SU general election: Arts representatives
Abbas Hussain
Abbas Hussain is running to be one of the Faculty of Arts Representatives in the upcoming school year, with a platform focused on transparency, opportunity and community within the Faculty of Arts.
As the current Student-at-Large Representative of the SU Teaching Excellence Awards Committee and a CJSW board member, Hussain believes he is equipped with a good understanding of how the SU operates and what it can do for students.
One of Hussain’s top priorities is to push for transparency between the faculty and the students through a direct feedback loop. He states that he will collect student voices and advocate for them directly through meetings with the dean.
“There have been a lot of changes that have been made to the Arts program, and it’s not necessarily clear as to why the changes were made and how they were done,” said Hussain in an interview with the Gauntlet. “It’s clear that there’s a disconnect between the faculty and the students.”
“I just want to […] make sure that [the faculty changes are] being done to students’ advantage and not just being removed without consultation and dialogue,” said Hussain.
To promote a strong community within the Faculty of Arts, Hussain plans to increase awareness of and foster collaboration between clubs, the Faculty of Arts Students’ Association (FASA) and the Tri-Media Alliance — the Gauntlet, CJSW and NUTV.
“During my time volunteering here on campus, especially volunteering with Tri-Media, I see how great of a resource Tri-Media is, and I want to bring awareness to more students and especially art students who can benefit from this,” said Hussain. “There are many great resources for students […] and I just want to bring more awareness to it and just bring everybody together with my unique and diverse background of experience on campus.”
Hussain’s platform also pushes for improvement in Arts advising:
“I think a lot of students have the feedback that the advisors are not experts on the programs,” said Hussain. “I want to see better training for those advisors so they know the programs in better detail.”
When asked about how he will address tuition hikes and affordability concerns, Hussain noted that tuition hikes are outside the scope of what an Arts representative does.
“There isn’t, per se, much I can do, but I will definitely advocate with the other incoming SU execs and students in general to make sure that tuition is not rising and ensure that affordability remains,” said Hussain.
Hussain also highlighted that he will raise awareness on SU affordability programs like the Campus Food Bank.
Hussain concluded the interview by encouraging all students to vote in this year’s election: “Vote for the candidate that you think will deliver the job the best because that’s what’s important in ensuring a healthy democracy and a healthy student government.”
Overall, Hussain’s campaign addresses key issues that Arts students are facing and he demonstrates relevant experience with student governance and leadership; however, several aspects of his platform would benefit from clearer details on how these initiatives will be executed, implemented and sustained.
Xander Halsey-Dam
Xander Halsey-Dam is a fourth-year linguistics student in the Faculty of Arts who has “come to appreciate the importance of a strong, supportive SU,” according to their platform. As Halsey-Dam did not interview with the Gauntlet, this is a summary of what students can expect from them based on their platform.
Halsey-Dam highlights targeting affordability for students, using programs like the Quality Money Fund, external endowments and memorial funds to create a needs-based bursary system to give financial aid to students who need it the most. While this a noble pursuit, Halsey-Dam doesn’t explain how that money would be collected, nor how it would be different from the other needs-based bursaries the university already offers. This also is outside of the traditional portfolio of a faculty representative.
Of the six candidates running for Faculty of Arts representative, none other than Halsey-Dam discusses student strikes. Their platform expresses their desire to organize with clubs and student associations like the Faculty of Arts Student Association (FASA) to force the administration to negotiate with the Students’ Union via student strikes.
Halsey-Dam strongly believes in a standardized template for course outlines within the Faculty of Arts to include both academic and non-academic resources. Further clarification would have been beneficial, as most course outlines already follow a template. As before it also falls out of the traditional portfolio of a faculty rep.
Halsey-Dam also believes passionately in the need to establish academic assistance programs, similar to PASS, focused specifically on Faculty of Arts students. Which remains quite admirable, and if elected, something potentially feasible.
One of Halsey-Dam’s more noble platform points is to work with faculty members to build long-term partnerships with employers to ensure accessible employment opportunities for Arts students and graduates. Unfortunately, there is nothing tangible within the policy proposal on how specifically this would be achieved.
Halsey-Dam also pledges to advocate for greater resources and funding to support students through organizations such as the Q Centre, but we are once again left wondering how exactly they plan to conduct this advocacy.
Overall, while Halsey-Dam has good ideas, they frequently fall out of the traditional portfolio of a faculty representative. Their lack of a clear vision reveals the need for more work from this candidate, as well as a greater understanding of how specifically they will achieve these goals through tangible means.
Paul Mackay
Paul Mackay is in his fourth year of a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, supplemented with an embedded certificate in Sustainability Studies. He is running for one of the most competitive positions in the Students’ Union (SU): a representative for the Faculty of Arts.
Mackay did not sign up to interview with the Gauntlet, but his platform states his primary reason for his candidacy in this SU general election:
“I am committed to strengthening communication between Arts students and the SU to ensure student concerns are clearly heard and effectively addressed,” said Mackay.
If elected, Mackay seeks to represent Arts students in a transparent and practical manner. However, there are no details on what he feels is lacking from current Arts representatives, nor does he outline any specific measures he will take to follow through with his goal.
His broad platform objectives are to “support and expand academic, professional and networking opportunities that help Arts students build connections and prepare for life beyond university.”
There is a lack of concrete plans with respect to the execution of these goals — no planned events, key issues or policies that he will work to implement.
This lack of detail comes in the face of a multitude of issues in the Faculty of Arts. Mackay does not mention any planned advocacy against prominent issues in the faculty, which include but are not limited to funding constraints, extreme program changes and tuition hikes.
While these issues are not likely to be resolved through the advocacy of a single SU Arts representative, their omission indicates a lack of intent to address major problems faced in the faculty.
Furthermore, Mackay’s platform does not offer a more targeted approach to solving smaller, yet still relevant issues. It remains broad in scope and unclear in its implementation.
Brent Rancier
Brent Rancier is in his fourth year of a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Media Studies, and running to be a Faculty of Arts Representative in this Students’ Union (SU) general election.
Rancier states that, as an Arts student, he understands the challenges facing the faculty and believes he can create tangible improvement in students’ experiences. While he did not participate in an interview with the Gauntlet, his platform outlines three primary objectives:
“The first is Expanded Course Availability: adding more sections of high-demand Arts classes to reduce graduation delays. My second advocacy is Club Promotion: increasing the visibility of faculty clubs to help students find community and networking opportunities. My final objective is to establish direct feedback channels and town halls to ensure students in the Arts faculty are heard by the SU,” said Rancier.
Rancier does not specify how he plans to advocate for these changes to course availability, nor does he identify which departments he would prioritize.
His two other goals, promoting clubs and establishing feedback channels, similarly lack detail in their implementation. Rancier does not explicitly outline specific strategies to successfully improve club visibility, nor does he clarify what form these feedback channels will take.
Although he does mention hosting town halls, Rancier fails to indicate how frequently they would occur or how he intends to encourage meaningful student participation.
Rancier’s platform also contains noticeable grammatical and structural errors. While these lapses may not reflect his broader capabilities, they suggest a lack of attention to detail and followthrough in his campaign communication.
Overall, Rancier’s platform presents broad and ambitious objectives, but remains vague in their proposed implementation methods.
Fatima Jarid
Fatima Jarid, a fourth-year psychology student, is running for Faculty of Arts Representative with a platform grounded in lived experience and familiarity with institutional processes.
Jarid frames representation as active advocacy rooted in experience.
“I’ve been a student for four years now, which means I’ve kind of seen everything: how you start as a student, enrolling processes, senior classes, everything that you can imagine,” she said in an interview with the Gauntlet. “I’ve had the same experience as most of the students in the Faculty of Arts, which is kind of making me realize that there are some things that I would like to bring up: that I would like to change.”
Her candidacy is closely tied to her role as president of the Psychology Undergraduate Students’ Association (PSYCHS), where she regularly represents students in departmental and unit review meetings.
“With that role as a president, there’s a lot of representation that I do for the Psychology students within the department,” she said.
Jarid argues this experience gives her a realistic sense of what the Arts representative role can and cannot accomplish, and how to push for progress within those limits.
A central motivation for her run is gender representation. Jarid emphasized that women’s perspectives are often missing from decision-making spaces.
“I’ve noticed that a lot of Faculty of Arts students are actually women, and there’s no representation in that sense,” she said.
On equity and inclusion, Jarid proposes implementing faculty-wide feedback forms to surface student concerns and report outcomes transparently.
“I’ve seen how the conversation goes behind closed doors […] but it’s very rare that they sit down and talk to a student about them,” said Jarid, citing her work with the Department of Psychology on course outlines and enrollment issues as proof of concept.
Jarid also addressed ongoing Arts Renewal concerns, positioning the representative as a connector.
“I think the biggest and most obvious role would be being that little bridge between the faculty and the students,” she said.
Jarid speaks directly to Arts students’ concerns by focusing on course enrollment and pathways beyond the classroom. However, her platform would benefit from a deeper understanding of ongoing consultation with students on Faculty of Arts Renewal, a recurring concern across the faculty.
Davina Elesin
Davina Elesin is a second-year international student in international relations, an external candidate for Faculty of Arts representative, an advocate within the Faculty of Arts Students’ Association (FASA) and a member of the university’s Scholars Academy.
In running for this position, Elesin sees three main avenues of importance to their term as a representative and for the students they will be representing.
The first is professional development and mentorship for students within the Faculty of Arts. Elesin wants to advocate for students within the faculty to have a chance to grow and build those skills that other schools and faculties may get more access to in comparison to others.
Elesin’s second avenue is that of representation. As the only Black student out of the six candidates in the Faculty of Arts race to secure a seat at the table, Elesin wants to ensure marginalized voices are heard.
“When I’m elected, [I want to] bring our voices and the voices of other marginalized groups and other equity-deserving communities into the conversations where it matters most,” said Elesin when they sat down with the Gauntlet to discuss their candidacy.
Finally, Elesin believes that the Faculty of Arts renewal process is one of the biggest challenges they might face as a representative.
“There has been a lot of lack of communication and inconsistencies when it comes to this entire process,” said Elesin, noting that he believes this is an issue in which the entire SLC should collaborate on: “If it could happen to [the Faculty of Arts], it could happen to us.”
While it’s important to raise concerns regarding tuition increases, especially to the Dean’s office, Elesin’s mission here feels misplaced, as it’s ultimately not the faculty’s decision. As it is ultimately a decision made by the Board of Governors not the Dean’s office.
However, Elesin did state that they want to collaborate with members on the executive and the legislative council to alleviate pressures on students.
Elesin also wants to host career fairs, and partner with the Centre for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) to organize events aimed directly at Faculty of Arts students. This would accompany a mentorship program, connecting students with professionals across Canada to give them more direct career advising.
Elesin outlined their ambitious plan by confidently going through each step, planning to both get students involved in the first half of the fall term and then find the right mentor for them in the winter term.
Elesin also wants to collaborate with International Student Services and the Office of Student Experience to improve international student welfare and develop an association for international students to network within.
While certainly audacious, it is difficult to see how Elesin will be able to get everything they plan on doing completed by the end of a single, year-long term, particularly while having to jockey with the plans and personalities of their fellow representatives.
However, Elesin believes that through time management and delegation, this can all be achievable. Elesin certainly has a detailed plan and presents a strong candidacy, but they’ll need to convince students they have the ambition and know-how to get the job done.