Can you tell us about the responsibilities of the Academic Development Commissioner?
The Academic Commissioner is responsible for all academia efforts at Vic, namely, doing different events. Our biggest event of the year is usually the networking dinner, where we bring different alumni to connect with students and build networks during a dinner. We also have different small-scale events. The Academic Commissioner is normally responsible for holding info sessions and workshops and then also being responsible for their own initiatives. I have a couple initiatives within the academic portfolio that I’m thinking of—[they] can vary from year to year.
What are some things that you’re thinking about that you would keep or change from this year’s portfolio versus your new ideas?
I also want to build up on some previous initiatives that Cam[eron Davies], the Academic Commissioner before me, already started. I worked with the Academic Commission as a Councillor, and one idea that we had that unfortunately we didn’t have the time or resources to build on was creating different software workshops, especially for Adobe, Excel, and LaTeX—different software that students use in class and within the professional realm. [It is important] especially if you want to get into internships and the job market. Providing a resource within the Vic environment would be very useful.
Other ideas that we’ve had that I want to keep continuing and also expanding are collaborations with [other VUSAC] commissions. We had really cool collaborations with the Equity Commission this year, like the Racialized Experiences in Academia event. With the Comm[uter] Dons as well, and I really helped with that one. We had collaborations with VOCA, [and] just commissions in general, both with small scale events and then bigger events.
One initiative I want to do is to try to create a program to subsidize course preps for students. Right now, LSAT and GRE course preps are inaccessible. Students can pay from $700 up to $1500 for course prep, which is a big financial barrier. I’ve been in contact with different funding resources. I’m thinking of student projects, also I’ve contacted Kaplan and Princeton Review, and some different companies trying to find discounts for students.
I also want to expand on the networking dinner. I want to try to expand the number of alumni we get and the number of students. I love the way that Cam organized it: he put different [professional] areas within different tables, and I think that really tailored the experience for students.
So why do you feel you’re a good fit for this particular position?
I think because of my experience. I love Vic, and I want to do what’s best for Vic. I’ve thought of many cool ideas that I think could help the Vic community and create different resources. I have some things within VUSAC that I would like to change as well. I think people’s complaints can be very valid, and sometimes the way that we do things aren’t the best.
We tend to focus a lot on small scale events, I want to create different projects, especially because long term projects can help students better. One initiative that we have is an Exam Jam. [At that event,] we gave out different school supplies for students. I thought that was a great initiative. People on VUSAC sometimes complain about having low turn-out to. If you can provide them with resources, using their fees to do something that’s beneficial for them, I think that’s a better route to go to.
You mentioned giving out school supplies. This year at the Winter Caucus, the Academic Commissioner was criticized for using student fees to fund initiatives such as the free Muji pens. Where do you stand on that issue?
I understand the criticism, I think it’s valid. But at the same time, I think that VUSAC’s mandate and VUSAC’s overall intention is always to provide resources for students in the best way. We want to make sure that student’s fees are being effective. We had over a thousand responses [to that event] on Facebook, and we ran out of supplies—a lot of people came. I feel that that is enough answer as to why this event is important. If it wasn’t beneficial for students, then students wouldn’t have come. The fact that so many students valued that and wanted that attests to the fact that it was indeed beneficial. I think sometimes we may get too stuck within a recipe of how things should turn out but it’s good to mix up some ideas, especially because there is no recipe. All we intend to do is use student fees to provide benefits for students, especially in exam season when students don’t really have the time to go to events.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length
