Race: VP Academic and University Affairs

The VP University Affairs is the largest and most detail-oriented position on the executive. Best described as the executive that handles “everything else”, the VP A/UA is the single student on campus with the most invested into the way the university goes about its regular business. The job is best chunked into three broad categories: campus governance (planning, liaising, fiscals), academics (quality, funding, senate), and campus climate (culture, relations, equity).

Traditionally a position held by wonks, a good candidate will have a strong appreciation for detail, will be strategic and organized, will learn quickly, and will be a leader when they need to be. This means an understanding of the issues, players, conflicts and rhetoric of campus, as well as having the managerial skills to organize an office that handles forty committees, tens of pages of reading a day, and countless emails.

The Land Use Plan amendments of the past year demonstrate how this position can be involved in activities that have lasting impacts on the future face of campus. And it’s far from over. We asked the candidates about the designation of Gage South as an “Area Under Review” and whether or not it’s a “win” for students, and on this point they disagree. Working on the entire University Boulevard/Gage South area will be one of the main priorities for the year. A successful candidate will need to know the university’s position inside and out to counter each argument in favour of housing and push them hard about how feedback is received and incorporated into the university’s plans.

Even bigger, the governance debate may take its first steps towards a permanent solution. The current interim arrangement with the provincial government is untenable in the long term and the province wants out sooner rather than later. However, with the provincial government operating less than optimally recently, this could get pushed back. Even if it doesn’t happen this term, the VP Academic should still be furiously laying the foundation for when it does come, and we asked the candidates about this, too. There are rumours that this will be shifted into the VP External’s portfolio. Even if it is, it’s so important that both should be working on it to make sure it gets pushed forward as efficiently as possible.

A smart VP University Affairs will empower the council University and External Affairs committee and student senators to fulfill the academic side of the house. They will spread the portfolio across the AMS so they can focus narrowly in on Metro Vancouver, the Board of Governors, the Province, the UNA and the UEL. It goes without saying that keeping good relations with all of these groups is necessary and a successful candidate must master the skill of pushing the AMS’s interests in a firm, but respectful way.

Success will be dependent on hiring a great AVP, like the one this year. The rest of the job this includes continuing the efforts of years past. University budgeting and finances, Credit/D/Fail, the first year seminar program, the War on Fun, childcare and campus housing all immediately come to mind as long term initiatives that still need a watchful eye. That said, the broadness of the portfolio really yields itself plenty of opportunity for new initiatives.

Candidate Profiles

Name: Justin Christopher Yang
Year: 4
Faculty and Program: Science (Cell Biology and Genetics) and Arts (English Honours)
Years on Campus: 4
Past campus involvement: See the definitive list at http://vote.justinyang.ca/experience/ for the definitive list. You can pick and choose what you want.
Non-campus involvement: n/a

1) Regarding Gage South’s designation as “Area Under Review”, President Toope said in the Ubyssey “I think this was a big win for students…instead of Gage South being designated as it was previously, it’s instead being pulled off the table. (…) So, I actually think it’s a win, and people should take wins when they get them.” Do you agree with the president’s assessment?

I think that I can agree with President Toope insofar that I do agree that student intervention did result in the establishment of an opportunity for dialogue with the University regarding Gage South. I can’t comment too definitively on that particular quote as the Ubyssey excerpted that final bit from something longer but I think that perhaps President Toope would like students to recognize that small victories should be celebrated just as much as the large ones. Gage South has been a victory and I look forward to further opportunities to demonstrate the potential for even more caring students to become truly engaged in campus planning consultative processes.

2) Within the next two years, UBC and the province should be taking firm steps towards establishing a permanent municipal governance structure for Point Grey. What can the AMS do in advance of this to be as prepared as possible?

In order for the AMS to prepare for such discussions, it truly needs to win back the mandate of those students whom it purports to represent. A unified and cohesive message from students, articulated through the AMS, has the potential to truly demonstrate student investment in their campus and community. Naturally, this will not be easy — students need to stop seeing the AMS as the source of annual drama and as a politically legitimate organization that conducts itself with dignity, humility and honesty.

More directly applicable to the actual portfolios, the VPs External and University Affairs should work closely together in order to prepare research that can allow AMS council make informed policy decisions with regards to the future of governance on campus.

3) If elected, you’ll be inheriting responsibility for the AMS’s upcoming fee referendum. How will you convince students to say yes?

An aggressive campaign to highlight the need for indexing fees will be required to explain to students the effects of inflation on their student fees. Fee increases will need to be justified at a very granular level in order to demonstrate to students that the AMS is a body that can be trusted to be held accountable. Internally, stakeholders at every organizational level need to buy in to the necessity for the fee indexing and potential fee raises.

Name: Jennifer Wang
Year: 4
Faculty and program: Arts, English
Years on campus: 4
Past campus involvement: Legislative Procedures Committee
Past non-campus involvement: Canvassed for NGOs, such as Amnesty International, Save the Children and Medicins Sans Frontiers.

1) Regarding Gage South’s designation as “Area Under Review”, President Toope said in the Ubyssey “I think this was a big win for students…instead of Gage South being designated as it was previously, it’s instead being pulled off the table. (…) So, I actually think it’s a win, and people should take wins when they get them.” Do you agree with the president’s assessment?

No, I absolutely disagree with the president’s statement. Throughout the land use consultation process, students clearly demanded that Gage South be zoned “academic”. Because of this, a real win for students would be a concrete “academic” designation. The current “under review” zoning allows the university administration to pay lip service to the demands of students while proceeding with their own plans for developing Gage South. The Board of Governors meeting of January 13th is slated to include a “neighbourhood planning process” for the area, although such a process has always been reserved for market-housing zones. This indicates that the administration is proceeding with market-housing development plans, and therefore clearly violating the “under review” designation. The AMS and the VP Academic need to work with students to hold President Toope and the Board of Governors accountable to student interests. It is important to keep students engaged in this issue so that we can continue to pressure the BoG to unequivocally zone the area “academic”.

2) Within the next two years, UBC and the province should be taking firm steps towards establishing a permanent municipal governance structure for Point Grey. What can the AMS do in advance of this to be as prepared as possible?

Firstly, the AMS needs to take a strong stance in favour of democratizing the governing structures of UBC. The relative sovereignty of the BoG in land use decisions and the geographic isolation of the university in relation to the City of Vancouver makes UBC function, for all intents and purposes, like its own town. The UBC endowment lands should not be exempt from overarching democratic standards, and for this reason, the AMS should take a firm stance advocating for democratic governance at UBC.

Secondly, as negotiations take place, it is imperative to remember that UBC is situated on unceded Musqueam territory, and that the Musqueam community is therefore an important stakeholder in any decision-making processes related to campus planning. The AMS needs to reach out to the Musqueam community in order to learn what their needs and interests are concerning the establishment of a Point Grey municipal governance structure.

3) If elected, you’ll be inheriting responsibility for the AMS’s upcoming fee referendum. How will you convince students to say yes?

I actually oppose the upcoming fee referendum. The AMS claims they want to tie tuition fees to the rate of inflation, but in fact they are seeking to increase fees in order to cover the current deficit. Instead of charging more money to students who already find postsecondary education inaccessible, the AMS should draw on their multi-million dollar reserve fund, the express purpose of which is to cover deficits such as the one we are currently facing.

Name: Matt Parson
Age:22
Year:4th
Faculty and program: Biology
Years on campus:4
Past campus involvement: President of the Inter-Fraternity Council, Member at Large Referendum Committee, President of Phi Delta Theta

1) Regarding Gage South’s designation as “Area Under Review”, President Toope said in the Ubyssey “I think this was a big win for students…instead of Gage South being designated as it was previously, it’s instead being pulled off the table. (…) So, I actually think it’s a win, and people should take wins when they get them.” Do you agree with the president’s assessment?

Gage South being reconsidered an “Area Under Review” is a step in the right direction but I would not go so far as to say, “it’s a win”. It’s too early to tell. A new consultation for all stakeholder groups will ensue and a proactive stance needs to be taken by the AMS to ensure that students’ views are effectively represented and taken into account by C+CP and the University. To achieve this, the focus now must be on educating our constituents on the possible outcomes of the “Area Under Review,” implementing ways to foster a sense of urgency around the issue and driving student input, above what we saw in the initial LUP amendment consultation, in the process.

2) Within the next two years, UBC and the province should be taking firm steps towards establishing a permanent municipal governance structure for Point Grey. What can the AMS do in advance of this to be as prepared as possible?
One thing that I would strongly advocate for if I was to be elected into the AMS would be to increase student input on the governance issue. I would accomplish this by conducting a student opinion poll early in my term (to collect feedback on) on campus life experience, possible preferences on theoretical municipal models (be it annexation by the City of Vancouver, the status quo with sole oversight from the Board of Governors or a custom built municipality for UBC) and other relevant opinion points for the dialogue. Advocacy from students must driven by hard facts and research, not only anecdotal evidence.

3) If elected, you’ll be inheriting responsibility for the AMS’s upcoming fee referendum. How will you convince students to say yes?

The primary issue with the upcoming fee referendum is trying to convince students that they will get enough value from the increase of fees to justify such an increase. An extensive educational campaign is needed to illustrate to students the deteriorative effects of inflation and how indexing will protect the AMS, and therefore themselves, from this.

Currently, one of the methods being used to increase the likelihood of the referendum passing is giving many key stakeholders a small part of the pie and hoping that they will mobilize their sphere of influence towards the polls. In addition to this strategy, clever opt-out clauses are being utilized to allow greater flexibility in one’s choosing which will in turn push more yes votes. Finally, there will be a restructuring to improve the amount of student financial aid awarded each year, hopefully pushing more people in serious financial trouble to vote yes.