Platform: Increasing Accessibility and Student Engagement

7/29/2019 Platform: Increasing Accessibility and Student Engagement

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Welcome.3

About Me.4

Accessibilty.5

New Initiatives.6

Relationship with the Board and Administration7

Closing.8

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WELCOME

Thank you for checking out my platform for the position of Undergraduate StudentTrustee. In my platform you will find a number of initiatives brought up and a lot ofstress on the importance of communication at all levels. Before we get started I wanted

to take the time to give a brief summary of what the Board of Trustees does.

The Board is one of three governing bodies that has a primary focus on the finances ofthe University. Most importantly for students, the Board approves tuition increases,residence fees, the construction of new buildings, and student assistance. The Boardalso deals with contract negotiations, hiring of administration, and financial allocations tospecific faculties.

The Board meets four times a year. These meetings are in September/October,December, March, and May. Each meeting is two days long and consists of variouscommittee meetings and general meetings, some of which are open to the public.

At its largest, the Board consisted of 44 members. Currently, they are downsizing theBoard to 25 members through attrition. This means that each board member makes upapproximately 4% of the voting power.

There are three students who sit on the Board: Undergraduate Student Trustee,Graduate Student Trustee, and the Rector.

For more information about the Board of Trustees or any of the other governing bodies(Senate, University Council) go to www.queensu.ca/secretariat.html.

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ABOUT ME

My name is Nathan Utioh and I am one of your choices for the Undergraduate Trusteeposition for 2013-2015. I was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but I grew up in a city of13,000 about 45 minutes west called Portage la Prairie. I am currently in my second

year at Queens, studying Life Sciences.

I made the choice to come to Queens based on its reputation and from stories I hadheard from an Alumnus. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, I had never heardof Bleeding TriColour or even a Gael, athletically or for Orientation. I especially had noidea that students were so involved in student life, from Student-run Orientation andNon-Academic Discipline to all the Societies and Clubs that are run by students andheld accountable by their peers.

Shortly after moving in, I was fortunate enough to be elected as an Arts and ScienceRepresentative to the AMS where I was first introduced to student governance at the

university level. I was also able to intern last years AMS President Morgan Campbell.With these opportunities I was able to learn more about how influential students can bewithin the University and how they can fight for change that will positively affect studentlife on and around campus. With these opportunities I was able to see first hand theimplications budgeting has on students and participate in the discussions surroundingthem; last year this was primarily seen following the suspension of the Fine ArtsProgram. I now sit on the Finance and Audit Committee for the Main CampusResidence Council and the Committee on External Alignment for the AMS.

In my relatively short time at Queens I have developed both a passion for its studentsand a curiosity for the path that lies ahead. I would like to bring more accessibility to the

position of Undergraduate Trustee and to the higher governing bodies of the University,while also maintaining the role as a staunch advocate for the undergraduate students ofQueens University.

I hope you take the time to read through my platform and consider what I have laid out.I look forward to hearing your questions, comments, or concerns, as you make yourdecision about who will be best suited to be Undergraduate Student Trustee for2013-2015.

Nathan Utioh

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ACCESSIBILITY

Students are getting the opportunity to elect a student who will serve as a trustee andwill work directly with the administration and fellow members of the Board. I believe thatit is important for students to not only choose the candidate they believe will be a strong

voice for students, but to choose the candidate they believe will listen to and engagetheir fellow students.

This begins with working with the executive of all the different faculties, regularlymeeting with them and learning the concerns of each individual faculty and how, astrustee, I can help them. I will also become available to the Assemblies of each facultyto make it easier for students to talk to their trustee.

While faculty executives will be important people to develop relationships with, I believethat it is the responsibility of our student leaders to work with all students to set a pathfor the future.

I want to accomplish this by both making it easier for students to access information andby bringing questions to the students. This starts with establishing a maximum 24-hourreply guarantee to all forms of communication and having consistent office hours in thestudent trustees office in the JDUC.

Another way I plan to do this is to enhance the student trustees online profile. Socialmedia sites such as Twitter and Facebook will be heavily used to relay information tostudents and to offer a platform for students to ask questions and voice their opinions.Having said this, I do not want to want to create a new website that students will have tosearch for in order to garner information. Instead, I want to take resources that already

exist such as the AMS and faculty websites and add information regarding the Board sothat the information is there for students rather than forcing students to hunt forinformation.

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NEW INITIATIVES

In the past the student trustee has done basically the same thing: gone to Boardmeetings, sat on various committees, and attended AMS and faculty Assemblies. It ismy plan, if elected, to establish new responsibilities for the student trustee and create

opportunities for students to get involved with their University.

As student trustee I would like to coordinate town hall meetings where students wouldbe able to come and ask questions or raise concerns they have regarding any issuefacing students and the University. These forums would be a one stop shop of studentrepresentatives including: Student Trustee, Rector, Student Senators, and AMSExecutive. While this gives students an opportunity to raise concerns, it will also allowthe student representatives an opportunity to address issues that may be forthcoming.

As well as having town halls I plan to meet with various clubs throughout the year sothat I can reach out to a variety of students and provide them with an opportunity to hear

bout anything new going on at the administrative level and ask questions and learnabout the different governing bodies that affect their time at Queens.

Furthermore, in order to reach out to first year students I plan to establish a first yearinternship with the Student Trustee. Currently, the AMS offers this opportunity to firstyears to introduce them to the different positions and services that are available tostudents. As a former intern myself, I recognize how valuable that experience was and Iwish to enable more first years to get this experience. The Trustee internship wouldallow the interns to not only learn about the different governing bodies andadministrative levels, but also allow them to undertake projects regarding specific issuesthat could then be brought to the Admin, Board, or AMS Executive.

My last new initiative will be one of the first that I will attempt to implement over mytenure as Student Trustee. In order to connect our student body with the people thatmake up one of highest governing bodies of Queens, I will work with the UniversitySecretariat to make the Board more accessible to students. Some projects we maywork on include: making the website of the University Secretariat www.queensu.ca/secretariat/index.html more accessible and informative, and creating a meet and greetfor Board members with students. The meet and greet would create an opportunity forinterested students to meet with Trustees and talk about issues, past Queensexperiences, or anything else. Giving all students the opportunity to meet with Trusteesand the Administration I believe would allow for both sides to gain a better

understanding of where the other is coming from.

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RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BOARD AND ADMINISTRATION

The Student Trustee, or for that matter any Trustee, does not have a significant amountof power within the Board, comprising only ~4% of the vote. Rather, the StudentTrustee must work to create influence with other Trustees so that the Board as a whole

can use its power to make changes and come to decisions that will be best for theUniversity and its students. In order for the Student Trustee to create any level ofinfluence, strong relationships must be built with other Trustees, Administration, andUniversity Secretariat.

My philosophy for developing non-student Board relationships is primarily based ondoing ones homework. This means, before even talking to other Trustees orAdministrators, I must research the issues in depth, read up on the other Trustees, andtalk to other student leaders about issues. This would allow for me to have a workingunderstanding of what is going on and therefore be able to ask the right questions whentalking to other Trustees.

As I have talked about already, I want to include as many students as possible whengoing over possible changes, receiving as much feedback as possible; whether you arein your first year or your last, in Computing or Engineering, I want to know youropinions. Garnering such a vast array of student opinions creates validation whenapproaching the administration or Board. Instead of going to members saying, Ibelieve I would be able to say, Having heard back from 100 or 1000 students I havecome to the conclusion that It is one thing to pass over the opinion of one person,but another to ignore a collective voice.

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CLOSING

Thank you for taking the time to read my platform. You as a student have a fantasticopportunity to decide who your student leaders will be. With elections for StudentUndergraduate Trustee, AMS Executive and most Faculty Executives all occurring at

the same time it is almost overwhelming. However, I urge you to take the time toconsider all your options for all positions - you have obviously taken at least the firststep by checking out what I have to offer.

What I have not tried to do through my platform is focus on the various issues that weare facing and may face in the future. While I am aware, and I am sure you are too, ofthe difficulties we are going to face in the future both as students and a University, I feltit was more important to focus on how I will approach those difficulties as theUndergraduate Trustee. Moreover, I want to make sure that all students will have theopportunity to be included in the discussion of the issues.

While voting is in and of itself a great way to get involved, we should not use it as theonly way in which we get involved. We owe Queens, we owe our peers, we oweourselves more. Only through our collective strength can we move forward. Therefore,we must come together and decide what matters to us as students. Together we canapproach any issue and say, in our pursuit of excellence we need to take care of X tobe successful.

Should I be fortunate enough to be elected this January 29-30, I pledge to do whatever Ican to include you in our pursuit of a better Queens. I will work with and for studentswhen approaching issues that arise over my term. Please, if you have any questions orcomments, contact me and I would love to get in touch with you.

Nathan UtiohQueens UniversityLife Sciences B.Sc (Hons.) [email protected]/vote4nathan

www.twitter.com/vote4nathanwww.voteutioh.com

No matter how much youve done, or how successful youve been, theres always moreto do, always more to learn, and always more to achieve. -Barack Obama

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Platform: Increasing Accessibility and Student Engagement