The Strand talked to the We The Students slate about an accessible and active UTSU for students.
The Strand: How will you make a more transparent UTSU?
We The Students: The fact that many students and clubs feel underserved by UTSU, and even more are unfamiliar with what a student union can do for them, is a testament to why we need new leadership in the UTSU. We The Students wants to increase transparency and accessibility of the UTSU by talking to students directly about issues that affect them—tuition fees, sexual violence, and mental health; making ourselves visible on campus so students can access us directly and making sure UTSU representatives are open about what they are working on, and advocating for, on students’ behalf.
TS: How do you plan to allocate funds/advocate for higher waged student jobs/paid internships?
WTS: If elected, we plan to build on the momentum on campus and in the city for better wages by lobbying the Office of the Vice-Provost Students and the Governing Council to provide UofT students with meaningful jobs and wages on campus. We will need to work together with professional faculty councils and the University Administration to advocate for students—particularly those in professional faculties—to get better internship opportunities in their fields that pay them a decent wage to help offset the disproportionately higher costs of their tuition. Within the UTSU, we have the ability to directly influence the wages and work to raise wages for student jobs to be $15/hour.
TS: Your platform shows the prioritization of funding clubs and showing support? In what ways will this be acted upon?
WTS: Club executives are students—we cannot afford to keep paying out of pocket for our expenses and having to wait months to be reimbursed. We The Students will prioritize clubs funding and schedule regular committee meetings so that funding can be allocated and given out to clubs quickly. We will also introduce new funding for collaborative events and initiatives hosted by clubs to spark collaboration between clubs and communities across UofT. Clubs are a huge stakeholder in the Student Commons, yet many clubs feel completely left out of the project. We want to increase transparency of the Student Commons planning process and ensure that clubs can get access to space in the building as soon as possible.
TS: In your opinion, what is the biggest flaw with the UTSU at the moment?
WTS: It’s disappointing to see that the UTSU has become incredibly depoliticized this year. We The Students believes that the UTSU has a big role to play in advocating on issues of affordability, community, and equity—and we did not see this happen this year. If elected, we will advocate on critical issues such as tuition fees, OHIP for international students, anti-sexual violence, and 24/7 mental health resources.
Voting will take place March 14th-16th at utsu.simplyvoting.com
