What position are you running for, and what are the responsibilities of this position?
I am running for both the position of Academic Commissioner and a position on the Victoria College Council. The Academic Commissioner’s responsibilities are to give Victoria College students opportunities like the Networking Dinner to develop themselves professionally and academically.
The Victoria College Council members work with members of staff of Victoria College to improve students’ experiences and make decisions about academic life.
Can you summarize the key points of your platform?
For Academic Commissioner: My platform centres around greater outreach to the Victoria College Community. I want to cultivate a larger, more interactive social media presence, plan new events that teach practical skills (like resume and scholarship workshops), create a mentorship program for Vic students, and make Burwash study space more inviting. Furthermore, I plan to collaborate with other commissions like the Mental Wellness commission and continue the Academic Commission’s main events like the Networking Dinner and Exam Jam.
For VCC: I’d like to sit on the College Life, Academic, and Awards and Prizes Committees. Through these avenues, I will represent Victoria College students and their interests.
Why do you want to run for this position, and what makes you best suited to fill this position?
What really spoke to me about the VCC was the opportunity to work with people in administrative roles at Vic. I want to bridge the gap between Vic’s employees and its students, and really bring the concerns and ideas of my peers to the table. In terms of why I would be a good fit, I was involved in a similar roundtable project at my secondary school in which I worked with teachers and administrators to improve the experiences of students. I’ve also been extremely involved in residence life and extracurricular activities at Vic, so I feel that I’ve made a lot of connections [which] would allow me to serve as a figurehead for Vic students, bringing their comments and concerns to the table.
For Academic Commissioner, I was really inspired to run because of all the great things the commission already does. I’m a huge believer in networking and developing transferable skills while pursuing a degree, and I want to bring my experience and passion to the position. I really feel that I can build on the work that’s already been done and bring more students into the commission’s work. I would make a great Academic Commissioner because I’m passionate, driven, and because I have experience in this area. In secondary school, I was responsible for
helping my peers plan careers and post-secondary paths, as well as being the contact person for university recruitment officers. I also served in a variety of leadership positions. I think that I could bring those skills and my passion for serving my community together to be an effective academic commissioner.
What goals do you hope to accomplish if you are elected to this position?
For VCC, I hope to represent the concerns of the student body and work to resolve those issues through the committees that I sit on. In particular, I would like to work on creating an environment at Vic that supports mental health. I think that Victoria College has done a lot of really good work in terms of support for students, but I think that those resources need to be more publicized and more widely available.
As Academic Commissioner, I hope to fulfill each tenant of my platform. I would also love to involve groups of students that tend to be less involved, such as commuters. Furthermore, one of my goals is to look at the academic commission through a lens of equity, which for me as a privileged white woman means involving diverse voices that can help me to create events and resources that more effectively benefit the entirety of Vic and that ensure that all members of Vic feel like the Academic Commission exists to serve them. Moreover, accessibility is another paramount goal of mine.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
My whole reason for running in the VUSAC Spring 2020 Elections is that I love Victoria College. This community has continually given so much to me, and I feel that I am in a place to give some of that back- so my promise to every Vic student is that if elected, I will be your representative. I will be available to you. Any comment, any concern, any idea that you have will be taken seriously, and I will do my best to accommodate you personally in any way that I can. Victoria College is my home away from home, and I want every Vic student to feel that way. I have compassion, drive, and heart, and I promise that if you take a chance on me, you won’t regret it.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Voting is from March 14 to March 17 at voting.utoronto.ca
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