Zahara Baugh is a third-year political science major and transfer student running for student senator. Baugh is involved with Fair Vote Vancouver, of which she is a board member, the Vancouver Quadra Riding Association and a member of Alpha Omicron Pi. If elected, Baugh wants to promote the adoption of waitlist options for all courses, allow students to access teaching evaluations and continue the push for a fall reading break.
Describe your platform and what sets it apart from your opposition in a few sentences.
The three main initiatives that I would like to put forward or continue the work of past senators [on are] continuing the push for a fall reading break … changing the eligibility requirements for dean’s list [from 27 to 24 credits per winter session because] those people still deserve recognition for their academic excellence, [and] having some of the information from the teaching evaluations be available to students. So not necessarily all the information because I still want people to be honest in their teaching evaluations and keep it all anonymous, so for that I would want to consult with faculty and students to see where we could meet in the middle on having some of that information made available for students.
Which organizations have you been involved with, and how will these help you if you are elected into Senate?
So I think the previous experience that I have both on and off campus ... is that I’m really hard working and I always put a lot of effort into the things that I do and that’s been proven through the organizations that I’ve been involved in. I’ve worked on some political campaigns … and those are things that you need to be on all the time and you need to put a lot into them. I also can easily understand legalese or legal language … because I worked in a law firm for eight months between high school and college and I think that would help me a lot. And also just being able to work with other people because I have worked in a couple organizations. There’s always differing points of view and there’s always different ways people want to do things or different ideas for what they want to do. Because I’ve worked with a variety of people, I think that I have a pretty good ability and understanding on compromising and on working things out through discussion.
What are the challenges facing this position in the upcoming year?
I think probably the biggest challenge would be getting the ideas that I have actually put through in my one year term because one year is not a ton of time on any sort of legislative body. All the non-student senators serve three-year terms. So I think to overcome that, I would choose one or two things — like I mentioned at the beginning to prioritize — and really work hard to get those at least on the table and to try to get those through in the time that I have. But if I’m not able to get them fully developed, [I want to] get them … in motion.
Who is the most important body or person you need to collaborate with in this position, and how will you foster a relationship with them?
I think probably collaborating with the VP Academic and University Affairs of the AMS because a lot of what’s in their portfolio is similar to the Senate’s mandate and then just also within the Senate. I think for VP Academic, [fostering a relationship by] maybe holding meetings with whoever wins that position as regularly as we can just to keep connected to what they’re doing and what we’re doing, and keep those communication lines open. Within Senate, I think probably just talking to them at meetings and maybe having … some sort of social thing for Senate as well.
What three committees would you like to sit on as a senator, and why?
So the first one is the Academic Policy Committee because that relates directly to the dean’s list platform point that I have. I would really like to be a part of that committee and because I think being a part of that committee would make it easier and probably faster to get that point approved or put through. I would also be interested in the awards committee. It doesn’t directly relate to one of the three main points of my platform, but one thing I would like to explore is more bursary options for students who are struggling financially at the university. I’m also interested in the mental health and well-being ad hoc committee, especially because of their general mandate of greater well-being at the university. I think that is sort of reflected in all of my platforms [such as] continuing a push for fall break that will give people time to either catch up or relax and relieve stress, and the changing the dean’s list. Although, it’s not quite directly related to that, being able to take four courses per term could also help relieve stress.
Interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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