Uncontested VP Academic candidate discusses student rights and program evaluation at SU forum
By Vama Saini, March 2 2025—
In the Students’ Union (SU) Vice-President Academic forum, uncontested candidate Gabriela Dziegielewska outlined her platform and vision for the role if elected.
A key focus of Dziegielewska’s platform is raising awareness of academic rights among the student body.
“Students overwhelmingly do not know what their academic rights are on campus, which means that they do not know when they get violated or broken,” Dziegielewska said. “I think the first step to helping the student body become excellent self advocates and become more engaged with the student issues that they are faced with, is to make sure that they know what those issues are, and who to turn to when they need help navigating them.”
To address this, Dziegielewska plans a multi-pronged approach, including incorporating educational materials into orientation week events and conducting class visits in the first weeks of the semester to directly inform students.
“Starting during orientation week, when the SU puts on their own events, I would like to include educational materials in the orientation campaign to first years to make sure that they are prepared for their first days of classes and know exactly what is allowed, what isn’t allowed,” she said.
“I would like to do as many class talks as possible during the first week or two of classes in September to reach as many students as possible across various program to inform them on what their academic rights are, what measures are available to them and to always contact the VP Academic when they get broken or when they have any other concerns surrounding their academic rights,” she said.
Another key platform point is Dziegielewska’s focus on shaping the program evaluation process within the university. She wants to “incorporate more student-friendly policies as requirements” for the guiding questions used in these reviews, ensuring factors like student mental health and access to resources are prioritized.
By shaping the evaluation criteria, Dziegielewska believes she can ensure academic programs are meeting the needs of students, not just administrative concerns. She sees this as a way to drive meaningful, student-focused changes within the curriculum.
When asked about the most important committee the VP Academic sits on, Dziegielewska highlighted the General Faculties Council (GFC).
“It’s the one of the only times when the VP academic gets to have face time with the president, who is the chair of that committee, to work on setting the kind of priorities and strategic direction for GFC, which is the highest academic body of the university,” she said. “I think having a student voice on that committee is extremely important.”
Drawing on her experience as a Faculty of Science representative, Dziegielewska believes it is possible to be a strong student advocate while still fostering collaborative relationships. Her approach is to remain “committed to students” and ensure her priorities are clearly focused on what is best for the student body.
“I think fundamentally, if it is obvious to everybody that you work with that you are, you care about students, and that’s why you’re advocating for them, if you come prepared, if you are a reasonable person, as in, you don’t have tantrums and committees, then generally, even if you disagree, I think you will have a good relationship with the people that you’re working with, and they will respect you as a person and your position.”
Overall, Dziegielewska platform centered on empowering students through education and advocacy, with a focus on academic rights and ensuring student voices are heard at the highest levels of university governance.
Voting for the SU faculty representative and executive positions, including VP Academic, will take place from March 4-6.