I want to offer you an educated vision for positive change. I have 3 years of experience working closely with former Feds executives and that means this vision is realistic, well informed, and constructive. 

My Vision for Positive Change 

Engagement with Purpose

I want the VP Education and students to communicate better. I want to see more value come out of that communication. I hear the phrase “engage students” used a lot by leaders in the Federation of Students. Very rarely do we ask these leaders why they think Feds should “engage” students, or what successful “engagement” looks like.  

We have to get Feds to start thinking of “engagement” or “communication” as a means of getting valuable data on the opinions of students. Why? Because there is often a big gap between what students think or want and what Feds says or does. Better information (through innovative communication tactics) helps fill that gap. 

Since it’s the job of the VP Education to represent students, feedback on student opinion is absolutely necessary. With better information at the disposal of the VP Education, his or her decisions will be more informed and Feds’ public stance on policy changes will be more representative. 

To get better information, the VP Education needs better tools at his or her disposal. I want to spend my term in office working to build these tools so that, as every year passes, Feds’ VP Education will serve students better. 

My Term in Office

You and I are going to have to work together to build these tools. During my one-year term in office, you’ll play an integral role in what I’m going to call the Student Engagement Project. 

First, I’m going to work with a small group of dedicated students to identify the biggest gaps in communication. Then, we’re going to solicit input from the general student body to identify the best tools available to fill those gaps. Finally, we’re going to work hard to implement your suggestions and fill the gaps. 

My Values...

On Education Policy

We come to university for a variety of reasons – to pursue dreams and goals, to become enlightened, to appease family pressure … the list goes on. Once we’ve decided to invest years of our life here, we have usually made two assumptions: 1) Our experience will be good enough to help us achieve our goals, and 2) we’ll find some way to pay our tuition bill. From an individual student’s perspective, the challenge of good education policy is mainly to ensure that both of these things happen. For simplicity, I’d like to condense these challenges into two words: Quality & Access. 

On Quality

Governments and the University measure the quality of your experience here in a lot of ways. Very rarely do they ask you any questions when doing this. This is a gap in communication that the VP Education should be filling. Why? Because those institutions uses their measurements to change things. When they change things with your interests in mind, the changes are usually better. I’m going to use my experience and knowledge of education policy to ensure your voice is heard, and any changes made are in your best interest. 

On Access

Paying for a university education is a challenge for many of us. Governments and the University have recognized this, but have not done enough to fix cracks in the system. I support the basic premise of Ontario’s funding system (government and student share the cost of education), but we need to tweak policies to reduce the amount of people who face significant financial barriers. 

That being said, financial barriers are not the only important “access” issues. Even if tuition were $0/term, there would be qualified people not attending university. Social and cultural barriers, for instance, keep many intelligent people from participating in your seminars, clubs, study groups, and debates. As the VP Education, I will work to change this. 

On Academics

As many of you know from experience, Waterloo offers a lot of demanding and valuable programs. The VP Education should be safeguarding the value inherent in your demanding Waterloo degree. This means standing up against policy changes by the University that threaten the quality of your program. For instance, if the administration wants to change or add a program that is “marketable” but not “challenging” they do a disservice to current and future students. This can happen, and it’s the job of the VP Education to make sure it doesn’t. 

On Co-op

When I was in first year, Jobmine showed a position titled “Marketing Director” that involved wearing a chicken suit and handing out leaflets on the sidewalk. We’ve all seen jobs like that (granted, maybe not quite as bad) and questioned the value we’re getting for the hefty co-op fee. While most first and second year students can’t expect to have a corner office, co-op should focus on finding more valuable “junior” co-op placements that actually relate to UW programs of study. Pushing the Co-op Education Council to increase the number of relevant junior co-op jobs will be my main priority on the co-op part of the VP Education portfolio. 

On Supporting Students

The reality of the VP Education role is that it requires being off campus a lot. While it’s important for the VP Education to be managing the Feds external relations, it’s also important to be on campus to support students. I want to strike a better balance between these priorities. When you’re facing urgent financing issues, accusations of academic offence, or problems with co-op, I’m going to be there for you. This means choosing to stay on campus at the beginning of terms and at the height of the co-op process when it’s not urgent that I be away. This means prioritizing email correspondence so you’re at the top of the list. I know what it’s like when the system fails, and I want to be there to support you in your time of need. 

For more details, see Feds2007.com