2024 SU general election: Schulich School of Engineering
Schulich School of Engineering faculty representative position where only three will be successful. Along with the responsibilities outlined for all Students’ Legislative Council (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 Students’ Union (SU), reporting to their faculty itself (like 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.
TAVISH COMRIE
Tavish Comrie is a third-year engineering student running for the Schulich School of Engineering Faculty representative position. In an interview with the Gauntlet, he elaborated on his platform points.
In pursuit of enhancing Schulich’s clubs and team experience, Comrie wants to advocate for space since space is sought after, especially for all technical clubs and teams.
“It’s not exactly going to be possible to get more, but it is possible to get better space,” he said. “Also, there is so much open area that could be turned into locker space.”
Comrie mentioned that he feels that he is in a position to effectively bridge the Engineering Students’ Society (ESS) and the SU, having had positions within the ESS for three years.
“These are the two largest student bodies for engineering students and right now they don’t collaborate at all.”
Comrie sheds light on issues surrounding faculty-student interactions, particularly for larger majors and how the process of having issues with classes being known to department heads is difficult.
He plans on integrating major information into first-year seminar sessions. Comrie notes the lack of information for students regarding majors, limited to a single large department fair and occasional classroom discussions by professors.
The third point of Comrie’s platform is accountability. He is committed to holding monthly or bi-monthly open dialogue sessions to discuss current issues or engineering representatives’ actions.
In his final message, Comrie highlighted his experience and roles pertaining to the student experience.
“I know how to advocate. I‘ve worked with the dean’s office, whether that’s hosting events or advocacy through homerooms. I know how to communicate with them. Having somebody in the SU that already has connections to other aspects of the dean’s office is going to be super valuable.”
DEBO DAM
Debo Dam is a second-year software engineering student. Dam did not interview with the Gauntlet after failing to notice the sign-up sheet sent to him, so here’s what students can expect to see from him based solely on his platform.
Dam’s platform consists of three main points: enhancing co-curricular opportunities, advocating for academic adaptability and strengthening the faculty’s social relationships. For the first point, he hopes to establish a connection between Schulich and it’s alumni networks to facilitate mentorship and careers paths. However, we don’t know if this is a new pathway altogether or working on the already established mentorship programs — such as the Schulich Industry Mentorship Program. Secondly, Dam aims to continue fighting for the CR/F system with what he calls a “niche approach”.
Lastly, he hopes to repair the relationship between the SU and the ESS and break down the barriers between Schulich and other faculties by incorporating more cross-faculty initiatives.
Nonetheless, his points, though somewhat similar to his competitors, if accomplished would be beneficial to the faculty.
LUJAINA ELDELEBSHANY
Lujaina Eldelebshany is another representative candidate for the Schulich School of Engineering. Based on her interview with the Gauntlet, this is what students can expect from her.
Her platform consists of de-bureaucratization of leadership in academia, restructuring the leadership culture within the ESS and funding Schulich innovation.
For her first pillar, Eldelebshany aims to better student experience by initiating student-led, mid-semester discussions with the incoming dean and each primary program coordinator in the faculty.
Along the topic of leadership, Eldelebshany expressed her concern with previous ESS leadership and how it has become disconnected from the genuine intent of representing student interests. Hence, she wants to strengthen the connection between the Students’ Union (SU) and the elected engineering representatives to establish a clear division of responsibilities to better serve students.
“So making sure that the ESS is more connected with the students and the SU through the engineering representatives is going to make sure that the ESS is not as personally involved as they are right now, and more for the students,” she said.
As for her point on funding Schulich innovation, she proposes a partnership with the Haskayne School of Business to merge technical innovation with entrepreneurship.
“Connecting the Schulich students as well as the Haskayne students in more formal pipelines rather than just the Hunter Hub […] then combining those resources, allowing Schulich students to understand the pathways that they can go to […] would be largely helpful,” she said.
With her community involvement, extracurricular experiences and an attitude that evidently cares about student-focused leadership, Eldelebshany makes for a competent candidate backed with an actionable platform.
SHEIKH RAIYAN KHALED
Sheikh Raiyan Khaled is a second-year electrical engineering student in the running for Faculty representative. Khaled did not show up to his interview with the Gauntlet, so this is what students can expect of him from his platform.
If elected, he wants to set up a monthly report system to hold the SU, ESS and Schluich representatives accountable to ensure that the positions serve the community. It is a great idea in concept, he doesn’t elaborate on how this report would work.
Khaled plans on advocating for more accessible course offerings, noting the lack of engineering courses offered in the spring and summer and how students get left behind because of it. He also intends on advocating for bringing back homeroom facilities and better storage facilities for Schulich clubs through collaboration with ESS, to empower the student clubs. While mostly feasible and rooted in the Schulich student community, his platform loses sight of his portfolio’s scope in his attempt to secure more funding through external sources like government agencies and corporate sponsors.
Overall, Khaled’s focus is on elevating the experience for the student body and advocating for a more accountable leadership and his points are mostly practical, showing that he knows about this position.
ABDULLAH KHAN
In an interview with the Gauntlet, Abdullah Khan elaborated on his three platform points: reintroducing the credit-granted (CG) option for engineering students, developing a consultation plan to halt the transformation of work and club spaces into lecture rooms and reintroducing the ESS membership fee.
Khan aims to advocate for the CG option as he believes engineering students would benefit from the option.
“Students lose out on scholarships because they get a bad grade, or they go into depression. The CG option will attack the root cause of these issues,” said Khan.
Khan stresses the concerns many engineering students have with the club rooms being converted into lecture rooms. He aims to start a consultation process with the faculty to combat this rapid change.
“They are stuffing so many clubs together and that hampers the quality of that experience. We lose a place to make friends, a place to socialize and a place to work,” said Khan.
Khan also hopes to increase ESS support through reintroducing a mandatory membership fee. He describes how the fee will enhance the student experience by placing the ESS at the same level as other engineering student organizations across the country.
“I don’t see any reason why our [school] shouldn’t have the fee considering how important the ESS is to campus life,” said Khan. “It’s very important to me that we are on the same level playing field as all the other engineering societies in Canada.”
Khan’s platform is actionable and his passionate commitment to engineering students is clear. Khan is therefore a capable and deserving candidate for the role.
All undergraduate students in the Schulich School of Engineering can vote YES or NO on their ballot for up to two candidates for FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE or ABSTAIN from voting.