X
An Approachable ASU Executive Team
As president, I’m ready to listen and respond. This means ensuring ASU executive board members spend less time in their offices and more time around campus listening to you. I want to have conversations with you in the Library about campus sustainability, brainstorm ideas with you in the KCIC for future events that the ASU can host, and chat with you in meal hall about inclusion and diversity on campus. I am prepared to work with the executive team to ensure that the ASU leadership is responding to your questions, concerns, and ideas. On top of this, if elected, I am committed to living in residence next year to help ensure the approachability, visibility, and availability of the ASU leadership team to your questions, concerns, and opinions.
Enhancing Student Food Security
This year I have worked with the support of other students to launch the Acadia Food Cupboard. This new resource will provide emergency food support to students and aims to enhance student food literacy and nutrition through educational programing including community meals, cooking classes, and workshops. The Cupboard will also provide nutritional information, dietary support, and budgeting tools that are available to all students. My plan aims to combat student food insecurity that has proven to deteriorate students’ mental, financial, and physical wellbeing by embedding the Acadia Food Cupboard into the permeant structure of the ASU to improve student food security, nutrition, and wellness.
Sustainability
My plan aims to align ASU operations with the environmental and social sustainability values of students. From the Fair Trade Campus movement to the expansion of local food offerings in meal hall, it is clear that we, as students, care about the environmental footprint of our university. My goals include aligning the practices of the ASU with sustainability through:
a) A waste reduction program that includes working toward the elimination of straws and plastic bags in the SUB;
b) Working with the University’s facilities department to explore the possibility of a solar panel installation on the roof of the SUB;
c) Advocating for the expansion of local and Fair Trade product offerings, including clothing, food, and merchandise sold in the SUB.
Overall, in order to demand environmental action of the university and the town it is vital that students’ sustainability values are reflected in the ASU’s operations.
Financial Supports for Students
a. Advocating for re-investment of NS Tuition Tax Credits into upfront grants: as one of Students Nova Scotia’s 2017 primary ask of the provincial government I will continue to advocate for financial supports for students who need it most. This means asking the province to re-invest Tuition and Education Tax Credits into upfront grants to would provide financial support to post-secondary students for textbooks, living expenses, and tuition who need it most. Such practices are already in place in Ontario and New Brunswick and are encouraging greater participation in post-secondary education.
b. Advocating for Medical Services Insurance (MSI) to international students upon their arrival in Nova Scotia: Acadia is proud to welcome students from across Canada and over sixty countries around the world each academic year. If elected, I will work closely with Students Nova Scotia to continue to advocate for this 2017 ask of the provincial government. Presently international students are eligible for MSI after spending 13 consecutive months in Nova Scotia if they do not leave the province for more than 31 days. Thus, making it difficult for international students to return home to their family and friends or travel throughout Canada without jeopardizing their future health coverage. Having spent a semester abroad in Norway and receiving medical coverage the moment I cleared customs, I understand the peace of mind that health coverage can provided and am prepared to advocate for easier access to MSI for international students in Nova Scotia.
Diversity and Inclusion
a) Engaging with and including all students within the ASU requires fair and equitable hiring practices. From house council executives to the Axe Radio Coordinator and from Axe Bartenders to the ASU Women’s Centre Coordinator, it is important that an equitable hiring policy guide our practices. Other students’ unions including Dalhousie Student Union has a written policy on equity ingrained into their operating procedures. Such a policy, along with additional human resources training for ASU full-time staff that conduct hiring procedures, will help ensure that employment and leadership opportunities offered through the ASU are inclusive.
b) Creating an identity for the SUB that brings students together. The SUB lacks an identity and a sense of community. My plan includes working with the executive team to conduct student outreach on how the SUB can build a greater sense of community among students, with an ultimate goal of hosting more academic and social events and activities in the SUB that bring students together.
Supporting Student Wellness
a) Advocating to the university to improve on-campus medical and social services. This includes working with the university to restore funding for a Registered Nurse in the Dennis Clinic. This move will reduce wait times and increase students’ access to medical services on campus. Beyond medical services, I am eager to continue the ASU’s request to the university for expanded equity and indigenous support staff and resources on campus to support student wellness and help develop a more inclusive and respectful student body.
b) Making it easier for all students to access the mental and emotional wellness support services they need. This includes advocating for male counsellors on campus to break down barriers for male students in accessing the services they deserve. The Canadian Mental Health Association recognizes that because, “it’s easier for men to acknowledge physical symptoms, rather than emotional ones, their mental health problems can go undiagnosed”, and that it is essential to discuss men’s health in the public realm and providing the resources that make it easier for male students to seek the supports they need.
c) Supporting sexual health and sexual violence prevention on-campus. This involves working with the university’s sexual violence prevention committee to implement the Nova Scotia government’s recommendations to address sexual violence on post-secondary campuses. In addition, I am committed to working with Acadia’s Sexual Health Coordinator to promote sexual health and wellness on-campus.
