I sat down with Hannah Brennen, candidate for the position of Vice-President, Student Organizations, to talk about the experience that she brings to the table, as well as her goals and aspirations for the role.
The Strand: Could you give us an overview of the VPSO’s role within VUSAC?
Hannah: The VPSO is one of the Vice Presidents on VUSAC, and they sit on the judiciary. As it pertains to the rest of Vic, they are responsible for operations of student organisations. They deal with clubs and levies; help provide support to those groups in any way they need it which will fall in line with our goals for this year.
Could you go over some of those goals that you have for next year?
I want to be the type of VPSO that lets clubs and levies do their thing, which would mean streamlining the administrative tasks that need to be done, making a simpler process for re-application or for new clubs to be started, and helping make everything more accessible and easier to navigate within VUSAC for clubs and levies.
The VPSO is a pretty important role to students who are really involved within the community. How do you plan on managing your relationship with club and levy members?
Part of being on VUSAC, there’s a lot of policy and bureaucracy to deal with. I think the reason clubs and levy heads do what they do, and not VUSAC, is that they might not necessarily be as interested in that, so I would act as a liaison between the two.
Lucinda, last year’s VPSO, did a great job of prioritizing open-minded communication between herself and clubs and levies. By taking focus away from procedural and complicated internal stuff, I’ll be able to actually get out and talk in person with the club heads, and develop relationships with them that allow them to come to me when they need support. I want to go out and physically be present at club and levy meetings and events throughout the year, so I can support these groups not just from an oversight perspective but also as a student.
The one change or addition I want to make is to do the same thing in the other direction. The VPSO asks clubs and levies for updates, but I also plan on providing them with updates going on within VUSAC that might pertain to their interests.
What skills do you bring to the table from previous experience?
To begin with, I’ve got a really diverse breadth of experience at Vic. I’ve lived off-campus and on-campus, and I’ve been involved in so many different clubs and levies from a VUSAC perspective, from an exec perspective, and just from the perspective of a student who participates in whatever it is that the club or levy does. That has allowed me to develop an understanding of the way things work from multiple perspectives.
Secondly, I am not a very political person and I know that the club and levy heads aren’t as well, so I think the fact that I’m willing to communicate with them on a really face-to-face, human, casual, not intimidating level is something that will be very beneficial.
I also have a lot of really relevant experience. Last year I was a councillor on VUSAC and I worked really closely with the VPSO, so I have a very good understanding of the role.
The VUSAC Spring Elections Town Hall takes place in NF003 this Friday at 5:15 PM, where you can ask candidates any questions you may have.
Voting takes place from Saturday, March 19 through to Wednesday, March 23 online at voting.utoronto.ca
