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The Strand sat down with Nickolas Shyshkin, candidate for Vice President Student Organizations in the 2017 VUSAC fall election. This position was left unfilled after the spring elections, and Shyshkin is now running uncontested after first-year, Thomas Siddall withdrew his candidacy on September 26th.
The Strand: Can you briefly outline the responsibilities of the VPSO?
Nickolas Shyshkin: The VPSO acts as a liaison between the clubs and the levies, as well as VUSAC. They are a voice, on behalf of the clubs and levies, on the VUSAC council and at meetings to represent them there. In the barest of terms.
What do you hope to bring to the position?
I feel like a lot more can be done with the position itself, in terms of how close and personal previous VPSOs have been with this role. What I want to do with this role is make it more personal rather than just a liaison between two groups. I want to get to know these clubs and levies more as myself, and just really hear them out on what their problems are, what they need, and I really want to deliver on those. I know sometimes that won’t be possible with certain restrictions that might be in place, but I definitely do want to help them out in that regard in the best way that I can and put more of myself into it.
How do you plan to have a more “active and personal” role with the clubs and levies?
I’d like to go and meet with them in person, where their spaces are or [at] their activities, events that they have and get to know them in that personal way as well. I want trust and respect to be built between the VPSO and the clubs and levies, where clubs and levies can trust the VPSO to meet whatever needs [they have].
What previous experience do you have that you feel will contribute to this role?
At Victoria itself, I’ve been the co-president of Rowell Jackman Hall, where I had to work with the entire building councils in planning events and activities, in my own building and around Vic. I’ve been on the hiring council for the Winterfest co-chairs and Orientation 2017 co-chair.
I’ve been a part of multiple model UN clubs on campus, specifically NAMUN [which] is a Vic club. And I’ve heard a lot from others who deal more directly with Vic about what their relationship is like with VUSAC. From my personal experience, aside from the rooms that they use, they don’t really know what’s available to them.
You mentioned in your campaign statement that you want to improve the visibility of student organizations—promoting the clubs and levies. How do you propose going about this?
Through something more on the social media front; something that I have mentioned before is doing something along the lines of a social media spotlight-of-the-week, maybe from the VUSAC page, on each levy or club. I feel like cooperation between levies and clubs is a missed opportunity, as well as [between] clubs and levies with VUSAC.
Clubs and levies would benefit from more integration doing joint events with VUSAC, the commissions or with Scarlet and Gold. Holding specific events or extending their outreach would be possible with help of promotion from VUSAC. There’s definitely a lot of room for helping each other out in that way.
How do you feel about the fact that you are now running uncontested? Why do you think that this has happened?
It really brings us back to [spring 2017] during elections when every position was essentially uncontested by the end. It is a bit unnerving to see that; that more people weren’t enthused about running originally. My opponent dropped out for whatever reason they needed to, that’s perfectly respectable.
It could just be a disconnect between VUSAC as the student government and the rest of the student body.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Photo | Courtesy of the candidate
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