few years, the economy hasn’t been in the favors of students securing jobs and I want to develop a mitigation for that unfortunate circumstance. I hope to accomplish this by:
- Developing a strategy to guarantee engineering students success with internships and post-graduate positions. This will consist of collaborating with ESS, ECC, PES, and other clubs working towards this initiative
- Helping students gain all the valuable soft skills required for the majority of professional jobs via networking events and workshops
Thousands of dollars spent towards a degree shouldn’t go to waste.
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[subheader]Miao, Barney[/subheader]
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Hello everyone my name is Barney Miao and I’m running to become your student union representative for the Faculty of Engineering. As a second year in engineering, I’ve experienced the hardships of first year and heard many positions on main issues such as: tuition costs, academic concerns, textbook costs, and studying locations etc. But I’m sure that these concerns only represent a small amount of anxieties you may have. Faculty representatives should have the responsibility to represent their electorate with upmost effort and as little bias as possible. Here are some of the items I will implement/change about the current Engineering Faculty.
More Interactive and Accurate representation
- I will implement a new system for representation. Setting aside time every week to hold a “forum” in the ENGG lounge or some other open space will help keep everyone informed of ongoing events. The forum will be available for any engineering students to propose changes or express any concerns they may have.
- Before I make any major decisions that will affect the livelihood of the faculty, I will attempt to create an online-based voting system or some other alternative to allow a more truthful representation of your viewpoints.
- The forum and online voting system will allow for a more accurate and more engaging representation of all engineers and improve the current system by adding a more diligent and fresh element into faculty representation.
Other Concerns
- I have a keen interest in seeing others succeed in their studies so I will at any opportunity encourage upper year engineers to help their younger peers. Implementing more tutor services for courses not entirely offered will do this.
I’m excited at the idea of being able to represent you and greatly improve the daily lives of everyone in the Faculty of Engineering. Thank you for all the time you’ve spent reading my platform and I hope you will vote for Barney Miao on October 10-12, as a vote for me is a step towards a more engaging faculty for all (“Raise your Voice!”).
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[subheader]Rontu, Ioana[/subheader]
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Hello engineering students!
My name is Ioana (pronounced “E-wanna”, for those of you not familiar with Romanian names!), I am in my 6th year of civil engineering and I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to be part of this By-Election. My journey at Schulich consists of a 12-month Internship, a Haskayne Business Minor, research in project management and numerous extra-curricular involvements.
My top advocacy points are:
1) Internship Meet & Greet Event
There are few opportunities for students to connect over the topic of internship. If you are an upper year student, you have valuable experiences to share with students seeking-internship. Likewise, if you are a younger year student, you may benefit from meeting students in your discipline and finding out more about their internship experience. To bridge this gap, my plan is to organize a meet & greet event to connect internship students and internship seeking-students.
2) Software Crash Courses
Are you interested in learning a new software and are not sure where to start? Whether it be Excel, SolidWorks, AutoCAD or any other software, I want to work with faculty and staff to bring you crash courses that can facilitate a basic understand of the software to further your professional learning.
3) Mental Health Initiative
In recent years, mental health has become a central point for student wellbeing, I will strive to promote strategies/events that enhance and promote positive mental health well-being such as the Engineering Counselling Program and UFlourish events.
4) Entrepreneurial Opportunities for Schulich
The Hunter Hub in MacEwan Hall is a great on-campus resource which promotes entrepreneurial thinking and innovation. If elected, I will work with the Hunter Hub to bring more awareness and opportunity for Schulich students to get involved with entrepreneurial opportunities.
5) Be Approachable, Present and Transparent
I will be approachable by creating feedback opportunities via email and in person during roaming office hours.
I strive to be present at as many faculty, club and committee events.
Finally, I will be transparent with the initiatives I am working on by keeping students informed via monthly emails and reports.
Details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1001920249991549/
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Faculty Representative – Werklund School of Education
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[subheader]Miller, TIna – ACCLAIMED[/subheader]
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Hi! My name is Tina Miller and I would be honored to serve as your Werklund School of Education Representative. I am a first year after-degree student specializing in Elementary Mathematics.
I have been heavily engaged in student advocacy efforts for the past two years, serving as the Students’ Union Science Representative and the Vice-President Academic, respectively. I would love to represent education students as I am passionate about working to better your university experience. I strongly believe in the power of student voice, and together, we can work to provide an accessible, supportive, and inclusive Werklund community.
My Election Platform:
Community Events
- Modify existing Students’ Union stress-less initiatives, such as Pet Therapy and De-Stress Kits, making them available at academically challenging times of the semester, and prior to practicum.
- Host networking events that are accessible to the entire faculty and that foster a sense of community between the various BEd programs, including concurrent, after-degree, and students pursuing a four year degree.
- Hold out-of-office initiatives to ensure that students are aware of SU programs and services, and that students are consulted on issues affecting the faculty.
Academic Resources
- Continue the work of my predecessor in providing a knowledge sharing platform where students can share lesson plans, acquire advice, and consult their peers during practicum.
- Secure funding to update and increase collaborative learning and study spaces.
- Advocate for the creation of a D2L Program Portal for efficient, streamlined communication of involvement opportunities and updates from the faculty, clubs, and other stakeholders.
Dean’s Advisory Search Committee
- Ensure that students’ interests are brought forward during the selection process for a new Dean of the Werklund School of Education.
- Create opportunities for feedback regarding desired improvements and the future direction of the faculty.
Let’s WERK together. Vote Tina Miller for Education Rep!
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