Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/238995283100871/

This candidate is running for more than one position. Only their responses relevant to this position are posted here. Their other responses will be found in the relevant article for that position.

• Why are you running for your position?

Before I knew anything about the AMS or student involvement, before I ever voted in an AMS election, before I even learned how to properly study for a university final – I cared about how my learning was handled. I filled out all my TA, professor, and course evaluations, as well as the AMS Academic Experience Survey. I felt like these questions led to deeper conversations about the quality of the academic experience for students that could lead to an improvement in the quality of that experience. I had barely finished first year and I wanted to be part of the conversation that took place after these answers were processed, but I had no idea how to, and trying to look it up was intimidating. So I’d do what I knew – I would fill the surveys out voraciously every term, every year. I spoke after class with my professors about things they did in lab, tutorial, discussion, or lecture that I enjoyed from a learning perspective. I asked about their academic journeys to their current positions. I’m running for VP Academic and University Affairs and a seat on Senate because the issues and topics these positions deal with have been things I’ve cared about since before I even knew these positions existed.

• What are the main goals you wish to accomplish during your term?

• To increase the support for struggling students with easier to access resources, as well as ensure the university is easing students through the process. Particular interest in the centralization of support services to make internal referrals easier for students.
• Expanding the current level of student engagement to retain current participants as well as allow commuter students to more easily provide input – likely through further implementation of online consultation, but also to look into research from non-profits on engagement techniques.
• To better acquaint incoming international students with their immigration/permit requirements, ideally through UBC Orientations/Jumpstart.
• Promote the use of the Undergraduate Research Database by students, and increase the number of position listings by engaging with faculty.
• To implement a user-friendly medium of informing students of current land-use/CC+P projects occurring on campus.
• Cooperation with major stakeholders in the VPAUA portfolio – coordinating with graduate students and faculty on issues including tuition, open educational resources, and transparency from the university to continue to take effective action.
• Increased engagement with and advocacy for Indigenous students and groups on campus. Increased consultation and awareness of Indigenous students’ stance on University issues will promote better solutions for issues that arise.
• Continue working with the university to implement intermediate scholarship for International Students – anything helps. For example, an intermediate between no scholarship and the full-ride International Leader of Tomorrow Award.

• How will you strive to consult with and represent the diversity of voices that make up the student body?

I would like to build stronger relationships with Unions that students are a part of as well as the GSS as they are both representative of students within the student body. The current office has done a wonderful job with consultations regarding numerous issues which has really engaged a greater portion of the student body. However, I’d like to improve this further, beyond online forms, with interactive real-time online consultations.  This will allow commuters who cannot attend in person to be involved and freely give their input.

• How will you strive in your position to improve the lives of UBC’s most marginalized students?

I recognize that VP Academic and University Affairs is the portfolio that has the most direct ability to support and advocate for marginalized students at UBC. On a variety of issues including tuition, bursary access, academic support, housing, and equity and inclusion, the VPAUA has to keep up with marginalized students’ issues as well as be willing to engage with these students and the groups that represent them – this includes AMS Resource Groups. I recognize that many of these students have unique experiences and understanding regarding issues that arise, and remain committed and open to learning more and supporting them with whatever resources myself, the VPAUA office, and the AMS as a whole can provide.

• How does your platform engage with anti-oppressive frameworks?

I believe that in particular, the portion of my platform that emphasizes the transparency behind university decisions on a higher, administrative level (for example, Land Use), engages with anti-oppressive frameworks in that it is my intention to make students aware of the decisions the university may make with less than optimal student consultation, and speak out against it or have the AMS do so. This will promote a campus where all students feel safe, informed, and heard.

• What is your position on the referendum question on referendums?

I believe that the Legislative Procedures Committee (and amendments made during that council meeting) have worded it in a way that will allow for unbiased, legal referendum questions to be brought to council, and that it is worded in a way that will allow for the referendum question to run in the subsequent executive election (the portion where it directs LPC to make changes that establish a timeline within which council must reword the question). I would have feared that the original question would have made the timing of referendum questions too ambiguous, but the last clauses ensure that consultation with the question submitter and a strict timeline will be ensured.

• How will you work with the on- and/or off- campus indigenous communities to make campus a better place?

I would be delighted to work with our indigenous communities, and intend to consult with them prior to any decisive action where they are stakeholders. I hope to promote  and support the continued celebration of their cultures through the AMS.

• How do you define accessible education? How will you strive to achieve this?

To me, accessible education means that a student’s access to education should not be hindered by who they are – this encompasses socioeconomic standing, mental health, persons with disabilities, and much more. I will strive to achieve this by lobbying the university to structure its tuition and/or its financial aid to allow for students to learn at our institution regardless of these potential difficulties. In addition, I wish to work with the University to better promote the services provided by Access and Diversity, as well as looking into increasing funding for support services like Access and Diversity and potentially advocating for greater funding.

• What will be your approach to advocating to the university?

Advocacy from an AMS Executive can be strong, but advocacy from the students is stronger. The most important part of advocating to the university, in my opinion, is not simply showing up to meetings to present and speak, or writing letters and policy, or sitting on committees. It is also to inform students and ensure that there is transparency behind the university’s actions and decisions. It is student action, whether from the AMS or another group of UBC students. This is why engaging students both online and in-person, reaching a wider, more diverse population, is so important.

• Do you have anything else to add?

I’m first and foremost a student at UBC, not a student politician. Prior to my AMS involvement (and all other involvement), I cared about my academic needs, how feedback regarding them was obtained, and what was being done with that feedback. Why? Because even when you don’t feel connected to the vibrant community at UBC, you’re still here to learn, to get your degree. Academics are a priority for most students, and student – a real student’s perspective – representation and voice is needed on the university committees that decide on factors that affect our academic experience’s quality.

I was a commuter for two years – and I found myself feeling disconnected from the whole community. I almost dropped out of UBC after my first year. I tried to access Counselling Services, and after a meeting or two, I was given referrals to multiple places in Vancouver. I did not go to any of them. I ended up pulling myself out of a dark place after years of struggling – but that’s not every student’s ending. Numbers, which should be readily available but aren’t, from the university can confirm that. Reaching out as a struggling student is hard enough, but UBC makes it increasingly difficult – burying the necessary steps and potential options through layers and pages of bureaucracy. The hardest thing for a student who needs support is seeking it – and I simply wish to do whatever a VPAUA can to make that process more comfortable, easier to access, and as supportive as our students deserve.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/577739859056443/

• Why are you running for your position?

To put it simply, I’m running as your next AMS VP Academic to fix UBC. Right now, we have an university administration that doesn’t work or listen to the voices or needs of our faculty and everyday students. This is a university that believes it is appropriate to waste millions of dollars on the Gupta boondoggle while at the same time hiking tuition, and rent. It is time that we came together to say that enough is enough and work to refocus our vision on quality and affordable post-secondary education for everyone.

• What are the main goals you wish to accomplish during your term?

1. First and foremost, I want to fix how the university is run. We need to introduce transparency and accountability by opening up the Board of Governors (BoG). Furthermore, I would like to see government appointees on the BoG cut from 11 to 9 along with devolving certain powers to the AMS and student body.
2. Create a comprehensive anti-sexual assault policy for the AMS and university.
3. Reverse the international tuition hikes seen earlier this year and create a tuition increase cap for international tuition as well.
4. Remove UBC’s exemption in the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA).
   1. Reduce winter housing rent by 23.55%
   2. Reduce all other rent by 5.75%
5. Establish the Student Financial Information Service (SFIS).
   1. This is a new, unified service designed to consolidate and enhance the current financial services the university offers now.
   2. Not only will SFIS offer advice and help on tax returns, it will also offer advice on debt management, investments like TFSAs and RRSPs, and simply, financial advice and questions.

• How will you strive to consult with and represent the diversity of voices that make up the student body?

Student outreach is perhaps one of the most difficult challenges for the AMS because UBC is a massive university in terms of student population but also in the sheer size of the land we occupy. While the AMS has invested considerable resources into developing a strong online presence, I still believe that the best way to reach out, connect and represent the student body is to meet them face-to-face. I am committed to sitting down and talking with clubs, fraternities, sororities and hosting weekly public forums to cut through the noise and tackle the issues that affect everyday students.

• How will you strive in your position to improve the lives of UBC’s most marginalized students?

Student affordability is an issue that touches everyone on campus, but none more so than the most marginalized students at UBC. A 2013 Bank of Montreal study showed that 36% of post-secondary students in BC has experienced stress over their financial situation. This figure is the highest in all of Canada which is why student affordability is at the core of my platform. Instead of figuring out how to pay for already expensive rent, tuition, fees, textbooks etc., students should instead be able to focus on being students. We may not be able to fix every problem, but we can work to fix the issue of affordability.

• How does your platform engage with anti-oppressive frameworks?

My core of my platform deals with university affordability. Too many students at UBC are graduating with crushing debt which I believe is oppressive in a number of ways. Too many people are forced to put off major life decisions or are at a significant economic disadvantage because of their debt load and that is simply unacceptable. Christy Clark likes to talk about a debt-free BC, but I prefer to talk about debt-free students.

• What is your position on the referendum question on referendums?

I support the changes proposed for the new referendum bylaws. They are common sense reforms that make it easier to initiate referendums and put a stop to potentially leading questions. Not only will I be campaigning for myself, I will also campaign to see these new changes through.

• How will you work with the on- and/or off- campus indigenous communities to make campus a better place?

The indigenous lands that UBC occupies is so much more than just ‘…the unceded territory of the Musqueam people.” The land has an incredibly rich history and culture that many students don’t know about and it is a shame that we don’t leverage it more to engage and bring together the indigenous community and university population. In my platform, I’m borrowing an idea from the Surrey school district which is to host indigenous leaders and cultural events on campus to teach people about the land and the people who used to occupy this land.

• How do you define accessible education? How will you strive to achieve this?

Public universities like UBC were founded to provide quality and critically, affordable education for everybody. Over the past 15 years in BC, we have seen an astronomical rise in the cost of university to the point that it’s becoming increasingly unaffordable without student loans and crippling debt. While the AMS and university should be working together to help trim expenses and find efficiencies to pass those savings onto students, fundamentally, the only long term sustainable solution is to obtain more funding through lobbying the federal and provincial governments.

• What will be your approach to advocating to the university?

While the AMS should continue to work closely with the university administration to cut costs and find efficiencies to pass onto students, unfortunately, the administration also has a history of putting financial interests and status over students. Given this history, I don’t believe it would be inappropriate for the AMS to also start lobbying the federal and provincial governments to have additional funding go through the AMS rather than the university. This way, the AMS can use this additional funding to increase services like mental health while reducing fees and returning money into the pockets of students.

• Do you have anything else to add?

We are a generation being hammered, chipped and squeezed. Day after day, you hear about unprecedented youth unemployment, record student debt and an increasingly gloomy global economic outlook. We need help. Not scandal or a university administration content with nickel and diming students at every turn. We can do better, and we will do better. The platform that I’m offering was created with students at its heart. A platform for students by students. We may not be able to fix every problem, but these are common sense first steps we can take to building a university that works for everybody.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/229763804026421/

• Why are you running for your position?

As the current Vice President Academic for the LFS Undergraduate Society, I have developed a strong passion for advocating on behalf of the academic interests of all students that I am representing. I have worked on a number of academic initiatives (i.e. flexible learning) that I am hoping to enhance at a university-wide level. In my position, I was also fortunate to lead the international tuition increase consultation process for my faculty, which peaked my interest in advocating on behalf of students to the university. I have witnessed first-hand how effective advocacy can be in enacting change at the university level, with real impact for the greater UBC community.

• What are the main goals you wish to accomplish during your term?

Advocacy is key here – it is pivotal that students “get a seat at the table” in higher-level decisions involving the university. I will continue building a solid foundation with university governing bodies and ensuring that students are involved in a number of processes and decisions relevant to us. On the academic portion of the portfolio, I am aiming to enhance the flexible learning environment at UBC, including but not limited to Open Pedagogy, Open Educational Resources (OERs), and Midcourse Feedback. Finally, I will aim to promote and enhance the nature of undergraduate research available to students in an accessible manner.

• How will you strive to consult with and represent the diversity of voices that make up the student body?

An obvious, yet key, aspect of consultation is ensuring that the right groups are being consulted. Furthermore, it is of utmost importance that students feel like they are being consulted – simply asking students to voice their opinions on a particular topic with a pre-determined outcome defeats the purpose of consultation in the first place. The way this is achieved is not only holding the university accountable to the need for student voices to be represented in university affairs, but ensuring the AMS provides an accessible platform for students to voice those very opinions.

• How will you strive in your position to improve the lives of UBC’s most marginalized students?

The University Affairs component of the portfolio includes a direct involvement in working on a number of highly important areas in student affairs involving UBC’s most marginalized students. Once again, advocacy is a critical tool I will use to strive towards improving the lives of UBC’s most marginalized students in a number of university affairs. On the academic side, I will strive to improve the nature of financial accessibility to students in a number of academic initiatives (i.e. open textbooks) that are in line with the AMS’s Accessibility & Affordability policy.

• How does your platform engage with anti-oppressive frameworks?

As the VPAUA, it is a priority to act as the liaison between students and the university. Recognizing my own privilege, this requires a nuanced understanding of the multitude of highly complex issues facing students regarding their respective identities, as well as a well-rounded understanding of services available to concerned students. This allows students to not only seek out their best interests when concerned in any way, but allows the VPAUA to best advocate for those very students facing any form of oppression.

• What is your position on the referendum question on referendums?

I am voting in favor of the referendum question asking students to vote on the changes specified in the ‘AMS Bylaws Referendum Revisions’ document. I completely recognize the implications this has when considering the motivation for referendum questions in the first place, however I still believe that referendum questions should not be leading. Different bodies putting forth referendum questions can still motivate the referendum in the “Note” section following the referendum question by informing the student body the effects of having it pass/not pass (without having the question be leading itself).

• How will you work with the on- and/or off- campus indigenous communities to make campus a better place?

A noteworthy portion of the VPAUA’s portfolio includes a focus on aboriginal engagement. With the support of the Aboriginal Student’s Commissioner, some examples of work I will do with indigenous communities are as follows: 1) support initiatives of aboriginal and student groups, 2) work closely with the First Nations House of Learning, and 3) support existing aboriginal initiatives (i.e. Musquem weaving project and the annual powwow).

• How do you define accessible education? How will you strive to achieve this?

It is important to preface this answer by recognizing AMS’s policy on Affordability and Accessibility that currently exists. With this in mind, having the AMS work with UBC to alleviate financial pressures on students as well as achieve financial accessibility would be the first critical step is achieving accessible education. One example of this is the use of Open Educational Resources (OERs) that offer students textbook equivalents at no cost. The second pivotal component to accessible education includes an emphasis on equity – students from all walks of life should have a fair shot at receiving a quality education at UBC.

• What will be your approach to advocating to the university?

To ensure that student interests are best voiced at higher-level decisions by the university, I will strive to continue building a solid foundational relationship with various executive bodies at UBC. As someone that would describe myself as highly pragmatic, I strongly believe in using advocacy that is rooted in real-life constraints and realities, rather than engaging in principle-based advocacy that has shown not to be effective in enacting change at UBC.

• Do you have anything else to add?

I completely recognize the enormity of the responsibility associated with acting as a go-between for students with the university – not only is it a responsibility that I hold highly but that I hope I am fortunate enough to get the opportunity to serve the greater UBC community.