SU election supplement 2021: Faculty of Nursing representative
Along with the responsibilities outlined for all SLC members, faculty representatives are accountable for responsibilities particular to their role including: Reporting to students of their faculty the policies, positions and programs of the SU, reporting to their faculty itself (e.g., Dean’s Council) the policies, positions and programs of the SU, representing student constituents of their faculty at SLC, representing student constituents of their faculty on university committees and reporting to the VP Academic on matters of academic importance within their faculty.
Dorsa Zamanpour
Dorsa Zamanpour is running for the Faculty of Nursing representative position after missing out on election last year
There’s certainly more advocacy on her platform than last year, which was largely focused on social events.
Zamanpour wants to continue advocating for further online accommodations, like asynchronous recorded lectures, and flexible online quiz intervals — all of which have already been implemented at the University of Calgary. This isn’t a new idea for the Faculty of Nursing, but are doable for future semesters. If there’s one thing Zamanpour has improved upon since her 2020 campaign, it is taking advocacy more to heart and getting rid of some of the fluffier stuff. While she’s scrapped previous platform points like establishing a nursing-only textbook buy-and-sell platform, they have been replaced with pushing for giving clinical placements to first-year students. She notes that the faculty is considering this, so it might be workable, but proposing new curriculum changes is simply not feasible and beyond the scope of a faculty rep. Her idea to advocate for clinical placement preferences based on where students live is a sound idea and would probably go a long way in making a difference in the lives of nursing students.
Zamanpour wants to bring some of her advocacy experience to the Faculty of Nursing and ensuring that BIPOC nurses are represented is an admirable goal.
Zamanpour correctly identifies the real issues facing nursing students, but whether her fixes can be implemented is an entirely different story. Zamanpour’s heart is the right place, but there’s a weird mix of already-been-implemented and probably-never-going-to-be-implemented happening in her platform.
Alice Choi
Alice Choi has a plan that’s grounded in reality.
Choi is aware that the third year of the nursing program is incredibly taxing for students. While candidates in years before her have promised massive changes to the curriculum and program structure, Choi understands that any plan to help students through their difficult third year needs to actually be feasible. To alleviate stress in the third year, Choi wants to form study groups to ensure that students have some human connection during this time as well as advocating for mid-semester teaching evaluations to ensure professors are focusing on the needed material.
She would like to advocate for clinical preference placements based on location so that practicums are more accessible for people which sounds like a relatively simple way to ease some stress.
Choi’s plan to form a Quality Money Committee within nursing is solid. She wants to determine that the most-wanted projects are within her faculty and this level of engagement with students and consultation is to be commended.
Remember, the supplement constitutes the opinions of our panel — it’s important that you read the candidate’s platforms on the SU’s website, interact with those running for positions, ask questions and make up your own minds about who deserves your vote!